PepsiCo, Einride to cut greenhouse gases from Frito-Lay deliveries

PepsiCo, the global maker of popular beverages like Pepsi Cola and the Frito-Lay food line, is partnering with Swedish freight moving company Einride to do its part to help clean up the air.

An initial fleet of five digitally optimized Einride electric trucks based in Memphis, Tennessee will support PepsiCo’s Frito-Lay food distribution by electrifying several roads in that region, the companies announced Wednesday.

Together with Einride’s charging infrastructure and digital goods platform, PepsiCo aims to greatly reduce its Scope 3 emissions, defined by the US Environmental Protection Agency as emissions resulting from “activities from assets not owned or controlled by the reporting organization, but that the organization indirectly affects its value chain”, which include transportation and distribution, employee travel, business travel, waste generated by operations and investments.

The five Enride trucks, operated by Frito-Lay’s Memphis-based transportation partner Armstrong Transportation, are expected to transport over 2,500 loads annually, covering nearly 200,000 miles and reducing approximately 143 metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent, or emissions of CO2e every year.

CO2e represents total greenhouse gas emissions expressed in terms of carbon dioxide equivalent measurement.

“In this partnership, Gen III vehicles from BYD will be deployed, as part of Einride’s OEM-agnostic approach to its global fleet,” said Robert Falck, CEO and founder of Einride, in an email interview. “These vehicles, along with the installation of the charging infrastructure, are then optimized with data from our digital freight platform.

Falck went on to explain that Einride takes care of all aspects needed to make an effective transition to electric transport operations – from evaluating and planning the best routes for electrification, acquiring and deploying electric trucks, charging solutions and digital tools. , as well as day-to-day running of operations once they go live.

In addition to the five trucks, Einride installed a private 700kW charging station at Armstrong’s yard to improve efficiency in keeping the electric trucks powered, the companies said.

“Our three-way partnership with Einride and Armstrong Transportation has built a scalable, first-of-its-kind approach to electrification as a service with sustainability at the center of our shared goals,” said David Allen, Vice President and Chief Sustainability Officer for PepsiCo Foods Americas of the North in a statement.

The Memphis operation is actually the second market where Einride and PepsiCo have partnered, having previously deployed an electric truck in the UK in 2023.

For Einride, adding PepsiCo’s Memphis operation to its portfolio is another step in the company’s North American expansion.

Since entering the US market in 2021, Einride has signed several high-profile clients, including Ericsson and Siemens, as well as Oatly, Bridgestone and GE Appliances, a Haier company.

The company continues to build its business in the US as more customers buy into Einride’s goal of providing efficient, environmentally friendly cargo transportation.

Einride was founded in 2016 and three years later became the first company to operate an autonomous electric freight vehicle on a public road working with clients such as Coca-Cola, SKF and Lidl.

The company claims that since October 1, 2020, its partners have seen a 90% reduction in CO2 emissions with electric transportation, while matching the cost of diesel.

Perhaps Einride’s most unique innovation is its electric autonomous transport. The vehicles have no room for a driver on board and can be operated remotely from consoles by specially trained personnel.

While the Einride electric trucks delivering Frito-Lay products near Memphis will have a driver behind the wheel, the companies believe the technology powering them will significantly help their customers breathe a little easier, during and between enjoying a the snack