Tesloop is a company that saw great potential in the Model X from Tesla – not as a consumer vehicle, but as a means of providing city to city fleet passenger transport, similar to a train or bus with added comfort and style, and with all the benefits of sustainable electric transit. Tesloop just completed its first novel use of the Tesla Model X in another capacity: As a freight vehicle, with plans this month to tow 3,500 lbs of water from a 7-UP bottling station in Modesto, CA, to Tesloop’s Culver City headquarters.
This isn’t the main business model for Tesloop, either now or in the future; it’s still focused supplementing long-distance transit with low passenger Model X personal transit, with round-trip routes throughout Southern California, and with plans to begin service to Santa Barbara next, along with pilot routes in the Bay Area.
Still, it’s a unique demonstration and a move that Tesloop says is “the first step in creating an emissions-free supply chain” that can be used more broadly. Basically, the company wanted to show that it could be done to get the ball rolling on how different transit models can be reimagined today, using technology that’s already on the road.
It’s also a marketing move for Tesloop, which is working with Noah’s Spring Water on the shipment, and which will also be offering Noah’s Water onboard its Tesloop routes as one of the many free snacks and amenities it offers to paying passengers during their trips. Other onboard features include Wi-Fi, noise-cancelling headphones and pillows.
Tesla will unveil its own electric semi truck in September, which will probably be a better way to transport sizeable cargo to and from different destinations with minimal ecological impact. For now, though, maybe strap a trailer to that Model X – plus, those gull-wing doors are perfect for loading large packages.