Tesla Planning Nine Semi-Truck Charging Stations From CA To TX

Tesla is reportedly seeking almost $100 million in funding from the US government to build the 1,800-mile charging corridor.

Tesla Semi at Megacharger

Dan Mihalascu

By: Dan Mihalascu

Aug 2, 2023 at 9:04am ET

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Tesla is reportedly looking to build nine electric semi-truck charging stations along a route from northern California to the southern border of Texas.

According to emails seen by Bloomberg News, the EV maker is seeking nearly $100 million from the US to build the charging stations.

In emails to the Texas Department of Transportation between May and early July, Tesla executives proposed that each station be equipped with eight 750-kilowatt chargers for Tesla Semi trucks and four chargers for trucks made by its competitors.

If the plan succeeds, it would result in a first-of-its-kind charging network in the US that would enable long-haul electrified trucking from Texas to California, the states where Tesla has a major manufacturing and engineering footprint. The charging stations would also enable regional-haul trucking in Texas, Arizona, and California.

Perhaps more importantly, the charging corridor would help Tesla connect its US plants with the factory it plans to build in the Mexican state of Nuevo Leon, which is just south of Texas' border.

Tesla Semi

The corridor would stretch from Fremont, California, to Laredo, Texas, right on the US-Mexico border. Stations between Fremont and Laredo would include Bakersfield (CA), Compton (CA), Indio (CA), Phoeniz (AZ), San Simon (AZ), Sparks (TX), and Fort Stockton (TX). The distance between Fremont and Laredo is approximately 1,800 miles (2,900 kilometers).

Tesla execs told Texas officials the corridor could qualify for federal grants that would be disbursed as part of the bipartisan infrastructure bill created to modernize US transit systems by building more EV charging stations for both passenger and commercial vehicles.

According to Bloomberg, Tesla asked Texas state officials to write a letter in support of its semi-truck-charging project to include in its funding application, which was submitted in June. Tesla would contribute $24 million in addition to the $97 million requested from the government.

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Tesla has designed Megacharger charging stations specifically for the Semi. The company has deployed some Megachargers at its own facilities, including Gigafactory Nevada, and at distribution centers belonging to PepsiCo, the Semi's first customer.

The EV maker has also installed mobile Megachargers at some strategic spots on several occasions. However, Bloomberg's report suggests Tesla is now looking to build permanent Megachargers, as it promised when it unveiled the Semi in 2017.