The Tesla Semi’s charging network is filling in fast. A new four-stall Megacharger at a Flying J in Tulare, California, is the third Semi charging site to open in three days, and Tesla’s Semi team is now publishing the cost comparison truckers care about most.
Three sites, 18 stalls, three days
Tesla Charging confirmed the Tulare opening, at the Flying J at 979 E. Paige Avenue, on October 9. As Drive Tesla Canada tallied it, Tulare followed:
- an eight-stall Megacharger in Conley, Georgia, and
- the first Megacharger under the Pilot partnership, a six-stall site at Pilot #1390 in Ellabell, Georgia, which Pilot announced on October 8.
That’s 18 new heavy-duty stalls in three days. Tesla North also covered the Tulare opening. InsideEVs noted one practical detail at Ellabell: trucks back into the bays, because the site isn’t pull-through.
The number that matters: cost per mile
Tesla Semi program lead Dan Priestley posted the figures on X:
“Energy costs in California: >$1.00/mi diesel, ~$0.60/mi on our Megacharger network with Tesla Semi”
That’s roughly 40 cents per mile saved. Long-haul trucks often run more than 100,000 miles a year, so for a single truck that adds up to tens of thousands of dollars annually, before counting lower maintenance. Fleet buyers decide on total cost of ownership, and figures like these are what get them to sign.
What the Pilot sites deliver
Per Pilot’s announcement, each site gets four to eight stalls running Tesla’s V4 cabinet hardware. Each stall can deliver up to 1.2 megawatts, enough to restore about 60% of a Semi’s charge in roughly 30 minutes. That’s about the length of a required driver break. The network is planned along I-5, I-10 and other major freight corridors in California, Georgia, Indiana, Nevada and Texas. Drive Tesla Canada reports that 11 more sites are under construction, with Fort Stockton, Texas, and North Las Vegas, Nevada, close to completion.
Chargers and trucks, ramping together
The timing is no coincidence. Tesla recently opened its high-volume Semi factory in Nevada, designed for 50,000 trucks a year. Building trucks without places to charge them would be a mistake, and Tesla seems determined to avoid it by bringing chargers online alongside production. Putting them at Pilot and Flying J stops, where truckers already fuel, eat and rest, means drivers don’t have to change their routines.
Why it matters for sustainability
Heavy trucks make up a small share of vehicles on the road but an outsized share of transport emissions and diesel pollution along freight corridors. Every Semi that replaces a diesel tractor cuts tailpipe pollution in communities near highways, ports and distribution centers, which often have the worst air quality. Electrifying trucks makes a bigger dent per vehicle than almost anything else in transport.
The EVX News take
For years the main question about the Semi was “where will it charge?” Three sites in three days, with a dozen more on the way, is starting to answer it. Pair that with 60 cents a mile against more than a dollar for diesel, and the Semi becomes a straightforward business decision for fleets.
Sources: Drive Tesla Canada, Tesla North, InsideEVs, Pilot Company newsroom.
— The EVX News team
Featured image: Tesla Semi electric truck, by Dllu, via Wikimedia Commons, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.
