- Tesla opened its third-ever Megacharger for recharging Semi trucks.
- The Los Angeles-based station is the first Megacharger station that isn’t on site at a Tesla factory.
- These chargers have the ability to charge Tesla’s EVs up to a whopping 750 kW.
Tesla has long been the king of the DC fas charging infrastructure in the U.S. One could even argue that its Supercharging network was one of the key factors in Tesla becoming the top-selling EV brand on its home turf, since it made plug-and-go charging so incredibly easy. Now it’s cranking things up with its budding Megacharger network.
The newest toy in Tesla’s charging arsenal is specifically geared to the Tesla Semi, a commercial truck with a massive battery. When making its long-distance trips, the Semi needs a ton of power delivered quickly in order to make commercial hauling achievable with a battery-electric vehicle. That’s where the Megacharger comes into play.
Tesla announced over the weekend that it had opened a new Megacharger at a Travel center in Ontario, California. It said that the station is accessible to the few customers who actually have taken delivery of a Semi. This is the first of at least 64 planned public Megachargers across the U.S.
Tesla lists two other Megachargers as already up and running. However, one of those locations is the Tesla Megapack facility in Lathrop, California, and the other is Tesla’s Gigafactory in Sparks, Nevada. There’s also a private Megacharger at Pepsico, one of Tesla’s earliest Semi customers. This would make the Southern California location possibly its first public Megacharger.
It’s also the slowest Megacharger of the bunch. The new Ontario location offers 750 kilowatts of power compared to the two other locations (which provide up to 1.2 megawatts). For context, Tesla’s newest Superchargers push up to 350-kW while its older stalls offer just 150-kW.
The Semi can travel up to 500 miles on a single charge. That might seem like a lot, especially when you consider that the 1.2-megawatt chargers can top off its Long Range battery to 60% in just 30 minutes. However, its massive battery means charging to 60% is enough juice to charge six Standard Range Model 3s—fast charging at these massive megawatt-speeds is necessary if Tesla wants to make even short-haul trucking successful with an electric powertrain.
Last week Tesla shared an updated of the factory posted by a user on X, noting that its Semi factory was “nearing completion.” That means Semis could be just months away from hitting the road in larger numbers. Tesla unveiled the Semi nearly a decade ago in 2017, but never graduated past the pilot stage of production.
Just as Tesla’s consumer cars got a jump start from ease of charging access, the automaker’s commercial offerings will need the same. Tesla knows that if it wants the Semi to be widely adopted, charging needs to be uncomplicated and readily accessible. Deploying as many Megachargers as possible in carefully-planned areas will be key as it readies to launch volume production.