A recent report has suggested that Tesla may move forward with its plan to establish a network of nine Megacharger stations for the Tesla Semi, even if the Biden Administration does not provide funding. According to a former Tesla VP, the EV maker may pivot to state funding or utilize its own resources to build the Tesla Semi Megacharger route. Tesla was aiming to secure nearly $100 million from the administration’s Charging and Fueling Infrastructure (CFI) Discretionary Grant program, with plans to contribute about $24 million of its own funds for the planned Semi chargers covering a distance of about 1,800 miles, from Fremont, California to Laredo, Texas.
The planned Megachargers for the Tesla Semi would effectively make the Class 8 all-electric truck a true long-hauler. However, the Biden administration denied funding to the proposed Megacharger route, opting in some cases to fund similar hydrogen projects. As such, state funding opportunities could now be explored, or the company might try its luck again in future rounds of the CFI program, according to Patel.
The initiative is aimed at creating a “hydrogen corridor from southern California to Texas.”
The former Tesla VP expressed concern that funding hydrogen stations might be a waste, stating that “Funding hydrogen stations will go down as purely wasted money.”