Image: Erik Yde
Tesla is known for its high-speed Supercharger network to help fuel millions of EVs daily across the world. After the success of this network, the brand is considering to do the same for its Tesla Semi class 8 trucking product with the Megachargers.
According to a Tesla enthusiast, Erik Yde, one of the Megacharger units has been spotted in Las Vegas in the state of Nevada.
This time around, it’s sitting on a pallet and is located next to an existing Supercharger site which is located on South Eastern Ave.
These photos also reveal the size of the charging connector and in appearance, it looks quite compact including the diameter of the cable.
It also includes a button to unlock the charging port on the Tesla Semi and is similar to the button found on Tesla’s V3 superchargers and the Gen 3 Wall Connector which thousands of Australian Tesla owners use to charge their cars at home.
The Tesla Megacharger units have three times the rated output of the V3 Tesla Superchargers which are capped at 250 kW. A whopping 750 kW of charging is possible with the Megacharger units.
It’s currently unclear as to what the unit is doing there but it’s expected that the unit is to be used by Semi drivers in the near future.
In recent weeks, Tesla has ramped up efforts on a significant EV product program which has not received the same attention as some of its popular Model 3 and Model Y products.
One of these was in reports from Bloomberg, which cited internal Tesla emails suggested that revealed that Tesla is planning on seeking funding to build an interstate Semi charging station route.
In that proposal to the Department of Transportation in the US, Tesla was planning on developing a total of nine charging sites spanning over a 2,000 km route from California to Texas.
Each site is expected to contain a total of 12 high-speed Semi Chargers. Eight of these will be like the ones spotted on this pallet in Las Vegas and dedicated to Tesla Semis.
The other key update was Pepsico sharing how they use the Tesla Semi fleet at their plant in Sacramento.
According to the Pepsico team, each Semi is able to charge from 10% to 90% in 20-30 minutes. That’s based on the tests they have conducted over the last eight months with their fleet of 21 Tesla Semi and four Megachargers on site.
The Tesla Semi is a unique product in the heavy road freight sector and is out there to change the freight industry by removing diesel trucks from the roads. More developments in charging infrastructure for larger vehicles are the natural next step to making electric trucks more appealing to freight businesses.
Riz is the founder of carloop based in Melbourne, specialising in Australian EV data, insight reports and trends. He is a mechanical engineer who spent the first 7 years of his career building transport infrastructure before starting carloop. He has a passion for cars, particularly EVs and wants to help reduce transport emissions in Australia. He currently drives a red Tesla Model 3.
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