Tesla to roll out 1.2 MW Semi Superchargers at dozens of truck stops

Tesla has partnered with a truck stop operator to rollout its latest 1.2 MW truck charging stations across multiple sites across the US, in a first of its kind rollout.

The partnership with Pilot Flying J, who operate hundreds of truck stops across the country, will allow Tesla to deploy ultra fast truck charging with each stall capable of up to 1,200 kW of power using the company’s latest V4 Supercharger power cabinets.

Tesla’s Semi account shared this news by saying: “Pilot Flying J’s portfolio meaningfully adds to the rapidly growing megawatt Semi charging network we are building nationally”.

The construction of first sites that will initially power Tesla’s Semi trucks will begin in first half it 2026, and will be able to add 500 miles or over 800 km with just a 30 minute charge.

This matches a normal mandated break period for professional drivers in the US.

Initial construction will be at select Pilot travel centers planned across California, Georgia, Nevada, New Mexico and Texas.

The network will also be compatible to other electric trucks as more manufacturers bring electric trucks to the heavy truck market which many logistics and transportation companies are so reliant on.

Tesla is well known for its passenger EVs, but it has also been working on launching one of its most impactful products to reduce transport emissions, in the form of the Tesla Semi electric truck.

The Semi to date has had a limited number of customers as Tesla works towards bringing it to the heavy freight and logistics industry globally.

It first began deliveries as part of a trial with a large food and beverage customer, PepsiCo, in the US back in 2022.

After taking deliveries of the Tesla Semi, PepsiCo announced in May 2024 that they had taken new deliveries of the all-electric truck, doubling its fleet to 50 operating out of its manufacturing and distribution facility in California.

In recent months, the company unveiled an updated design of the Semi with several class-leading upgrades. This included improved range and charging specs which surprised a few in the transport sector.

The updated Semi also has upgraded aerodynamics for better efficiency and increased payload capacity, along with upgrades to charging.

It can now also deliver over 800 km of range and an 800 kW drivetrain with energy consumption as low as 1.06 kWh/km in real world testing by DHL, the logistics giant.

On charging the new Semi also has 1.2 MW ultra-fast charging will be on offer.

In recent years, there have been sightings of the Tesla Semi being used by Walmart, retail store giant Costco, logistics companies like DHL and other operators.

With charging partnerships for Tesla’s Semi well underway in the US, it’s likely that the product is getting closer to mass production this year. We will keep an eye on developments around the electric truck space as it could help decarbonise our transport system a lot sooner.