Tesla to split $100M award for electric truck charging corridor in Illinois

Tesla, along with three other industry partners, has quietly backed an Illinois Environmental Protection Agency application that won $100 million in funding to build electric truck charging stations across the state, TechCrunch has learned.

Last week was the largest award given by the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) to the Biden administration. Second round Known as the Charging and Fueling Infrastructure Program. The CFI program awarded a total of $636 million to 49 applicants in this round, after disbursing more than $1 billion to nearly 100 applicants in the first round in 2024.

A different $97 million project backed by Tesla, which focuses on building an electric trucking corridor from northern California to southern Texas, was not selected for funding in either round, because TechCrunch reported earlier this week. The company has been developing its own electric big rig called the Tesla Semi for several years but has yet to put the truck into commercial production.

Megha Lakhchaura, EV officer for the state of Illinois, told TechCrunch in an interview that she decided to pursue CFI funding after looking at infrastructure startup Terawatt and New Mexico’s Department of Transportation last year. Win $63 million to build heavy-duty charging along the I-10 corridor.

The Illinois EPA selected Tesla, logistics real estate firm Prologis, fleet electrification company Gauge Zero and truck stop giant Pilot in 2024 from that pool of applicants and consolidated their requests into a single application to the CFI program.

Lakhchaura said Illinois was already building fast charging stations for passenger vehicles using a mix of state and federal funding but “had no pot for a heavy or medium tariff” on electrification. Organization is a put out Call for partners in June 2024 to help develop the app, for which Lakhchaura said there was “very good response from the market.”

Lakhchaura said the company has requested about $126 million in CFI funds on behalf of partners. Prologis requested $60 million, Tesla $40 million, Gauge Zero $16 million and Pilot $10 million. Each partner has also offered to contribute some of its own money to finance the construction of the charging station. Prologis offered $18 million, Tesla $19 million, Gauge Zero $4 million and Pilot $2.5 million.

Since the FHWA awarded slightly less than requested, Lakhchaura said there is still some work to be done to sort out how much each partner will be awarded. The money will help the state add 345 charging ports and vehicle stalls across 14 sites with chargers ranging from 150kW to 1MW.

“Most of the development has happened on the coast, and nothing is really happening in the Midwest, which is not great for long-haul trucking,” Lakhchaura said. “We think that this hub could be of national importance.”