Tesla has been spotted deploying the first Megacharger to charge its upcoming Tesla Semi electric truck at Gigafactory Nevada.
With the unveiling of the Tesla Semi in 2017, Tesla unveiled its plan to deploy ‘Megachargers,’ a more powerful version of its Supercharger network, to charge its electric trucks. The plan was ambitious.
Tesla wanted a new charging station that could add 400 miles of range in just 30 minutes, and they wanted to guarantee low electricity rates at the station.
At the time, we estimated that Tesla was planning a charging station to deliver over 1 MW of power, which would make sense considering the name.
But for years and several delays later, Tesla had yet to release the Tesla Semi or the Megacharger until now.
Today, Tesla was spotted deploying the first Megacharger station at Gigafactory Nevada:
The stalls are much longer than what you’d find at most Supercharger stations to accommodate larger trucks with trailers.
In 2019, we reported that Tesla submitted their own >1 MW high-power charging standard for electric trucks within CharIN, an industry association behind the CCS standard.
CharIN is working on High Power Charging for Commercial Vehicles (HPCCV) with its members in order to create a standard for interoperability of vehicle charging stations for electric trucks.
Tesla was one of five companies that submitted designs, along with Electrify America, ABB, paXos, and Staubli, to develop the standards for high power charging.
Last year, Jerome Guillen, Tesla’s head of heavy trucking at the time, said that the automaker was working with partners to develop the Megacharger.
As we previously reported, Tesla has a facility next to Gigafactory Nevada for low volume Tesla Semi production.
Earlier this summer, the automaker completed its drive axle production line, and it was in the process of debugging its low volume general assembly line.
Tesla recently delayed the first Tesla Semi deliveries to customers until next year when it will have more battery cell supply, but the automaker is expected to have more pre-production units built at that facility for testing and its internal logistics needs.
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