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TechCrunch has learned that Tesla, along with three other industry partners, has quietly backed an Illinois Environmental Protection Agency application to win $100 million in funding to build electric truck charging stations in the state.
The award was the largest awarded by the Biden Administration’s Federal Highway Administration last week. second round Charging and Refueling is a program known as Infrastructure program. The CFI program awarded a total of $636 million to 49 applicants in this round, after distributing more than $1 billion to approximately 100 applicants in the first round of 2024.
A separate $97 million Tesla-backed project aimed at building an electric trucking corridor from southern California to Texas was not selected for funding in either round. TechCrunch reported earlier this week. The company has been developing its own large electric vehicle, the Tesla Semi, for years, but the truck has yet to go into commercial production.
Megha Lakchaura, Illinois EV officer, told TechCrunch that she decided to pursue CFI funding last year after seeing infrastructure startup TeraWatt and the New Mexico Department of Transportation. earn $63 million for heavy lifting along the I-10 corridor.
In 2024, the Illinois EPA selected Tesla, logistics real estate firm Prologis, fleet electrification company Gage Zero, and truck parking giant Pilot from among those applicants and consolidated their applications into a single application to the CFI program.
Lakchaura said Illinois is already building fast-charging stations for passenger cars using a mix of state and federal funding, but there is no money for “heavy-duty or moderate-duty” electrification. The agency announced Call partners in June 2024 Helping develop the program, which Lakchaura says has received “very good response from the market.”
Lakchaura said the agency has requested about $126 million in CFI funding on behalf of partners. Prologis asked for $60 million, Tesla for $40 million, Gage Zero for $16 million, and Pilot for $10 million. Each partner also offered to contribute some of their own money to finance the construction of the charging station. Prologis offered to pay $18 million, Tesla $19 million, Gage Zero $4 million, and Pilot $2.5 million.
Since the FHWA received slightly less than what was requested, Lakchaura said there is still work to be done to determine how much to allocate to each partner. The money will help the state add 345 charging ports and parking lots at 14 locations, and chargers can range from 150 kW to 1 MW.
“Most of the development has happened on the coasts and nothing is really happening in the Midwest, which is not great for long-haul trucking,” Lakchaura said. “We think this center could be of national importance.”
