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Tesla, along with three other industry partners, quietly backed an Illinois Environmental Protection Agency application that won $100 million in funding to build electric truck charging stations across the state, TechCrunch he learned
The award was the largest given by the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) of the Biden administration last week in the second time of what is known as the Cargo and Fuel 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 in 2024.
Another $97 million project backed by Tesla, which focused on building an electric truck corridor between Northern California and Southern Texas, was not selected for funding at any time, as TechCrunch reported earlier this week. The company has been developing its own electric big rig for years called the Tesla Semi, but has yet to have the truck in commercial production.
Megha Lakhchaura, Illinois’ state EV official, told TechCrunch in an interview that she decided to pursue CFI funding last year after seeing the TeraWatt infrastructure startup and the Department of Transportation’s New Mexico. win $63 million to build a heavy load along the I-10 corridor.
The Illinois EPA selected Tesla, real estate logistics company Prologis, fleet electrification company Gage Zero, and truck stop giant Pilot in 2024 from that pool of applicants and combined their requests in a single application to the CFI program.
Lakhchaura said Illinois is already building fast-charging stations for passenger vehicles using a mix of state and federal funding, but that “there wasn’t a pool of money for heavy-duty or medium-duty electrification.” The agency published a call partners in June 2024 to help create the application, which Lakhchaura said prompted a “very good response from the market.”
Lakhchaura said the agency has applied for about $126 million in CFI funding on behalf of the partners. Prologis asked for $60 million, Tesla asked for $40 million, Gage Zero asked for $16 million, and Pilot asked for $10 million. Each partner also offered to put up some of their own money to finance the construction of charging stations. Prologis offered to pay $18 million, Tesla offered to pay $19 million, Gage Zero offered $4 million, and Pilot offered $2.5 million.
Since the FHWA awarded slightly less than was requested, Lakhchaura said there is still work to be done to sort out how much will be awarded to each partner. The money will help the state add 345 charging ports and vehicle stalls at 14 sites, and the chargers will range from 150kW to 1MW.
“Most of the development is happening on the coasts, and there’s nothing really happening in the Midwest, which isn’t great for long-haul trucks,” Lakhchaura said. “We think this hub could be of national importance.”
