The very first Tesla Megachargers in Texas could be built in South Texas and near the border as the electric vehicle brand owned by Elon Musk looks to launch its long-awaited EV semi-truck fleet across the country.
Tesla is investing heavily in building its electric-powered freight trucking brand, Semi, including establishing charging stations all over the country. Part of that effort includes a new partnership to install dozens of Megacharger stations at Pilot Travel Centers, which owns and operates more than 750 truck stops across the United States and Canada. And the very first Megachargers to be built in Texas could be built in San Antonio, Laredo, according to the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation (TDLR). And a third Megacharger site could soon be installed at a Swift Stop in Houston.
Earlier this year, Jason Gies, Tesla Semi’s head of business development, announced the Megacharger partnership with Pilot on LinkedIn. In February, Gies unveiled a map that showed dozens of potential Megacharger locations across the United States, including about 19 spots in Texas listed as “coming soon.”
“You can see Megachargers and coming soon sites forming a backbone across the country. Chicago is becoming a real anchor. The Southeast is filling in. Corridors are starting to connect, not just scatter pins,” Gies said on LinkedIn.
Among those were two locations in Laredo, one in Corpus Christi, one each in Cotulla and San Antonio, and four in the greater Houston area. But now, plans for at least three of the proposed Megacharger stations have become more concrete. TDLR records now indicate that the first two Texas Megachargers are expected to begin construction at Pilot Flying J truck stops in Laredo and San Antonio.
In the Alamo City, the Megacharger will be installed off Interstate 10 at the Flying J at 1815 N. Foster Road, San Antonio, TX 78244, TDLR records show. The first Laredo Megacharger will be installed along Interstate 35 at the Flying J located at 1011 Beltway Parkway, Laredo, TX 78045. Construction of the semi-truck electric charging stations was set to begin as soon as this month for San Antonio and in June for the Laredo location. Both builds are expected to last about a year, according to TDLR.
Meanwhile, the first of four Houston Megachargers is set to happen on the city’s northwest side at a Swift Stop at 12250 Farm-to-Market Road 529 CS, Houston, TX 77041, TDLR records show. Thus far, neither Tesla nor Swift Stop, which is owned by the Walker Sims Oil Company, has announced a similar Megacharger partnership deal. However, Texas is one of five states Tesla and Pilot are targeting as they build out the infrastructure needed to support a nationwide EV freight trucking fleet.
“The initial locations will be at select Pilot travel center locations along I-5, I-10 and several other key corridors across California, Georgia, Nevada, New Mexico and Texas, where the need for heavy-duty charging is the highest,” Pilot officials said last month.
In February, Musk announced on X that Tesla Semi would begin “high volume production” in 2026, saying that beverage company, PepsiCo is already using the electric trucks in its operations. Currently, PepsiCo operates a fleet of Tesla Semis at several locations in California. And in December, global shipping company DHL announced that it had taken delivery of its first Tesla Semi and had begun using it for 100-mile routes in California, as well.