EVwire brief: Tesla Semi is heading to Chicago. The official Tesla Semi account said on X that the city's first 50 Semis are en route for delivery, a day after Tesla opened a new six-stall Megacharger in Hodgkins, Illinois, in the Chicago suburbs.
Tesla did not say which fleets the 50 trucks are going to or when they will arrive. HMD Trucking, which runs nearly 700 diesel rigs across Illinois and Indiana, said in September that it is buying 50 Semis and setting up its own chargers in Chicago, alongside using Tesla's Megacharger network.
Here's the Tesla Semi account's announcement on X:
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Tesla's charging account announced the Hodgkins site with a photo of a Semi plugged in at one of its six stalls. Tesla's charging map lists the stalls at up to 1.2 MW each, according to EVChargingStations.com, matching Tesla's other full-power public Megachargers, such as its East Coast site in Conley, Georgia.
Here's Tesla Charging's post on X:
Hodgkins is one of four Megacharger sites that appeared on Tesla's map this week, alongside Urbandale, Iowa (seven stalls), Ogallala, Nebraska (two stalls) and Riverdale, Utah (two stalls at up to 414 kW). Together, they line up along a cross-country corridor heading west from Chicago and nearly double Tesla's public Megacharger network to nine locations.
The closest open site to Hodgkins is Urbandale, in the Des Moines area, roughly 330 miles (530 km) to the west. Tesla's planned-site list also includes more stops around Chicago, in Joliet and Elk Grove Village, Illinois, and in Gary and Center Township, Indiana, which would fill in the region once they open.
Tesla's planned US Megacharger network, as shown at its Semi rollout event in September 2026. Red pins mark Megacharger sites and grey pins mark private chargers. Credit: Tesla
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Context:
The Chicago push follows a busy stretch for the Semi program. After Tesla's rollout event at its new Semi factory in Sparks, Nevada, in September, drone footage in late October showed 55 new Semis parked outside the plant as production ramped. Deliveries have since started reaching customers, with IMC Logistics taking its first Semi from a 50-truck order in early November and charging it at Forum Mobility's new Megachargers at the Port of Long Beach.
The charging network is spreading east as well. In October, Tesla linked Atlanta and Savannah with Megachargers and opened a first site with Pilot in Ellabell, Georgia, then brought Semi Charging for Business to Canada. Outside North America, the Semi made its French debut at Connect Trucks in Deauville this month, and Tesla is hiring a Semi business development manager in London.
Source: Tesla Semi on X, Tesla Charging on X
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