The US Department of Transportation has awarded $636 million in funding to 49 applicants for electric-vehicle charging infrastructure. Despite its application, Tesla was not included in the list of recipients. The company had initially requested $100 million to build a big-rig charging corridor across nearly 1,800 miles.
Tesla’s struggles with its electric semi-truck program are ongoing. Although it has delivered some early versions of the Tesla Semi to customers like Pepsi and Frito-Lay, its larger commercial program remains unfulfilled. The company is still constructing a facility in Nevada for its electric semi-truck project.
The Department of Transportation’s Charging and Fueling Infrastructure (CFI) program, which received bipartisan support from President Biden in 2021, initially funded Tesla’s project in 2023. However, the project was not approved in early 2024 when $623 million in funding went to 47 applicants. In August 2024, another $521 million was awarded to 51 applicants.
Tesla continued pursuing its charging corridor idea after being left out of the first round, with some sites along the route considered “no-brainers” without funding. However, the status of Project TESSERACT remains unclear due to recent layoffs and cuts in Tesla’s charging team. The future of the CFI program is uncertain, as the bipartisan infrastructure law allocated $2.5 billion for the program, but no estimated date has been set for the next funding opportunity.
Source: https://techcrunch.com/2025/01/13/biden-admin-snubs-teslas-100-million-big-rig-charging-funding-request-again