Tesla electric semis will soon have an additional location to power their vehicles along the I-16 corridor.
Pilot Travel Center, which opened a facility in Ellabell in 2024, celebrated the installation of six new Tesla charging stations Thursday afternoon.
The move comes as north Bryan County continues to emerge as a logistics hub, with a growing concentration of warehouses and distribution facilities near the I-16 corridor.
“Pilot is proud to bring heavy-duty charging directly to key trucking routes and pair it with the services and amenities drivers rely on,” said Shannon Sturgil, senior vice president of alternative fuels at Pilot in a press release. “With these initial locations, we’re making fleet electrification a more accessible option for
long-haul transportation and are excited to continue working with Tesla to move at the pace and preference of our customers.”
Each charging station delivers 1.2 megawatts, allowing the semi to recover 60% of its charge in 30 minutes, according to a press release. According to an engineer from Tesla, 1.2 megawatts can power 100 homes. The Class 8 semi can travel up to 500 miles fully charged.
Paul Allen, who works in Tesla's semi-truck operations division, said the company recently added charging stations in Conley, Georgia, expanding the network that powers its electric semis along the I-16 corridor. Additional charging networks are coming online in Texas, Nevada and California.
“We're looking at markets strategically all across the U.S.,” said Allen. “There is going to be many more to come, and this was the right time and the right place for us to activate in this market of the country."
The Tesla EV semis are becoming a popular option for companies looking for a more economical method of transportation, according to Allen.
"We've had customers in drayage [short-distance] operations, regional hauls, local pickup and delivery applications," said Allen. "Between our long range and standard range, we fit a vast majority of the market need out there. In this market, because we're close to the port, we naturally get a lot of interest in fleets running drayage operations, which our truck is more than happy to support."
Latrice Williams is a general assignment reporter covering Bryan and Effingham County. She can be reached at lwilliams6@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on Savannah Morning News: New Tesla chargers arrive in Ellabell for electric semis
