October 21, 2022: -San Francisco startup TeraWatt Infrastructure reported developing the initial network of electric vehicle-charging means for heavy-duty and medium-duty trucks along the Interstate 10 highway, stretching from Long Beach, California, to the El Paso, Texas, area.

The company raised over $1 billion this year to build demanding infrastructure and communicated the facilities would be located about 150 miles apart and lower one league from the highway exits across California, Arizona, and New Mexico.

Medium and heavy trucks make up approximately 4% of vehicles in the U.S. Still, because of their larger size and more effective travel distances, the cars down over 25% of total highway fuel and represent nearly 30% of highway carbon emissions, according to the Department of Energy.

“While there is a small number of long-haul electric trucks on the road today, these cars are arriving sooner than we think, and we need the charging infrastructure to be ready,” TeraWatt CEO Neha Palmer said.

TeraWatt’s charging centers will feature dozens of direct current fast chargers, pull-through assigning stalls, and on-site driver amenities for the long-haul and regional electric-trucking operations, the company said. The first sites are set to come online in 2023.

The statement comes after the Biden administration rolled out a plan to allocate $5 billion to states to fund EV chargers along interstate highways as part of the bipartisan infrastructure package.

In September, the Department of Transportation approved EV-charging station plans for all 50 states, Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico, covering 75,000 miles. States also have access to more than $1.5 billion to help construct the chargers.

The Biden administration has set a target for EVs to make up half of all recent vehicle sales by 2030 and has pledged to return its national fleet to electric power by 2035.