Tesla may not have had the best year, financially speaking, for its passenger vehicles as sales took a nosedive as a result of recent controversies surrounding CEO Elon Musk.
But let's not forget that 2026 will supposedly be the year of the long-awaited Semi, according to Semi program chief Dan Priestley. And it seems the electric vehicle manufacturer continues to make progress towards that goal.
[Related: Tesla Semi program manager gives most detailed update on its BEV to date]
Aside from manufacturing, a charging infrastructure must be in place. PepsiCo, which has been running Tesla Semis in California as part of a pilot program, will be charged and ready to go in Denver, Colorado.
[Related: Pepsi spills the beans on Tesla Semi's real-world hauling performance]
Tesla, in partnership with PepsiCo, has filed permits to build a six-stall Semi charging station at its distribution center in the Mile-High City, according to Teslarati.
Tesla and PepsiCo have already established a mutually beneficial partnership over the past few years. As part of the pilot program for regional deliveries, PepsiCo helped test the Semi and provided valuable feedback to aid in its ongoing development.
With mass production of the Semi approaching at the Nevada Gigafactory, a broader charging infrastructure is now essential. PepsiCo, already using the electric trucks for deliveries across states like California, Arizona, New Mexico, and Nevada, has both the deep pockets and strategic incentive to support this expansion.
The upcoming Denver site is not alone; the company has filed permits to install 18 Semi chargers at a facility near Charlotte, North Carolina.
It would be fair to assume that the Denver and Charlotte sites will also be equipped with Megawatt Charging Systems (MCS), which are critical for long-haul, heavy-duty battery-electric rigs, specifically the Tesla Semi.
[Related: Megawatt charging explained: What it is and why it matters]
For now, neither PepsiCo nor Tesla has shared specific timelines for when the new charging sites in Denver and Charlotte will go live. But with the New Year quickly approaching, the long-anticipated Tesla Semi—first unveiled in 2017—may finally be ready for widespread deployment.
