Equipment & Infrastructure • ELDT.LIVE
Four California Electric-Truck Depots Will Add 30 MW of Charging Capacity
Forum Mobility announced four new heavy-duty charging depots on September 17, with Tesla set to operate public Megacharging sites at three locations in Ontario and Oakland.
Forum Mobility announced four new depots
Forum Mobility said on September 17 that it will break ground on four heavy-duty electric-truck charging depots in California. Together, the projects are planned to add 30 megawatts of charging capacity across Northern and Southern California. The announcement is important for fleets evaluating battery-electric Class 8 operations, but it describes projects entering development rather than four sites already available for dispatch. The company did not provide a separate opening date for each new depot in the release, so carriers should confirm site readiness and reservations directly before building a route plan around them.
Tesla will operate public charging at three locations
The three Tesla-operated public Megacharging sites are FM Francis in Ontario and FM Adeline and FM Coliseum in Oakland. The fourth new location, FM Santa Fe in Rancho Dominguez, is expected to remain open to the wider commercial drayage community while supporting contracted fleet demand associated with more than 330 Tesla Semi reservations. Public access does not necessarily mean unreserved, immediate, or compatible access for every truck; fleets still need to verify account requirements, connector support, operating hours, pricing, and availability.
The sites are designed around working trucks
Forum Mobility says the new depots will combine Megawatt Charging System, or MCS, equipment with conventional CCS charging ports. Pull-through lanes are intended to let drivers keep the chassis attached while charging. The company says its MCS equipment can provide up to a 60% range increase in about 30 minutes. That is a provider claim, not a guaranteed result for every vehicle or session: actual energy delivered will depend on the truck, battery state, charging curve, charger output, temperature, and site conditions.
Long Beach capacity is also expanding
The announcement also says Forum Mobility added two Tesla MCS Megachargers at FM Harbor in the Port of Long Beach. That depot has operated since December 2024 and has 44 CCS charging ports with 9 MW of total capacity, according to the company. This is distinct from the four newly announced depots. Drivers and dispatchers should verify which equipment is presently commissioned at each location instead of treating the network-wide capacity figures as interchangeable.
What the 30 MW figure means for carriers
The additional 30 MW is a measure of planned site electrical capacity, not a count of trucks that can charge simultaneously or a promise of a particular turnaround time. The company says it now has more than 40 MW of CCS and MCS capacity online and under construction, 25 carrier customers with contracted capacity, and reservations tied to more than 330 Tesla Semis. Those figures indicate meaningful fleet commitments, but a carrier's operational decision still requires site-level details such as charger count, usable power, dwell time, queuing, uptime, trailer access, and contingency charging.
Build charging into the legal duty-day plan
A charging stop can overlap with a qualifying break only when the driver's actual activities and duty status meet the applicable hours-of-service rules. Plugging in, inspecting equipment, moving a truck in a queue, handling paperwork, or remaining responsible for the vehicle may affect how time must be recorded. Carriers should design schedules from realistic arrival, connection, charging, and departure times rather than the charger's peak-rate claim. Drivers must record duty status truthfully and retain enough margin for congestion, detours, weather, and an unavailable charger.
Check compatibility before dispatch
Before assigning an electric truck to one of these sites, confirm that the location is open, the vehicle and connector are supported, the driver has the required access credentials, and the tractor-trailer can safely use the pull-through configuration. Verify the truck's expected state of charge at arrival, the energy needed for the next leg, nearby legal parking, and an alternate charging location. A route is not operationally ready merely because a depot has been announced or appears on a third-party map.
What CDL trainees should learn from the expansion
The development gives trainees a practical example of how new equipment changes trip planning without changing the driver's basic safety responsibilities. An electric-truck pre-trip plan should connect route length, payload, weather, terrain, energy use, charging compatibility, dwell time, hours of service, and emergency alternatives. The correct lesson is not to memorize one network's capacity. It is to verify current site status from the operator, understand the assigned vehicle, and never let range or charging pressure override safe and lawful operation.
Educational summaries help you prepare, but official FMCSA and state licensing sources remain the authority for current requirements.
Official sources
Forum Mobility — September 17 announcement on four California heavy-duty charging depots ↗Reuters — Tesla to operate public Megacharging sites at three Forum Mobility depots ↗FMCSA — Summary of Hours-of-Service Regulations ↗ELDT.live independently creates and reviews its content. We do not present practice questions as official examination questions and do not guarantee a licensing result.