Tesla Opens a 4-Stall Semi Megacharger in Tulare, CA. Priestley Puts ~$0.60/mi Against Diesel. Price per kWh Still Unpublished.

Honest fence (read first): Tulare facts come from Tesla Charging (Oct 9), Pilot’s Oct 8 newsroom release (Flying J #1071, opening Oct 9), and TeslaNorth (Oct 11). The ~$0.60/mi vs >$1.00/mi diesel comparison is Dan Priestley’s claim for California on “our Megacharger network” — not an audited fleet cost, and not a published Tulare tariff. Tesla has not published Tulare’s kWh price, measured stall power, or whether outside fleets can charge there. The 1.2 MW / 60% in 30 minutes figures are the Pilot/Tesla network spec, not a Tulare measurement. Embed: Out of Spec BITS Z_LoSPhKcq4 (oEmbed 200) — footage is the Ellabell, GA Pilot opening, not Tulare. Use it only as hardware context for what a Pilot/Tesla Megacharger site looks like. Soft re-cover: the Oct 8 Georgia East Coast post gets one line of context only.

Editorial Thesis

An electric Semi is only as useful as the places it can charge — and as honest as the cost story attached to those places. This week Tesla put a West Coast Megacharger on the map in California’s Central Valley freight belt. The same day, Tesla’s Semi program lead put a cost-per-mile number next to it.

That is the Robotaxi Thursday Semi story: a named site plus a company cost claim, still missing the one number fleet operators usually need first — price per kWh at the stall.

Honest Verdict

Believe the Tulare opening as company- and partner-stated: 4 stalls, Flying J #1071, Hwy 99 corridor, dated Oct 9 in Pilot’s release and posted by Tesla Charging the same evening. Treat “5th public site” and 30+ by end-2026 as Tesla targets relayed in secondary posts. Treat ~$0.60/mi as Priestley’s California Megacharger-network claim, not a Tulare receipt. Treat 1.2 MW as network marketing spec until someone publishes a measured Tulare session. Do not pretend the Out of Spec tour is filmed in Tulare.

What the primaries actually say

Tesla Charging (Oct 9, 8:27 PM ET)

• “New Tesla Megacharger: Tulare, CA (4 stalls),” linking tesla.com/findus?location=456953, with an overhead site photo.

Pilot newsroom (Oct 8)

• Named Flying J #1071, Tulare, CA, opening October 9, 2026 among sites near completion (alongside Fort Stockton TX and North Las Vegas NV — those two without dates in the release).
• Sites planned for 4–8 stalls.
• Quotes Tesla: stalls deliver up to 1.2 megawatts; ~60% of charge in 30 minutes “according to Tesla.”

Dan Priestley (Oct 9, 8:56 PM ET)

• Quote-posting Tulare: “Energy costs in California: >$1.00/mi diesel / ~$0.60/mi on our Megacharger network with Tesla Semi.”
• Basis (load factor, route, rate schedule, demand charges) is not stated.

TeslaNorth (Oct 11) — secondary labeled

• Places the site on Hwy 99 between Fresno and Bakersfield in the Central Valley produce/dairy freight belt.
• Notes Tesla didn’t share the site’s charging speed, whether it is open to outside fleets or only Tesla’s own trucks, or which carriers will use it.
• Address context cited in related coverage: 979 E. Paige Ave (Drive Tesla Canada).

Network context (one line)

• Live AISN Oct 8 post already covered Conley + Ellabell, Georgia (East Coast). Today’s lede is Tulare + Priestley’s cost-per-mile claim, not a Georgia redo.

Claim vs proof

Video note

Z_LoSPhKcq4 is a full hardware tour of the first Pilot/Tesla Megacharger unveil — transformers, cabinets, MCS dispensers — filmed at Ellabell, GA. Use it so readers see the hardware class. All Tulare facts stay with Tesla Charging, Pilot, and TeslaNorth.