Public charging for electric trucks — including the largest semi-trailers — is on the way in Illinois.

The state has landed a $100 million federal grant for the construction of 14 public charging stations for medium- and heavy-duty trucks.

Located at strategic points along major truck routes, the charging stations will have a total of 345 ports — enough to charge up to 3,500 trucks a day, according to Illinois electric vehicle officer Megha Lakhchaura.

“Illinois can be a critical connecting node for (electric) trucks going across the county,” said Lakhchaura, noting there is already some charging infrastructure on the East Coast and in the West.

“This would be that critical node that helps trucks actually go across the country, north to south and east to west,” she said.

Charging station locations will include the Chicago area, Springfield, and the Metro East and Quad Cities regions.

Medium- and heavy-duty trucks are responsible for 21% of the country’s transportation-related greenhouse gas emissions, although they account for just 5% of vehicles on the road.

In addition, most of these trucks run on diesel fuel, a growing health concern in neighborhoods such as Little Village, which experience heavy truck traffic.

Exposure to diesel exhaust can lead to asthma and respiratory illnesses and worsen existing heart and lung disease, especially in children and the elderly, according to the Environmental Protection Agency. The agency considers diesel exhaust a likely carcinogen.

At the Chicago-based Respiratory Health Association, Brian Urbaszewski, environmental health programs director, said 14 truck-charging stations is a good start for Illinois.

“It’s really encouraging that the state went for this money, got this money, and is working with businesses to get (the chargers) into the ground,” he said.

Urbaszewski noted that the state also landed a $430 million EPA climate pollution reduction grant in July, of which $115 million will be aimed at truck electrification. And in November, the EPA awarded the state $95 million to electrify transportation and equipment at ports, including the Illinois International Port in the East Side neighborhood.

“This is another piece to a larger puzzle,” Urbaszewski said of the truck-charging grant, “and more funding aimed at things like electrifying trucks.”

Electric trucks remain less than 1% of the medium- and heavy-duty trucks on the road, but sales have been rising.

Lakhchaura said that the future of big electric trucks in Illinois is hard to predict, and a lot is going to depend on the broader market.

“The big problem has been that battery costs haven’t gone down, which is why the long-range (option) hasn’t taken off,” she said.

Medium-duty trucks with ranges of 150 to 160 miles are selling, she said, but for long-distance hauls you need a semi with a range of 500 miles and an attractive price.

Among the companies in the race to produce that truck is Tesla, which has announced plans to begin high-volume production of its semi in late 2025. The Tesla semi has an advertised range of up to 500 miles.

Lakhchaura noted that Tesla’s breakthrough electric cars — the Model 3 and Model Y — changed consumer perceptions of EVs, and she said she’s hoping that a similarly game-changing semi is on the horizon.

In the meantime, she is encouraged by the private sector’s response to Illinois’ grant proposal for the 14 truck charging stations.

Illinois applied for the funds from the U.S. Department of Transportation, but private companies will build the stations and pay some of the cost.

“The state said, ‘Who’s interested in building these chargers?’ and the private sector came, so that gives me a lot of confidence. It’s them coming to us and saying, ‘Yes, we see this (coming),’” she said.

The companies building the charging stations include Tesla, Prologis, Gage Zero and Pilot.

The truck charging stations — some of which will have onsite solar and batteries — should start appearing within two or three years, Lakhchaura said, although that’s a conservative estimate.

“I think (the companies building them) would like to do it sooner,” she said.

nschoenberg@chicagotribune.com