Key Takeaways
- Tesla plans to spend over $500M to expand its Supercharger network, adding thousands of chargers.
- Despite cost-cutting measures and layoffs, Tesla remains focused on growing the Supercharger network.
- Supercharger network is America’s second-largest charging network, but leads in the number of fast charging points.
Reports of the Tesla Supercharger network’s demise have been greatly exaggerated, as Elon Musk took to X today to inform the world the company is planning on spending a massive amount expanding it this year. Concerning rumors about the network have been swirling these past few weeks ever since Musk fired most of the Supercharger team in a mass layoff.
Tesla
Tesla, Inc. is an American electric vehicle manufacturer largely attributed to driving the EV revolution. Through the Model S and subsequent products, Tesla has innovated and challenged industry conventions on numerous fronts, including over-the-air updates, self-driving technology, and automotive construction methods. Tesla is considered the world’s most valuable car brand as of 2023, and the Model Y the world’s best-selling car in the same year, but the brand’s greatest achievement is arguably the Supercharger network of EV charging stations.
- Founded
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July 1, 2003
- Founder
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Martin Eberhard, Marc Tarpenning
- Headquarters
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Austin, Texas, USA
- Owned By
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Publicly Traded
- Current CEO
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Elon Musk
He wanted to set the record straight that the company is planning on spending $500 million this year to add thousands of chargers and expand existing stations, allowing you to continue charging your Model 3 in peace.
A Rough Quarter Can’t Keep Tesla Down
He went on to say that this is just the money going toward expansion and that when you factor in operating costs, the company is spending much more, though he didn’t clarify exactly how much.
Ever since it was reported that Tesla saw its first revenue and sales drop since 2020, the company has been a whirlwind of announcements, changes, and layoffs. A little more than a month ago, it was confirmed by Musk that the company was planning on shedding 10% of its workforce worldwide in an effort to cut costs, but the ensuing layoffs confirmed the rumors that the number is closer to 20%.
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The worst of it was when he fired two senior executives and their entire departments, one of which was in charge of the Supercharger network. It’s been reported he did this to make an example of them, with him allegedly quoted as saying, “Hopefully, these actions are making it clear that we need to be absolutely hardcore about headcount and cost reduction. While some [executive] staff are taking this seriously, most are not yet doing so” at the time.
While there have been some harsh realities, the company is forging on as expected, and the Supercharger network has become a renewed focus along with its embattled self-driving ambitions.
We Need The Supercharging Network Now More Than Ever
Business can be cutthroat, but sometimes you need to soldier on for the common good, and the Supercharging Network has become the common good. Over the past year, almost every automaker has adopted Tesla’s NACS connector, and the network has slowly been opening to drivers from the Rivian R1T to the Mustang Mach-E.
Tesla currently has the second-largest charging network in the US behind Chargepoint, with 33,000 ports at 6,000 locations to Chargepoint’s 56,000 ports at 31,000 locations. While the numbers seem to be in Chargepoint’s favor, it’s extremely important to note that of Tesla’s 33,000 ports, more than 20,000 of them are fast-charging ports, which, according to Edmunds, makes the Tesla fast-charging network two times the size of the next three fast-charging networks combined.
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And 60% higher charge rates than Tesla’s V3 Superchargers.
It’s best to remember this information is a few months old, so both networks have certainly grown in size since (neither keeps a running update of the number of chargers available). When you combine this with the fact that only one IRA-funded EV charging station has been opened, you realize the Supercharger network is a vital piece of American infrastructure as more EVs hit the roads. Whether you like Tesla or not isn’t important when we’re talking about hitting our emissions goals, because it’s all hands on deck until we hit net-zero.
