Tesla celebrates 10 years of Supercharging. The company recently posted a tweet that highlights the network’s expansion over the years.
The first stations were installed in September 2012 to support the marketing of the Tesla Model S (see Supercharger event video below).
Boosting to 90kW and then up to 120kW was a major feature, which, combined with the Model S’s long range, opened up the possibility of using an electric car for long journeys.
High power output wasn’t the only novelty. The Tesla Supercharge completely changed the charging industry.
Tesla introduced several concepts that were truly pioneering. The network itself was the first proprietary fast-charging network for an electric vehicle brand. It was initially free for Tesla cars, which was an important marketing tool to encourage customers to purchase a Model S.
Another thing was that Tesla used its proprietary ultra-compact connector for normal AC charging and fast DC charging, whereas at the time the DC-only CHAdeMO was a separate thing from the SAE J1772 AC connector. At that time, CCS was not yet available.
Tesla pioneered a very convenient way to open the charging input (via a button on the socket) and very quickly authorize the vehicle with automatic charging start (it was easier than in the case of general industry, thanks to a unified fleet of cars and its own customer database). All charging-related data and settings were available on the vehicle display (or app), rather than the charger display (there was none).
Tesla was the first to build a fast-charging network with multiple stands per single station, while CHAdeMO chargers were typically solitary and typically only consumed 50kW.
Tesla had a real strategy, which even included the layout of the stations, which correspond to the position of the charging sockets (rear left), with an idea of parking in reverse.
In 2012, other manufacturers were still mostly neglecting BEVs, while in the case of fast-charging infrastructure, automakers seemed to want to focus on the vehicles and let someone else build the chargers (Government , service stations, charging operators) .
Now, 10 years later, the Tesla Supercharge network has around 39,000 stands at around 4,300 stations in 46 countries around the world. In recent quarters, on average, Tesla rolls out new station for over 1,000 cars sold.
According to the automaker, the grid provided enough energy to power Tesla cars for some 20 billion miles (32 billion km). In Europe, the company is also testing the supercharging of non-Tesla vehicles in selected stations in 14 countries.
In the near future, Tesla is expected to reiterate its approach with the Tesla Megacharge network for electric trucks.
Let’s take a look at the latest Tesla Supercharge network maps (installed or “coming soon” chargers), provided by the company:
