News
Electrify America launches congestion fee pilot at select charging stations
Electrify America has followed Tesla into one strategy intended to reduce congestion at its chargers, as announced by the Volkswagen-owned company this week.
On Monday, Electrify America announced that it would be piloting a program to institute an 85-percent State of Charge (SoC) limit at its charging stations, along with charging idling fees starting 10 minutes after charging is complete. Dubbed the Congestion Reduction Pilot, the program will take place at stations throughout Southern California, beginning in the coming days.
The company also says it plans to closely monitor customer feedback at the select stations, in order to help decide how to move forward with expanding the program.
To reduce queuing and improve customer throughput, we will be conducting a Congestion Reduction Pilot at select Electrify America stations, enforcing a State of Charge (SOC) limit of 85%. Learn more about our pilot program here: https://t.co/0g2JHtmFMP
— Electrify America (@ElectrifyAm) July 8, 2024
You can see the full list of Electrify America stations taking part in the initial pilot below, or check out the full press release here.
Electrify America Congestion Reduction Pilot Stations
- Burbank, California: Plaza Del Sol (Station 200068) at 10982 Sherman Way
- Carson, California: Target T2328 (Station 200041) at 651 W Sepulveda Blvd
- Glendale, California: Ralphs 060 (Station 200046) at 1416 East Colorado St
- Los Angeles, California: Bank of America Washington-Centinela CA9-160 (Station 200044) at 12316 W Washington Blvd
- Los Angeles, California: Bank of America LA Chinatown CA9-167 (Station 200070) at 850 N Broadway
- La Crescenta, California: Vons 2598 (Station 200049) at 3233 Foothill Blvd
- San Diego, California: Walmart Supercenter 2177 (Station 200144) at 3382 Murphy Canyon Road
- San Dimas, California: Target T0767 (Station 200051) at 888 W Arrow Hwy
- Van Nuys, California: Target T1309 (Station 200047) at 14920 Raymer Street
- Yorba Linda, California: Yorba Canyon Center (Station 200079) at 21580 1/2 Yorba Linda Blvd
Electrify America has been criticized by many in the electric vehicle (EV) community for the lack of charger reliability at some stations, with individual charging stalls often being broken, causing increased congestion. Last year, the Volkswagen-owned charging network joined much of the industry in adopting Tesla’s North American Charging Standard (NACS), with the company set to roll out adapters for the Tesla-developed charging hardware to its stations.
EV owners poke fun at Electrify America’s “secret” Tesla batteries
What are your thoughts? Let me know at zach@teslarati.com, find me on X at @zacharyvisconti, or send us tips at tips@teslarati.com.
News
Tesla Europe rolls out FSD ride-alongs in the Netherlands’ holiday campaign
The festive event series comes amid Tesla’s ongoing push for regulatory approval of FSD across Europe.
Tesla Europe has announced that its “Future Holidays” campaign will feature Full Self-Driving (Supervised) ride-along experiences in the Netherlands.
The festive event series comes amid Tesla’s ongoing push for regulatory approval of FSD across Europe.
The Holiday program was announced by Tesla Europe & Middle East in a post on X. “Come get in the spirit with us. Featuring Caraoke, FSD Supervised ride-along experiences, holiday light shows with our S3XY lineup & more,” the company wrote in its post on X.
Per the program’s official website, fun activities will include Caraoke sessions and light shows with the S3XY vehicle lineup. It appears that Optimus will also be making an appearance at the events. Tesla even noted that the humanoid robot will be in “full party spirit,” so things might indeed be quite fun.
“This season, we’re introducing you to the fun of the future. Register for our holiday events to meet our robots, see if you can spot the Bot to win prizes, and check out our selection of exclusive merchandise and limited-edition gifts. Discover Tesla activities near you and discover what makes the future so festive,” Tesla wrote on its official website.
This announcement aligns with Tesla’s accelerating FSD efforts in Europe, where supervised ride-alongs could help demonstrate the tech to regulators and customers. The Netherlands, with its urban traffic and progressive EV policies, could serve as an ideal and valuable testing ground for FSD.
Tesla is currently hard at work pushing for the rollout of FSD to several European countries. Tesla has received approval to operate 19 FSD test vehicles on Spain’s roads, though this number could increase as the program develops. As per the Dirección General de Tráfico (DGT), Tesla would be able to operate its FSD fleet on any national route across Spain. Recent job openings also hint at Tesla starting FSD tests in Austria. Apart from this, the company is also holding FSD demonstrations in Germany, France, and Italy.
News
Tesla sees sharp November rebound in China as Model Y demand surges
New data from the China Passenger Car Association (CPCA) shows a 9.95% year-on-year increase and a 40.98% jump month-over-month.
Tesla’s sales momentum in China strengthened in November, with wholesale volumes rising to 86,700 units, reversing a slowdown seen in October.
New data from the China Passenger Car Association (CPCA) shows a 9.95% year-on-year increase and a 40.98% jump month-over-month. This was partly driven by tightened delivery windows, targeted marketing, and buyers moving to secure vehicles before changes to national purchase tax incentives take effect.
Tesla’s November rebound coincided with a noticeable spike in Model Y interest across China. Delivery wait times extended multiple times over the month, jumping from an initial 2–5 weeks to estimated handovers in January and February 2026 for most five-seat variants. Only the six-seat Model Y L kept its 4–8 week estimated delivery timeframe.
The company amplified these delivery updates across its Chinese social media channels, urging buyers to lock in orders early to secure 2025 delivery slots and preserve eligibility for current purchase tax incentives, as noted in a CNEV Post report. Tesla also highlighted that new inventory-built Model Y units were available for customers seeking guaranteed handovers before December 31.
This combination of urgency marketing and genuine supply-demand pressure seemed to have helped boost November’s volumes, stabilizing what had been a year marked by several months of year-over-year declines.
For the January–November period, Tesla China recorded 754,561 wholesale units, an 8.30% decline compared to the same period last year. The company’s Shanghai Gigafactory continues to operate as both a domestic production base and a major global export hub, building the Model 3 and Model Y for markets across Asia, Europe, and the Middle East, among other territories.
Investor's Corner
Tesla bear gets blunt with beliefs over company valuation
Tesla bear Michael Burry got blunt with his beliefs over the company’s valuation, which he called “ridiculously overvalued” in a newsletter to subscribers this past weekend.
“Tesla’s market capitalization is ridiculously overvalued today and has been for a good long time,” Burry, who was the inspiration for the movie The Big Short, and was portrayed by Christian Bale.
Burry went on to say, “As an aside, the Elon cult was all-in on electric cars until competition showed up, then all-in on autonomous driving until competition showed up, and now is all-in on robots — until competition shows up.”
Tesla bear Michael Burry ditches bet against $TSLA, says ‘media inflated’ the situation
For a long time, Burry has been skeptical of Tesla, its stock, and its CEO, Elon Musk, even placing a $530 million bet against shares several years ago. Eventually, Burry’s short position extended to other supporters of the company, including ARK Invest.
Tesla has long drawn skepticism from investors and more traditional analysts, who believe its valuation is overblown. However, the company is not traded as a traditional stock, something that other Wall Street firms have recognized.
While many believe the company has some serious pull as an automaker, an identity that helped it reach the valuation it has, Tesla has more than transformed into a robotics, AI, and self-driving play, pulling itself into the realm of some of the most recognizable stocks in tech.
Burry’s Scion Asset Management has put its money where its mouth is against Tesla stock on several occasions, but the firm has not yielded positive results, as shares have increased in value since 2020 by over 115 percent. The firm closed in May.
In 2020, it launched its short position, but by October 2021, it had ditched that position.
Tesla has had a tumultuous year on Wall Street, dipping significantly to around the $220 mark at one point. However, it rebounded significantly in September, climbing back up to the $400 region, as it currently trades at around $430.
It closed at $430.14 on Monday.
