Connect with us

News

Tesla Supercharger ramp hits milestone with 2,000 stations active worldwide

(Credit: Tesla)

Published

on

Tesla’s global ramp of its Supercharger Network recently hit another milestone, with the company installing the 2,000th station in its worldwide fast charging network. With its 2,000th site going live, Tesla now operates 18,000 rapid charging stalls across the United States, Europe, and in the Pan Pacific region.

The update comes following the electric car maker’s installation of the UK and Ireland’s 500th Supercharger. Interestingly, the recently built station features Supercharger V2 stalls, which boat 150 KW and are capable of charging a Tesla battery to 80% in about 30-40 minutes. Tesla’s next generation chargers, aptly dubbed Supercharger V3, are capable of charging at 250 kW, allowing vehicles to complete their charging sessions in just 15-20 minutes.

https://twitter.com/wdron/status/1280456782704455680

Tesla currently operates its Supercharger Network in 41 countries, with 29 of them being located in the European region. It has been a long journey for the rapid charging system, with the first station going live in Los Angeles back in 2013. During that time, Tesla only had one vehicle that was compatible with the network, the Model S. Tesla CEO Elon Musk launched the system as a free service for owners of the Model S and Model X, encouraging EV owners to take their vehicles on long trips.

The Supercharger Network’s ramp accelerated across the United States, and it was not long before the system was expanded to European countries. Scandinavia, Central Europe, and the UK saw their first Supercharger stations in 2014 and 2015. The network has been growing since, with Supercharger stations also being built in countries such as China, Japan, Australia, and other areas in the Pan Pacific region.

Tesla notes that more than 1.4 billion miles have been delivered to European drivers alone, with 170 million of those being accounted for by the UK and Ireland. As noted by The Sunday Times in a recent report, Tesla’s Superchargers delivered 60 million miles worth of electricity to customers across the UK and Ireland last year. Tesla fondly noted that such a figure would be enough to travel to the ISS and back 100,000 times.

The ramp of the Supercharger Network is poised to become even more important in the coming years. With high volume electric cars like the Model 3 and the Model Y becoming more mainstream, the need to have a global rapid charging station increases. After all, Tesla’s Superchargers, which are capable of catering to large numbers of vehicles every day due to their speed and convenience, are pivotal in making electric cars a legitimate and no frills alternative to petrol powered automobiles.

Advertisement
-

Simon is an experienced automotive reporter with a passion for electric cars and clean energy. Fascinated by the world envisioned by Elon Musk, he hopes to make it to Mars (at least as a tourist) someday. For stories or tips--or even to just say a simple hello--send a message to his email, simon@teslarati.com or his handle on X, @ResidentSponge.

Advertisement
Comments

Elon Musk

Tesla’s secretive “Project Crystal Sun” gets a big green light in Texas

Fort Bend County approved four incentive agreements Thursday for Tesla’s proposed $10.1 billion solar factory.

Published

on

By

Elon Musk stands in profile against a clear blue sky, with a bright overhead sun shining above a vast landscape of Tesla solar panels stretching to the horizon, and a smaller Texas flag flying on a pole to his right.

Fort Bend County commissioners on Thursday approved a package of tax incentives for Tesla’s proposed $10.1 billion solar cell factory near Needville, Texas, giving the company one of the last local approvals it needs before it decides where to build. All four Tesla agreements passed 4 to 0.

The votes covered a property tax abatement inside Reinvestment Zone No. 34, a Chapter 381 economic development agreement, a foreign trade zone non-objection paired with payments in lieu of certain taxes, and a separate payment in lieu of taxes “true up” agreement, according to agenda notes from the Fort Bend Commissioners Court meeting.

The project, known internally as “Project Crystal Sun,” would make solar cells and finished modules on roughly 3,000 acres near FM 762 and FM 1994, south of the Brazos River. As Teslarati reported when the filing first surfaced in August, Tesla’s application under the state’s JETI Act splits the investment into $1.5 billion in real property and $8.6 billion in equipment, with 9,712 permanent jobs projected by 2033 and commercial operations targeted for the first quarter of 2029. The plant would handle the full chain from ingot and wafer production through cell testing.

Inside Tesla’s secretive $10 Billion “Project Crystal Sun” filing

Thursday’s approval does not lock in the site. Tesla has told the Texas Comptroller it is still weighing other locations, and site selection adviser David Dennison told Lamar Consolidated ISD trustees in September that the race had narrowed to Fort Bend and one out of state rival with a “very compelling package,” according to the Houston Chronicle. Tesla hopes to decide before the end of 2026, and the incentives still need sign off from the Comptroller and the Governor’s office.

Local officials have now done nearly everything within their control. Commissioners created the reinvestment zone in an August 24 special meeting, with Interim County Judge Daniel Wong formally withdrawing himself over his engineering firm’s past work with Tesla. Lamar CISD trustees voted 7 to 0 on September 15 to advance a JETI agreement that would tax Tesla’s qualifying property at 50 percent of its value for maintenance and operations from 2029 through 2038.

The plant lines up with a target Elon Musk set on Tesla’s Q4 2025 earnings call in January, when he said the company would “work toward getting 100 GW a year of solar cell production, integrating across the entire supply chain from raw materials all the way to finished solar panels.” In March, Tesla was reported to be negotiating a $2.9 billion purchase of Chinese solar manufacturing equipment bound for Texas. The Houston area already hosts Tesla’s Megafactory in Brookshire, where Megapack 3 production has started. Tesla said on its Q3 call that Megapack supply for 2027 is nearly sold out, and Musk wrote on X Thursday that the company is “increasing production of Megapacks as much as possible,” as demand from data centers climbs.

Continue Reading

News

Tesla is building its own maps to fix Navigation issues

Published

on

Credit: Tesla

Tesla revealed plans to develop its own maps internally to fix Navigation issues and give owners more control over their routing.

On the company’s Q3 2026 Earnings Call, a question was asked about FSD Navigation issues, particularly speed limit recognition, parking, and routing. These are issues that surface from version to version and seem to be seriously challenging for Tesla’s AI team to resolve.

Tesla’s Head of AI, Ashok Elluswamy, said in response to the question:

“You’re totally right that we shouldn’t be depending on external people’s maps. So we are building our own maps, but not like the same way as OneMoreMap. We are building an entirely new architecture with essentially AI-based mapping and navigation.”

He continued:

“It’s going to be super awesome. It’s going to be integrated with voice. You can talk to it, ask for different routes. It’s going to learn your personalized preferences, plus the fleet preferences. The collective intelligence of all the cars is going to flow into making the maps and navigation super cool.”

Elluswamy said this issue should be confronted, and the mapping should be available for people by the time the v15 release starts deploying to customers.

“And over the next several months,” he added, “it’s just going to take over all of the navigation functions, parking, destination handling. And it will know you better than you know yourself in some regard for the driving task, and then handle it fully.”

Tesla Summon got insanely good in FSD v14.3.2 — Navigation? Not so much

Navigation is perhaps the most notable complaint with FSD, and although it has gotten better, it is still flawed. Much of the time, FSD will take people on routes that are not preferred by the driver, but Tesla tried to combat this with a routing feature in the Summer 2026 Update.

Tesla currently relies on Google for map data, but it is sort of counterintuitive to believe the company would rely on a third party for this. These improvements will be welcome, as routing and navigation have been such a pain point for so many owners for so long.

Quotes via Motley Fool

Continue Reading

Elon Musk

Tesla buyers are buying for Full Self-Driving and not for the car, data shows

Published

on

(Credit: Tesla)

Tesla Full Self-Driving (Supervised) showed a record attach rate at delivery for new vehicles in the third quarter of 2026.

75 percent of new vehicle deliveries in North America included a subscription to FSD software, up from 55 percent in the prior quarter, a 20-percentage-point sequential gain in the company’s most mature market.

Tesla Q3 2026 Earnings results: in-line revenues, slight beat on EPS

Tesla shed light on the Q3 Shareholder Deck that 75 percent of new deliveries came with an FSD subscription:

“FSD (Supervised)⁴ attach rate continued to grow, reaching over 75% of new vehicle deliveries in North America – our most mature market – a nearly twenty percentage point sequential increase. We believe that FSD is driving demand in markets where it is available, and we continue to work with regulators to get it approved in other markets. “

The higher attach rate accompanied strong growth in the overall FSD consumer base, as active subscriptions rose to 1.75 million, a 67 percent year-over-year increase. For the first time, more than half of paid customers are on the monthly subscription, which is priced at $99 per month in the U.S.

The transition to subscriptions has accelerated since Tesla discontinued the one-time purchase option in most markets earlier this year. The recurring model improves revenue visibility and margins compared with large upfront payments. With three-quarters of North American deliveries now including FSD, the software is now an evidently large contributor to Tesla’s economics and ancillary revenue.

Geographic expansion remains important for further gains. FSD is now available in nine countries in the EU, and more than 100,000 customers have driven over 160 million kilometers. Tesla is pursuing broader EU-wide approval, with a related vote expected in December. Similar progress in additional markets could support higher attach rates beyond North America.

These results came as Tesla had a strong quarterly delivery performance of 486,532 vehicles in the quarter, which came with its largest passenger-vehicle backlog in four years. Battery supply continued to limit volume, but the company has pointed to FSD as a clear difference-maker that is helping sustain demand. As supervised capabilities improve, the attach rate will likely continue to improve.

At face value, it is a key measure of how Tesla is converting sales into autonomy progress.

Continue Reading