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Tesla’s Santa Monica Supercharger imagined in new renders, but where’s the 50’s diner?
Tesla’s massive Supercharger facility in Santa Monica, California, has been visualized in new renders, giving plenty of indication of what is to come to what is arguably the automaker’s most highly-anticipated charging facility to date. While the new graphics give a look into the future with V3 charging stalls giving Teslas additional range, the photos also show the restroom facility that will be available to those who will utilize the 62-stall facility in the heart of Los Angeles’ beach town, the rumors of a restaurant and movie screen seem lofty, especially as real estate for the lofty design seems to be minimal, and the new renders didn’t include any visualizations of the planned 50’s diner.
Tesla’s 62-stall V3 Supercharger in Santa Monica
Since early 2021, Teslarati has been closely following the situation in Santa Monica. Initially, there was a lot of speculation of what was to come after a 2018 announcement from Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla, who said that a drive-in movie theater with a roller rink was coming to Santa Monica, giving Tesla owners one of the most unique Supercharging experiences yet. The project finally took off after Tesla gained preliminary approval to build 62 of its fastest EV chargers across two vacant lots, located at 1401 and 1421-1425 Santa Monica Boulevard.
The lot was at one time home to Steve Taub Porsche-Audi, but this dealership closed down. For a couple of years, the lots were used to sell seasonal items like Christmas trees and Pumpkins for Halloween. That is until Tesla submitted their 2018 plans for a restaurant and drive-in movie theater. However, it would not be until 2021 that Tesla finally started making some progress with the site.
Elon Musk confirms major Tesla Santa Monica Supercharger: 50’s-style diner, drive-in movie clips
After preliminary plans were approved and put into place, Tesla had a full-scale blueprint of what the facility would look like. Ultimately, the 62-stalls would be complemented with a restroom facility, Cybertruck-designed spots, and solar canopies that would provide the V3 chargers with power. The additional energy would be stored in a Tesla Megapack, just like many of its other large-scale commercial projects that require energy storage.
The project took a short-term detour as Santa Monica City Council members decided that the site could be more beneficially utilized as housing. This was a short-lived derailment of the Tesla project, and Santa Monica’s council members chose to let Tesla have their project.
The new renders: 1401 Santa Monica Boulevard
The new renders obtained by Teslarati via the GPD Group, the developer responsible for the project, show plenty of before and after angles of what will eventually be known as the Santa Monica Supercharger.
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- Credit: GPD Group
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- What 1401 Santa Monica Blvd. will look like after Tesla finishes the Santa Monica Supercharger project. (Credit: GPD Group)
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- Credit: GPD Group
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- Credit: GPD Group
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- Credit: GPD Group
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- Credit: GPD Group
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- Credit: GPD Group
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- Tesla’s full-service bathroom accomodations for 1401 Santa Monica Blvd. (Credit: GPD Group)
The renders above are for the first lot, located at 1401 Santa Monica Boulevard. This lot will be home to 36 of the 62 V3 chargers. Along with the chargers, the indoor restroom facility will be located on this lot. The GPD Group renders show that the company will transition an already-standing building on the lot into the restroom building. The solar canopies will also be installed on this lot, as it is the location of a majority of the Supercharging stalls.
The new renders: 1421-1425 Santa Monica Boulevard
The remaining 26 V3 Superchargers will be located on the lot at 1421-1425 Santa Monica Boulevard. The spaces in this lot are of varying widths and lengths, hinting toward Cybertruck-specific charging stalls as the automaker prepares for production of the all-electric pickup later this year.
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- Credit: GPD Group
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- Credit: GPD Group
Where’s the restaurant?
Now, unfortunately, there are no renders, images, or even hints that Tesla’s 50’s-style diner will even be at this location. Based on the images and previously published blueprints of the plans for the 62-stall Supercharger facility on Santa Monica Blvd., there isn’t much space for one, either. However, there are plenty of indications that Tesla has not included this in any plans, blueprints, or images as of yet. In fact, there is a strong possibility that the company will be submitting these soon, as there is a six-month revision period that Tesla can utilize that will expire in early September, according to documents.
Tesla is officially planning to enter the restaurant business
The documents that the Santa Monica City Council has released seem to suggest that there will be a restaurant on the premises, however. According to the subheading “Construction Plan Requirements,” Tesla will be required to oblige by sanitation and food safety requirements if it ultimately decides to build a restaurant at the facility, of course. It looks like it will be a relatively intimate space, as the documents state that there will likely be less than 50 seats on the interior of the restaurant. This makes sense, however, as there are only 62 stalls, to begin with, drivers and passengers will likely want to eat their food in their own car, and the planned 100 greatest movie clips of all-time that Musk has hinted toward will likely be projected on an outdoor screen or displayed through each vehicle’s individual center screen.
What’s going on at the site as of July 13?
Currently, several things are going on at the two vacant lots. First, the project will be subjected to a “Pending Design Review” next Monday, July 19th, at 7 PM PST. There are opportunities for members of the public to livestream or dial into the event. It is unknown what the call will actually provide, but it appears that the final steps could be finalized before construction can begin.
Additionally, Tesla has been transporting prefabricated Superchargers to the lots. Based on images sent in by a Teslarati reader, we can see that Tesla is bringing these prefab Superchargers to the area for what is likely to be temporary measures.
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- Credit: Brain Deming
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- Credit: Brain Deming
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- Credit: Brain Deming
Tesla previously used prefabricated Superchargers at a site in Beaver, Utah. However, these Superchargers were not permanent, and they were utilized to likely charge vehicles that had arrived on site for unknown reasons. As you can see, they are identical to the Superchargers seen here.
For now, the Santa Monica Supercharger project remains in the hands of the City Council Members. However, next week, there should be more answers, as the call will likely allow Tesla to move forward with this highly-anticipated project.
Tesla flexed the new features of the Model Y L with a dedicated media event at the company’s Diner on Santa Monica Boulevard in Los Angeles.
The Model Y L is the extended-wheelbase version of the all-electric crossover, which has been voted the best-selling car in the world on three occasions. The vehicle is already rolling off production lines at Gigafactory Texas, and first deliveries are slated to take place later this year.
Tesla brings Model Y L ‘Launch Series’ to the U.S. at $61,990
Teslarati was invited to the event, but due to some scheduling conflicts, we could not make it to Los Angeles. Instead, we will have our hands on a media unit sometime in August, so we’ll be able to spend some more extended time with the Model Y L.
However, plenty of those who made it to LA shared some cool features that set the Model Y L apart from the Model Y.
Multi-Row Climate Control
Tesla fitted the Model Y L with full climate control on all three rows on the front screen. It can be adjusted by selecting which row you’d like to modify on the right-hand side of the touch screen:
The Model Y L has a little row of icons on the right side of the climate screen so the front passenger can more quickly jump to whatever row they want to control. pic.twitter.com/uJS44mgCvk
— Sawyer Merritt (@SawyerMerritt) July 30, 2026
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Better Rear Window Visibility
One of the strangest things about the Model Y, especially the Juniper iteration, is the rear window has extremely limited visibility when looking into the rearview mirror.
Tesla has improved upon this with the Model Y L:
This is a drastic difference. https://t.co/wTdhitD5aA pic.twitter.com/z6hFs0Jkss
— TESLARATI (@Teslarati) July 30, 2026
PowerShare will be included
Model Y L will come with PowerShare in North America, with an 11.5kW output to your home. Tesla said it would require Powerwall 3 for operation.
Wireless Charging Pad
There has been some speculation that Tesla would upgrade the wireless charging pads in the United States, but this is not the case.
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Tesla owner fixes common feature complaint with crafty DIY retrofit
Tesla confirmed that it does not come with the cooled pads as the Y L in China does. This is because North America has not adopted Qi charging yet.
Thermal Management Improvements
These improvements in the Model Y L were seen with thermal management:
- Up to 15% faster cabin cooling
- +23% thermal efficiency gained in hot weather, 7 miles of real-world range gained
- 8x more solar energy reflection off of glass roof
- 30% reduction in solar energy entering the cabin
Some of the thermal management improvements in the new Model Y L Premium:
• Up to 15% faster cabin cooling
• Up to 15 min faster cabin cooling in sunny conditions
• +23% thermal efficiency gained in hot weather +7 miles of real-world range gained
• +10 miles recovered after… pic.twitter.com/jZirFWFdtO— Sawyer Merritt (@SawyerMerritt) July 31, 2026
Demand
Tesla said the Model Y L is almost sold out in the U.S. It comes with
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- 1 year of FSD Supervised
- 1 year of Supercharging
- 1 year of Premium Connectivity
- Free exterior paint color, interior, and wheel option at no additional cost
Tesla CEO Elon Musk took to his social media platform X on Thursday night to deny a ridiculous rumor regarding the sale of the company’s Chinese vehicle production plant, Gigafactory Shanghai.
On Thursday, the Wall Street Journal, citing sources familiar with the matter, claimed in a scathing new report that Tesla was exploring a potential sale of the entire China business in an effort to help bolster a potential merger between SpaceX and Tesla.
Musk immediately denied the rumor not once but twice, initially calling it “fake news,” and then calling it “absurdly fake news” in a separate post just a few moments later:
This is fake news
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 31, 2026
The original poster of the Wall Street Journal article that Musk saw deleted the initial post sharing the headline and the rumored sale of Tesla’s China business.
This has never even come up in a discussion ever.
Absurdly fake news.
-People should assume news is fake until proven otherwise.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 31, 2026
The report seemed absolutely and unequivocally false to begin with; Tesla’s business in China is among the most important pieces of the company’s business. Not only does the factory supply vehicles for the domestic market, but also for various other markets in Asia and Europe.
China is also one of the largest automotive markets in the world, and Tesla has performed well there despite the robust competition.
The speculation regarding a Tesla and SpaceX merger has started to gain steam this year as the space exploration company went public just a month ago. There has been speculation that Musk will bridge all of his companies under one “umbrella company,” and analysts believe this could happen before the end of the decade.
The Tesla and SpaceX merger everyone is talking about is quietly building
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This is the latest iteration of Musk’s very evident war on mainstream media. Reports regarding any of Musk’s companies are quick to get the dreaded “false” or “fake news” response from the CEO when they are unfounded.
Elon Musk
Tesla AI boss reveals how big Optimus is going to get
Tesla’s Optimus chief corrected himself on X, confirming a staggering 10 million robot production target.
![Tesla Optimus Gen 3 [Credit: Tesla]](https://www.teslarati.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/tesla-optimus-gen3-diner.jpg)
Tesla’s Optimus program has a new number attached to it, after Ashok Elluswamy, the executive who has run the humanoid robot program since June 2025, posted a three word correction on X Thursday, “Correction, 10 million robots.”
The line clarifies the long term annual capacity Tesla is building toward its planned second Optimus production line at Gigafactory Texas, a figure Musk has cited repeatedly since last year’s shareholder meeting.
The scale is worth noting, because ten million robots a year would mean Tesla building more units annually than most countries sell in new cars. Tesla has framed this as a second line, not the first. The buildout is happening in two phases: a roughly one million unit per year line inside Tesla’s Fremont factory, installed on the floor space vacated when Model S and Model X production ended earlier this year, and a much larger dedicated facility under construction at Giga Texas that broke ground on its first steel structure in May. That Texas facility is the one Elluswamy’s correction refers to, and is expected to reach volume production sometime in 2027.
Correction, 10 million robots https://t.co/0z4nyQNTzp
— Ashok Elluswamy (@aelluswamy) July 30, 2026
Tesla Optimus project fires up as Musk sees production line progress
Elluswamy took over Optimus from Milan Kovac last summer and has spent the months since talking up the program’s trajectory. Elon Musk has also floated the ten million figure at Tesla’s 2025 shareholder meeting.
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Ending Model S and Model X production to make room for the first Optimus line was one of the more consequential manufacturing decisions in the company’s recent history, retiring two flagship vehicles in favor of a robot that has yet to enter mass production. Musk has previously estimated per unit production costs at $20,000 to $25,000 once Tesla reaches a million units a year, though he hasn’t said what that cost looks like at ten times the volume.
Tesla Model Y L’s new features flexed at unveiling event at Diner
Tesla CEO Elon Musk denies ridiculous Gigafactory Shanghai rumor
![Tesla Optimus Gen 3 [Credit: Tesla]](https://www.teslarati.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/tesla-optimus-gen3-diner-80x80.jpg)
