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Tesla Superchargers get massive nod in new study showing reliability
It showed Tesla Superchargers had the highest score on the 1,000-point scale with 709. They also had the highest reliability, as respondents reported they only had failed charging visits at Tesla Superchargers four percent of the time.
Tesla Superchargers got a massive nod in a new study that showed reliability across EV charging suppliers as electric car ownership in the United States continues to grow.
J.D. Power’s 2025 U.S. Electric Vehicle Experience Public Charging Study aims to find the most (and least) reliable charging suppliers for EV owners.
While charging has become much more popular over the past few years, thanks to the increase in sales of electric vehicles, they are still not quite as plentiful as gas pumps for combustion engine cars.
Tesla is rolling out a new ‘Supercharger queue’ in an effort to end one issue
For this fact alone, it is imperative that EV charging companies offer a fast and reliable product that will enable confidence and peace of mind for car owners. There are quite a few companies out there, but Tesla has the most expansive charging network, not only in the U.S., but globally.
It also has the most reliable chargers, a fact that was reiterated in this year’s J.D. Power study, which was released today.
It showed Tesla Superchargers had the highest score on the 1,000-point scale with 709. They also had the highest reliability, as respondents reported they only had failed charging visits at Tesla Superchargers four percent of the time. This beat out Electrify America at six percent, Red E at 10 percent, and EVgo and 12 percent.
🚨 Tesla Superchargers also scored the highest in a 1,000-point customer satisfaction scale with a score of 709.
It dropped 22 points from last year, but the study showed most complaints came from non-Tesla owners who said processing and payments were not as streamlined as they… https://t.co/myv5kOLkgY
— TESLARATI (@Teslarati) August 13, 2025
These companies were the only ones to report failed charging visits below the average.
Tesla’s 709 score on the 1,000-point scale was a 22-point drop from last year, but the study said that most of the complaints came from non-Tesla owners.
Many non-Tesla EVs now have access to the company’s Supercharging Network, and the complaints came from those drivers as they stated the process and payment were not as streamlined for them.
Brent Gruber, Executive Director of the EV practice at J.D. Power, said:
“Tesla has facilitated an experience for its owners by creating an optimal technical environment that makes the charging process very easy to use and complete payments. That process isn’t quite as streamlined for non-Tesla owners.”
This likely came from the increased per-kilowatt-hour rate that non-Tesla owners are required to pay for having access to the company’s massive charging network.
For Tesla owners, reliability is not much of a concern. Apart from vandalism, it is pretty rare that a Supercharger stall is out of service, but, of course, it happens.
The important thing to note is that this study continues to show Tesla’s focus on keeping its charging network up and running, especially now that non-Tesla owners are able to utilize them.
Elon Musk
Tesla’s Elon Musk: 10 billion miles needed for safe Unsupervised FSD
As per the CEO, roughly 10 billion miles of training data are required due to reality’s “super long tail of complexity.”
Tesla CEO Elon Musk has provided an updated estimate for the training data needed to achieve truly safe unsupervised Full Self-Driving (FSD).
As per the CEO, roughly 10 billion miles of training data are required due to reality’s “super long tail of complexity.”
10 billion miles of training data
Musk comment came as a reply to Apple and Rivian alum Paul Beisel, who posted an analysis on X about the gap between tech demonstrations and real-world products. In his post, Beisel highlighted Tesla’s data-driven lead in autonomy, and he also argued that it would not be easy for rivals to become a legitimate competitor to FSD quickly.
“The notion that someone can ‘catch up’ to this problem primarily through simulation and limited on-road exposure strikes me as deeply naive. This is not a demo problem. It is a scale, data, and iteration problem— and Tesla is already far, far down that road while others are just getting started,” Beisel wrote.
Musk responded to Beisel’s post, stating that “Roughly 10 billion miles of training data is needed to achieve safe unsupervised self-driving. Reality has a super long tail of complexity.” This is quite interesting considering that in his Master Plan Part Deux, Elon Musk estimated that worldwide regulatory approval for autonomous driving would require around 6 billion miles.
FSD’s total training miles
As 2025 came to a close, Tesla community members observed that FSD was already nearing 7 billion miles driven, with over 2.5 billion miles being from inner city roads. The 7-billion-mile mark was passed just a few days later. This suggests that Tesla is likely the company today with the most training data for its autonomous driving program.
The difficulties of achieving autonomy were referenced by Elon Musk recently, when he commented on Nvidia’s Alpamayo program. As per Musk, “they will find that it’s easy to get to 99% and then super hard to solve the long tail of the distribution.” These sentiments were echoed by Tesla VP for AI software Ashok Elluswamy, who also noted on X that “the long tail is sooo long, that most people can’t grasp it.”
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Tesla earns top honors at MotorTrend’s SDV Innovator Awards
MotorTrend’s SDV Awards were presented during CES 2026 in Las Vegas.
Tesla emerged as one of the most recognized automakers at MotorTrend’s 2026 Software-Defined Vehicle (SDV) Innovator Awards.
As could be seen in a press release from the publication, two key Tesla employees were honored for their work on AI, autonomy, and vehicle software. MotorTrend’s SDV Awards were presented during CES 2026 in Las Vegas.
Tesla leaders and engineers recognized
The fourth annual SDV Innovator Awards celebrate pioneers and experts who are pushing the automotive industry deeper into software-driven development. Among the most notable honorees for this year was Ashok Elluswamy, Tesla’s Vice President of AI Software, who received a Pioneer Award for his role in advancing artificial intelligence and autonomy across the company’s vehicle lineup.
Tesla also secured recognition in the Expert category, with Lawson Fulton, a staff Autopilot machine learning engineer, honored for his contributions to Tesla’s driver-assistance and autonomous systems.
Tesla’s software-first strategy
While automakers like General Motors, Ford, and Rivian also received recognition, Tesla’s multiple awards stood out given the company’s outsized role in popularizing software-defined vehicles over the past decade. From frequent OTA updates to its data-driven approach to autonomy, Tesla has consistently treated vehicles as evolving software platforms rather than static products.
This has made Tesla’s vehicles very unique in their respective sectors, as they are arguably the only cars that objectively get better over time. This is especially true for vehicles that are loaded with the company’s Full Self-Driving system, which are getting progressively more intelligent and autonomous over time. The majority of Tesla’s updates to its vehicles are free as well, which is very much appreciated by customers worldwide.
Elon Musk
Judge clears path for Elon Musk’s OpenAI lawsuit to go before a jury
The decision maintains Musk’s claims that OpenAI’s shift toward a for-profit structure violated early assurances made to him as a co-founder.
A U.S. judge has ruled that Elon Musk’s lawsuit accusing OpenAI of abandoning its founding nonprofit mission can proceed to a jury trial.
The decision maintains Musk’s claims that OpenAI’s shift toward a for-profit structure violated early assurances made to him as a co-founder. These claims are directly opposed by OpenAI.
Judge says disputed facts warrant a trial
At a hearing in Oakland, U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers stated that there was “plenty of evidence” suggesting that OpenAI leaders had promised that the organization’s original nonprofit structure would be maintained. She ruled that those disputed facts should be evaluated by a jury at a trial in March rather than decided by the court at this stage, as noted in a Reuters report.
Musk helped co-found OpenAI in 2015 but left the organization in 2018. In his lawsuit, he argued that he contributed roughly $38 million, or about 60% of OpenAI’s early funding, based on assurances that the company would remain a nonprofit dedicated to the public benefit. He is seeking unspecified monetary damages tied to what he describes as “ill-gotten gains.”
OpenAI, however, has repeatedly rejected Musk’s allegations. The company has stated that Musk’s claims were baseless and part of a pattern of harassment.
Rivalries and Microsoft ties
The case unfolds against the backdrop of intensifying competition in generative artificial intelligence. Musk now runs xAI, whose Grok chatbot competes directly with OpenAI’s flagship ChatGPT. OpenAI has argued that Musk is a frustrated commercial rival who is simply attempting to slow down a market leader.
The lawsuit also names Microsoft as a defendant, citing its multibillion-dollar partnerships with OpenAI. Microsoft has urged the court to dismiss the claims against it, arguing there is no evidence it aided or abetted any alleged misconduct. Lawyers for OpenAI have also pushed for the case to be thrown out, claiming that Musk failed to show sufficient factual basis for claims such as fraud and breach of contract.
Judge Gonzalez Rogers, however, declined to end the case at this stage, noting that a jury would also need to consider whether Musk filed the lawsuit within the applicable statute of limitations. Still, the dispute between Elon Musk and OpenAI is now headed for a high-profile jury trial in the coming months.
Tesla’s Elon Musk: 10 billion miles needed for safe Unsupervised FSD
Tesla earns top honors at MotorTrend’s SDV Innovator Awards
