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VW prepares to spend first $300M of $2B on EV charging infrastructure project
Volkswagen will designate $300 million by 2019 to establish a network of more than 450 electric vehicle charging stations in 11 U.S. major metropolitan areas and along high traffic highways. The announcement came this week through Volkswagen’s new wholly owned subsidiary called Electrify America, which will support increased use of zero emissions vehicles (ZEVs) in the U.S.
The initiative is part of the Federal Trade Commission agreement with Volkswagen to compensate for “Dieselgate,” the systematic and willful deceit of U.S. emissions regulators through special software in Volkswagen’s diesel vehicles. Electrify America is a product of Volkswagen’s 2016 court settlement with the California Air Resources Board and the U.S. EPA. We recently reported that the VW emissions scandal has given life to a new generation of electric vehicle start ups like Rivian Automotive. The Illinois-based electric car company has leased land to a logistics company that’s using the space as a temporary holding area for the Dieselgate VWs. Teslarati commissioned a videographer to capture drone shots showing roughly 14,000 affected cars waiting to be disposed of as a result of the scandal.
Thousands of VW Diesels being Stored at Rivian Factory, Photo: Jim Finch for Teslarati
Electrify America will support and promote greater availability of customer-friendly infrastructure in areas with high demand for ZEVs. With hundreds of stations with non-proprietary chargers across the U.S., Electrify America‘s first National ZEV investment cycle will make it easier and faster for millions of Americans to charge their electric vehicles while also “encouraging more drivers to explore and embrace electric driving.”
Electrify America‘s first stage plans
Electrify America has released information through a press release and website that it will establish a network of 2,500+ non-proprietary electric vehicle chargers at more than 450 station sites.
- Approximately 240 charging station sites will be installed or under development outside of California by the end of the first cycle.
- These sites will be located along high-traffic corridors between metropolitan areas, including multiple cross country routes.
- They will include between four and ten 150 kW and 320 kW individual DC fast chargers at each location.
- Charging sites will be present in 39 U.S. states.
- They will be built along corridors with a high correlation with the EV Charging Corridors recently designated by the Federal government.
- Sites will be, on average, about 66 miles apart, with no more than 120 miles between stations.
Comparisons to Tesla’s Supercharger network
The extent and speed of Electrify America‘s planned installation schedule roughly parallels the early years of Tesla’s DC Supercharger network in the U.S., which began in late 2012.
The new Electrify America chargers will be non-proprietary. Tesla vehicles use a proprietary plug design, although the company sells compatible adapters. Tesla’s DC CHAdeMO adapter is limited to 50 kilowatts of power.
With proposed charging power set at 320 kilowatts, the Electrify America network would be the first high power contender, at scale, to the Tesla Supercharger network. Tesla is the only EV manufacturer right now capable of charging vehicles at up to 120 kW, which equates to about 170 miles of range in as little as 30 minutes. Tesla has built a fast DC Supercharger network that supports maximum theoretical charging rates of up to 145 kilowatts, according to the company’s website.
The Electrify America network will provide 2500+ chargers at more than 450 stations. At this writing, Tesla Superchargers are at over 2,200 charging stalls at 350 locations across the U.S.
The proximity of Electrify America‘s chargers along frequently traveled corridors means that many shorter range ZEVs available today will be able to use this network. Most Tesla sites are located along highways away from large metropolitan areas and are primarily intended for use by travelers on long-distance trips.
It seems likely that the Electrify America chargers will be located in existing public infrastructure like rest stops. Tesla has a growing network of Destination Charging Partners with dedicated Tesla Wall Connectors at their properties. The company’s website describes how these are primarily destinations where a Tesla owner would stay for several hours at a time, such as ski resorts, restaurants, hotels and others. They are safe, well-lit, and infuse a feeling of security when Tesla owners need to recharge their vehicles.
Electrify America stations will be designed to support many existing and anticipated charging technology needs, including evolving industry standards like the Combined Charging Standard (CCS) and the Open Charge Point Protocol. Last year, Tesla joined the European CharIN consortium that is leading the development of CCS.
Tesla reminds its owners that there are many factors that affect the actual charge rate, including ambient temperature, utility grid restrictions, and charging traffic. Tesla constantly incorporates owner feedback into its maintenance and research and development efforts, offering a distinct consumer experience for Tesla owners who use its Superchargers.
News
Tesla adds new feature that will be great for crowded parking situations
This is the most recent iteration of the app and was priming owners for the slowly-released Holiday Update.
Tesla has added a new feature that will be great for crowded parking lots, congested parking garages, or other confusing times when you cannot seem to pinpoint where your car went.
Tesla has added a new Vehicle Locator feature to the Tesla App with App Update v4.51.5.
This is the most recent iteration of the app and was priming owners for the slowly-released Holiday Update.
While there are several new features, which we will reveal later in this article, perhaps one of the coolest is that of the Vehicle Locator, which will now point you in the direction of your car using a directional arrow on the home screen. This is similar to what Apple uses to find devices:
Interesting. The location arrow in the Tesla app now points to your car when you’re nearby. pic.twitter.com/b0yjmwwzxN
— Whole Mars Catalog (@wholemars) December 7, 2025
In real time, the arrow gives an accurate depiction of which direction you should walk in to find your car. This seems extremely helpful in large parking lots or unfamiliar shopping centers.
Getting to your car after a sporting event is an event all in itself; this feature will undoubtedly help with it:
The nice little touch that Tesla have put in the app – continuous tracking of your vehicle location relative to you.
There’s people reporting dizziness testing this.
To those I say… try spinning your phone instead. 😉 pic.twitter.com/BAYmJ3mzzD
— Some UK Tesla Guy (UnSupervised…) (@SomeUKTeslaGuy) December 8, 2025
Tesla’s previous app versions revealed the address at which you could locate your car, which was great if you parked on the street in a city setting. It was also possible to use the map within the app to locate your car.
However, this new feature gives a more definitive location for your car and helps with the navigation to it, instead of potentially walking randomly.
It also reveals the distance you are from your car, which is a big plus.
Along with this new addition, Tesla added Photobooth features, Dog Mode Live Activity, Custom Wraps and Tints for Colorizer, and Dashcam Clip details.
🚨 Tesla App v4.51.5 looks to be preparing for the Holiday Update pic.twitter.com/ztts8poV82
— TESLARATI (@Teslarati) December 8, 2025
All in all, this App update was pretty robust.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk shaded Waymo in a post on X on Wednesday, stating the company “never really had a chance” and that it “will be obvious in hindsight.”
Tesla and Waymo are the two primary contributors to the self-driving efforts in the United States, with both operating driverless ride-hailing services in the country. Tesla does have a Safety Monitor present in its vehicles in Austin, Texas, and someone in the driver’s seat in its Bay Area operation.
Musk says the Austin operation will be completely void of any Safety Monitors by the end of the year.
🚨 Tesla vs. Waymo Geofence in Austin https://t.co/A6ffPtp5xv pic.twitter.com/mrnL0YNSn4
— TESLARATI (@Teslarati) December 10, 2025
With the two companies being the main members of the driverless movement in the U.S., there is certainly a rivalry. The two have sparred back and forth with their geofences, or service areas, in both Austin and the Bay Area.
While that is a metric for comparison now, ultimately, it will not matter in the coming years, as the two companies will likely operate in a similar fashion.
Waymo has geared its business toward larger cities, and Tesla has said that its self-driving efforts will expand to every single one of its vehicles in any location globally. This is where the true difference between the two lies, along with the fact that Tesla uses its own vehicles, while Waymo has several models in its lineup from different manufacturers.
The two also have different ideas on how to solve self-driving, as Tesla uses a vision-only approach. Waymo relies on several things, including LiDAR, which Musk once called “a fool’s errand.”
This is where Tesla sets itself apart from the competition, and Musk highlighted the company’s position against Waymo.
Jeff Dean, the Chief Scientist for Google DeepMind, said on X:
“I don’t think Tesla has anywhere near the volume of rider-only autonomous miles that Waymo has (96M for Waymo, as of today). The safety data is quite compelling for Waymo, as well.”
Musk replied:
“Waymo never really had a chance against Tesla. This will be obvious in hindsight.”
Waymo never really had a chance against Tesla. This will be obvious in hindsight.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) December 10, 2025
Tesla stands to have a much larger fleet of vehicles in the coming years if it chooses to activate Robotaxi services with all passenger vehicles. A simple Over-the-Air update will activate this capability, while Waymo would likely be confined to the vehicles it commissions as Robotaxis.
News
Tesla supplier Samsung preps for AI5 production with latest move
According to a new report from Sedaily, Samsung is accelerating its preparation for U.S. production of the AI5 chips by hiring veteran engineers for its Customer Engineering team.
Tesla supplier Samsung is preparing to manufacture the AI5 chip, which will launch the company’s self-driving efforts even further, with its latest move.
According to a new report from Sedaily, Samsung is accelerating its preparation for U.S. production of the AI5 chips by hiring veteran engineers for its Customer Engineering team, which will help resolve complex foundry challenges, stabilize production and yields, and ensure manufacturing goes smoothly for the new project.
The hiring push signals that Tesla’s AI5 project is moving forward quickly at Samsung, which was one of two suppliers to win a contract order from the world’s leading EV maker.
🚨🚨 FIRST LOOK at Tesla’s AI5 chip, which will be available in late 2026 or early 2027 pic.twitter.com/aLomUuifhT
— TESLARATI (@Teslarati) November 6, 2025
TSMC is the other. TSMC is using its 3nm process, reportedly, while Samsung will do a 2nm as a litmus test for the process.
The different versions are due to the fact that “they translate designs to physical form differently,” CEO Elon Musk said recently. The goal is for the two to operate identically, obviously, which is a challenge.
Some might remember Apple’s A9 “Chipgate” saga, which found that the chips differed in performance because of different manufacturers.
The AI5 chip is Tesla’s next-generation hardware chip for its self-driving program, but it will also contribute to the Optimus program and other AI-driven features in both vehicles and other projects. Currently, Tesla utilizes AI4, formerly known as HW4 or Hardware 4, in its vehicles.
Tesla teases new AI5 chip that will revolutionize self-driving
AI5 is specialized for use by Tesla as it will work in conjunction with the company’s Neural Networks, focusing on real-time inference to make safe and logical decisions during operation.
Musk said it was an “amazing design” and an “immense jump” from Tesla’s current AI4 chip. It will be roughly 40 times faster, and have 8 times the raw compute, with 9 times the memory capacity. It is also expected to be three times as efficient per watt as AI4.
“We’re going to focus TSMC and Samsung, initially, on AI5. The AI5 chip, design by Tesla, it’s an amazing design. I’ve spent almost every weekend for the last few months with the chip team working on AI5.”
It will be 40x better than the AI4 chip, Musk says.
— TESLARATI (@Teslarati) October 22, 2025
AI5 will make its way into “maybe a small number of units” next year, Musk confirmed. However, it will not make its way to high-volume production until 2027. AI5 is not the last step, either, as Musk has already confirmed AI6 would likely enter production in mid-2028.
Tesla adds new feature that will be great for crowded parking situations
Tesla CEO Elon Musk shades Waymo: ‘Never really had a chance’
