During the second quarter of 2023, Tesla continued to quickly expand its Supercharging network, achieving pretty solid results.
The number of new stations amounted to 318 (up 29 percent year-over-year), which is the third highest quarterly result so far.
The number of new individual connectors increased by 16 percent year-over-year to 2,913. In this case also, this is the third highest quarterly result.
The average ratio of connectors per station amounted to 9.2 (compared to 10.2 a year ago).
It will be interesting to see whether Tesla will be able to increase the rate of new installation and beat its previous records from Q4 2020 and Q4 2022.
Quarterly results (change year-over-year:
- New stations: 318 (up 29%)
- New individual connectors (stalls): 2,913 (up 16%)
- Connectors (stalls) per station on average: 9.2 (down 10%)
As of the end of the quarter, Tesla increased the cumulative number of Supercharging stations and stalls:
- Stations: 5,262 (up 33% year-over-year)
- Individual connectors (stalls): 48,082 (up 33% year-over-year)
- Connectors (stalls) per station on average: 9.1 (up 0.3% year-over-year)
This quarter, Tesla is expected to reach a major milestone of 50,000 installed Supercharging stalls.
The number of Tesla Supercharging stalls (globally):
- 1st: September 2012
- 10,000: June 2018
- 20,000: November 2020
- 30,000: November 2021 (+10,000 in 1 year)
- 35,000: June 2022 (+5,000 in roughly 7 months)
- 10 years: September 2012-2022
- Europe (10,000): October 5, 2022
- 40,000: November 2022 (+10,000 in 1 year)
- China (10,000): December 26, 2022
- 45,000: April 9, 2023 (+5,000 in less than 5 months, +10,000 in 10 months)
If all of the 48,000+ stalls were powered simultaneously, at 100 kW average (for illustrative purposes), the total output would be over 4.8 GW.
Non-Tesla Supercharging
Additionally, Tesla continues to expand the Non-Tesla Supercharger Pilot, which currently is available at select stations in some markets.
The Non-Tesla Supercharger Pilot program includes:
It’s worth noting that in July 2023, there was a report Tesla that is preparing V4 Supercharging stalls with a contactless bank card reader and a space for a small display as an additional step to make the infrastructure accessible to non-Tesla EV drivers.
Supercharging Power
As of today, Tesla Superchargers offer a peak power output of up to 250 kW, but it’s expected to increase.
There were reports about 300 kW and more in the future, and a rumor about 324 kW in the case of V3 Superchargers.
Recently, Tesla launched its first V4 Superchargers, which unofficially are expected to reach 350 kW and potentially might exceed 600 kW (assuming current and voltage limits, described on the V4 stalls), but it would require installation of new 1,000 V, high-power chargers (power electronic cabinets).
Tesla Superchargers peak output:
Separately, Tesla is building fast chargers for electric trucks (Tesla Semi) – known also as Tesla Megachargers), which are promised to offer a megawatt charging level.
Charging standards
In Q4 2022, Tesla announced the opening of its proprietary charging standard, which will be called the North American Charging Standard (NACS). In May 2023, Ford announced the switch from CCS1 to NACS in North America (starting in 2025). The move was followed by General Motors and, since then, multiple other EV manufacturers, charging networks and charging equipment manufacturers announed support of NACS.
In Q2 2023 financial report, Tesla noted:
“The 2nd quarter of 2023 has been the quarter of Supercharging. A significant number of companies, including Ford, GM, Mercedes, Nissan, Polestar, Rivian, Volvo and Electrify America, have announced adoption of NACS – a charging standard developed by Tesla over a decade ago – for their North American products. Further opening our charging network in 2024 will enable both faster market conversion from combustion vehicles to EVs as well as faster growth of our charging network through a larger addressable fleet.”
Separately, Tesla started to retrofit its chargers in North America with a solution (“Magic Dock”) to charge also electric vehicles compatible with the CCS Combo 1/J1772 Combo standard. A small number of such stations (V3) were already installed.
In Europe (and most of the rest of the world), new Tesla cars are equipped with a CCS Combo 2 compatible charging inlet for both AC and DC charging.
In China, the company uses GB/T charging inlets (one for AC and one for DC charging).
Tesla Supercharging plugs vary depending on the market:
- North America (and some other markets, like South Korea, and Japan): a proprietary charging standard, named the North American Charging Standard (NACS) by Tesla
- With the Magic Dock (built-in CCS1 adapter), Supercharging stalls are able to charge CCS1-compatible, non-Tesla EVs
- Europe (and most of the rest of the world): CCS2-compatible charging standard
Initially, there was a different plug, compatible with AC Type 2 inlets, used by Tesla for DC charging (the inlet served for 1- or 3-phase AC charging, as well as for DC charging at Superchargers). With the launch of the Model 3 in Europe (and the following models – Model Y, refreshed Model S/Model X), Tesla switched to CCS2-compatible charging inlet, and retrofitted Superchargers with CCS2-compatible plugs for DC charging. Many of the Superchargers are now equipped with two different plugs, but the newer, CCS2-compatible are the way to go forward. - China: GB/T-compatible charging standard (two inlets on vehicle side: one for AC and one for DC charging)
