Tesla Megacharger

The Tesla Supercharger network is an electric vehicle fast charging network built and operated by American vehicle manufacturer Tesla, Inc.

The Supercharger network was introduced on September 24, 2012, as the Tesla Model S entered production, with five sites in California. , Tesla operates a network of over 7,000 Supercharger stations with over 65,800 connectors. The network is primarily deployed in three regions: Asia Pacific (over 2,800 stations), North America (over 2,800), and Europe (over 1,300). Superchargers can currently output as much as 325 kilowatts (kW) on currently deployed stations with plans to 500 kW in the future.

Usage is typically billed by the energy consumed during charging. To discourage loitering, fees may be charged to customers who remain plugged in after charging has been completed.

Technology

Tesla typically places Superchargers near major highways at locations with amenities for drivers, such as restrooms, restaurants, and shopping. Some sites also have solar canopies and Megapacks installed by Tesla Energy to offset energy use and provide drivers with protection from the elements.

The original V1 and V2 Tesla supercharging stations were built with a single charger equipment cabinet consisting of four modules shared between two charge posts. When cars are connected to the two posts, and both request maximum power, the station will assign two or three of the four modules to the car plugged in first, and the rest to the later car, limiting the charging output to each car to 50%-50% or 75%-25%.

As an alternative to the Supercharger, in 2015, Tesla briefly implemented a battery swapping station at Harris Ranch in California. The Tesla battery station performed a few swaps and was discontinued shortly afterwards.

"Urban" Supercharger posts were introduced in September 2017. These more compact posts have a maximum power delivery of 72kW but do not share equipment with other posts, allowing the maximum power to be delivered. These more compact posts are primarily deployed in urban areas such as shopping malls, parking lots, and garages.

V3 stations were introduced in 2019 and could deliver up to 250 kW. Up to four posts can share a 350 kW charger equipment cabinet, but up to three cabinets can share power among themselves via a DC bus. In practice, in most cases, this allows each post to deliver maximum power regardless of nearby charging sessions. The V3 charge posts use a liquid-cooled cable which allows the cable to be thinner and lighter while delivering more power.

Tesla introduced mobile Supercharger stations in 2019 with several urban supercharger posts and a Tesla Megapack energy storage system mounted on a semi-trailer truck. These stations provide temporary stations for nearby events, expand capacity during peak travel seasons, or can be deployed when a station needs to be taken offline. The Megapack can charge up to 100 vehicles before being depleted.

V4 charging posts began to roll out in early 2023 and have longer cables for charging vehicles from other automakers. The charging posts have a credit card reader potentially allowing non-Tesla owners to charge without downloading the Tesla app, however, this feature has not yet been implemented. The charging posts can support up to 1000 volts and up to 1000 amps (A). As of January 2025, they can deliver up to 325 kW. The company plans to increase power delivery to 500 kW in the future.

On November 14, 2024, Tesla announced the introduction of the V4 Supercharger cabinet, which will start in 2025. This version can support charging vehicles with 400 and 800 V systems and delivering as much as 1.2 MW.

Connectors and interoperability

North America

In February 2023, Tesla began installing the "Magic Dock" at select V3 Supercharger locations. This dock houses a NACS (North American Charging System) to CCS1 ( Combined Charging System) adapter. When a driver of a NACS-equipped vehicle charges, they simply detach the NACS connector, leaving the adapter locked in place on the charging post. However, when a CCS-equipped vehicle driver reserves a charger via the Tesla mobile app, the Magic Dock unlocks the adapter, making it available for use. The "magic" lies in the adapter's captive design—it remains securely locked either in the dock (when a NACS vehicle is charging) or onto the NACS connector (when a CCS vehicle is charging).

Tesla began rolling out V4 Supercharger posts in North America in October 2023, featuring an integrated Magic Dock and a built-in payment terminal. These upgrades allowed non-Tesla vehicles to charge without requiring a separate adapter or the Tesla app, and making Tesla eligible for federal, state, and local incentives. This included $7.5 billion in funding under the federal National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (NEVI) program to support the expansion of charging infrastructure.

However, between May 2023 and February 2024, most North American automakers committed to adopting NACS. In September 2024, SAE finalized the standardization of NACS as SAE J3400, effectively eliminating the need for future Tesla Superchargers to support CCS1. As a result, fewer than 100 V3 sites were upgraded with the Magic Dock, and fewer than 50 V4 sites had their Magic Dock adapter activated as of February 2025. Additionally, only two V4 locations globally, both located outside of North America, currently support the use of the payment terminal.

Europe

In November 2018, under pressure from European regulators, Tesla announced that it would begin using the CCS2 charging standard, adding the inlets to new vehicles, offering adapters to existing vehicle owners and adding CCS2 connectors to Superchargers.

China

In China, Tesla equips its vehicles and Superchargers with the GB/T charging standard (an abbreviation of "GuoBiao/TuiJian", translated as "recommended national standard").

Network

The average number of Tesla cars per Supercharger stall was 34 in 2016. As of September 2023, Tesla bids building its chargers at about half the cost of its competitors. Cost estimates per station range from US$100,000 in 2013 to US$270,000 in 2015, depending on the number of stalls and other circumstances. In a 2014 filing with the SEC, Tesla reported an "estimated useful life of 12 years".

Most car charging occurs at home or work, a situation that Tesla has compared to cell phone charging. , less than 10% of charging came from Superchargers.

For 2021, Tesla states the network had 99.96% uptime (at least 50% daily capacity) and its power was 100% renewable (through solar power on-site and through purchasing electricity which was matched to renewable generation.)

In May 2024, it was reported that Tesla had laid off its entire Supercharger team, including its head, Rebecca Tinucci. Tinucci had made an initial staffing cut of 15–20% two weeks prior, as part of company-wide layoffs; after a meeting with Musk in which she proposed a massive network expansion, he demanded more layoffs. When she resisted, stating that further cuts would affect the fundamental business, he dismissed the entire team. The move was widely expected to slow deployment of stations in the short- to medium-term. Executives at charging companies have begun to prepare for Tesla to pull out of the federal National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure program, announced in 2023 with a goal to add 500,000 charging ports over the next five years. Tesla had been awarded contracts to build chargers at 69 of the 501 sites that had received funding to-date. 10 days later, Musk promised to invest US$500M to expand the network this year, which would be "a significant reduction" from the original plans for 2024, according to former Tesla employees, resulting in an estimated 77% reduction in the rate of charging port deployment. The responsibilities for Supercharger construction and contract management have been taken over by Tesla's energy team.

Costs to driver

Usage is typically billed by the energy consumed during charging. Idle fees can be charged to customers who remain plugged in after charging has been completed to discourage loitering and, beginning in 2023, some sites have begun to introduce congestion charges to discourage charging at high states of charge when charging is generally slower. All charges accrued during supercharging are billed to the Tesla account the car is associated with or to the credit card on file for that account.

Unlimited free supercharging for life was offered as a promotion for Model S and Model X cars ordered prior to January 15, 2017, and between August 2, 2019 and May 26, 2020. Unlimited supercharging was also offered during specific periods for vehicles purchased with referral codes.

Additionally, Model S and Model X cars that were ordered between January 15, 2017, and November 2, 2018, received 400 kWh (about ) of free Supercharging credits per year. After the credits are exhausted, supercharging is billed at normal price.

Deployment

, Tesla operates a network of 7,000 Supercharger stations with over 65,800 connectors. The network is primarily deployed in three regions: Asia Pacific (over 2,800 stations), North America (over 2,800), and Europe (over 1,300).

North America

The first Superchargers in the world opened in 2012 in the United States, with the company initially focusing on high-traffic corridors. The first five stations enabled travel between Los Angeles, San Francisco, Lake Tahoe in California and Las Vegas, Nevada. Soon after, two stations were installed along Interstate 95 in Connecticut and Delaware, enabling trips between Boston, New York and Washington, DC. By mid-July 2013, 15 stations were open across the United States. In October 2013, Tesla announced that the entire West Coast was opened along Interstate 5 and US Route 101. In January 2014, the first coast-to-coast corridor was completed: from Los Angeles to Chicago via South Dakota, then to New York City.

Supercharging stations were available in Canada along Ontario Highway 401 and Quebec Autoroute 20 corridor between Toronto and Montreal by 2014.

, the United States (including Alaska, Hawaii and Puerto Rico) has over 2,500 Supercharging sites with nearly 30,000 stalls, more than any other nation in the world. Canada has 236 sites and Mexico has 35.

South America

In October 2024, Tesla opened its first South American Superchargers in Chile. , the country has two Supercharging sites.

Europe, Middle East and Africa

In early 2015, the first European Supercharger was upgraded with a 'solar canopy' (a carport with solar cells on the roof) in Køge, Denmark. According to Tesla the Supercharger had of solar cells with a projected annual production of 40MWh and is, as of 2018, equipped with its own battery bank for temporary storage of excess production. In April 2016, Kostomłoty became the first charger to open in Poland. Tesla opened a grid-connected 2-stall Supercharger at Nürburgring in 2019. There are a few privately operated Supercharger stations such as the one opened on April 27, 2016, in Zarechye, Russia, with 3 stalls.

In 2015, the European Supercharger network was planned to allow a Model S to drive from the North Cape (near Honningsvåg) in Norway to Istanbul, Turkey or Lisbon, Portugal. , there are Supercharger stations in or near both Istanbul and Lisbon. The map of current and planned sites includes every European Union country except Malta and Cyprus, and represents all of the countries in the world in the top 10 of electric vehicle adoption rates.

Tesla started testing the charging of non-Tesla cars in the Netherlands in 2021 and in Norway in early 2022 on 15 large un-congested stations with CCS2. Tesla opened new stations for non-Tesla cars in several countries in 2022, including France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Sweden, and the United Kingdom.

In the Middle East, Israel, Jordan, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates have sites. The only nation in Africa to have Supercharger sites is Morocco.

, the European region has more than 1,350 Supercharging sites across more than 20 countries.

Asia Pacific

China is the second largest market for Superchargers after the United States. Tesla operates nearly 2,200 sites in the country with over 12,350 stalls . Superchargers are also available in the special administrative regions of Hong Kong and Macau.

, other countries with Superchargers include South Korea with 166 sites, Japan with 125, Australia with 108, Taiwan with 107, New Zealand with 28, Thailand with 27, Malaysia with 13, Singapore with 11, Kazakhstan with 2 and the Philippines with 1.

Megacharger

In November 2017, Tesla announced a higher-capacity Megacharger as part of the unveiling of a prototype for its Tesla Semi, a semi-trailer truck. These Megachargers provide of charge in 30 minutes to the Tesla Semis.

In November 2021, the first Megacharger was installed at the Gigafactory Nevada where the Tesla Semi is built. A second Megacharger was permitted for construction at a PepsiCo facility in Modesto, California, in late 2021.

In November 2024, Tesla announced that the new V4 cabinets will have support for charging Tesla semis at up to 1.2MW with a Megacharger.

The megawatt-class cable for the Megacharger supports three times the current density of the V3 Supercharger—35 amperes/mm² versus approximately 12 for the V3. The cable is also liquid-cooled to support 1000-amp charge rates at 1000 volts in the future.

See also

* Charging station
* Electric vehicle charging network

Notes

References

External links

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Charts of Supercharger stations over time

{{Electric vehicles

Automotive technologies
Charging stations
Supercharger
Commercial machines