Gary Zhou 
Elon Musk noted in a recent Twitter post that Tesla Superchargers are being made available to other electric cars. This statement received polarizing reactions from the EV community, with some owners noting that such a strategy may result in some of the convenience provided by the Supercharger Network being lost to Tesla customers. After all, the more vehicles that access Superchargers, the less stations open to current Tesla owners.
Recent China news, as well as the strategy of the company in its Supercharger V3 ramp, indicate that this will not be the case. Reports emerged last month suggesting that Tesla is building a dedicated Supercharger manufacturing facility in China, only a few kilometers away from Shanghai Gigafactory. The facility will concentrate on the production of Supercharger V3 stations and will have an expected capacity of 10,000 units per year.
The company’s Supercharger facility, similar to Tesla’s other ventures in China, appears to be being developed at lightning speed. Just recently, a picture reportedly taken of the Supercharger facility, which began construction in late November, was posted by Tesla owner-investor @Ray4Tesla. Local reports from China note that on-site manufacturing equipment and an HVAC system are already being installed, potentially enabling the facility to be deployed sooner than its planned February 2021 completion date.
A look at Tesla’s official page for its Supercharger Network shows that 2,000 Supercharger stations and over 20,000 Superchargers throughout the United States, Europe, and Asia are currently run by the electric car manufacturer. If Tesla’s Supercharger facility in China fulfills its production goal of 10,000 per year, it will only take about two years for the Shanghai-based site to double the number of Superchargers deployed today. This is assuming that the facility does not increase its annual production for the next two years.
Needless to say, in the near future, Tesla will definitely build more dedicated Supercharger production facilities. Over time, the annual performance of such facilities would possibly also increase. Gigafactory New York is already making V3 stations, and it would not be shocking if Tesla were to develop manufacturing facilities for Superchargers at locations such as Giga Berlin and Gigafactory Texas. If Tesla adopts this, it will possibly result in the rapid-charging method of the company becoming ubiquitous.
In the coming years, the number of electric vehicles is likely to increase, especially as regions such as Europe and countries such as Japan implement policies aimed at retiring the internal combustion engine. With this in mind, having a reliable, expansive system of fast chargers would become not only as a key advantage, but also a potential source of additional profit for Tesla. All Tesla has to do is scale up its Supercharger Network at a pace that matches the already remarkable growth of its vehicle production capabilities and maybe even surpass them.
Want to buy a Tesla Model 3, Model Y, Model S, or Model X? Feel free to use my referral code to get some free Supercharging miles with your purchase: http://ts.la/guanyu3423
You can also get a $100 discount on Tesla Solar with that code.
