During the first quarter of 2023, Tesla slightly increased the expansion rate of its Supercharging network around the world, compared to Q1 2022.
The number of new stations amounted to 269 (up 8.5 percent year-over-year). However, it’s a significantly lower number than in the previous quarter (a record of 395 in Q4 2022).
The number of new individual connectors increased by 27 percent year-over-year to 2,750. This result is also much lower than in Q4 (3,536).
An interesting thing is that during Q1, the average ratio of connectors per station exceeded 10 (compared to 8.7 a year ago), which means that the stations are getting slightly bigger.
Quarterly results:
- 269 new stations – 8.5% more than a year ago
- 2,750 new individual connectors (stalls) – 27% more than a year ago
- 10.2 connectors (stalls) per station on average – 17% more than a year ago
As of the end of the quarter, Tesla increased the cumulative number of Supercharging stations and stalls to:
- 4,947 stations – 33% more than a year ago
- 45,169 individual connectors (stalls) – 34% more than a year ago
- 9.1 connectors (stalls) per station on average – 1% more than a year ago
The company recently reported about 45,000 stalls installed, which indicates that the level of 50,000 should be achieved before the end of 2023 (very likely in Q3).
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 45,000+ stalls were powered simultaneously, at 100 kW average (for illustrative purposes), the total output would be over 4.5 GW.
Non-Tesla Supercharging
Additionally, Tesla continues to expand the Non-Tesla Supercharger Pilot, which currently is available at select stations in:
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).
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 the near future, the company is expected 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 is the way to go forward. - China: GB/T-compatible charging standard (two inlets on vehicle side: one for AC and one for DC charging)
