In its continued efforts to literally supercharge its own network of charging complexes, Tesla has begun construction on its forthcoming 100-stall Mojave Desert-bound supercharger, which will mirror the automaker already existing Harris Ranch, California location. Located between Los Angeles and Las Vegas, the Mojave Desert complex will act as a necessary buffer between both cities and aid in the company's endeavor to bump its supercharging stations by as much as three times within the span of the next three years.
Announced via Mojave Desert-town Barstow's Mayor Paul Courtney in a Victorville Daily Press article, Tesla's newest and largest Supercharger location acts as a so-called "historic win" for the city, despite the area already having two existing stations consisting of 16 and 18 chargers. In his own words, Mayor Courtney explains amid a City Council meeting on Monday, May 14:
"Prior to going to the SCAG meeting a week and a half ago, there was a possible issue that we do not have enough power out in Lenwood for the first phase of a Tesla charging units. One-hundred units projected. The largest station in the U.S., right out there. It's the potential of not having enough power for phase one. Well, long story short, we got a commitment from Edison to have enough power for phase one by Memorial Day to open the first leg of the Tesla charging stations."
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Unlike competitors, Tesla tends to beef up its charging stations even in its grand expansion procedures, which have seemingly multiplied dramatically over the last quarter as it has installed over 2,000 new Supercharger locations across the globe. Additionally, like this forthcoming 100-unit Mojave Desert iteration, Tesla wants to ensure customers aren't sitting in a line waiting like other rivals, such as Evgo and Electrify America, both of which tend only to enlist four to eight actual units at its stations.
The Harris Ranch location, which currently only has 18 superchargers, will likewise be getting a facelift to match its forthcoming Barstow counterpart. Both will be Tesla's largest supercharger stations in the United States and will support the automaker's continued expansion efforts in the area. And, it's not like the area is desperate for additional stations, as Tesla has an abundance of complexes across the nearly 300-miles between Vegas and Los Angeles.
Additionally, Tesla stands out by way of its own enhanced amenities utilized at specific locations, like restaurants, free wifi, and more. Despite the failed experiment of Tesla's battery swap station concept, which incidentally was the aforementioned Harris Ranch location, the company has attempted to push bounds through its own individual touch.
Tesla announced its need to bump Superchargers back in October of last year, highlighting the necessity for this advancement following its Q3 2021 earnings results. The plan is to raise the number of superchargers by three times over the next three years, and its craft can already be well-felt in the firm's year-over-year 35% growth rate from 2020 to 2021.
Its current largest station, before both California's expansion and its Mojave Desert iterations are completed, resides amid Shanghai's 72-stall complex. Although it does have the most stations by number, it doesn't have the fastest or most profound individual stations, though, as Tesla's Firebaugh complex in California boasts some powerful 250kW V3 units, which aptly put to shame Shanghai's 120kW Superchargers.
It's unclear as of yet which kind of units will be installed in its forthcoming Mojave Desert locale, but the brand is surely pushing grounds in delivering that three times leap in Superchargers. As for its actual vehicle distribution, Tesla has taken a major hit as China's gigafactory, and other assorted stopgaps in logistics have caused the company ample woes for its EV production and sales.
