Tesla leaps from 6 to 50,000 superchargers in just over 10 years

Tesla opened its first supercharger site in the US just over a decade ago. Now the company has announced that it has officially opened over 50,000 charging stalls globally.

The latest milestone was shared by Tesla on Twitter/X along with emails being sent to some owners titled “The Freedom to Travel Anywhere”.

This is a major feat for Tesla and the electric car movement. Tesla  opened its first charging site back on September 24, 2012, when it had just started production of the Model S, its first four-door vehicle as it inched towards the mass market.

Over the years, Tesla has incorporated multiple iterations of its DC superchargers. The V2 superchargers that have speeds of up to 150 kW are some of the earlier models that are still commissioned. 

The V3 superchargers bumped that up to 250 kW and now make up a big chunk of the superchargers in Australia.

Tesla is now rolling out V4 superchargers with speeds of up to 350 kW. They also incorporate longer cables and credit card charging facilities. Many of these sites are being rolled out in Europe with plans for global expansion in the coming years.

Tesla in recent years has also started to open its global network of superchargers to non-Tesla EVs. The first pilot program started in Europe a few years ago and has been fairly successful.

Similarly, earlier this year, Tesla opened five trial NSW sites to non-Tesla drivers. The program was recently further expanded to include 30 sites nationwide which allows non-Tesla vehicles to travel further.

The first charging sites appeared in Australia in December 2014, with a focus on major capital cities. Two of these first sites were in Sydney which were later replaced by newer supercharger sites.

In the first half of 2015, Tesla opened its Melbourne supercharger site in the inner-city suburb of Richmond. This site remains to this day after serving as the Victorian Tesla delivery and service centre for many years.

As of September 2023, Tesla operates 65 sites in Australia with over 350 stalls. The most recent of these sites opened in Abbotsford, Victoria in the last fortnight.