Holiday travel is stressful, and can be especially challenging if driving an EV. Not only is there loads of traffic, you need to budget time for
if you’re driving long distances. Then there’s the possibility of extra traffic at the chargers, forcing you to wait even longer just to plug in. As if we didn’t already have enough anxiety this time of year.
Well, kudos to Tesla, which not only has relatively good charging infrastructure to begin with, but it is doing even more to help ensure smooth traveling for its customers in these busy weeks. Tesla is actually deploying extra Superchargers temporarily at some of its busiest locations, backed by the power of its Megapack stationary energy storage units.
Where To Find Them
Tesla has announced that it will deploy the Megapack-powered chargers at four locations:
- Bakersfield, California
- El Centro, California
- Primm, Nevada
- Cambridge, Ohio
They’ll be at these locations throughout the holidays, as Tesla expects an accelerated amount of charging taking place. The Bakersfield and Primm locations are along the Las Vegas corridor, which also received a more permanent upgrade recently. Just days ago, Tesla announced the opening of an expansion of its charging location in Barstow, California. Now offering 120 stalls, along with 495 kilowatts of solar canopies, Tesla says it “is currently our largest Supercharger in the world.”
Tesla charging boss Max de Zegher outlined further measures Tesla is taking to ease holiday charging, including opening further chargers and sending attendants to some locations.
Tesla Is Uniquely Prepared
Tesla, being more than just a car company, sells various energy products. In its portfolio are the Powerwall for home-scale energy storage, as well as its massive Megapacks for much larger stationary energy needs. These huge battery systems, about the size of a shipping container, can store up to 3.9 megawatt-hours of energy. Tesla builds the Megapacks for grid storage and commercial projects. A Megapack’s price starts at about $1 million, and weighs up to 84,000 pounds.
De Zegher posted a bit about the logistics of deploying these “MegapackChargers”:
“MegapackChargers have 3 MWh of capacity capable of charging ~75 cars, 8 x 250kW posts, and are Starlink connected. They’re a powerful tool for temporary congestion bottlenecks and disruptions like hurricanes. They’re recharged within hours by taking a nearby Supercharger cabinet offline at night, when usage is low. They’re costly and high bandwidth to deploy, but make all the difference for getting customers home for the holidays.”
And in case you’re wondering, yes, these temporary chargers will even show up as available stalls in the map on your Tesla’s touchscreen.
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