13 Sep 22
News

Tesla to install four new Supercharger sites in California

Tesla to install four new Supercharger sites in California

California Energy Commission (CEC) has approved the installation of new Tesla Supercharger sites in four rural communities to expand charging infrastructure in the state. 

The installation of Supercharger facilities will be supported by a grant of $1,6 million per project under CEC's Clean Transportation Program Rural Electric Vehicle Charging Program. In exchange for the grants, half of the chargers at the Supercharger sites will comply with the Combined Charging System (CCS) standard. Thus, electric vehicles (EVs) other than Tesla will be able to use the charging sites. 

According to Drive Tesla Canada, two of the four locations will be entirely new charging sites, while the other two will witness expansion in the existing infrastructure. The sites are Baker (a 56 Supercharger facility will be expanded), Coalinga (the existing facility will be expanded to 164 chargers), Willows and Barstow. The latter two sites will have a new 100 Supercharger infrastructure. 

The expansion of Tesla Supercharger sites across California aligns with the plans of the Biden administration's $700 million investment in the EV charging infrastructure, announced last summer. The investment, which follows Biden's $7.5 billion budgeted Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, is funded by the Volkswagen Group ($450 million) and Siemens ($250 million). Through the investments, Electrify America, a fast charging network in the US, aims to deploy 10,000 ultra-fast chargers at 1,800 charging locations. On the other hand, Siemens has the ambition to produce one million EV chargers in the coming four years. 

The grand undertaking in the US charging infrastructure involves other big players in the industry, including Charge Point, and hopes to add more than 2,000 jobs through new facilities in the coming years. 

In August, Tesla announced a partnership with Lincoln Tech to launch to expand its training programme to grow the future EV technician workforce. In May, Tesla expanded its European Supercharger network to five more countries, reaching eight countries in the continent. 

Image: Tesla

Authored by: Mufit Yilmaz Gokmen