Tesla announced that all Supercharger units at its largest charging station to date are fully operational. Built in Lost Hills, California, this massive facility heralds a new era in electric vehicle charging. The station is powered by both extensive solar panel roofs that shade the facility’s parking spaces and a large battery system.
Tesla Announces Supercharger
The facility boasts a total of 164 charging points. This number represents a significant difference from the four to twenty units found at a typical fast-charging station. Previously, the company’s largest Supercharger in Barstow, California, had 120 units.
The new facility in Lost Hills surpasses this record with 164 charging points. The station’s energy infrastructure is also noteworthy. The facility uses 11 MW of solar panel roofs to transfer energy to 10 Megapack batteries with a total storage capacity of 39 MWh.
This new facility sets a new standard for sustainable electric vehicle charging and showcases Tesla’s vertical integration approach. The company not only manufactures electric vehicles but also develops the charging stations and the energy systems that power them.
According to Tesla’s Director of Charging, Max De Zegher, the integration of solar panels and batteries allowed this massive facility to be built much faster than a traditional grid connection.
In the US, commissioning a charging station can take months, even years, due to the necessary infrastructure improvements. The first 84 units of the Lost Hills station opened in early July, just eight months after construction began. It took approximately a year for the entire site to be fully operational.
Solar energy and battery storage played a critical role in this rapid deployment. While renewable sources are clean, they do not provide constant power. Batteries address the sustainability issue by storing energy for use when the sun isn’t shining.
De Zegher notes that the station is not technically completely off-grid, but has a small grid connection for future capacity expansion. But in practice it’s clear that the station runs almost entirely on solar energy.
