CNBC news anchor Brian Sullivan went on a long road trip in an all-electric Polestar 2 throughout California and realized the advantage of Tesla Supercharger stations in the process.
“Electric cars are awesome. They are fast, are fun to drive, they’re quiet, highly technical some cool features. But on a road trip longer than 200 miles, you are gonna have to stop. You may have to stop in an area where you don’t want to stop, where there’s not much to do, where some of the charges are not as fast as advertised,” Sullivan said.
At the latter part of their trip, Sullivan and his team started to understand some of the challenges of charging non-Tesla electric vehicles. Sullivan and his team stopped at a Shell station with charging stalls and stood outside while their car charged.
“We just stood there literally baking in the sun,” the news anchor noted. Across the Shell station was a Tesla Supercharger with solar panels that offered shade to the customers. The shade offered by the solar panels was a simple convenience, but in long trips, even the little things count.
Sullivan realized that Tesla Supercharger stations offered more than charging spots for EV owners. “It’s actually a bigger real estate play. Give people a place to stop, somewhere to shop, something to do. And on our trip we would have killed for air conditioning,” he said.
While Sullivan’s observations were valid, they only applied to the Polestar 2. Different EVs would probably yield different results. However, in terms of charging, Tesla cars may have an advantage as well.
As Sullivan pointed out, Tesla’s Supercharger Stations seemed a bit more comfortable. Elon Musk has talked about making Supercharger Stations more fun to hang around, including building a restaurant in one of them. As Tesla builds more Supercharger Stations, the company is also turning them into ideal destinations or stopovers, where EV owners can relax and have fun during long trips.
Tesla plans to open the Supercharger Network to non-Tesla owners later this year. Sullivan’s trip reveals the benefits non-Tesla owners would gain by having access to the Supercharger Network. There are about 25,000 Tesla Supercharger Stations around the world with many located in strategic places in the United States, China, and Europe. Tesla has also already partly conceptualized what an EV charging station would look like based on the needs of its customers over the years.
Of course, owning a Tesla vehicle has unique perks on its own when dropping by a Supercharger Station. For instance, Sullivan could have chilled inside a Tesla with the AC cranked up while he was charging. He also could have enjoyed watching movies or shows and even played games during the charging session. On top of that, the wait wouldn’t be as long because Tesla’s V3 Superchargers could charge much faster than most charging stalls.
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Armored Tesla Cybertruck “War Machine” debuts at Defense Expo 2025
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Tesla Megapacks chosen for 548 MWh energy storage project in Japan
Tesla plans to supply over 100 Megapack units to support a large stationary storage project in Japan, making it one of the country’s largest energy storage facilities.
Tesla’s Megapack grid-scale batteries have been selected to back an energy storage project in Japan, coming as the latest of the company’s continued deployment of the hardware.
As detailed in a report from Nikkei this week, Tesla plans to supply 142 Megapack units to support a 548 MWh storage project in Japan, set to become one of the country’s largest energy storage facilities. The project is being overseen by financial firm Orix, and it will be located at a facility Maibara in central Japan’s Shiga prefecture, and it aims to come online in early 2027.
The deal is just the latest of several Megapack deployments over the past few years, as the company continues to ramp production of the units. Tesla currently produces the Megapack at a facility in Lathrop, California, though the company also recently completed construction on its second so-called “Megafactory” in Shanghai China and is expected to begin production in the coming weeks.
READ MORE ON TESLA MEGAPACKS: Tesla Megapacks help power battery supplier Panasonic’s Kyoto test site
Tesla’s production of the Megapack has been ramping up at the Lathrop facility since initially opening in 2022, and both this site and the Shanghai Megafactory are aiming to eventually reach a volume production of 10,000 Megapack units per year. The company surpassed its 10,000th Megapack unit produced at Lathrop in November.
During Tesla’s Q4 earnings call last week, CEO Elon Musk also said that the company is looking to construct a third Megafactory, though he did not disclose where.
Last year, Tesla Energy also had record deployments of its Megapack and Powerwall home batteries with a total of 31.4 GWh of energy products deployed for a 114-percent increase from 2023.
Other recently deployed or announced Megapack projects include a massive 600 MW/1,600 MWh facility in Melbourne, a 75 MW/300 MWh energy storage site in Belgium, and a 228 MW/912 MWh storage project in Chile, along with many others still.
What are your thoughts? Let me know at zach@teslarati.com, find me on X at @zacharyvisconti, or send us tips at tips@teslarati.com.
Tesla highlights the Megapack site replacing Hawaii’s last coal plant
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Elon Musk responds to Ontario canceling $100M Starlink deal amid tariff drama
Ontario Premier Doug Ford said, opens new tab on February 3 that he was “ripping up” his province’s CA$100 million agreement with Starlink in response to the U.S. imposing tariffs on Canadian goods.
Elon Musk company SpaceX is set to lose a $100 million deal with the Canadian province of Ontario following a response to the Trump administration’s decision to apply 25 percent tariffs to the country.
Starlink, a satellite-based internet service launched by the Musk entity SpaceX, will lose a $100 million deal it had with Ontario, Premier Doug Ford announced today.
Starting today and until U.S. tariffs are removed, Ontario is banning American companies from provincial contracts.
Every year, the Ontario government and its agencies spend $30 billion on procurement, alongside our $200 billion plan to build Ontario. U.S.-based businesses will…
— Doug Ford (@fordnation) February 3, 2025
Ford said on X today that Ontario is banning American companies from provincial contracts:
“We’ll be ripping up the province’s contract with Starlink. Ontario won’t do business with people hellbent on destroying our economy. Canada didn’t start this fight with the U.S., but you better believe we’re ready to win it.”
It is a blow to the citizens of the province more than anything, as the Starlink internet constellation has provided people in rural areas across the globe stable and reliable access for several years.
Musk responded in simple terms, stating, “Oh well.”
Oh well https://t.co/1jpMu55T6s
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) February 3, 2025
It seems Musk is less than enthused about the fact that Starlink is being eliminated from the province, but it does not seem like all that big of a blow either.
As previously mentioned, this impacts citizens more than Starlink itself, which has established itself as a main player in reliable internet access. Starlink has signed several contracts with various airlines and maritime companies.
It is also expanding to new territories across the globe on an almost daily basis.
With Mexico already working to avoid the tariff situation with the United States, it will be interesting to see if Canada does the same.
The two have shared a pleasant relationship, but President Trump is putting his foot down in terms of what comes across the border, which could impact Americans in the short term.
Armored Tesla Cybertruck “War Machine” debuts at Defense Expo 2025
Tesla Megapacks chosen for 548 MWh energy storage project in Japan
