Home
slideshows
miscellaneous
Photos showed Tesla Supercharger stations faced long lines during holiday travel, revealing a big hurdle for EV makers

Photos showed Tesla Supercharger stations faced long lines during holiday travel, revealing a big hurdle for EV makers

One California charging station had a line down the block of cars waiting to charge.

One person estimated the line was at least half a mile long.

Kettleman City, California - Interstate 5 - Here’s the line up to charge your @Tesla : Half a mile #Tesla #SuperCharger #ElectricVehicles #ev #ElonMusk #teslatruck #kettleman #California pic.twitter.com/brflKueLkN

— 🏑Wiger🏴‍☠️Toodz ⛳️ (@WappyGilmore) December 2, 2019

Most posts centered around the lines in Kettleman City, California, although this driver noted that there were lines at chargers throughout the state.

@Tesla biggest supercharger at Kettleman city, Ca, around 40 chargers but the line is 30 min. Long. Almost every supercharger from LA to SFO is backlogged. Tesla super charging network has not kept up. Spent more time charging than driving. No more long trips on Tesla. pic.twitter.com/hTQKNgikaC

— Shawn Nag (@shawn_nag) December 1, 2019

Not only were lines long, but many chargers were not functional over the holiday.

Update on the Tesla supercharger at the Madonna Inn. The mobile supercharger was there but did not appear to be charging any vehicles. There were about 20 cars waiting to charge. $tsla $tslaq pic.twitter.com/FCMoTEAIuu

— Chris (@ChrisLeeterman) December 1, 2019

At one station, five chargers were out of service

Tesla Supercharger is packed.

But 5 stalls out of service is #suboptimal

Come on @elonmusk pic.twitter.com/KCoFM4Dtye

— Alex Roy (@AlexRoy144) December 1, 2019

Thanksgiving is one of the biggest travel days of the year, and many Tesla owners were not happy that the company didn't prepare for extra users.

Ran into same at Buellton and SLO SCs which are "edge" chargers due to the long distance between next stops. Not the worst, but the software could certainly do a better job warning about expected charging delays. pic.twitter.com/79BMuM0okC

— T. Rust (@nibblonian) December 2, 2019

Some even called it a "Tesla energy crisis."

Commenters on Twitter and YouTube said that they didn't face problems on the East Coast, but West Coasters continued to face long lines for chargers.

Some did see Tesla's efforts to install extra chargers, although too late to be helpful in the moment.

Was bittersweet to see this show up being prepped for the next day — so no help to us. pic.twitter.com/Cg8xCPuw03