Photos showed Tesla Supercharger stations faced long lines during holiday travel, revealing a big hurdle for EV makers (TSLA)
- As electric vehicles become more common, access to charging stations can increasingly result in long lines.
- Tesla owners posted videos and photos of long lines and broken chargers at Tesla Supercharger stations on social media around Thanksgiving.
- These complaints indicate that Tesla and other electric vehicle manufacturers will have to build more charging stations, and convince customers that they're reliably available before the cars really take hold, Business Insider transportation reporter Mark Matousek wrote.
- Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.
Thanksgiving is one of the busiest travel times of the year, and some Tesla and other electric vehicle owners faced extra inconveniences when it came time to charge their vehicles.
Tesla owners can typically do most of their charging at home, but at certain points demand spikes, according to Karl Brauer of Autotrader and Kelley Blue Book, via Business Insider transportation reporter Mark Matousek. One of those times is around holiday travel when road trips are more common and people would need to stop to recharge.
Like other electric vehicle companies, Tesla is expanding its charging network, although apparently not fast enough to prevent long waits over the holiday.
Here are some of the complaints that popped up on social media over Thanksgiving.
One California charging station had a line down the block of cars waiting to charge.
//twitter.com/mims/statuses/1200984876377182209?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
So there are a few people at the big 40-stall Tesla Supercharger in Kettleman City. ???? pic.twitter.com/KA41DOoZXy
One person estimated the line was at least half a mile long.
//twitter.com/mims/statuses/1201533628162949122?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
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
Most posts centered around the lines in Kettleman City, California, although this driver noted that there were lines at chargers throughout the state.
//twitter.com/mims/statuses/1201008756277968896?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
@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
Not only were lines long, but many chargers were not functional over the holiday.
//twitter.com/mims/statuses/1200988117601177600?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
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
At one station, five chargers were out of service
//twitter.com/mims/statuses/1200949226525474817?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
Tesla Supercharger is packed.
But 5 stalls out of service is #suboptimal
Come on @elonmusk pic.twitter.com/KCoFM4Dtye
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.
//twitter.com/mims/statuses/1201349786034565121?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
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
Some even called it a "Tesla energy crisis."
//www.youtube.com/embed/a1uFudf37JU
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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.
//www.youtube.com/embed/k55N2Bo3Zek
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Some did see Tesla's efforts to install extra chargers, although too late to be helpful in the moment.
//twitter.com/mims/statuses/1201350152646082560?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
Was bittersweet to see this show up being prepped for the next day — so no help to us. pic.twitter.com/Cg8xCPuw03