Tesla Adds Japanese Automaker Nissan To Supercharger Network Waitlist Along With Mercedes-Benz And GM

EV giant Tesla Inc. TSLA on Friday added Japanese automaker Nissan Motor NSANY to the list of companies who will “soon” gain access to its supercharger network in North America.

What Happened: Tesla, on its website, now has five names in the list of companies it intends to open access to its supercharging network “soon,” including Nissan, General Motors, Volvo, Polestar, and Mercedes-Benz.

Nissan is the latest addition to the list.

Layoffs Behind Delay? Ford Motor Co. and Rivian Automotive Inc. gained access to Tesla's supercharger network earlier this year, giving their EV drivers the option to charge at over 15,000 Tesla supercharger stalls across North America. 

While Volvo, GM, and Polestar were expected to follow, Tesla announced layoffs of at least 10% of its global workforce in April.

The layoffs impacted 500 members of the supercharging team. Tesla Senior Director of Charging Infrastructure Rebecca Tinucci also left the company, leaving the timeline for the opening of the supercharging network to more rivals in question.

However, during Tesla's annual shareholder meeting in June, Tesla CEO Elon Musk slammed rumors of the death of its supercharger network as "greatly exaggerated."

"Our supercharger network is continuing to grow," Musk said.

The company continues to grow its supercharger network while keeping an eye on capital efficiency and the places they are deployed, Musk said while adding that it will deploy more "working" superchargers this year than the rest of the industry combined.

Tesla will invest $500 million in expanding the network this year, Musk said, reiterating his investment goal from May.

Why It Matters: Tesla, in its second-quarter earnings report, said that the number of supercharger connectors around the globe at the end of the second quarter was 59,596, 24% higher than the corresponding quarter of 2023.

The growth rate, however, has slowed significantly.

Superchargers grew only 3.5% from the end of the first quarter to the second, significantly lower than the quarter-on-quarter growth of 7.4% in the number of superchargers recorded through the fourth quarter of 2023.

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Photo courtesy: Tesla