Tesla is building its largest Supercharger station to date in Barstow, California, a town located in the Mojave Desert some 115 miles from Los Angeles and 156 miles from Las Vegas.
The announcement was made by Barstow Mayor Paul Cortney during a city council meeting earlier this week. He revealed that Tesla is already months into construction of the charging hub, which will be America's largest with no fewer than 100 Supercharger stalls.
According to a report from the Daily Press, the Supercharger station is located near The Outlets at Barstow open-air retail mall and occupies roughly four acres of desert. The mayor called the Tesla Supercharger project a "historic win" for the city and added that Southern California Edison has a May 30 deadline to pump excess power into the upcoming Supercharger.
Gallery: Tesla Supercharger
"Actions and results speak. Prior to going to the SCAG (Southern California Association of Governments) meeting a week and a half ago, there was a possible issue that we do not have enough power out in Lenwood for the first phase of a Tesla charging units. One-hundred units projected. The largest charging station in the U.S., right out there. It's the potential of not having enough power for phase one. Well, long story short, we got a commitment from Edison to have enough power for phase one by Memorial Day to open up the first leg of the Tesla charging stations."
City of Barstow Mayor Paul Cortney
The size of the project has not gone unnoticed on social media in recent months. In February, @MarcoRPTesla, a Tesla fan who is tracking the expansion of the Supercharger network, posted images of the Barstow Supercharger station's construction.
He noted that the site seemed surprisingly large, estimating that it could have around 60-80 Supercharger stalls and possibly even a lounge. In light of the mayor's recent disclosure, it turns out the EV advocate's estimate was quite conservative.
Currently, the largest charging station in the US is a 70-space Tesla Supercharger hub at The Outlets at Tejon, an open-air retail center in the San Joaquin Valley in central California. China has the world's largest electric car charging station; located in the city of Shenzhen, it has a reported 637 spots.
