Tesla wants the public to decide where its next Superchargers should go

Tesla already has 35,000-plus Superchargers around the world, but it can be a mystery as to exactly how it chooses locations. Now via a new Twitter poll, the company is asking the public to tell it where they want the next superchargers to be installed, TechCrunch has reported.

Some of the top-requested sites are the least accessible, including US National Parks, Vancouver Island, Hawaii and Alaska. If you’ve ever been to British Columbia you’ll notice a lot of Tesla EVs driving around, but there are only a pair of Supercharger stations on Vancouver Island in Victoria and Nanaimo. Similarly, there’s only a single station in Alaska at Soldotna, and a lone six-bay facility in Honolulu. It would also make sense to install Superchargers at National Park gateways often located in remote regions.

Tesla has 1,469 Supercharger locations in the US, with the number of charge points varying widely per station. However, station growth has lagged behind Tesla EV sales — the latter grew 87 percent in 2021, but Supercharger installations increased just 35 percent. This could become a bigger problem soon, as the company said it will open up its Supercharger network to non-Tesla vehicles. 

Installing them isn’t quite as simple as throwing money around, either. Tesla recently posted a job ad for its Canadian Supercharger design team, noting that applicants require experience in site permitting, construction feasibility, utility service requests and more. The company recently told sites hosting Superchargers that they’re good for business, with average monthly charging visits between 2,000 to 5,000 at locations in Vancouver, BC.