Cars and Drivers

10 States With The Most Tesla Superchargers

Douglas A. McIntyre

Published: March 27, 2016 8:36 am

Last Updated: January 13, 2020 11:31 am

Tesla Motors Inc. (NASDAQ: TSLA) continues to build out its network of Superchargers in the anticipation that it will eventually have over 100,000 of its cars on the road in the U.S., and that the vehicle count might hit 500,000 by 2020. The Supercharger network has expanded so rapidly and will continue to, that Tesla keeps a map not only of its current installations, but what it expects them to be by the end of 2016. The electric car company has a concentration of the Superchargers in several states, mostly likely based on the sales of its vehicles there.

The states are:

California        41

Florida             14

Utah                 11

Texas               10

Florida            10

Nevada             8

Oregon             8

New York        8

Illinois             8

Colorado         8

As 24/7 Wall St. pointed out in an earlier analysis

Tesla ownership is not evenly distributed across the U.S. population, or even close. The ownership of Chevrolet cars and pickups might be, or Fords, but they sell seven figures in vehicles a year. Due to this lack of distribution and ownership, Tesla Motors Inc. does not have to have any Superchargers at all in some states, and almost none in others. People can charge a Tesla at home, but the Superchargers are essential for drivers on long trips. The car has a range of about 265 miles on a single charge.

As to the eventual use of the stations, and their ability to feed a large number of car:

The situation is unlikely to change until Tesla releases its affordable Model 3, which is expected to be priced around $35,000. In the meantime, Tesla simply does not sell enough cars per year to need anywhere close to an even distribution (geographically) of Superchargers, and the cars are currently too expensive for most buyers with any income less than six figures. The company sold 14,000 cars in the fourth quarter of last year, about a week of sales of the Ford F-150 pickup, the top-selling vehicle in the United States.