An EV Supercharger Drive-In and Diner is Becoming a Reality
Charging your electric car on the road is not usually thought of as entertaining or fun. But instead of just checking your email or reading a book, you will soon be able to enjoy a burger and watch a movie at a Tesler supercharging station in Los Angeles, California.
After years of planning, the carmaker recently obtained the permits to begin construction on the supercharging/ entertainment station, according to Teslarati, an EV publication that reports about the company’s ventures. The permit allows for at least 32 charging stalls, a restaurant with rooftop seating and two outdoor screens that will play movie clips. The supercharger complex will be open 24 hours a day.
Getting your kicks on route 66
The retro-futuristic supercharging complex is being built on Santa Monica Blvd which is actually on the historic Route 66, reported Forbes. In August, Elon Musk, Tesla’s co-founder and CEO announced some details on X – formally Twitter – by posting: “Our Tesla futuristic diner (Grease meets The Jetsons with Supercharging) in LA should be ready later this year.”
Musk started posting about the project in 2018: “Gonna put an old school drive-in, roller skates & rock restaurant at one of the new Tesla Supercharger locations in LA.”
In 2021, he posted that the supercharging station would be located in Santa Monica City but the site location was later changed to West Hollywood, according to Forbes.
Bringing something new to the table
The plans were officially announced at Tesla’s 2023 Investor Day when Rebecca Tinucci, who leads charging infrastructure teams at Tesla presented a rendering of the diner and drive-in theater during her presentation. She said at that time: “At Tesla charging, we have understood since day one that a great charging experience is the linchpin to electric vehicle adoption.”
While Tesla’s supercharger network is the most expansive in the world, reported Teslarati, and charging EVs is getting much faster, there is still a desire to make the charging experience different from the rest.
Tesla is bringing a completely new experience to the table by making charging something fun. There are already charging stations located in restaurants. In fact, iIn the Netherlands, drivers can recharge their electric cars at every McDonalds. Tesla’s combo charging station, diner, and drive-in theater could be the best new idea in charging cars.
