Long queues at Tesla Supercharger station raises questions about the readiness of the EV market

The Tesla Model 3 is currently the 3rd biggest selling car in California, and on track to be the second, beating petrol stalwarts such as the Toyota Camry and Toyota Corolla.

The massive popularity of the leading electric vehicle has, however, stress-tested Tesla supercharger network infrastructure during the Thanksgiving holiday, as captured on video by Steven M Conroy.

The video captured at the San Luis Obispo, CA Supercharger Station in California shows long queues of Tesla EVs likely waiting hours to use one of the 14 superchargers at the station.

Tesla has been trying to mitigate the anticipated pressure on the  Tesla supercharger network by offering mobile superchargers on trucks, powered by their megapack battery, which is enough to charge 100 cars. Tesla has also been adding more Level 3 chargers which provide more dedicated current to each car and can dramatically shorten charging times, and thereby increased the availability of chargers.

Megapack charger is open for charging! pic.twitter.com/QAVEOqvVH1

— Brian Swenson (@t3knerd) November 27, 2019

Unfortunately even this measure was not enough to satisfy demand, raising questions about whether Tesla’s Supercharger network will be ready to meet the exploding popularity of their cars over the next few years. Tesla currently sells close to 400,000 cars per year, but hopes to hit 1 million by 2022.

Of course, Superchargers are really only relevant for long-distance travel, with most EV users able to charge daily from the ubiquitous electric grid at their own homes. The video demonstrates however that EV ownership is not without compromise at yet, and that owners may want to consider their long-distance travel plans carefully to avoid wasting hours in line, even if you can watch Netflix on your centre console.