Once again, Tesla has confirmed that it is the undisputed leader in the all-electric vehicle market and the charging network. The EV carmaker now has 45,000 Supercharging stalls globally, up from 35,000 only last June. There are now around 17,000 Superchargers in the US alone. To compare, Volkswagen Group-owned Electrify America aims to have over 10,000 individual charging stalls in the US and Canada combined by 2026.
What’s the secret to Tesla’s success? Simple: it had no choice. Prior to launching the Model S back in 2012, there was no established charging network anywhere. Its Supercharger network was created out of necessity. Tesla could not rely on third-party companies to accomplish this, and because charging technology was brand new at the time, it made sense for the automaker to develop the network itself. The time and money spent have paid off big time. Rivals continue to play catch up.