Tesla continues to build its Supercharger network with expansion plans to construct the world's largest Supercharger station. The proposed site, located in Kern County, California, near the intersection of Highway 46 and Interstate 5, is poised to set a new standard in electric vehicle charging infrastructure - with an impressive 164 charging stalls.
Solar Canopies and Pull-Through Stalls
The latest ambitious project extends beyond mere numbers. It introduces a comprehensive design that integrates solar canopies over each parking stall, ensuring that the energy used for charging comes from a renewable source. Moreover, the station will feature 16 pull-through stalls catering to drivers’ towing trailers and embody the essence of a microgrid with Tesla's cutting-edge Megapacks for energy storage. These components will collectively harness and store solar energy, underscoring Tesla's holistic approach to energy management.
Tesla's plan also hints at the potential development of a solar farm nearby, indicated by site plans showing a maintenance gate and a designated area. While this aspect remains confirmed, it showcases Tesla's broader vision for renewable energy integration within its Supercharger network.
Strategically situated close to Lost Hills, the new Supercharger station will serve local and passing EV drivers and signal Tesla's vision for the future of transportation. This location is set to eclipse the current largest Supercharger station at Harris Ranch, also in California, which boasts 98 stalls, highlighting Tesla's rapid network expansion.
Tesla's Kern Country Supercharger in California will be Tesla's biggest, with 164 stations
@MarcoRPi1
Tesla News will be Supercharging Stations
As Cybertruck and the latest Model 3 versions have made their debut, with the updated Model Y off the 2024 agenda and the next-gen vehicle delayed to 2025, Supercharger sites are set to be a focal point this year. Though perhaps lacking the immediate allure of sleek, advanced vehicles, the significance of Supercharger stations surpasses that of the cars themselves.
Tesla is the new ‘gas’ station of the future. The company achieved this by giving all of the competition its charging technology, the North American Charging Standard, and the competition conceding to the King of the EV sector. However, the challenge will now be to build that infrastructure as quickly to keep up with the demand that no Teslas can use these far-superior charging stations.
Tesla's innovation extends beyond charging technology. In Los Angeles, construction is underway for a unique Supercharger station featuring a diner and a drive-in theater, offering a nostalgic 1950s theme complete with rock music and servers on roller skates.
@Tesla Diner exterior looking close to being complete. Crew working on a Saturday after the heavy rains. Windows and entryway looking diner shaped! pic.twitter.com/NTLGwnHBG6
The U.S. has just over 2,700 active Tesla Superchargers, an increase of more than 700 since October. Worldwide, Tesla has more than 2,400 Superchargers and 55,000 charging stalls.
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FSD’s insatiable appetite for AI compute is taking shape once again at Giga Texas, where Tesla is building out Cortex 2.0 — its second large-scale GPU supercomputer cluster — on the facility’s north side.
This confirmation comes thanks to the detailed research and findings by Giga Texas drone pilot Joe Tegtmeyer, who shared his findings on X.
For months, there has been some speculation on what this new site would be - new storage, the Optimus production line, preparation for the Cybercab’s unboxed assembly process, and more. Now, thanks to permits filed by Tesla, we know that this new area is destined to become the second supercomputer destined for FSD training.
Cortex 2.0
There are some key details we can unpack from what we’ve learned about Cortex 2.0. The new facility will be on the north side of Giga Texas, opposite Cortex 1.0, which is on the south side. The permits explicitly tie the usage of this expansion to Cortex 2.0, namely through the fact that it is a data center.
This is actually a change from Tesla’s original plans - the northern section was intended to be used as a central campus support facility, with three smaller facilities and water storage tanks. Now, it has been redesignated as Cortex 2.0 and is one large structure.
The permits that have been filed have already been approved and cover the foundations, underground water mains, and building itself. The steel structure is actively being put together on the concrete foundations, and about 50% of the roof decking is already complete, bringing the exterior shell closer to completion.
Fueling FSD’s Brain
The deployment of Cortex 2.0 is the latest in Tesla’s massive and ongoing investment in the computational power required to train FSD. While this primarily covers FSD for cars, this will also eventually apply to Optimus, which is powered by the same AI4 computer and also runs a variant of FSD.
This isn’t Tesla’s first foray into large-scale AI infrastructure and won’t be their last. Alongside Dojo, their home-grown AI supercomputer, Tesla has been partnering closely with Nvidia to ensure they have the GPUs necessary to do all the hard work. Cortex 2.0 is the next iteration, and once it's fully online, we can expect that Tesla’s work on FSD will accelerate even further.
Especially since Elon is planning something truly outrageous once again:
Been thinking about the fastest way to bring a terawatt of compute online.
That is roughly equivalent to all electrical power produced in America today.
With European Tesla owners eagerly awaiting any news on FSD in Europe, we’ve seen Tesla tease FSD, and also point out exactly what the barrier has been - regulatory approval. Now, following the latest meeting of UNECE, new regulatory amendments are set to unlock “System-Initiated Maneuvers” (SIM) on highways across participating European nations.
This development, highlighted by Kees Roelandschap on X, notes that the latest documents from the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) center on amendments to UNECE regulation 171. These changes were formally adopted into UNECE during the WP29 World Forum in March 2025.
Now, the amendment that will enable SIM will come into force on September 26, 2025. This six-month period after approval is standard UNECE procedure and allows objections from party states that would halt the implementation. Objections to UNECE amendments are genuinely rare, with 95% of amendments passing without objection once the World Forum adopts them.
What This Means for FSD in Europe
System-initiated maneuvers will allow your Tesla to perform actions autonomously, such as changing lanes on a highway, while the driver remains fully responsible for supervision. This is a substantial step up from current regulatory standards that only allow for suggested maneuvers or require explicit driver initiation for every automated maneuver.
This inches towards the more normal “hands-off, eyes-on” approach that Tesla has taken with FSD Supervised in North America and China. This regulatory change will help to provide the legal frameworks needed to deploy more advanced autonomy capabilities in Europe, at least matching what’s available on highways in North America.
The UNECE regulation will apply to all countries that adopt its standards, including the European Union, Japan, and South Korea - unless they specifically block it. This is a relatively positive development, but there are some hiccups.
This regulation only allows for system-initiated maneuvers on highways, not low-speed roadways. That means the city streets portion of FSD’s capabilities - including handling ‘Start FSD from Park` and reaching your destination’s parking spot - still won’t be available in Europe.
In addition, the UNECE framework has stricter requirements for driver monitoring and attentiveness - which means that some nags, including the dreaded wheel nag, are likely to remain a key portion of the experience.
Progress on autonomous driving regulations in Europe has been fraught with indecision and caution, which has been a source of frustration for many who are watching the everyday progress of FSD in North America, and more recently, in China. Even with individual countries recently approving testing of FSD on public roads, harmonized UNECE regulations are the key to wider, consistent deployment, which will allow everyday customers to use it as well.
While the path to full parity with North America may be long and involve even more regulatory machinations, the upcoming implementation of System-Initiated Maneuvers is a big step forward for Tesla owners in Europe. It is a key piece of the puzzle that will help Tesla bring some more features of FSD to Europe, assuming the September timeline holds.
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