Tesla Doubling Down on Destination Chargers

Tesla

Tesla has announced that it will be doubling the annual openings of its Destination Charging Network.

Destination Chargers are located at hotels, restaurants, parking garages, and other locations where you’ll be likely to spend several hours using a facility. These are all level 2 chargers, providing you with a chance to plug in, charge, and relax while you’re on a trip.

Today, Tesla has over 40,000 Wall Connectors installed at its destination charging sites – and it is planning to continue increasing that number.

Tesla previously announced back in 2023 that it was partnering with Hilton Hotels to equip 2,000 hotels across the United States, Canada, and Mexico with a staggering 20,000 Universal Wall Connectors – which are capable of charging any EVs – not just Teslas. Many of these locations are already on track to be installed or have been installed – as the plan began in early 2024.

Destination Charging

Destination charging locations are available through your vehicle navigation – they appear as either one-bolt or two-bolt chargers at many locations. While destination charging isn’t as fast as Supercharging, you can pick up a full charge overnight at a hotel with destination charging, or top off your charge with a 1-hour dinner at a restaurant. Most destination chargers will be 11.5 kW or 9.6 kW, which will charge about 35-44 miles every hour, depending on your model.

With its Certified Installers program, Tesla also partners with local companies to get Tesla destination or urban chargers installed into environments. The Certified Installers program allows businesses to quickly find and work with Tesla-certified electricians and contractors who will be able to install the correct charging solution – and once it's enabled – make it show up within vehicle navigation.

Cost & Charging

Using a Destination Charger is as simple as plugging your vehicle in, in most cases. Some locations may charge to use them, and the Tesla app will get you squared away with automatic recognition and billing – just like using a Supercharger. One item of note is that Destination Charging prices are set by the location owner – not Tesla – so prices may vary. Many businesses use them as a way to attract customers and offer free charging.

Destination Charging is a fantastic solution for EV drivers to get from location to location without relying on Level 3 charging stops if they’re taking it slow. It also serves as a way for urban areas to get charging added to parking garages, theaters, restaurants, and other locations.

The best part about Destination Charging installs is that because its Level 2 charging for the most part – it only requires 48-amp services, which doesn’t require special infrastructure like a Supercharger does. This means that most businesses can install it fairly easily and without a big bill. We look forward to seeing Tesla’s 40,000 sites rapidly expand to the next big marker – 50,000, and then 100,000.

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Tesla Says 12V Power Socket Access Will Not Return With Sentry Mode

Not a Tesla App

It turns out that the big undocumented change in Tesla update 2024.32 that disables the 12V power and USB ports while Sentry Mode is active is not a bug but an intentional change.

A fan contacted Tesla Service to see if the change was intentional and what the reason behind the change was. Surprisingly, they received a response pretty quickly.

No 12V Power Access

Tesla has decided to restrict 12V power access for safety reasons—namely, to “reduce the likelihood of thermal events” when third-party devices are left powered on without users present. Tesla reached out to the fan in question by phone, and they seemed to be sticking to that line.

It seems that Tesla is resolute that it was due to safety reasons and that the change would not be “fixed” or allowed in a future software update – as this was an intentional change for safety reasons.

Other sources have reported that the change was due to potential misuse of the 12V power access, with people wiring 1200w microwaves and kettles or jury-rigging 240v to 120v adapters, which had apparently been the cause of multiple fires in Tesla vehicles within China.

Workarounds

There are a couple workarounds, although neither are ideal. You can tap in to the vehicle’s 12v line directly to power your accessories, or you can use Camp Mode.

If you choose to enable Camp Mode, then you’ll need to manually lock the car from the app since walk-away door locking is disabled with Camp Mode. However, Camp Mode will use extra energy to keep the climate system enabled.

We’re still hoping Tesla considers bringing the Cybertruck’s Power Control menu to the rest of its vehicles and is somehow able to limit the max draw from these outlets to prevent dangerous situations.

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Join Our Tesla Robotaxi Event Prediction Contest

Tesla

With the Robotaxi event just a day away, we thought it would be a fun idea to run a contest to predict what Tesla will announce tomorrow evening.

We’ve outlined a list of questions below; simply answer them on our forums or social media (X or Threads), and be entered for a chance to win some great prizes.

The individuals who have the most correct answers will win one of five prizes mentioned below. If more than five people get them all right, a random drawing will be held from the pool of winners.

We’ll reach out to the winners either by email or by DM on social media.

The Questions

1. Will Tesla let attendees experience Robotaxi at the event?

2. Will Tesla first start the network with human supervision (ridesharing), or with Robotaxis only?

3. What year will the network start? When will it become fully autonomous? (if announced)

4. When will Robotaxi production begin? (if announced)

5. Will it be Robotaxi or Cybercab?

6. Which of these Robotaxi Concepts will be the closest to the one announced?

7. Will Robotaxi include:

   1. Front-facing camera?

   2. Stainless-steel body?

   3. Steer-by-Wire or No Steering Wheel? (if announced)

   4. Which current Tesla model has the most similar door-opening mechanism?

   5. How many seats will the robotaxi have?

8. Will the robotaxi include AI5/Hardware 5, HW4 or something completely different?

9. Where will Tesla’s first Rideshare/Robotaxi location be established?

10. Will customers be able to purchase a Robotaxi?

Requirements

Please use the template below to answer the questions on social media or in our forums. You can post your answer as a comment to our forums, to our X post, or to our Threads post.

Once you do that, repost or quote post your favorite article from us.

1. Yes

2. Ridesharing

3. 2025/2027

4. 2025

5. Cybercab

6. Dominic's

7. Yes, Yes, SBW, No, 2

8. HW5

9. LA

10. Yes

Prizes

Prizes are generously provided by Enhance and Jowua, makers of some of the best Tesla accessories and amazing Tesla community members. Prizes will be mailed out directly by them. Winners will get to choose their prize from the list below. First place will have the first pick and so on. There will be five winners in total.

• S3XY Buttons (including a commander and wiring)

• S3XY Knob for Model 3/Y

• Tesla Gaming Controller - Multi-Device Wireless Controller (Wireless Charging)

• Tesla Gaming Controller - Multi-Device Wireless Controller (Wireless Charging)

• Tesla Gaming Controller - Multi-Device Wireless Controller (Wireless Charging)

Disclaimer

This is a Tesla event, and Tesla normally likes to hold their cards close to their chest. If an answer is ambiguous, we’ll go with the best choice decided by our staff. We’ll do our best to be fair. This

With all that said, we wish our entrants the best of luck, and we’ll announce the winners at the end of the week.

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