In just 8 months, Tesla has gone from breaking ground to delivering electrons at its most ambitious Supercharger project to date, just in time to be ready for the busy Fourth of July holiday weekend. Project Oasis, the world’s largest Supercharger site, is now partially open to customers for its first phase in Lost Hills, California.
What makes this remarkable is the speed of execution. In just eight months, Tesla has constructed a site that will eventually feature 168 stalls (84 stalls are now open), supported by 11 MW of solar power and 10 Megapacks of battery storage. That construction speed is pretty impressive, but what is even more impressive is how this new station operates and what it means for future Supercharging infrastructure.
Self-Sufficient Energy Oasis
Not a Tesla App
The first 84 stalls at Lost Hills are now open, and according to the Tesla Charging team, they are currently powered solely by the sun and operate off-grid.
This makes it more than just a new Supercharger site. It serves as a proof of concept for a new type of Supercharger. Unlike nearly every other charging site in the world, which draws power from local utilities, this station generates its own clean electricity from its massive solar array and stores it in its array of on-site Megapacks.
Self-sufficient charging stations are something completely different than what we see today. They are highly resilient since they’re not reliant on the grid. That means that even if there is a local power outage, brownout, or blackout, one can always come to Lost Hills to Supercharge.
If you’ve got a Cybertruck, you could take advantage of the Cybertruck’s Powershare feature and charge up at Lost Hills to help keep your home powered during a blackout, utilizing the Cybertruck as a portable battery charger. Now that’s true independence and self-reliance.
The Future of Charging
Solar-powered Superchargers help avoid massive new loads on already stressed electrical grids, especially during peak afternoon and evening hours, when demand is the highest.
This is Tesla’s vision for the future of charging: a clean, fully closed-loop ecosystem that sustains itself. The sun’s energy is captured, stored, and delivered directly to vehicles on site at any time of day without relying on the electrical grid or fossil fuels.
Largest Supercharger in the World
This opening of 84 stalls is just the first phase of the project. Tesla says that the remaining stalls, as well as a new on-site lounge, are coming later this year. Once complete, the 168-stall site will be the largest Supercharger site in the world.
While the speed of building such a massive project in just eight months is a testament to Tesla’s execution, the true innovation is actually that self-sustainability. Let’s hope we see even more large, self-sufficient Supercharger sites across the world in the near future.
The future lounge
Not a Tesla App
Subscribe
Subscribe to our newsletter to stay up to date on the latest Tesla news, upcoming features and software updates.
Elon Musk is once again seeking to expand Tesla’s vertical integration in the energy sector, this time focusing squarely on solar power. Following discussions on X that highlighted the massive gap in solar deployments between the US and China, Elon is now discussing the need for a Tesla Solar Gigafactory in the United States.
This potential move is driven by a specific catalyst: the exponential growth of AI is creating an insatiable demand for electricity. For Tesla and xAI, two of Elon’s companies betting their future on AI, building the power generation required is a strategic necessity.
A new factory wouldn’t just be about making panels; it would be about manufacturing the final missing piece in Tesla’s vertically integrated energy ecosystem.
Maybe there should be a solar Gigafactory in America
The context for this renewed focus is pretty stark. In May, China reportedly added a staggering 93 gigawatts (GW) of solar power capacity. In contrast, the United States installed approximately 14 GW over the entire first quarter, roughly 20 times less than China.
The primary driver of this demand is the revolution in AI. Training ever-larger and smarter AI models involves operating vast data centers, which consume staggering amounts of power. Google, Amazon, and Microsoft have turned to small-scale nuclear reactors, with Microsoft petitioning to reopen the infamous Three Mile Island for its AI operations.
For Elon’s companies, whose future products like FSD, Optimus, and Grok are built on a foundation of real-world AI, securing a massive and sustainable energy supply isn’t a side quest. It is part of the main mission, especially in conjunction with grid-scale storage, such as Megapacks and Powerwalls. You can’t power a world of autonomous robots without a world of abundant, clean energy.
The Tesla Ecosystem
A US solar gigafactory would be the final, logical step in completing Tesla’s energy hardware ecosystem. While Tesla already manufactures some solar panels and the Tesla solar roof, the scale is too minuscule to matter.
By mass-producing its own panels, while also increasing Solar Roof production, Tesla would become a true one-stop shop for all things green energy. This would allow the company to supply its own large-scale projects, like the massive solar array for Project Oasis - the world’s largest Supercharger site.
It would also enable more complete residential packages, like the Giga-Small Haus concept home, combining Tesla-made panels and roofs with a Powerwall 3. This level of vertical integration would give Tesla complete control over the technology, cost, and supply of every major component in its energy ecosystem, from generation to storage to mobility.
Building a new Solar Gigafactory is about much more than just simply producing solar panels. It’s a requirement to power Tesla’s future products and make solar panels accessible to everyone.
Tesla has updated the Model 3 Long Range in China, giving the ever-popular sedan option a massive boost in performance and an increase in effective driving range. The Model Y Long Range also received a range increase.
While these changes are currently exclusive to the Asian-Pacific market and vehicles built at Giga Shanghai, they provide a preview of changes we expect to arrive in North American and European models in the future.
The New Specs
The updates, which are now appearing on Tesla’s configurator in China, are fairly substantial, particularly for the Model 3.
Model 3
The Model 3 Long Range’s 0-60 mph (0-100km/h) acceleration has been improved from 4.4 seconds down to 3.8 seconds. The CLTC-rated range has also increased from 713 km to 753 km. Those upgrades come with a modest price increase of 10,000 RMB (about $1,400 USD).
Overall, for the Model 3, that’s a 5.6% range increase. The current North American Model 3 Long Range AWD has an EPA-rated range of 342 miles (550 km). A similar 5.6% boost could push a future version to an estimated 361 miles (580 km) of EPA range.
Model Y
The Model Y Long Range, on the other hand, didn’t receive acceleration improvements. Instead, it received a CLTC range increase from 719km to 750km.
The Model Y's range saw a 4.3% increase. When the same percentage is applied to the North American Model Y Long Range's current EPA range of 327 miles (526 km), this could mean a future rating of around 341 miles (548 km).
Model 3 in Detail
The 0.6-second improvement in the Model 3’s acceleration is identical to the gains from Tesla’s existing Acceleration Boost, a software upgrade that improves performance and reduces the gap between the Performance and Long Range variants. In North America, Acceleration Boost costs $2,000 USD or $2,700 CAD.
The 10,000 RMB price increase in China (approximately $1,400 USD / $1,900 CAD) suggests Tesla is essentially bundling this performance unlock into the base price of the Long Range model, while also includes a notable range increase. While the new speed is a great perk for those wanting to go just a bit faster without splurging on a Performance variant, the more meaningful portion of the upgrade is the added range.
Coming to Other Regions?
The immediate question is whether this upgrade will come to North America and Europe for models built at Giga Texas, Fremont, and Giga Berlin. This seems fairly likely, as these off-cycle updates are most likely a result of optimizations to the vehicle, whether through battery, aerodynamic improvements, or something else.
However, if they are a result of optimizations at the battery manufacturing level, it’s possible that they may not reach all markets due to battery cell tariffs in North America and Europe, which prevent the import of batteries manufactured by Tesla’s partners, such as CATL.
What Next?
If these improvements can be implemented at all of Tesla’s factories, they likely will be in the coming months. We’ll have to watch closely to see whether Tesla adds this additional range, as well as the inclusion of Acceleration Boost, to other markets. The Chinese EV market is particularly competitive, and this has incentivized Tesla to include some additional features for free there to remain competitive. Our best guess would be that the range improvements will be seen in other markets if they’re not tied to battery changes; however, Acceleration Boost will remain as a paid upgrade.
![Tesla Updates Robotaxi App: Adds Adjustable Pick Up Locations, Shows Wait Time and More [VIDEO]](https://www.notateslaapp.com/img/containers/article_images/tesla-app/robotaxi-app/25-7-0/robotaxi-app-25.7.0.webp/4ac9ed40be870cfcf6e851fce21c43b9/robotaxi-app-25.7.0.jpg)
