Ride the Lightning: Supercharging rollout

Tesla’s unofficial “Ride the Lightning” podcast said in its Episode 563 listing on May 18 that Tesla had begun an initial rollout of a long-requested Supercharging feature. The episode description said Tesla had started a pilot of a new waitlist system for crowded charging sites, and it also pointed listeners to separate developments at Giga Berlin and BMW. Tesla’s charging support pages say the company has more than 80,000 Superchargers globally, but they do not yet describe a waitlist product on the main Supercharging help page. Third-party reports published between May 11 and May 14 said the feature now appears in a limited pilot at a handful of U.S. sites. The feature the podcast was referring to appears to be Tesla’s new Supercharger “waitlist,” a virtual queue for full stations. (youtube.com) Multiple reports citing Tesla’s charging team said the pilot is live at five locations and is aimed at drivers who arrive when all stalls are occupied. ### Which Supercharging feature is actually rolling out? (tesla.com) Tesla’s pilot feature is a digital waitlist for congested Supercharger stations. Reports citing Tesla Charging said drivers can join the queue through the Tesla app or in-car navigation instead of relying on informal parking-lot lines. Five pilot locations were identified in those reports: Los Gatos Boulevard in Los Gatos, El Monte Avenue in Mountain View, Lombard Street in San Francisco, Saratoga Avenue in San Jose, and East Gun Hill Road in the Bronx. (driveteslacanada.ca) Tesla said the company would use app feedback to refine the system. ### Why did Tesla add a waitlist now? (driveteslacanada.ca) May 11 was the date Tesla’s charging team said it began testing the waitlist at five sites. Reporting on the pilot said the company had discussed a queueing feature more than a year ago after disputes at busy charging locations drew attention online. Tesla said the goal was to improve the experience for the roughly 1% of charging sessions that involve a wait. (notateslaapp.com) The company also said a broader rollout could follow later in 2026 if feedback is positive. ### What did the podcast say about Giga Berlin? The same Episode 563 description said Tesla is expanding battery production at Giga Berlin. (electrek.co) That matches reporting from May 12 that Tesla plans to increase investment in battery-cell production at its plant outside Berlin by almost $250 million. Reuters reported that the added spending would raise the site’s planned battery-cell capacity target to 18 gigawatt-hours. (autos.yahoo.com) Tesla’s Giga Berlin page says the factory already manufactures Model Y vehicles and battery cells in Germany. ### What BMW milestone was the episode pointing to? (youtube.com) BMW’s likely reference point was its announcement that the company had built its two-millionth fully electric vehicle. Coverage published on May 5 said the milestone vehicle was a BMW i5 M60 xDrive produced at the Dingolfing plant in Germany and headed to a customer in Spain. BMW’s own investor materials from May 2026 describe two million battery-electric vehicles delivered as a 2026 electrification milestone. (money.usnews.com) That aligns with the podcast’s brief mention of BMW having hit an EV milestone, though the episode description did not name the figure. (bmwblog.com) ### What should listeners watch next? Tesla said the next step for the Supercharger waitlist is feedback collection through the Tesla app. The company said a wider rollout later in 2026 would depend on how the five-site pilot performs. Berlin is the other near-term checkpoint. Tesla said on May 12 that it would raise spending on battery-cell production there, while BMW has already tied its EV milestone to deliveries now moving to customers, including the i5 sent to Spain. (bmwgroup.com) (money.usnews.com) (autos.yahoo.com)