Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s idea of opening a first-of-its-kind Supercharger location in Santa Monica with a 1950s-style diner and a drive-in theatre moved one step closer to reality after receiving official approval from the Los Angeles Department of Building and Safety. It was back in 2018 when Musk first talked about his plans to build a Supercharger location that would offer a complete destination experience to users. “Gonna put an old school drive-in, roller skates & rock restaurant at one of the new Tesla Supercharger locations in LA,” he tweeted 5 years ago. According to various news reports, Tesla submitted the appropriate paperwork for the innovative charging station to the city of Los Angeles including detailed drawings last year.
The American EV maker also showed off a digital render of the proposed Supercharger location at its first annual investor day earlier this year. The location is set to be on 7001 W. Santa Monica Boulevard and the images suggest that the complex will include a two-story building with two separate movie screens. There will be a total of 32 supercharging stalls on offer along with a diner with ‘50s vibes that will have various food options and rooftop seating. The movie theatre will allegedly only screen clips of famous movies, which is quite understandable. Tesla owners won’t get enough time to watch full-length movies as a supercharger can provide up to 200 miles of range in just 15 minutes.
EV manufacturers are constantly exploring different options to keep owners entertained while their cars are plugged into a charger. In-car gaming has been one of the most popular options. BMW recently announced that it will introduce an in-car game version of the popular TV show “Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?” on its EVs soon. However, Tesla’s supercharger station offering a destination experience might prove to be a game changer. Sadly, Tesla has not given a clear timeline of when the diner will be up and running.
