Yahoo Finance Tesla diner and drive-in theater in LA is one step closer to reality
Tesla received permit approval from the city of Los Angeles to build its '50s era supercharger location.
Looking for a place to hang out with all your Tesla (TSLA) owning friends in LA? Or a new diner for Guy Fieri to review in his Food Network show? Well, Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s vision for a drive-in diner and movie theater is getting one step closer to becoming a reality.
A couple years back, Musk had teased he was working on a grand idea for a Supercharger location in Santa Monica. In a tweet he said, “Major new Supercharger station coming to Santa Monica soon! Hoping to have 50’s diner & 100 best movie clips playing too. Thanks Santa Monica city!”
According to Tesla news site Teslarati, it seems Tesla has received approval from the Los Angeles Department of Building and Safety to build this new Supercharger hangout, not in Santa Monica, but in West Hollywood, just east of the initial location. (No word on opening date.)
Tesla had said recently that the drive-in movie theater and diner location would have 32 Supercharger stalls, two movie screens, and a restaurant with rooftop seating. Back at its Investor Day in early March, the company also shared a rendering of what this Supercharger location would look like (below).
Big business: As of this spring, Tesla had more than 17,000 individual Superchargers in the United States, across approximately 2,000 stations. Tesla has said there are Supercharger stations in all 50 states. Depending on the success of this location, Tesla may build out more of these deluxe stations in marquee locations in cities like Los Angeles.
Not to be forgotten are Tesla’s big moves in the charging space with other automakers. The company will include EVs from the likes of GM (GM), Ford (F), Mercedes (MBGAF), Rivian (RIVN), and Volvo (VOLCAR-B.ST) in the Supercharger network starting in 2024. (Owners of these vehicles may be able to use this enhanced West Hollywood location too, but that information is not available at this time.)
Tesla’s deals with other automakers allow them to use 12,000 of Tesla’s Supercharger stalls, meaning not all locations and stalls will be available to non-Tesla owners.
Tesla’s Supercharger business was once considered just a perk for Tesla owners — the company may have been running network as a break-even or loss-producing business just to maintain a competitive edge in the EV space.
Now with big charging deals in place with major automakers, Wall Street analysts, among others, are starting to see the Supercharger network as its own standalone business. In a report published this morning, analyst Dan Ives of Wedbush said the Supercharger network could generate $10 billion-$20 billion in revenue by 2030, or roughly 3-6% of Tesla’s total revenues.
Tesla isn’t the only company with its own charger network. Mercedes, Rivian, and Porsche (POAHY) have announced plans for their own charging locations, which will include amenities like dining, shopping, and relaxation spots for users. Rivian, through its adventure network, plans to have its own chargers at destinations like national parks and heavily trafficked outdoor adventure locations.
Pras Subramanian is a reporter for Yahoo Finance. You can follow him on Twitter and on Instagram.
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