Energy and electric vehicle company Tesla has pledged to double its global charging network over the course of this year as part of an aggressive expansion.
In a blog post earlier this week, the company said that it intended to “aggressively expand” its network of Superchargers as the company prepared for the launch of its first “mass-market” electric vehicles.
Tesla’s Model 3, expected to ship in mid-2018, received more than 400,000 pre-orders by August 2016 and marks the company’s first launch of a more affordable vehicle in its range designed to penetrate the mass automobile market.
Tesla said that to better serve its customers it would need to expand its network of Superchargers beyond the current 5,400 it has already installed, with Destination Charging points also set to increase.
“…by the end of this year, Tesla will double that number to total more than 10,000 Superchargers and 15,000 Destination Charging connectors around the world,” the company said.
“We’re moving full speed on site selection and many sites will soon enter construction to open in advance of the summer travel season.”
Expansion plans listed on Tesla’s Supercharger network website detail how 16 new charge points are highlighted for the UK, while the Republic of Ireland will receive its first three Superchargers in Limerick, Ballacolla and Enfield.
Late last year Tesla confirmed that it would be charging new vehicle owners for access to its Supercharger network from this year, but insisted that the network would “never be a profit centre” for the company.
