Lafayette, Louisiana To Get A New Tesla Supercharger

Lafayette will soon join the ranks of Tesla-friendly cities like its fellow cities of Lake Charles, Baton Rouge, and Alexandria. Back in May, permits were filed for electrical lines to be installed for a proposed Tesla Supercharger over at the Stirling Center on Louisiana Avenue just off of I-10. The Stirling Center would be ideal since it’s a shopping center with plenty of restaurants and stores for Tesla owners traveling through to explore and take a break at.

Construction has officially begun for Lafayette’s Tesla Supercharger, which will be located in front of Petco, Office Depot, and ULTA, and is just a short walk from Target, JCPenny, Taco Bell, Subway, and several other shops and restaurants. There will be a total of 8 charging stations. However, the documents filed do not provide the power ratings. All of Louisiana’s other stations are rated at 150 kW, which means that they are Superchargers.

The Tesla Supercharger will be powered by Lafayette Utility System and will be open 24/7. The cost will be about $0.28 per kWh unless Tesla owners are using the free Supercharger miles that they have gotten from buying through a referral code or were provided by Tesla.

Construction of the Supercharger could be around a month and a half — so it could be ready for travelers passing through during the holiday season. Including the new Supercharger being built in Lafayette, Louisiana now has 7 Tesla Superchargers. Shreveport, Monroe, Alexandria, Lake Charles, Baton Rouge, and Slidell all have them and each of these cities is along our major Interstate network. Alexandria is along I-49, Shreveport and Monroe are along I-20, and the other 4 are along I-10.

The Tesla website, however, doesn’t yet show the Lafayette Supercharger, but it does show that one is coming to New Orleans soon. Earlier this fall, the New Orleans Tesla Service Center began operating and people have been taking deliveries of their Teslas as well as stopping in to say hello. Despite Louisiana banning Tesla from direct sales in our state, Tesla has a very prominent presence here and the law hasn’t stopped people from buying their dream cars.

Back in March, our Louisiana State Representative Stephen Carter had the idea of making electric vehicle owners pay $300 a year fee just for owning one. He actually introduced this as a part of a gas tax proposal — which is absurd since electric vehicle owners don’t use gas. Hybrid vehicle owners would have to pay an additional $200 fee per year.

However, Louisianans are not only embracing Tesla and helping Tesla achieve its goal of helping us becoming more sustainable, but many people are simply fascinated by Teslas. When my friend TesLatino came by on his road trip to California a couple of weeks ago, my neighbors were just in love with his car. They were taking selfies and were stunned to see that the frunk had no engine. When Wade came by on his great North American Tesla road trip that spanned from Arizona to the Arctic Circle and back, more of my neighbors were curious about the pretty white Model 3 that was in my driveway. Mr. Green, my landlady’s husband, chuckled over Fart Mode and everyone was stunned when Wade demonstrated the Summon feature.

So, despite all odds, Tesla is being embraced not just by Louisianans, but by many people worldwide. It’s an exciting future.