Tesla Charging Station Coming To Carl's Jr. In Gila Bend, Arizona

by Virgil Hilts

Published: April 17th, 2014

tesla charging station coming to carl s jr in gila bend arizona

Pity poor Tesla Motors. The General Motors recall crisis has knocked the electric automaker out of the auto industry headlines. There were times when half the news stories on industry feeds like this one would be about Tesla. TTAC is here to help get the company back on track to maintaining their 3:1 News Stories-To-Cars Sold Ratio.

The above picture was taken in the parking lot of a Carl’s Jr. fast food restaurant in dusty, desolate Gila Bend, Arizona. If you have ever been to Gila Bend you can attest to the fact that the shot is actually in color.

It was quite a jolt to spot this under-construction Tesla Supercharger station in Gila Bend this week as I was headed towards California. It proves Tesla is well on its way to building a coast-to-coast network of charging outlets. Gila Bend sits between San Diego and Tucson on I-8 at the turnoff for Phoenix, so West Coast owners on their way to Phoenix can stop here or at the Hilton Garden Inn in Yuma, Arizona to “fill up.” (Curiously, Tesla’s website currently shows no San Diego chargers or any in Tucson.)

I am sure that part of Tesla’s strategy to is locate its Superchargers at the most upscale establishments available with easy access to the interstates. In Gila Bend the best place in town is this greasy burger chain. It will certainly be a new experience for Tesla drivers to eat a Western X-tra Bacon Thickburger or walk next door to the Love’s Truck Stop during their 75 minute stopover. Certainly, members of the Tesla Motors Club are excited about Gila Bend.

If Tesla should ever go out of business, perhaps due to having no traditional dealer network as Mercedes-Benz USA CEO Steve Cannon suggested yesterday, or due to an end to their subsidies from the government, their charging station stanchions will become as collectable as Route 66 signs.

I want one from Gila Bend.

#Arizona #Carl'sJr. #ChargingStations #GilaBend

Virgil Hilts

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3 of 38 comments

Iamwho2k on Apr 17, 2014

I haven't seen that much gray since driving through Nevada a long time ago. No wonder the feds nuked that state... the bombs wouldn't change a thing.

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- Lorenzo on Apr 17, 2014
  
  The first "fed nuke" was detonated in New Mexico. The testing ground is in Nevada. Gila Bend is in southern Arizona.
  
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ChichiriMuyo on Apr 18, 2014

As someone who has lived in Arizona for ~30 years that joke about the photo being in color got a genuine laugh out of me. I've been through Gila Bend and it's really an over glorified rest stop and nothing else. Also it does bother me that I live in Tucson, and I'm pretty damn sure there's no supercharger station here or even in the works. :/ Regardless, thanks for the article.

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