A Tesla Supercharging Station With A Drive-In Theater And A Restaurant? LA Is Down!

Is there a more LA thing than charging your Tesla while watching a film with a burger and milkshake in the middle of the city?

Well, yes... Probably.

But the whole Tesla supercharging station/drive-in theater/diner mashup could really be a thing — now that the carmaker has obtained the permits necessary to break ground on construction.

The permits allow for 30-some charging stalls, two outdoor movie screens, and a restaurant with rooftop seating, among other things, to be built at 7001 W. Santa Monica Blvd. in the city of Los Angeles.

The news was first reported by the EV publication, Teslarati.

"We noticed in April that things were really starting to move forward with the general filings [on] a restaurant, and a lot of other things," said Joey Klender, the publication's managing editor.

The history

Klender said the concept was first floated by Elon Musk several years ago.

Then in 2021, Musk sent this update.

The carmaker filed the applications for various permits in 2022.

And Klendar said, the Santa Monica site was eventually jettisoned for its current proposed location about 10 miles east in LA, where a Shakey's Pizza Parlor once sat.

Instead of full-length movies, the proposed outdoor screens would play movie clips to better fit with a typical charging session of 20 to 40 minutes.

But what does it look like?

As to how what the uber supercharing complex could look like, here's an architectural blueprint submitted with the permit applications.

The architectural blueprint for the site at 7001 Santa Monica Blvd., submitted with the permit applications

(

City of Los Angeles Department of Building and Safety

)

From there, a fan of the carmarker took it upon himself to create these drawings.

And eagle-eyed Tesla sleuths have zeroed in on a particular image that appeared in a presentation delivered at an investor event in March.

A rendering of the supercharing drive-in from a presentation delivered on Tesla Investor Day in 2023.

(

Courtesy of Tesla

/

Screenshot: Tesla on Youtube

)

Other than that, Tesla has stayed mum about the project — which has sent EV journalists like Klender down rabbit holes to get the latest information.

"I'll tell you what, I've been with Teslarati for four years, and I have talked to Tesla's media department a total of zero times," Klender said, noting the carmaker's press relations department had long been dismantled. "For this diner, the confirmation came from the city of Los Angeles and these filings and I was lucky enough to kind of find them first."

Los Angeles Department of Building and Safety has confirmed to LAist.com that the car company can indeed break ground.

While there's no word on when that might happen — we haven't heard back from Tesla about our request for an interview — the project, according to Musk via his favorite mouthpiece, is still a go.

For now, at least.