Tesla appears to now expand its deployment of Starlink satellite internet systems at Supercharger stations as the satellite dish appears at a new station.
The Supercharger network currently undeniably offers the best charging experience for electric cars. Other charging networks are closing the gap, but Tesla’s early investment in offering a great complimentary charging experience has paid off.
With charging, the goal is always to make the charging sessions shorter, but it is still not unusual for Tesla owners to spend over 30 minutes at the stations.
It’s generally a good time for a snack or a bathroom break, but the automaker has also been building an experience inside the car while charging. Tesla has been building in-car apps for entertainment, such as Tesla Theater, which includes Netflix, Youtube, Twitch, and other streaming apps, and Tesla Arcade, which includes several video games.
Owners with premium connectivity, a $10 monthly subscription for data-heavy apps, can use those features through Tesla’s LTE cellular connectivity.
We reported that Tesla recently shortened the trial period for premium connectivity, forcing more owners to decide to pay up or let go of the features. Those who don’t spring for it can still use those features when their cars are connected to Wi-Fi.
In order to make the Supercharger experience better, CEO Elon Musk has been promising to deploy Wi-Fi connectivity at the stations.
Musk, who happens to also be CEO of SpaceX, has hinted at using SpaceX’s Starlink internet system to deploy internet at Supercharger stations.
Last year, the first Starlink satellite dish was spotted being deployed at a Supercharger station in Lake City, Florida.
We hadn’t seen any other examples of Tesla using SpaceX’s satellite constellation-based internet at Supercharger stations since, but Tesla now appears to finally be expanding the use of Starlink internet at its Supercharger stations.
The Tesla Owners CLub of Kentucky spotted a Starlink dish at the Lexington Supercharger:
At this point, it’s not clear if Tesla is going to use the technology to offer Wi-Fi to Tesla owners stopping to charge or if it is simply going to be used to support Tesla’s own back-end connectivity to monitor and service the Supercharger station.
Starlink itself is growing fast by more than doubling its subscriber base this year to over 400,000 subscribers as of May 2022.
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