Tesla has launched a pilot program for automatic waitlists at select Supercharger stations — a long-requested feature that replaces the informal line-up culture at busy charging sites with a structured, app-integrated virtual queue. Here's everything owners need to know about how it works right now.
Where is the waitlist feature available right now?
The pilot launched on May 11, 2026, at five high-traffic Supercharger locations in the US. The current sites are Los Gatos Boulevard (Los Gatos, CA), El Monte Avenue (Mountain View, CA), Lombard Street (San Francisco, CA), Saratoga Avenue (San Jose, CA), and East Gun Hill Road (Bronx, NY). All five are among the busiest stations in the country — a deliberate choice to stress-test the system under real congestion conditions before any wider rollout.
How do you actually join the queue?
When you approach a congested Supercharger, your vehicle can be automatically added to the waitlist. You can also join manually through your car's infotainment screen or the Tesla app. Once in the queue, the system shows you real-time estimated wait times and how many vehicles are ahead of you. If you're on an iPhone, the feature integrates with Apple's Live Activity system, so your queue position stays visible on your lock screen even with the app closed — no need to keep checking in.
How does Tesla notify you when a stall opens up?
When a stall becomes available, you'll receive a notification giving you either two or three minutes to claim it, with an option to extend by 30 seconds. Miss the window and the next driver in line gets their turn. The system uses location data from both your vehicle and your phone to confirm you're actually present at the station before you can join — which prevents people from remotely holding spots they're not physically at yet.
Does it work for non-Tesla EVs?
Yes. Non-Tesla electric vehicles that use the Tesla app for charging are supported by the virtual queue system. This is consistent with Tesla's broader Supercharger network opening strategy and means the waitlist feature applies to the full mix of vehicles that now charge on the network.
What happens if someone ignores the queue and takes a stall anyway?
This is the system's current weak point. The waitlist is honor-based — Tesla has no technical mechanism to physically prevent a non-queued vehicle from pulling into an open stall. If that happens, the next driver in the digital queue is simply returned to the waitlist rather than losing their place entirely. It's a reasonable fallback, but it does mean the system's effectiveness depends partly on driver behavior. Tesla is actively collecting feedback through the app during this trial period, which suggests enforcement or detection improvements could come in a future iteration.
When will this roll out to more locations?
Tesla hasn't announced a specific expansion timeline. The pilot is framed as a feedback-gathering exercise, and the company is using owner input from the app to refine the feature before broader deployment. Worth noting: the waitlist feature was originally promised for Q2 2025, putting this pilot roughly a year behind its initial target. That context makes the feedback phase feel less like a formality and more like genuine product refinement before a confident wider launch.
If you charge regularly at any of the five pilot locations, now is the time to try it and submit feedback through the app — your input directly shapes whether this reaches the rest of the network. For the latest on Tesla's charging news, we'll be tracking expansion announcements as they come.
Marcus covers Tesla's software releases, FSD rollouts, and OTA changes. Background in automotive engineering. Based in Austin.
Sources verified at publish time. Spotted an inaccuracy? Email editorial@basenor.com.
