tesla to build drive-in movie theater & diner supercharger in LA

tesla permit granted for new supercharger in west hollywood

Between 2018 and 2021, Tesla took to Twitter and teased the possibility of building a new Supercharger in West Hollywood, Los Angeles, joined by a 1950s-inspired diner and a ‘drive-in’ movie theater. CEO Elon Musk submitted the permit application and technical drawings plans in 2022 and was granted approval this summer. The permit was officially issued on July 18, 2023, by the Los Angeles Department of Building and Safety, and the initial inspection and grading of the site was completed on August 9, 2023. Construction should be expected to kickstart soon, if all goes according to plan, with no delays in sight.

The proposed Tesla Supercharger with a diner and walk-in movie theater will take shape at 7001 W. Santa Monica Boulevard, West Hollywood. Originally home to Shakey’s Pizza, the building will be torn down to accommodate the new project spanning 864 sqm and two floors.

render by Ed Howard via Twitter

a retro-futuristic diner, two movie screens & 32 charging stalls

As reported by Teslarati, CEO Elon Musk listed Arizona-based practice Stantec as the project architect and California-based PCL Construction Services Inc. as the contractor. The submitted architectural drawings, initially tweeted by a now-suspended account (@MarcoPRTesla), reveal 32 stalls in the parking lot, combining Superchargers and Level 2 charges. An indoor-seating restaurant will offer versatile food options on its menu while a rooftop area invites leisurely rest and the chance to eat outdoors. Completing the Tesla project are two movie theater screens running famous movie clips 24/7. Guests at the old-school diner and drivers supercharging their vehicles can enjoy these 30-minute snippets before heading off to their final destinations. Design-wise, a recent tweet by Elon Musk specifies that the diner will boast a retro-futuristic aesthetic: ‘Grease meets The Jetsons with Supercharging.’ You can access the submitted application to the Los Angeles City Planning for more information.

render by Ed Howard via Twitter

here’s how the project could look like in real life

While official renders of the project have yet to be released to the public, some Tesla fans took the liberty to create their own 3D interpretations of the diner and walk-in movie Supercharger based on the submitted technical drawings. The most popular visuals circulating on Twitter are those created by Ed Howard (@HowardModels), who specializes in architectural models. Set against a nighttime backdrop, his renderings reveal the two-story building with a spaceship-like diner volume an expansive rooftop terrace punctuated by a central red block. That being said, Tesla gave a brief glimpse of the design during its 2023 Investor Day presentation. The render was placed on a slide from a deck titled ‘Can’t Forget to do Cool Sh**t’, revealing a diner space set up next to a charging station. Rebecca Tinucci, Head of Global Charging Infrastructure at Tesla, teased this image while discussing Tesla’s charging technology and network.

render by Ed Howard via Twitter

image: still, 2023 Investor Day, courtesy Tesla

I wonder what kind of hotel we would design if we did so.
Our Tesla futuristic diner (Grease meets The Jetsons with Supercharging) in LA should be ready later this year.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) August 5, 2023