WattsCharging
Weekly EV Newsletter

May 12, 2026 l Past Issues​

WattsCharging This Week:

(3 min read)

• Tesla finally tests virtual Supercharger queues — no more waiting in line in your car
• High-power EV charging comes to one of America's biggest freight corridors
• Rivian's long-promised AI voice assistant is officially rolling out this week
• Chinese EVs have physically landed in Canada for the first time

Let's dive in.

Top Charging News

​Tesla Launches Supercharger Virtual Queue Pilot at 5 Locations​

This one's been a long time coming. Anyone who's rolled up to a packed Supercharger on a holiday weekend knows the chaos. A virtual queue doesn't just make the wait more civilized; it means you can step away, grab a coffee, and come back when it's your turn. If the pilot holds up, this is the kind of quality-of-life fix that makes Tesla's network even harder for rivals to compete with — and it raises the bar for what a "good" public charging experience should look like across the board.

Tesla Charging @TeslaCharging We're now testing a new waitlist feature at 5 Supercharger sites. Share feedback through the Tesla app to help us make it better. - Los Gatos, CA - Los Gatos Boulevard - Mountain View, CA - El Monte Avenue - San Francisco, CA - Lombard Street - San Jose, CA - Saratoga Avenue - 7:50 PM • May 11, 2026 210 Retweets 2310 Likes Read 106 replies

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​High-Power EV Charging Hits One of the US's Busiest Freight Routes​

GreenLane, the EV truck charging developer, says it’s entering Texas with new high-power sites planned in Dallas and Houston along the I-45 corridor. That stretch is a key artery for freight moving between the West Coast, the Midwest, and across the US-Mexico border.

The chargers support both CCS connectors (current trucks) and next-gen Megawatt Charging System (MCS) connectors, so fleets won't need to overhaul operations as newer trucks roll in. The high-power setup is also designed so trucks can recharge during standard driver rest breaks, helping bring charging times closer to what fleets expect from diesel fueling.

Top Charging News

​Rivian's New AI Voice Assistant Is Rolling Out Now​

After being teased at Rivian's Autonomy & AI Day in December and delayed through the first part of 2026, the Rivian Assistant is finally hitting R1 and R2 vehicles via the 2026.15 OTA update this week. It promises to do more than what an average voice assistant can do because it is deeply integrated into the vehicle. But what really sets them apart is their agentic capability. Rivian says it'll connect various services to the Assistant over time, but the first such integration will be Google Calendar. The feature requires an active connectivity subscription.

​The Floodgates Open: Chinese EVs Land in Canada​

After Canada cut import tariffs on Chinese-built EVs from 100% to 6.1% in January, the first vehicles have now physically arrived. Geely-owned Lotus shipped 18 Eletre SUVs from Shanghai, while Chery landed ~150 vehicles from its Jaecoo, Omoda, and Exelantis brands in a Toronto parking lot. These first units are for testing and certification, not retail — but BYD is already scouting 20 Canadian dealership locations, and Geely's Zeekr division is hiring senior leadership in Toronto. Consumer deliveries aren't expected until late 2026 at the earliest, but the groundwork is being laid fast.

That's it for today. See you next Tuesday!

If you're shopping for home EV chargers or EV adapters for the road, check out our revamped deals page with real time pricing — and if a friend is considering going electric, send them our way 😉

WattsCharging Editorial Team ⚡️

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