What happened
Shares of electric-car maker Tesla (TSLA +2.40%) moved higher on Monday, rising as much as 4.9%. The stock is up about 4.6% at the time of this writing.
The stock's gain comes amid an overall rise in major market indexes on Monday, along with two company-specific factors that could be driving investor optimism.
On Monday morning, Tesla announced a new Supercharger designed for city centers. The new Supercharger marks an attempt to make Tesla ownership easier for customers without access to charging at home or work. Tesla said it will be expanding the urban Superchargers, starting with locations in downtown Chicago and Boston. The new Supercharger comes as Tesla doubles down on its Supercharger expansion ahead of high-volume production of its Model 3.
Image source: Tesla.
Additionally, the family of a man killed in a Tesla vehicle that crashed while Autopilot was activated last year released a statement Monday asserting the technology was not at fault, according to a report from Bloomberg. The statement comes one day before the National Transportation Safety Board was scheduled for a hearing to determine the crash's cause.
So what
Tesla's charging network and Autopilot technology are two major selling points for its vehicles. Monday's news for both crucial pieces to the business bodes well for the company's ongoing deployment of each.
What now
When it comes to Superchargers and Autopilot, Tesla investors should have a lot to watch in 2017 and 2018.
For its Superchargers, Tesla is planning to increase the number of charging stalls from 5,000 units at the beginning of the year to over 10,000 by the end of this year. Tesla currently has 6,550 Superchargers.
Furthermore, Autopilot will increasingly come into the limelight as Tesla ramps up deliveries of its lower-cost vehicle.
