Tesla Building Supercharger Network for Entire US
Tesla CEO Elon Musk let an interesting detail slip at a press conference unveiling 6 new electric charging stations: the company is planning a complete nationwide rollout of superchargers to power the electric cars of the future. They plan on having it finished by the second half of 2013.
The best part? Anyone who owns a Tesla Model S will be able to recharge for free. For ever. Now wouldn't that be nice?
Tesla's supercharger network will be solar powered, and will put more power into the electrical grid than your car consumes. The rollout will hit major US road networks over the next year, with further expansion to smaller roads and some units going out overseas.
This is a big move for Tesla, and one that will change the electric game. the problem with electric cars has always been that there are no charging stations for them, and the problem with rolling out charging stations has been that there are no cars. Tesla is trying to fix both problems, and it could grant them near domination over the market.
Tesla's superchargers are also a very interesting piece of technology. The first generation will be able to 90 Kw no problems, but later ones could go up to 120 Kw. Even 90 Kw is enough to charge a Model S with 100 Kw (enough for 3 hours of driving at 60 Mph) in just 30 minutes. When that number gets bumped up to 120, well, the game will officially have changed.
From a cultural standpoint, I think that the electric car will be an interesting shift. I predict that we are going to see the emergence of food stations at these places, making the charging stations into less of pit stops and more of a leisurely break.
Should do interesting things to our driving.
Engadget Photo by : Tesla Motors
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