Tesla Motors Unveils Electric Car Charging Stations
Courtesy of Motor Trend
“It’s like an adrenaline shot for your battery”
Tesla Motors, manufacturers of some of the most stylish and eco-friendly vehicles on the road, are changing the way we think about fueling stations forever.
World’s First Gas Station
The first gas station in the world was located at a pharmacy in Wiesloch, Germany, where the wife of Karl Benz, the inventor of the gas powered automobile, Bertha, filled up in 1888. Once Henry Ford commercialized the automobile and brought it to America, there become a need for purpose built gas stations. The first one of these was erected in 1905 in St. Louis, Missouri. We haven’t looked back since.
Tesla Supercharger
Tesla Motors has successfully unveiled six all-electric charge stations throughout California, enabling gas free travel on long road trips. Tesla owners can now navigate between San Francisco and Los Angeles; L.A. and Las Vegas; and San Francisco and Lake Tahoe without using a single drop of fuel!
Courtesy of Tesla Motors
The aptly named superchargers can provide your Tesla Model S with 150 miles of charge on 30 minutes of station time, which if you’re familiar with electric cars, is astoundingly fast. High powered wall outlets, in comparison, can charge your Model S for a mere 16-31 miles in an hour.
How exactly does Tesla do it? Special high kW cables connect directly to the battery, charging at 90 kW, whereas competitors can only eke out about 20 kW.
Supercharging Hubs
What will you possibly do for 30 minutes every time you’re ‘filling up’? The first supercharger stations have been built at malls, cafés and diners, and that brilliant trend is expected to continue as Tesla builds these electric charging stations throughout the entire nation.
The focus for Tesla motors will be on high traffic corridors across the US. In fact, they have plans to install over 100 supercharging stations in the next 2.5 years, strategically placed to wean us off of our biggest addiction: gasoline.
If you live in Europe or Asia have no fear, Tesla is bringing supercharger stations to you as well, starting in the second half of 2013.
Free Energy from the Sun
The best part of the Tesla supercharger? It’s free! Just pull up, plug in and get out. Free energy is yours. How can Tesla afford to do this you ask? They’re outfitting many of their supercharger stations with solar cells that can send energy into your whip, or back into the grid. Pretty brilliant.
Is the end near for gas?
While it’s still too early to tell, it seems as if gas powered cars may finally have a legitimate rival. If you’re going to fork up $50-100K for a luxury automobile, why not get one that pays for itself everyday?
Licensed Technology
Tesla’s supercharging stations are equipped to work only with the current and future Tesla models, though it’ll be interesting to see if they license their supercharger technology to other electric automakers, in much the same way they did with their revolutionary lithium-ion battery cells.
Do you own a Tesla? Do you have one on your wish list? What are your thoughts on them and their growing charging station infrastructure?
Comments
Tags: charging station, electric car, first gas station, high kw cables, solar car charger, supercharger, supercharger station, supercharging stations, tesla motors, world's first gas station
Trackback from your site.
Comments (1)
Larry Lupole
| #
At the current, my home and business are completely powered by solar and wind power. As soon as my system is large enough to handle the charging of a Model S, I will be purchasing one. By that time the supercharger stations should have reached New York state where I live. The future is now the current for some of us. Great job Tesla.
Reply