Tesla Motors to expand Model S electric car 'Supercharger' network

Tesla Motors is planning to open more?quick-charge locations along its 'Supercharger' network in various locations over the next three to four months, Voelcker writes.?The Supercharger network is meant to allow Tesla Motors Model S drivers to obtain rapid recharges every 100 to 200 miles.

By John Voelcker,?Guest blogger / March 25, 2013

A Tesla Model S electric sedan is driven near the company's factory in Fremont, Calif. Since the first 'supercharger' stations went live last September, there have been only eight locations in California and the Northeast Corridor, Voelcker writes.

Noah Berger/Reuters/File

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One of the features associated with the 2013 Tesla Model S all-electric luxury sport?sedan?is the dedicated Supercharger network of DC quick-charge locations.

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Since the first stations went live last September, there have been only?eight locations?in California and the Northeast Corridor.

Now Tesla Motors [NSDQ:TSLA] is planning to open more locations.

in the company's?latest blog post, George Blankenship, Tesla's vice president of worldwide sales and ownership experience, said that the network will grow--and soon.

"We will be adding Supercharger coverage in many areas over the next three to four months," he writes, "installing our first Superchargers in the Pacific Northwest, Texas, Illinois, and Florida with additional coverage in the Northeast and California.?

"We?re also expanding existing locations like Harris Ranch, where we?re adding five more Superchargers in the next month."

Rumor would have it that one of the Pacific Northwest locations is planned for the town of Blaine, Washington, where there's a Canadian border crossing.

The Supercharger network is meant to allow Model S drivers to obtain rapid recharges--to 80 percent of battery capacity in half an hour or so--every 100 to 200 miles as needed for longer journeys than theircars'?rated ranges.

The Tesla Model S with the largest 85-kWh battery has an EPA-rated range of 265 miles, and the model with the 60-kWh pack is rated at 208 miles.

Those ranges are likely more optimistic than owners will see if they travel at prevailing Interstate highway speeds of 70 to 80 mph, however.

For a first-hand account of using the Supercharger network, see our author David Noland's story from earlier this month:?Life With 2013 Tesla Model S: Getting Supercharged In Winter.

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Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/csm/~3/X65zwRvLWvs/Tesla-Motors-to-expand-Model-S-electric-car-Supercharger-network

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