Tesla Motors announced Tuesday their plans to set up a network of over 100 Supercharger stations by 2015 to keep their electric cars moving longer than ever before. The stations will be located at restaurants and malls around the U.S. so that drivers have something to do while their Tesla recharges.
Six charging stations are open currently in California, Tesla's birthplace. Located in Barstow, Los Angeles, Tejon Ranch, Gilroy, Harris Ranch, and Folsom, they create a 200-mile radius circle that also includes San Francisco and Las Vegas. This means that the maximum distance between any of those cities or a Supercharger is 200 miles, putting them well within the range of the 85 kWh Model S and 40 miles beyond the range of the base 40 kWh model.
The next round of Superchargers will be installed in more urban areas throughout the U.S. and Canada, in an attempt to create a similar chain of stations for intercity electric car travel. Tesla has already mentioned places like Vancouver-San Diego, Montreal-New York, and Los Angeles-New York as the three corridors it would like to develop.
While there have been talks of standardizing EV chargers, Tesla has not said yet whether the Supercharger will be compatible with other companies' electric vehicles. Due to the tricky direct-to-battery connection, there is a good chance the Supercharger may not work with other cars.
The lack of charging stations around the nation has limited most EVs to commuter duty and general urban driving, but Tesla has decided to address this issue themselves in hopes to revolutionize the way electronic cars are used. A cross-country network of charging stations is pretty ambitious, and along with the Model S vehicle, both may be necessary to make Tesla's revolutionary vision possible.
Tesla also plans to distribute the Supercharger to Europe and Asia sometime in 2013.
This news comes after the company warns that they will miss sales expectations for 2012 on Tuesday, falling about 30 percent below expectations.
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