Tesla Reveals Charging Station Sites In 3 US States

locallyunscene writes "Tesla has created the first solar charging stations for its Model S and plans to offer free charging. Is free fuel enough to for the electric car to finally gain traction? 'The technology at the heart of the Supercharger was developed internally and leverages the economies of scale of existing charging technology already used by the Model S, enabling Tesla to create the Supercharger device at minimal cost. The electricity used by the Supercharger comes from a solar carport system provided by SolarCity, which results in almost zero marginal energy cost after installation. Combining these two factors, Tesla is able to provide Model S owners free long distance travel indefinitely." The "free charging" part applies at least to Model S owners, and will be available first from a network of charging stations in California, Arizona, and Nevada, to be expanded nationwide over the next 2 to 4 years; Engadget features a video of the announcement.

Comments

Had to be said

[Anonymous Coward]

Obligatory "People who can afford a Tesla aren't bothered by the price of gas"

Re:Had to be said

[h4rr4r]

That is how everything works. The first airline passengers could have easily taken a week off work to travel from NYC to London.

I am glad rich folks are buying teslas for vanity, hopefully that will fund a car I can afford. Then hopefully my purchase will help to create a car everyone can afford.

Re:Had to be said

[Anonymous Coward]

You have it all wrong. We need to tax all that extra income and so it can be spent on subsidies for companies to build cheaper models that no one will want.

Re:Had to be said

[h4rr4r]

Define acceleration needs please.
Is 0-60 in 5.6 not good enough? What would be?

The Tesla S looks very nice. So it looks like range is the last remaning issue.

The cost is comparable to other comparable luxury sedans.

Hydrogen is absolute bullshit, it embrittles metal, it escapes through everything and the fuel cells that use it need platinum which means the fuel cell costs more than the car you want to buy. Hydrogen was the fossil fuel industry just blowing smoke up your ass. This is because hydrogen comes from steam reformation of natural gas. It is not produced in any "green" way industrially.

The recharge time is not 30 minutes for 100 miles. It is 30 minutes for 80% of 300miles. This will only get better.

Re:Had to be said

[h4rr4r]

Most people in the states do not drive that far. My daily commute is under 10 miles. I own two cars, one of them could easily be electric.

I am sure my life is not unique and many american families would be fine with one electric car and one gas fueled vehicle.

CNG has other problems. CNG cars exist but the range also sucks. LNG fixes the range issue, but handling LNG is not something the average moron should really be doing.

Re:Had to be said

[NeutronCowboy]

I'm repeating myself a bit, but.... it seems these opinions just don't die.

It has to have acceleration,

The Tesla S handily beats anything south of a Vette.

at least 500 mile range on a charge

Not a single performance sedan has that range. Heck, not even the Golf TDi has that range. Why that requirement?

and not look like a piece of crap.

The Teslas are all hot.

Oh and it has to at least be in the price ball park of my gasoline powered car.

Define ballpark. It's in the range of the luxus import sedans, which is what the Tesla is competing against. It is not in the range of a Kia Rio, which is what I suspect you're thinking of.

Re:Had to be said

[ryzvonusef]

Reminds me of something that Jeremy Clarkson (of Top Gear fame) once said: If you want to look at the future, you should look at the luxury goods today. He gave examples of how "luxury" features such as power steering, ABS, injection fuel etc that were once the domain of expensive cars are now a part of every ordinary car.

Same is the case with Tesla and the electric systems; they will start with luxury, and soon (5-10 years?) become part of the ordinary cars.

meh

[MonoSynth]

No wireless. Lame.

The other important announcements

[dnaumov]

From the SEC filling:

As our main focus is on quality, we have methodically increased our Model S production at a rate slower than we had earlier anticipated.

We now anticipate that we will deliver between 200 and 225 Model S vehicles to customers in the third quarter and between 2,500 and 3,000 Model S vehicles in the fourth quarter.

We anticipate, however, that manufacturing and supplier issues will continue to arise and need to be addressed in a timely manner.

In the third quarter of 2012, we anticipate that our gross margin will be negatively affected primarily by the limited number of Model S vehicles we intend to deliver

We also expect selling, general and administrative expenses for the third quarter to increase modestly over the prior quarter as we continue to increase our vehicle selling and servicing capabilities.

We have now fully drawn down our $465 million DOE Loan Facility.

Constant Fill Up?

[inhuman_4]

One thing I don't understand, and perhaps someone on here can enlighten me, is why people always assume you will fill up only when the tank is empty? It seems to me that one of the big advantages of electric is that you don't need a speciallized fueling station. You should be able to fuel up all over the place (although perhaps not quickly) provided there were enough charging stations. For example charging while:
At home.
Parked at work.
Out to dinner.
Overnight at a hotel.
At a movie.
Shopping at a mall.

The tank doesn't have to be empty, and the charging doesn't have to be to fill. But consistantly charging a little bit here and there should be one of the main ways to extend range. I realize that infastructure like charging stations need to be installed and the electrical grid must be able to handle it all. But other than that, what am I missing?