Tesla accelerates Supercharging station expansion plans

Shawn Knight

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Tesla founder and CEO Elon Musk today announced a massive expansion of the company’s Supercharging stations. The plan is to have enough charging stations in place to facilitate a cross-country drive from Los Angeles to New York (or vice versa) in a Model S without using any fuel.

Oh, one other thing - Musk said it will be possible by the end of this year. That’s impressive considering there are only six charging locations throughout California at present: at Gilroy, Harris Ranch, Tejon Ranch, Barstow, Folsom and Los Angeles. There are also some stations dotting the east coast between Washington, DC and Boston but that’s it.

It’s a drastic acceleration of the rollout plan that Tesla initially unveiled late last year. At that time, Musk proposed a rollout that would blanket much of the middle and lower US within two years. The new plan will see Tesla triple the Supercharger coverage area in California by the end of June – a solid start.

Tesla is also boosting the power output at each charging station. At current, stations are able to pump out 100 kW which can give a Model S about three hours of drive time (at 60 mph) in around 30 minutes. The new stations will feature a 120 kW line that can produce the same three hours of drive time in just over 20 minutes. Customers will receive an update to the car’s firmware later this summer to allow for speedier charging.

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I remember reading somewhere that recharging battery's quickly lowers the life span,so how long will these battery's last now?
 
I have a buddy who owns a Tesla S and their advice is for regular usage, never charge it more than 85%. That will extend the life of the batteries. Even with these new super charges, the battery pack on the cars are warrantied for 10 years.
 
I remember reading somewhere that recharging battery's quickly lowers the life span,so how long will these battery's last now?

If you need a care you regularly do 300 miles plus in a day, Electric is not there yet, you are correct fast charge all the time is bad for the batteries.

Most people who have a car of any type do less than 100 miles in a day with the odd long trip every now and again, electric cars can cope with that
 
Consumer Reports just did a test on the S and claims 200 miles on a charge are normal. They also gave the car a score of 99 out of a possible 100, the highest score I can remember.

Unfortunately I don't have 90 grand to spend on a car, and still can't afford it even with the $7,500 tax credit.
 
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