Tesla is looking to expand its Supercharger network to gas stations

[Shawn Knight]

Tesla is in active discussions with a major gas station and convenience store chain with regard to expanding its nationwide network of Supercharger battery recharging stations.

Michael Lorenz, executive vice president of petroleum supply for Sheetz, told The Washington Post in an interview that they have had discussions with Tesla about putting their chargers in their stores. They haven’t done anything yet, Lorenz added, but said they’re continuing discussions.

A spokesperson for Tesla told the publication that they are actively courting gas stations, hotels and restaurants in a bid to install their high-speed electric chargers across the country but declined to comment specifically on discussions with Lorenz’s company.

Sheetz isn’t a name that you’re likely to be familiar with but they’re quite successful, operating hundreds of retail gas stations across six states in the mid-Atlantic region. The company does nearly $7 billion in business each year, the Post said, adding that it already has eight locations equipped with charging stations for non-Tesla EVs across Pennsylvania and North Carolina.

Tesla may be wise to hammer out deals as we’re still in the early days of electric vehicle penetration. Adoption has been slow to date, partially due to the fact that electric cars typically cost more than their combustion engine counterparts. Within six years, however, Bloomberg New Energy Finance estimates that electric cars will be as affordable as traditional gasoline-powered vehicles and by 2040, a third of all new vehicle sales could be of the EV variety.

Image courtesy SteeringNews

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https://www.techspot.com/news/65399-tesla-looking-expand-supercharger-network-gas-stations.html

 

[Uncle Al]

Restaurants, shopping centers, and that sort of thing make sense, but considering the charging time I don't think a gas station would make a lot of sense. What would make a lot more sense would be if he would adopt the direction that Niessen is taking with a small fuel driven engine strictly to continuously recharge the batteries, giving the vehicle extended range .... that is just good engineering sense!

 

[cliffordcooley]

Restaurants, shopping centers, and that sort of thing make sense, but considering the charging time I don't think a gas station would make a lot of sense.

I was just saying the same damned thing.

 

[treetops]

Supercharging. Tesla supercharging stations charge with up to 120 kW of power, or up to 16 times as fast as public charging stations; they take about 20 minutes to charge to 50%, 40 minutes to charge to 80%, and 75 minutes to 100%.

20 minutes for 50% and 75 minutes for 100%? I'm not a mathematician but......

 

[namesrejected]

UGH! Bad idea. I'm a mechanic for an electrical contracting company, and our guys are always putting gasoline in the diesel trucks. I can just see someone not paying attention, and try plugging this into the fill neck to a gas vehicle...

Well, it might be funny to watch on youtube, so go ahead!

 

[RustyTech]

...our guys are always putting gasoline in the diesel trucks.

Has your employer considered drug testing these individuals who seem to be ALWAYS doing this? Just saying...

 

[Uncle Al]

Supercharging. Tesla supercharging stations charge with up to 120 kW of power, or up to 16 times as fast as public charging stations; they take about 20 minutes to charge to 50%, 40 minutes to charge to 80%, and 75 minutes to 100%.

20 minutes for 50% and 75 minutes for 100%? I'm not a mathematician but......

It's well taken but I have to ask just how many people are going to be willing to sit at wait at a gas station for 20 minutes, much less 75? Of course, this COULD lead gas stations to entire new businesses much like truck stops now have and Lord knows we have so many of those "Asian Massage" parlours here that it could be a REAL inducement to hang around for 20 minutes, although there will be a few of us that still have another 15 minute wait ....... ROFLMAO

 

[Ranger1st]

Tesla set up the only recharging station in my area for ~ 140km at an abandoned Target. Empty for mines except for 8 stations and 8 S models..

 

[IAMTHESTIG]

Restaurants, shopping centers, and that sort of thing make sense, but considering the charging time I don't think a gas station would make a lot of sense. What would make a lot more sense would be if he would adopt the direction that Niessen is taking with a small fuel driven engine strictly to continuously recharge the batteries, giving the vehicle extended range .... that is just good engineering sense!

What?

Niessen? Do you mean Nissan? If so Nissan doesn't have a vehicle like this as far as I know. I think you may be thinking of the Chevrolet Volt.

 

[BlueDrake]

What?

Niessen? Do you mean Nissan? If so Nissan doesn't have a vehicle like this as far as I know. I think you may be thinking of the Chevrolet Volt.

Nissan Leaf

 

[Darth Shiv]

Supercharging. Tesla supercharging stations charge with up to 120 kW of power, or up to 16 times as fast as public charging stations; they take about 20 minutes to charge to 50%, 40 minutes to charge to 80%, and 75 minutes to 100%.

20 minutes for 50% and 75 minutes for 100%? I'm not a mathematician but......

The batteries obviously don't charge linearly.

They are going to have to really improve the charge times or go for a different model if/when adoption really takes off and has significant market share.

 

[namesrejected]

Has your employer considered drug testing these individuals who seem to be ALWAYS doing this? Just saying...

Yep! If they pass they keep their job. If they fail, they get their job back in 90 days, with a truck. Meh, I'm not the boss, I cant do anything about it, I get paid by the hour, so meh.

 

[treetops]

By the way chevron already has charging stations. started up what 5+ years ago. And no it does not look like a gas nozzle.

 

[namesrejected]

Restaurants, shopping centers, and that sort of thing make sense, but considering the charging time I don't think a gas station would make a lot of sense. What would make a lot more sense would be if he would adopt the direction that Niessen is taking with a small fuel driven engine strictly to continuously recharge the batteries, giving the vehicle extended range .... that is just good engineering sense!

What?

Niessen? Do you mean Nissan? If so Nissan doesn't have a vehicle like this as far as I know. I think you may be thinking of the Chevrolet Volt.

I don't think anyone has a vehicle that has a " small fuel driven engine ( strictly ) to continuously recharge the batteries. Energy is energy, and every time you convert it you will loose some due to inefficiency typically in the form of heat. By having a combustion engine strictly charging the batteries you would loose efficiency, but if you have a combustion engine that is large enough to power the vehicle down the highway once you have gotten to speed, and at the same time it is charging the batteries, then yea, great idea.

Combustion engines are most inefficient when accelerating, yet this is where electric vehicles really shine, so you could get by with a very small combustion engine if you have an electric motor for accelerating, once the desired speed has been reached, if the batteries are below X percentage of charge the combustion engine kicks in, to charge the batteries AND maintain highway speed. Once the batteries are charged the combustion engine shuts off, and the vehicle will switch to all electric. I believe that is what all the hybrid vehicles do, and that makes more since. To have a combustion engine charge the batteries while going down the road, and still rely on the electric motors do drive the vehicle makes no since, your loosing efficiency doing that, your converting energy more times than needed for the desired outcome, that's always going to be less efficient.

 

[namesrejected]

By the way chevron already has charging stations. started up what 5+ years ago. And no it does not look like a gas nozzle.

To me an outlet doesn't look like food, yet toddlers try to stick a fork in them.


FYI : I am trolling now, just so you know how to respond.

 

[Uncle Al]

I don't think anyone has a vehicle that has a " small fuel driven engine ( strictly ) to continuously recharge the batteries. Energy is energy, and every time you convert it you will loose some due to inefficiency typically in the form of heat. By having a combustion engine strictly charging the batteries you would loose efficiency, but if you have a combustion engine that is large enough to power the vehicle down the highway once you have gotten to speed, and at the same time it is charging the batteries, then yea, great idea.

Combustion engines are most inefficient when accelerating, yet this is where electric vehicles really shine, so you could get by with a very small combustion engine if you have an electric motor for accelerating, once the desired speed has been reached, if the batteries are below X percentage of charge the combustion engine kicks in, to charge the batteries AND maintain highway speed. Once the batteries are charged the combustion engine shuts off, and the vehicle will switch to all electric. I believe that is what all the hybrid vehicles do, and that makes more since. To have a combustion engine charge the batteries while going down the road, and still rely on the electric motors do drive the vehicle makes no since, your loosing efficiency doing that, your converting energy more times than needed for the desired outcome, that's always going to be less efficient.

You might want to read up on the latest news on that one. The concept isn't new in fact in 1898 The Austrian Dr. Ferdinand Porsche, at age 23, built his first car, the Lohner Electric Chaise. It was the world’s first front-wheel-drive. Porsche’s second car was a hybrid, using an internal combustion engine to spin a generator that provided power to electric motors located in the wheel hubs. On battery alone, the car could travel nearly 40 miles.

By April of this year over 11 million electric cars have been sold world wide, so we're a bit beyond it being a passing fad. The Nissan Leaf has been selling here since 2010, it's 100% electric. They are fielding a new one in 2017 that will be as I described, and as earlier stated, it's not the first. Since fuel driven engines have a "Peak Performance" at which they are the most efficient, it is far more efficient to have the fuel driven engine run intermittently to turn a generator and recharge the batteries. Not as efficient as strictly electric, but the point here is extending the range well beyond the 80 to 200 miles that are the current limits. As noted in quite a few articles, the greatest hesitation for most buyers is the range. Since the standard vehicle has an "intended" range on a tank of fuel of roughly 400 miles, having this car that's electricity recharging will be through a highly efficient gasoline engine, the range will be limited only by the amount of fuel, just as any internal combustion engine and like a fuel driven vehicle, it can be refueled and continue on it's way.

 

[captaincranky]

I'm picturing the lines, as people try to recharge their pure electric Tesla's at a resort town's gas stations for the drive home. A gasoline car takes maybe 5 minutes to fill, and yet the lines can be a half block long. I'm picturing you having to turn off the Tesla's air conditioner as you sit in a 20 mile long 2 hour traffic jamb on Route 42 North, approaching the Walt Whitman Bridge to Philly.

Ah, it'd be all right I suppose, as long as Tesla comes to grips with reality and puts push bumpers on their cars. Maybe Musk could helicopter in and lend a hand with the push to the side of the road. (But of course, only for model S owners).

So, "Superchargers", huh? If you think about it, the bait which people take in Tesla's advertising, is the addition of a simple adverb, "only", which tends to turn pure bulls*** into a truth which people want to believe. "It ONLY takes 75 minutes for a full charge". Unfortunately, "75 minutes" is a synonym for "eternity", in our modern world.

Think about it, if you could fill 15 gasoline powered cars in 75 minutes, (fairly easily done), you could fully charge one Tesla in the same time. So that means, all you would need, would be 15 Superchargers, to replace one gas pump. His anybody in this discussion considered the price of buying, renting, or leasing commercial land these days? Of course with Musk at the head of the discussion, I'm sure he would be able to talk people giving him the space for free, because, "he's doing them the favor". Problem solved.