Tesla to blanket the US with supercharging stations in 2 years
 

http://www.businessinsider.com/tesla...pansion-2013-5



Tesla drivers will be able to drive from Los Angeles to New York using the electric car company's Supercharger network by the end of this year, CEO Elon Musk said Wednesday night at the Wall Street Journal's D: All Things Digital Conference.

The network, which currently consists of only nine active stations, seven of which are in California, was already set to increase to 100 stations by 2015.

Instead, Tesla is planning "a dramatic acceleration of the Supercharging network," Musk said at the conference. "It'll be tripled. We'll put the map live tomorrow."

As the network expands, software in the Tesla cars automatically updates, so drivers will be routed to nearby Superchargers when necessary.

That expansion will be a tremendous boon for drivers, as the biggest problem for electric vehicles is the lack of cheap, powerful battery technology. That shortcoming keeps ranges limited, charge times long, and prices high.

Musk acknowledged the power of range anxiety in making potential customers wary of battery-powered electric cars, saying, "when people buy a car they're buying a sense of freedom that they can go wherever they want and not feel fettered."

At Superchargers, Tesla owners can charge their car batteries halfway in 30 minutes, for free. If the network really expands at the rate and density Musk promises, it will be a tremendous advantage for his customers.




Map of where supercharging stations will be located:

http://www.teslamotors.com/supercharger

So is Tesla poised to explode onto the market as a major player, or are they poised for a spectacular and highly visible collapse?

And who's the money behind Tesla? How did they get started?

They'd be smart to build travel plazas around them so that people could stop and eat, walk a dog, etc. Great news, though.

Ah. The money is the guy who grew PayPal. Interesting.

How long does it take to recharge one?

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Yea, Elon Musk is a rich mother****er.

I saw one a Tesla on the road this morning. Pretty sweet looking but it was kind of weird to see no exhaust pipes on what looked like a sports car. I think it may be the same guy who was driving an electric Fiskar a couple months ago. Same commute coming from the same area, hard to say.

And the sign says "Long-haired freaky people need not apply"
So I put my hair up under my hat and I went in to ask him why
He said you look like a fine outstanding young man, I think you'll do
So I took off my hat, I said "Imagine that, huh, me working for you"


Signs, signs, everywhere there's signs
****in' up the scenery, breakin' my mind
Do this, don't do that, can't you read the sign

LMAO God I hate that band.

A charging station had better not look anything remotely like Hitler. That's all I'm saying.

Smartest thing they could do is to partner with a major gas station chain as the foundation is already built and all they would need to do is to outfit the existing stations with chargers.

Elon Musk is a badass that I hope to one day meet.

The founder of PayPal, SpaceX and Tesla Motors.

He is a B.A.D.A.S.S.

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It appears 30min on a supercharger gets you 200 miles but only 10-15 on regular chargers.

http://www.teslamotors.com/supercharger

Yeah, I came here to make a "signs, signs, everywhere (road) signs" joke, but already done.