There is no better time to travel on the 4th of July than with a home made electric car using home made electric energy. Tesla Motors wants you to go the distance on this patriotic day with a few more superchargers.
Driving along the Californian Highway 101 in a Tesla Model S also means free long distance traveling from San Francisco through San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara, and Los Angeles. Tesla Motors continues to beef up its charging infrastructure, opening the 101 route on top of Highway 5.
Tesla Motors, The Unusual Car Maker. Is Tesla Motors really just a car maker? We’ll let you decide but the little California electric vehicle startup is anything but your atypical car manufacturer. Half way between an energy management company, it delivers free charging to its customers, it also builds an incredible electric sedan that gets rave reviews from the press. It was even hailed as car of the year by no less than Motor Trends and gathered astonishing safety crash tests. Just when you thought you had the company rationalized, it goes to show you its new battery swapping system, see out Free Charging, Or Pay To Swap event we attended. It continues to expand its Supercharger network by opening a new route on the scenic Highway 101 corridor between Atascadero and Buellton, CA.
Along with Gilroy, these supercharging stations allow its drivers to travel from San Francisco to Monterey, San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara, Santa Monica, and finally Los Angeles. Why is this important? Because from now on, the Highway 101 Superchargers corridor provides Tesla Model S drivers a second route option from Los Angeles to San Francisco by avoiding the less-than scenic I-5. In either case, charging remains free adding a half hour break to refill the depleted battery pack.
With a half recharge of a Tesla Model S in 20 minutes, Superchargers are strategically placed to allow its drivers the ability to drive from station to station. Until we get battery swaps, this makes long distance traveling a little closer and more convenient than ever. Conveniently located off major highways near cafes, shopping centers and travel plazas, this gives Model S drivers the opportunity to stop and eat, take a coffee break or other more pressing nature calls on their way between city centers.
What Is So Special About Tesla’s Supercharger? The Tesla Motors Supercharger pumps faster than a Level 2 (240 V) charger does. With up to 120 kilowatts of power and replenishing three hours of driving in about twenty minutes, the Superchargers compete with the already available CHAdeMO and the SAE Fast Charger system, an extension of the J1772 standard. The SAE standard support direct current charging at up to 480-volts, while CHAdeMO delivers up to 62.5 kW of DC high voltage.
According to Elon Musk, Tesla Motors cofounder and CEO: “Tesla’s Supercharger network is a game changer for electric vehicles, providing long distance travel that has a level of convenience equivalent to gasoline cars for all practical purposes. However, by making electric long distance travel at no cost, an impossibility for gasoline cars, Tesla is demonstrating just how fundamentally better electric transport can be,” What makes the Supercharger so important is that they were developed internally and leverages the economies of scale of existing charging technology already used by the Model S. Essentially, it allows Tesla to create the Supercharger device at minimal cost, while lowering operating costs to its drivers. Tesla is able to provide Model S owners free long distance travel pretty much indefinitely.
Happy Fourth of July anyone from Tesla Motors? You guessed it. Nonetheless, this news is welcomed amongst the electric vehicle (EV) community and shows again how the electric car and its infrastructure is developing at a very fast pace.
If you want to spread the love a little more for Tesla, why don’t you sign the petition to sell directly and let some freedom back into our system. Click here.
