Tesla Supercharger
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Tesla will promote the new Chinese national electric-car charging standard, instead of its own Supercharger standard.
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Tesla Supercharger map fills in more U.S. gaps for electric-car charging
Tesla continues to expand its U.S. network of Supercharger DC fast-charging stations.
Stephen Edelstein -
Tesla Model S fire in Norway caused by short circuit in car
The topic of electric cars and fires is a fraught one, not helped by the recent spate of videos of cheap Chinese hoverboards in flames. Any fire in an electric car tends to make headlines, regardless of whether the facts have been established. Now we have the results of an investigation into the...
John Voelcker -
Tesla Added 50 Percent More Supercharger Sites Last Year
Tesla now has 591 Supercharger sites.
Stephen Edelstein -
VW CEO Müller: Automotive Future Must Not Be Left To Silicon Valley
Like many automakers, Volkswagen Group has had a research facility in Silicon Valley for many years. In 2011, Its Electronics Research Laboratory--first launched in 1998--tripled its size and moved northward from Palo Alto to Belmont. It now has almost 100 people. But new VW Group CEO Matthias...
John Voelcker -
Tesla Supercharger Congestion Worsens In Peak Travel Periods
Serious congestion was reported at a Tesla Supercharger site in California during the holiday season.
Stephen Edelstein -
A Los Angeles teenager starts a ride-sharing service to pay for his Tesla Model S.
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Audi e-Tron Electric Car To Offer 150-kW Quick Charging Sites
It’s increasingly clear that the German prestige brands plan to launch luxury electric cars that will go head-to-head with upstart Tesla Motors and its Model S and Model X. But a sexy, fast, comfortable, luxurious electric car will not be enough to compete effectively. The German brands must...
John Voelcker -
Where Are Electric-Car DC Fast-Charging Stations? Depends On The Car
Tesla and other carmakers are deploying DC fast-charging stations differently.
Stephen Edelstein -
Buying An Electric Car: Why Charging Rate, DC Quick-Charging Matter
We all know how to compare horsepower, acceleration, and gas mileage. Practical car buyers know to look at cargo volume, too. But when it comes to buying your first electric car, there are a few things you need to know about charging. Like the better-known measurements, the rate at which a plug-in...
John Voelcker -
Gas, Electricity, Hydrogen: How Many Cars Can 'Fuel' And What Will It Cost?
Gas stations are ubiquitous across the world, many with diesel pumps as well, to fuel the more than 1 billion vehicles now roaming the surface of our planet. As regulators get increasingly serious about reducing carbon emissions from transportation, we'll see competing sites for refueling or...
John Voelcker -
Tesla Letter To Rein In Local Supercharger Use Goes Wrong
Last month, Tesla CEO Elon Musk announced a change in Tesla’s Supercharging philosophy. Instead of “free forever” (the phrase the company has used since the beginning), Musk said the Supercharger promise is now “free long-distance travel forever” Superchargers, the...
David Noland -
Last month, my wife and I took my 2013 Tesla Model S on a day trip from our home in New York’s Hudson Valley to Brattleboro, Vermont, a distance of 180 miles. We picked up our daughter, charged the 85-kilowatt-hour battery up to 98 percent at the Brattleboro Supercharger, and returned home via a longer, more scenic route of 210 miles. To my surprise, the return trip took almost every electron the battery could muster. We pulled into the driveway with only 5 percent capacity remaining—roughly 15 miles of range. DON'T MISS: Life With Tesla Model S: Local Supercharger Joys &...
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UPDATE: Tesla Superchargers Still Free In China; Fees On Sign Apply To Private Charger
Tesla Motors is head and shoulders above any other electric-car maker in providing a network of charging stations for its drivers to use during their travels. It's best known for its Supercharger DC quick-charging sites, but it also provides lower-power "destination chargers" at hotels and other...
John Voelcker -
Tesla's Contradictory Messages: Is Supercharging Unlimited, Or Not?
At Tesla’s annual shareholders’ meeting earlier this month, CEO Elon Musk groused about Model S owners who aggressively use the company’s Superchargers for their local driving. Superchargers, Musk said, were intended for long-distance charging. For Model S owners fortunate enough...
David Noland -
Liquid-Cooled Cable Could Speed Up Tesla Supercharging Even More (Video Added!)
A Tesla Supercharger station with a liquid-cooled cable is being tested in California.
Stephen Edelstein -
Life With Tesla Model S: Local Supercharger Joys & Frustrations
As an early Tesla Model S owner, I’m accustomed to waiting. After putting down a $5,000 deposit in April 2009, I waited nearly four years to take delivery of the car. And then I waited another 18 months for the vast barren Northeast Supercharger Desert to bloom, finally unleashing the...
David Noland -
Tesla Navigation Update Echoes Better Place System Of 3 Years Ago
It was another typically hyperbolic statement from Tesla Motors CEO Elon Musk. A simple tweet on a Sunday afternoon claimed that Tesla was “About to end range anxiety ... via [over-the-air] software update. Affects entire Model S fleet.” As usual, the media erupted with wild speculation...
Brian of London -
Earlier this week, Tesla CEO Elon Musk teased us Model S owners with a tweet promising to “end range anxiety.” In a press conference this morning, Musk revealed the goods: an over-the-air firmware update that, while not increasing the range of the car, will at least set the driver’s mind at ease about how far he can really go before the juice runs out. Firmware version 6.2 is now in Beta testing and, according to Musk, will be sent out to the Model S fleet at large in about ten days. DON'T MISS: Tesla Supercharger Network Growth Surges Over Last 14 Months Range Assurance The...
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Tesla Supercharger Network Growth Surges Over Last 14 Months
One of the main advantages of the Tesla Model S is its relative freedom from “range anxiety,” at least in the 85-kilowatt-hour battery pack of the higher-end versions. Rated by the EPA at 265 miles, that range compares to ratings of 62 to about 90 miles in less expensive plug-in...
George Parrott -
Tesla Model S Cross-Country Trip, Without (Many) Superchargers: Days 8-10
After seven days of traveling cross-country in my Tesla Model S electric car--including routes without Supercharger DC fast-charging sites--I had made it as far as Texas. The trip demanded both forward planning and considerable thought toward contingencies, should conditions not permit the Tesla to...
David Noland -
Tesla Model S Cross-Country Trip, Without (Many) Superchargers: Days 4-7
A cross-country road trip in a Tesla Model S electric car requires a fair amount of forward planning and contingency research. Still, I made it from New York's cold, snowy Hudson Valley into the warm, humid climes of Alabama in my first three days--as I wrote about yesterday. Then, waking up on Day...
David Noland -
Tesla Model S Cross-Country Trip, Without (Many) Superchargers: Days 1-3
With our daughter off to college, my wife and I recently became empty-nesters. Suddenly, there was no more reason to endure the wretched winters in New York’s Hudson Valley. California, here we come: We rented a cottage for February and March in the small beach town of Carpinteria, an hour...
David Noland -
UPDATE: Tesla's First Solar-Powered Supercharger-Store-Service Center Now Open
Electric-car maker Tesla Motors has rapidly been opening Supercharger DC fast-charging stations throughout the U.S. and outside the country. But despite its goal of providing solar-generated electricity at those sites, Superchargers thus far have drawn on electricity from the conventional power...
George Parrott