Tesla Motors is creating a network of 100 solar-powered charging stations for its electric vehicles nationwide by the end of 2015.
The fast chargers will be able to deliver three hours of highway driving range with a 30-minute charge. The service is available for free to Tesla owners.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk said the total cost of the stations will be between $20 million and $30 million for the entire network.
Each station will have between four and six charging ports and be located at key highway rest stops near established restaurants, Musk said.
Within two years, most of the U.S. will be covered, with the following time being used to backfill areas so that eventually stations are no more than 200 miles apart.
Musk said similar sized networks will be placed in Europe and Asia starting next summer.
For owners of other brand electric vehicles--and even the original Tesla Roadster--the fast chargers will only work with the Tesla Model S and future Tesla models. That is because the 100-kilowatt charging current is too powerful for lesser battery packs, Musk said.
The stations will get their power from solar panels mounted overhead, courtesy of Musk's sister company, Solar City.
The panels will generate more power than charging cars can draw, so on a net basis, the stations will add to the electrical power grid even if cars are charging at night or in cloudy weather.
The fast chargers will be able to deliver three hours of highway driving range with a 30-minute charge. The service is available for free to Tesla owners.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk said the total cost of the stations will be between $20 million and $30 million for the entire network.
Each station will have between four and six charging ports and be located at key highway rest stops near established restaurants, Musk said.
Within two years, most of the U.S. will be covered, with the following time being used to backfill areas so that eventually stations are no more than 200 miles apart.
Musk said similar sized networks will be placed in Europe and Asia starting next summer.
For owners of other brand electric vehicles--and even the original Tesla Roadster--the fast chargers will only work with the Tesla Model S and future Tesla models. That is because the 100-kilowatt charging current is too powerful for lesser battery packs, Musk said.
The stations will get their power from solar panels mounted overhead, courtesy of Musk's sister company, Solar City.
The panels will generate more power than charging cars can draw, so on a net basis, the stations will add to the electrical power grid even if cars are charging at night or in cloudy weather.
