Tesla announced today that it plans to upgrade its current superchargers to charge three hours of driving range in 20 minutes, as well as line the highways with powerdicks from coast to coast before the start of 2014.
In today's press release, Tesla stated that Tesla Model S drivers would be able to road trip from New York to Los Angeles within six months. Automotive News reports that coast-to-coast charging will take longer but should be expected before the end of 2014.
By the end of June, however, Musk stated that he would triple the number of superchargers, not just in California, but in Illinois, Colorado, between Vancouver, Portland and Seattle and between Dallas and Austin.
Within six months Tesla plans enough suprchargers across Canada, the Midwest and the coasts to allow some crosscountry driving. More unrestricted continental road trips should be possible in the six months after that. This is a $20-$30 million dollar investment, at a cost of about $150,000 per station.
Well, the superchargers don't look as much like powerdicks as they originally did, but the planned roll out will still be impressive. Within the next few months, the current supercharges will go from 90 to 120 kilowatts. Current chargers give about 150 miles of range in 30 minutes and 200 miles in 45, reports Automotive News.
This means that Tesla Model S owners will go from being moderately limited in how quickly they can cover long distances to only slightly limited in how quickly they can cover long distances.