Tesla Motors Launches Revolutionary Supercharger

celtic_oz

Tesla today unveiled its highly anticipated Supercharger network. Constructed in secret, Tesla revealed the locations of the first six Supercharger stations, which will allow the Model S to travel long distances with ultra fast charging throughout California, parts of Nevada and Arizona.
The technology at the heart of the Supercharger was developed internally and leverages the economies of scale of existing charging technology already used by the Model S, enabling Tesla to create the Supercharger device at minimal cost. The electricity used by the Supercharger comes from a solar carport system provided by SolarCity, which results in almost zero marginal energy cost after installation. Combining these two factors, Tesla is able to provide Model S owners1 free long distance travel indefinitely.

Drummerboy08

LIGHTNING wrote: »

Cool all we need is decent weather, no VRT on electric cars,cheaper electric cars and we will be sorted :pac:

Don't forget a range longer than your driveway.

recyclebin

Drummerboy08 wrote: »

Don't forget a range longer than your driveway.

They apparently have a range of 300 miles. If they could double the range, half the price and have an easy and quick way to swap out batteries then they would sell here.

Gary ITR

Misleading thread title is misleading. That's not a supercharger, this is a supercharger

Cuddlesworth

OSI wrote: »

I don't quite get how this works, the supercharger is only powered by the solar panels on the roof of the station? If they are, Tesla need to start selling whatever it is they're putting in their panels. There is no way solar panels can produce the megawatts of electricity needed to charge an electric car in any decent time.

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/tesla-motors-launches-revolutionary-supercharger-032000226.html

Its connected to the energy grid(which is pants in the US), so each panel is equivalent to a single Telsa cars use over the same period of time. Usual carbon neutral ****e.

Charge time of 30 minutes for three hours driving is quite bad for a revolutionary new charger. Aren't our 30 fast charge stations the exact same?

September1

It is in California which I guess is a bit sunny, I would guesstimate roof to be 16m by 7m and assuming 1sqm can bring 0.75kWh per day thay would be 84kWh per day. One 30 minute charge is 50kWh per Tesla webpage to it might be enough to give one free charge per day... On other hand if CA offers feed in tariffs or similar scheme, this 84kWh could allow for purchasing way more power from grid.

celtic_oz

OSI wrote: »

I don't quite get how this works, the supercharger is only powered by the solar panels on the roof of the station? If they are, Tesla need to start selling whatever it is they're putting in their panels. There is no way solar panels can produce the megawatts of electricity needed to charge an electric car in any decent time.

Not sure how they are doing it either .. taken from here

Each solar power system is designed to generate more energy from the sun over the course of a year than is consumed by Tesla vehicles using the Supercharger. This results in a slight net positive transfer of sunlight generated power back to the electricity grid. In addition to lowering the cost of electricity, this addresses a commonly held misunderstanding that charging an electric car simply pushes carbon emissions to the power plant. The Supercharger system will always generate more power from sunlight than Model S customers use for driving. By adding even a small solar system at their home, electric car owners can extend this same principle to local city driving too.

Matt Simis

Why is the photo so clearly fake if they unveiled them today?

Cuddlesworth

Matt Simis wrote: »

Why is the photo so clearly fake if they unveiled them today?

They haven't been built. They unveiled plans for 6 fast charging stations across the breath of the US.

The principal is that the charging station is equipped with Solar panels that provide a low constant power to the grid. When a telsa car comes in, it uses the power grid to charge at 100kw/h(possibly 120kw/h). Overall it would work out that 1 solar panel is equal to one Telsa car in terms of energy generated and used over the course of a year.

If I'm going to be honest, this is about the biggest non-story I have seen in the long term. We have more and better charging stations in this country then they can even promise.

delad

recyclebin wrote: »

They apparently have a range of 300 miles. If they could double the range, half the price and have an easy and quick way to swap out batteries then they would sell here.

The length of Ireland is 300 miles. To drive it would take about 6 hours. The model S can do this journey on a single charge. So if anything its got too much range for the needs of people in Ireland.

L1011

delad wrote: »

The length of Ireland is 300 miles. To drive it would take about 6 hours. The model S can do this journey on a single charge. So if anything its got too much range for the needs of people in Ireland.

The Model S's range is 300 constant speed miles on perfect condition roads. I somehow doubt it would actually make it from Dungloe to Dublin (189 miles) on a single charge.

delad

MYOB wrote: »

The Model S's range is 300 constant speed miles on perfect condition roads. I somehow doubt it would actually make it from Dungloe to Dublin (189 miles) on a single charge.

its been independently verified to go 265 miles on a single charge under 55% town use and 45% highway use, it could bomb it from dungloe to dublin without breaking sweat

L1011

delad wrote: »

its been independently verified to go 265 miles on a single charge under 55% town use and 45% highway use, it could bomb it from dungloe to dublin without breaking sweat

The bulk of that drive is neither "town" nor "highway". California doesn't have much in the way of twisty, hilly N road to test on.

Until I can find someone to lend me one, I can't check for sure but I'd be fairly certain that its range on a journey like that would be well under 150.

jake25

Tesla now have their supercharger. It's solar powered, charges at 100kw, and fills up a 300 mile Tesla in under an hour. Good news is it's free to Tesla owners. In a year or so, you'll be able to go up/down either coast for free, and after that, you'll be crossing the US.
Its just like free road trips with the purchase of every Tesla.

I'll say it time and time again, you don't need a 300 mile rage very expensive battery.

What we need is faster charging longer lasting batteries and a lot more fast chargers.

30/kwhrs is the sweet spot for a real 100 miles range. Most people won't be driving more than that in one go without actually having to stop, or without having reached their destination anyway and so can charge while they go about their business.

This "I'll buy an electric car when the have 300 mile range, can toe a 747, and will wipe my arse" is getting very old now.

KT10

Gary ITR wrote: »

Misleading thread title is misleading. That's not a supercharger, this is a supercharger

I see you've played supercharger spoony before!