Musk provides some details on Supercharger network expansion

[protomech]

Should see a news blurb about this today. Was revealed late last night at a D11 interview.

Musk claims by the end of 2013 you will be able to drive from NYC to LA entirely on Superchargers.
http://www.engadget.com/2013/05/29/elon-musk-reveals-supercharger-network-will-triple-its-coverage/

[protomech]

And it appears I'm too late.

http://www.teslamotors.com/about/press/releases/tesla-dramatically-expands-supercharger-network-delivering-convenient-free-long

With the accelerated rollout of the Tesla Supercharger network, Model S drivers can expect:

    Triple the number of Tesla Supercharger stations by the end of next month, including additional stations in California, coverage of the northwest region from Vancouver to Seattle to Portland, Austin to Dallas in Texas, Illinois and Colorado. There will also be four additional eastern seaboard stations, expanding the density of the network to provide for more convenient stopping points.

    Within six months the Tesla Supercharger network will connect most of the major metro areas in the US and Canada, including expansion into Arizona, additional stations in Texas, Florida, and the Midwest, stations connecting Ottawa to Montreal, and across North and South Carolina into Georgia. It will also be possible to travel diagonally across the country from Los Angeles to New York using only the Tesla Supercharger network.

    A year from now, the Tesla Supercharger network will stretch across the continent, covering almost the entire population of the US and Canada. The expansion of the network will mean that Model S drivers can take the ultimate road trip -- whether that’s LA to New York, Vancouver to San Diego, or Montreal to Miami – without spending a cent on fuel.

Tesla also talks about a gen 2 supercharging system that is already now rolling out, allowing up to 120 kW charging. This boosts the somewhat-optimistic "150 miles in half an hour" charge rate to "200 miles in half an hour".

Tesla already has details of the new 120 kW charging system and charger rollout over time available here:
http://www.teslamotors.com/supercharger

[protomech]

It's worth noting that this is incredibly ambitious - estimated costs for Supercharger installation are in the $100k-200k range. Tesla is talking about a couple hundred stations to get nation-wide charging availability by 2015 .. which would put their costs in the ~$50-100M range.



On the one hand, $100M is starting to get into "real money" territory. Even over several years, that's a significant outlay of funds for Tesla. Maintenance will be non-trivial, but it will be absolutely critical for Tesla to keep on top of. And while Superchargers are pledged to be free for life for Model S owners, that may or may not hold true for a 2016-2017 timeframe Gen III sedan.

On the other hand, it's about a fifth of the money Tesla just wired to the DOE to pay off their loan. And I suspect Tesla will easily recoup money spent from increased EV sales.

Tesla is bold. I think this will turn out very well for them.

[oml]

$100M is something they can pay imho, as theyre turning profit since this quarter (15M/quarter iirc => 60/year or 180M).
Some customers might enable the supercharging option now (2k bucks, I guess 2-3k more upgrades per year, thats at least something).
All in all its pretty ridiculous what one company can achieve which was deemed impossible (!!!11!) less than 3 years ago.

One problem I see is the capacity of those SC-stations: with approximatly 20k Modell S running by the end of this year one might expect waiting times in front of them, maybe even blockage by insensitive customers (dicks can be found anywhere.)

Im also curious about the long-term politics. At the moment, those SC are more of a gimmick to attract customers. If Musk continues to expand the network like promised those might really get the general charging infrastructure of the future - at least for Tesla cars. I also doubt they will continue the charging-for-free-programm in the next generation and start making profit with it.
 
In short: It might turn from gimmick to a real, large scale business. Maybe even a monopoly, if they decide to licence the charging technology, which I hope (noone wants 10 bad, incompatible charging station networks if one could have one great one).
But I suggest - even hope! - that the cartel office decides to seperate both sections. Its not the best for Tesla, but unless they manage to achieve an absolute monpoly on the electric car and therefore personal transport in the next decades I dont think they can avoid it.
Imagine a car company also owning all the petrol stations over the country. Unimagineable. And also not desireable imho.



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NASDAQ seems to take it well, which makes me quite unhappy as I sold my few dozen shares when they were in the 90ies-range cause I expected the market to crash soon (I planned to rebuy them at $50-60) :|
Still, they paid for a good third of my Empulse in a ridiculous short time

I would be surprised if I would be the only one here who owns/owned Tesla stock. Hands up, who else layed bets on Tesla?