2013 Tesla Model S Long-Term Road Test

Edmunds.com

2013 Tesla Model S Long-Term Road Test

According to Tesla, you'll be able to drive to Mt. Rushmore and on across the country this winter in a Model S thanks to its expanded supercharger network.

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gslippy

Well, that's pretty impressive.

Surely they're applying several assumptions about highway range related to speed and ambient temperature.

And to think that this network is funded by Tesla rather than the taxpayers. It's very clever of Tesla, because anyone wanting to build a longer-range EV (Nissan, etc) will have to incorporate the Supercharger connector into their vehicle.

quadricycle

So Tesla wants at least a supercharger in every state by 2015? That's quite a goal. Personally, my favorite slide is for 2014: You see superchargers almost everywhere except for a hole right in.... Arkansas! Man we Arkansans are a technologically advanced bunch. I'm currently in Fayetteville and there's a charger of some sort outside City Hall. I've never seen it occupied, not once.

alex4515

As soon as they can develop a supercharger that drives alongside your vehicle as it charges, or get charging times closer to the amount of time that it takes to refill a fuel tank, or significantly increase freeway cruising range, that sounds like a great idea. Otherwise, a road trip of this nature is far less appealing to me than with a typical ICE vehicle.

stovt001_

Tesla continues to impress me with the work they've done on the supercharger network. And it is amazing that all this infrastructure is being developed by a private company, not the government. Now that's American right there.

quadricycle

Not to be a pain in the rear, but it is partly the government (all of us). The government has incentivized electric cars with tax money, which increases the buying of electric cars (Telsas included), which increase the equity of Tesla Motors, which can afford to build superchargers. Its indirect to be sure, but not completely free and clear either.

fordson1

No offense, but Edmunds won't take this car very far on the west coast where the vast majority of Superchargers are located so far, in summer weather. Now you're going to go to South Dakota, where they may be one Supercharger in the whole state, in winter? Not gonna happen.

dgcamero

Does it have all season tires?

eclogite

Cool, but no Supercharger for Austin? I suppose Tesla's assumption is that Superchargers will be used for trips and not regular "refueling". Just odd that we have a Tesla store and service center here in Austin, but you have to drive 30 miles or so south on an extremely congested freeway to get to the closest Supercharger.

fordson1

The master plan is to put them out on the superslab, on major routes in between population centers, not near population centers, which would result in them being used for day-to-day charging instead of people using their own home chargers, and would result in a lot more free electricity being given away, and would result in a lot more congestion at the Supercharger, which will result in frazzled nerves, bad press and Lord of the Flies-type behavior. Building a refueling facility on your own dime and then GIVING away the fuel is a pricey enough endeavor without the vastly higher real estate prices they would pay inside a major city.

quadricycle

^Yes. I still agree with the opinion you've voiced about saturation at chargers once the number of electric cars has increased significantly by the way, and how easily that could disrupt any trip planning. That's going to be a bigger hurdle in Tesla's world domination plan that just building a supercharger every 100 miles.

skintrade

Tesla superchargers - I really don't understand it when people complain that stopping every 260 or so miles to supercharge on a long distance trip is such an inconvenience. They must have bionic bladders and stomachs because apparently they forget the human body does require some maintenance as well on these long trips. Might actually do people good to get up and walk around for 20-40 min every few hours, as being stationary for such long periods of time can lead to blood clots. And being FREE isn't a bad thing is it? People who are really in a rush to their own demise can pay $60 for a 90 second battery swap in the future.

skintrade

Tesla superchargers - I really don't understand how some people think that having to stop every few hours to supercharge for 20-40 minutes on a long distance trip is such an inconvenience. They must have bionic bladders and stomachs because apparently they forget the human body does require some maintenance as well on these long trips. Might actually do people good to get up and walk around for 20-40 min every few hours, as being stationary for such long periods of time can lead to blood clots. And being FREE isn't a bad thing is it? People who are really in a rush to their own demise can pay $60 for a 90 second battery swap in the future.

mayhemm

IMO, the IF of the supercharger network was never in question. They WILL complete it and it WILL look just like the map.
However, the WHEN I don't have quite so much faith in. All the sites on display have been scouted and preliminary construction started, although acquiring permits and work crews in some areas has resulted in significant delays. A shift of the schedule six months or a year into the future is more realistic.

evjuice

Tesla just tweeted 3.2 million free miles have been given at Superchargers.