When we think of recharging a Tesla, we generally think of the company’s network of SuperChargerlocations, those attractively styled high power facilities where Tesla drivers can get free electricity to extend their range while traveling. But Tesla has another arrow in its quiver — destination chargers. Those are lower powered units roughly equivalent to DC fast chargers.
Tesla Electric Car Charging Station Depolyment
SuperChargers are intended to let you get where you are going with the shortest possible charging time along the way. Destination chargers are intended to recharge the battery when you get where you are going and the car will be stationary for an hour or two. They are normally found at hotels, upscale B&B’s, restaurants, ski resorts and the like.
The company added 107 SuperCharger locations throughout the US in the past year, bringing the total to 224. But it added 851 destination chargers in the same time period, bring the total in the US to 1,122. All those destination chargers show up on the car’s onboard charger location software. Smart business people are eager to add a destination charger or two in order to attract business from Tesla owners in the area.
Tesla has a number of cooperative arrangements with local merchants. Sometimes it provides the charger free of charge and the destination pays to install it. The local business is permitted to assess a fee for use of the charger, but many merchants quietly absorb that expense in order to attract new business. People who drive $100,000 cars usually are the kind of customers any business would like to have, after all!
Tesla is continuously improving the performance of its SuperChargers, which are typically located along major transportation routes.and can restore a battery to an 80% charge in a half hour or less with charging rates range from 90 kW to 135 kW. Tesla has plans for SuperChargers that can charge at 200 kW. In fact, it has pioneered liquid cooled charging cables to handle the heat that such high powered equipment will generate.
Destination chargers usually have 50 kW of power, considerably less than the SuperChargers but more than enough if a car is going to be parked for a couple of hours or overnight. While other manufacturers fiddle and fret about who is going to pay for electric charger infrastructure, Tesla is just going ahead and building the most comprehensive charging network in the world. One would expect nothing less from Elon Musk and Tesla.
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