Tesla has opened opened new ‘supercharger’ locations connecting the Netherlands, Germany, Switzerland, and Austria, claiming this will allow owners “to enjoy free, convenient, 100% electric trips on the German autobahn and to destinations in the alps and elsewhere”.
Tesla, which builds its cars in the old GM-Toyota NUMMI joint venture plant in Fremont, California, opened its first six superchargers in the state in September 2012 with the first network of European stations opening in Norway less than a year later. There are now 81 locations operating worldwide with 14 in Europe.
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The new superchargers are in Germany (Wilnsdorf, Bad Rappenau, Aichstetten and Jettingen), Switzerland (Lully) Austria (St. Anton) and the Netherlands (Zevenaar and Oosterhout).
In Germany, they connect Cologne, Frankfurt, Stuttgart and Munich and also connect that German network to Amsterdam, Zurich, and Innsbruck. In the Netherlands, ‘energised routes’ connect Amsterdam to Cologne and Brussels and, in Switzerland, the stations connect Zurich and Geneva.
By the end of March 2014, 50% of the German population will live within 320km of a supercharger with 100% of the population covered by the end of the year, Tesla said.
The supercharger provides up to 120 kilowatts of direct current power directly to the vehicle battery using special cables that bypass the onboard charging equipment and can half charge a Tesla Model S in about 20 minutes.
