Tesla Expanding Supercharger Stations Into City Centers

Image courtesy of Tesla

One of the biggest perks of owning an electric car? Skipping the gas station. But because not everyone has a house with a garage that they can charge a vehicle in overnight, Tesla is now expanding its Supercharger stations to city centers.

Noting that there is a “growing” network of Superchargers located along highways on popular driving routes as well as thousands of Destination Charging connectors at hotels, resorts, and restaurants, Tesla announced on Monday that it will expand Supercharger networks into big cities, starting with downtown Chicago and Boston.

Supercharger stations will be installed in “convenient areas” in urban locations, including supermarkets, shopping centers and downtown districts, “so it’s easy for customers to charge their car in the time it takes to grocery shop or run errands.”

Although each one will have the same pricing as existing Superchargers, the new stations will have a new post design that occupies less space than other chargers, which is ideal for densely populated areas.

“To increase efficiency and support a high volume of cars, these Superchargers have a new architecture that delivers a rapid 72 kilowatts of dedicated power to each car,” the company explains, which means that charging speed won’t be affected if someone else plugs in their Tesla next to yours. This will allow most drivers to charge their cars in about 45 to 50 minutes, Tesla says.

Want more consumer news? Visit our parent organization, Consumer Reports, for the latest on scams, recalls, and other consumer issues.