Tesla owners are in for some good news. The company, after allowing the users to check empty stalls at supercharger stations' availability in real time, has now decided to increase their number for North America.
Tesla is reportedly looking to double the number of supercharger stations in North America this year.
In its fourth quarter earnings announcement, Tesla shared its plans to expand the supercharger station base, along with service and retail functions of the company.
"We plan to accelerate expansion of the Supercharger network this year, starting with doubling our number of North American Supercharger locations in 2017," stated Tesla in a letter to investors.
Tesla Supercharger Stations
Tesla's supercharger stations lets owners of the Model S and Model X quickly charge their electric-powered vehicles for long road trips. The supercharger stations will also cater to the upcoming Model S and provide all Tesla cars with 170 miles of range with just 30 minutes of charging.
"Superchargers are connectors that charge your Tesla vehicle in minutes instead of hours. Stations are strategically placed to minimize stops during long distance travel and are conveniently located near restaurants, shopping centers, and WiFi hot spots. Each station contains multiple Superchargers to help you get back on the road quickly," notes the company.
Tesla currently has 2,636 superpower stations across U.S., Canada and Mexico and plans to double the number this year. As of Dec. 31, 2016, Tesla has 5,043 supercharger stations across 790 locations globally, registering a 10 percent rise in numbers compared to 2015.
As reported, Tesla rolled out an update in mid-January for all Model S and Model X vehicle owners, which enabled them to see the availability at a supercharger station near them.
Why Increase The Number Of Supercharger Stations?
There are two possible reasons that can be attributed to Tesla expanding its supercharger base. The first one can be the enthusiasm displayed by car lovers after the announcement of Tesla Model 3. The upcoming Tesla car in its first week of booking garnered 325,000 advance reservations.
If Musk plans to deliver these number of cars to the buyers, he needs to ramp up the current number of supercharger stations available in the U.S. for better customer satisfaction.
Secondly, Musk intends to produce 500,000 cars at a minimum by 2018 rather than waiting till 2020. In order to cater to these number of consumers, more supercharger stations will be required in near future.
Tesla's Q4 newsletter states that Model 3 production program in "on track" indicating that it is still aiming for the July production deadline of the upcoming car. The company also plans to progressively increase the production of Model 3 to 5,000 vehicles per week in the fourth quarter of 2017 and to 10,000 vehicles per week in 2018.
Model 3 Price
Tesla has already started building prototypes of Model 3 cars and according to its newsletter, initial crash results have come out to be positive along with all other Model 3 related sourcing. The upcoming vehicle has been roughly priced around $35,000 excluding the government incentives and is the cheapest car made by Tesla till date.
Photo: Michael Hicks | Flickr
