Tesla Opens Solar-Powered Car Charging Stations

Tesla Motors (NAS: TSLA) has unveiled a solar-powered charge station for its Model S sedan. Six different rest stops in California have been outfitted with the devices. Currently they are only available for use by Tesla employees but all customers will be able to use them sometime in early October, The Associated Press quoted a spokeswoman as saying.

By next year, the company plans to install the so-called Superchargers in high-traffic corridors across the continental United States and will also begin installing them in Europe and Asia in the second half of 2013.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk said the charge stations solve the complaint that electric cars can't drive long distances easily. He told the AP that the free stations will charge the Model S sedan fully in about an hour, and from a 30-minute charge the car will have enough energy for a 150-mile trip. According to the company the Supercharger is "substantially more powerful than any charging technology to date, providing almost 100 kilowatts of power to the Model S, with the potential to go as high as 120 kilowatts in the future."

The article Tesla Opens Solar-Powered Car Charging Stations originally appeared on Fool.com.

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