Many are getting a charge out of the area outside the Menlo Park Mall. Tesla, purveyor of the luxury Model S, recently opened its Supercharger there.
“It plugs a gap,” said Michael Thwaite, president of the New Jersey Electric Auto Association.
Equipped with eight charging stations, the Supercharger opened in August and offers 24/7 free voltage for Tesla drivers at 55 Parsonage Road, on the outskirts of the mall.
With the appearance of a sort of spaceage gas station, Superchargers allow Tesla drivers to charge their cars to half capacity within 20 minutes via 120-kilowatt outlets. To put that in perspective, a 240-volt outlet at one’s home provides about 30 miles of charge for every hour plugged in, according to the company.
The second in the state — the first Supercharger opened in Hamilton in April — Edison’s Supercharger is part of the company’s plan to allow Tesla drivers on the East Coast to travel by road from Boston to Miami, Tesla Communications Manager Patrick Jones said prior to its opening.
“Installations like Edison bring it a step closer to that,” Thwaite said.
The Tesla Model S offers a range of 270 miles when powered up at a Supercharger.
“Superchargers enable long-distance travel,” Jones said. “We need to get over the hump of so-called range anxiety.”
Thwaite, owner of a number of electric cars, pointed out that Superchargers work exclusively with the newer Tesla Model S, which has an 85 kilowatt-hour battery. The older 60 kilowatt-hour Model S can be adapted to become compatible with Superchargers, he added.
While his own Tesla isn’t compatible with the growing Supercharger network, Thwaite nonetheless praised the facilities that provide the antidote to range anxiety.
“Range anxiety is a funny thing,” he said. “We kind of jokingly call it ‘range confidence’ after a while.”
Named the 2013 Motor Trend Car of the Year and one of Time magazine’s Best Inventions of the Year 2012, the Model S has unprecedented range for electric vehicles (EVs), according to Jones.
For example, Thwaite said some of his EVs have a range of only 60 to 70 miles per charge. While Thwaite said he found it a bit odd that the new Supercharger was located right in town, Tesla regularly seeks to place the facilities in areas with nearby amenities, such as restaurants and shopping malls, according to the website.
Thwaite also praised the Superchargers for being well-maintained.
A company representative was closelipped about the number of Tesla drivers that have taken advantage of the new Supercharger, as well as about the number of Tesla drivers throughout the state, saying the company does not disclose any such data.
Jones said in the past, however, that 19,000 of the vehicles have been driven on U.S. roads since the start of Tesla’s first full production year in 2013.