Tesla Motors made two big announcements - First, the electric car manufacturer will be expanding its network of charging stations, promising that in a year from now, the company will be able to cover nearly the entire population of the U.S. and Canada. Second, Tesla will be rolling out its improved Supercharger technology, which allows a Model S to be charged in half the time previously required.
Currently, the Tesla Supercharger network covers only a handful of states on the west coast and east coast, including California, Nevada and Massachusetts. Additionally, the recharge time now stands at about 40 minutes.
"In addition to the expansion of the Tesla Supercharger network itself, Tesla is improving the technology behind the Tesla Supercharger to dramatically decrease the amount of time it takes to charge Model S, cutting charging time in half relative to early trials of the system," the company said in a press release. "The new technology, which is in beta test mode now and will be fully rolled out to customers this summer, will allow Model S to be charged at 120 kW, replenishing three hours of driving in just over 20 minutes."
Tesla is offering charging services absolutely free to Model S owners. According to Engadget, Tesla Supercharger stations have already allowed around a million Model S owners to charge for free.
The expansion of the Supercharger network will begin immediately. Tesla promises that by the end of June, it will have already tripled the size of its network to encompass cities that include Vancouver and Dallas. The company went on to promise further that, within a year, Model S owners will be able to drive from New York to Los Angeles completely on electric power.
However, Engadget points out that Tesla's promise to "stretch across the continent" comes with the caveat that it will cover almost the entire population of U.S. and Canada. It looks like Hawaii is being left out of the mix.
All things considered, it's been a good quarter for Tesla. The company not only saw its first ever profit, it also repaid its $465 million loan from the federal government - nine years early.
