Tesla Motors rolling out ultra-fast Supercharger electric car charging stations

Tesla Motors, the electric car manufacturer started by SpaceX and PayPal co-founder Elon Musk, has unveiled an ambitious plan to place what it calls Supercharger stations across the U.S. for use by owners of its vehicles. Debuting in California this month, the stations are designed to fully charge Tesla's Model S sedan in about an hour, providing them with enough charge in 30 minutes to travel 150 miles.

Six of the stations, which are free to use for Tesla owners as long as they have their vehicles, are planned for California and will be laid out in such a way as to fall within each others' driving radius. That way, Model S owners can simply plan their route around them on long road trips. The long-term plan is to eventually cover the U.S. in the stations. 100 are planned to open by 2015.

The Supercharger connections deliver 90 kilowatts of electricity strait to the Model S battery, bypassing the car's charging system in the process. Tesla says this allows one outlet at the stations to provide nearly four-and-a-half times the current of two standard Model S charging setups. There's no word on how much it's costing Tesla to operate the stations, but we have to imagine the electric bill's going to be out of this world.

[via Geekosystem]

This article was written by Randy Nelson and originally appeared on Tecca

More from Tecca:

• 50 ways electric vehicles are zipping us toward the future

• Tesla Model S outpaces Porsche without a drop of gas

• Renault donates electric vehicle to "Green Pope"