Elon Musk has 5 sons. Why is this of note? The Tesla CEO recently announced he would take a cross country trip with his boys to demonstrate the ability of the Model S, the company’s flagship electric vehicle, to travel vast distances.
As part of his trip, Musk will also highlight the company’s supercharging highway, its series of charging stations across the United States that can recharge the Tesla’s battery to 80% in 40 minutes or 100% in 75 minutes (alternately, it can charge 50% in 20 minutes). According to Tesla’s Supercharger page on their site, “Supercharging is included in every Model S with an 85 kWh battery, and can be added to any 60 kWh Model S for $2,000, or $2,500 if enabled after delivery.” With range anxiety at the forefront of many customers’ minds, proving that it is possible to travel long distances in electric cars will be a sort of litmus test.
Presumably Musk will drive the top end Model S with an 85kw battery pack, which delivers an estimated 300 miles of driving on a single charge. He is allotting 1 hour and 30 minutes per day for charging (not including overnight presumably). The argument goes that this is equivalent to the time spent sightseeing and eating, though it will be necessary to have charging stations near areas of interest so people can accomplish these concurrently.
While no date has been announced for the trip’s start, it is slated to take 6 days as they traverse the country from Los Angeles to New York City. We’ll report back on his progress.
