[Paul]

From the Tesla Motors website:

This morning in Hamilton, New Jersey, we cut the ribbon on our 100th Supercharger station. A crowd of more than 100 people, including New Jersey state legislators, Tesla executives, and supporters, marked the milestone moment in the sunshine at the location next to a popular shopping center.

“What a great turn out!”, New Jersey Assemblyman Timothy Eustace told the crowd of more than 100 people. “We are zealots for electric cars, and we welcome and thank you for being here.”

James Chen, Tesla’s Vice President of Regulatory Affairs, said that electric vehicles and Superchargers are about alleviating the world’s addiction to oil. “What we are really doing here today is getting to our core mission of catalyzing the electric vehicle industry,” Chen said.

At a Supercharger, a Model S can get half a charge in as little as 20 minutes, allowing for long-distance travel without having to pay a cent for gas (or, now that we mention it, electricity). By charging only at Superchargers, Model S owners can drive for free, forever.

More here: http://www.teslamotors.com/blog/100-supercharger-stations

 

[Kevin Sharpe]

Fantastic! 135kW rapid charging here we come

 

[Kevin Sharpe]

Can your Tesla use superchargers Kevin?

No, the battery architecture of the Roadster is fundamentally different from the Model S and therefore Supercharger compatibility is very unlikely

 

[jontracey]

No, the battery architecture of the Roadster is fundamentally different from the Model S and therefore Supercharger compatibility is very unlikely

Sounds like a challenge, Surely at the end of the day its electricity and batteries and something in the middle to fit one to the other

Didn't Elon promise to do something nice for Roadster owners ?

 

[Kevin Sharpe]

Sounds like a challenge, Surely at the end of the day its electricity and batteries and something in the middle to fit one to the other

Yeh, it's just a challenge

The 'problem' is the way the Roadster and Model S arrange cells within the battery during charging. iirc the Roadster 'looks' like a low voltage array to the charger not the high voltage bank that it is when in operation. I have some drawings somewhere that I'll dig out...

Didn't Elon promise to do something nice for Roadster owners ?

Hi did and my guess is that it will be an extra discount for the next generation Roadster. I know that all Roadster development has now stopped and that's not surprising with only 2600 on the road. We do have some adhoc support developing with ex-Tesla people and once more Roadsters are out of extended warranty I think you'll see more exciting developments.

However, I do wonder if future money would be better spent on a Factory Five Racing 818 platform that would be much simpler and cheaper to maintain. Five or six are currently being converted to electric drive and they are very cool

 

[Edd Beesley]

He did, and an available "upgrade" for roadsters to get on SCs would sound smart, although would you want to do a huge road trip in a very firm and low two seater...?

A $2k SC access fee same as an S60 could be it. But that's new charging socket (and new UMC), new controller, relays to allow switching between onboar AC charger and direct feed to the battery, plus the new cabling for direct connection. That's enough to get you connected and charging, but I can't recall what cooling system the roadster has for it's battery, it may need upgrading to charge much faster than ~50kw(~1C).

 

[Paul]

...although would you want to do a huge road trip in a very firm and low two seater...?

Hell yes!

 

[Edd Beesley]

Hell yes!

Haha fair enough! Takes all sorts I suppose

 

[knoxie]

Oh yes road trip in a roadster please, the ride in the Model S is also pretty firm so I have been told, Kevin seems to manage fine on long trips and without any rapid charging, I am sure I would too! the roadster and the model S are pretty even on my wish list of cars, the latter being the practical family car and the former the fun weekend whiz machine, i can afford one but not both! ha ha looking like the model S will be our next car but not for another year at the least.

 

[Paul_Moxhay]

... although would you want to do a huge road trip in a very firm and low two seater...?

Well, I am about to do the WAVE 2014 with Markus Doessegger in his Tesla Roadster, up to 240km a day for 9 days.

So would I? You bet I would and I can't wait!!!

www.electricbluetesla.org/

 

[Edd Beesley]

Oh yes road trip in a roadster please, the ride in the Model S is also pretty firm so I have been told, Kevin seems to manage fine on long trips and without any rapid charging, I am sure I would too! the roadster and the model S are pretty even on my wish list of cars, the latter being the practical family car and the former the fun weekend whiz machine, i can afford one but not both! ha ha looking like the model S will be our next car but not for another year at the least.

The S (even in P85+ form) is actually pretty soft. It doesn't roll much but it isn't harsh, the air suspension is very good. It's firmer than a leaf, but compared to anything "sporty" it's a lot more comfy