Supercharger: Tesla Motors’ fast recharge

Some weeks ago the 18th italian Supercharger was opened in Modigliano Veneto (TV). It is a recharge station for electric vehicles of Tesla Motors.

Supercharger is the fastest charging network in the world: Model S and Model X, are charged in a few minutes. These stations can charge the 50% of the battery in 20 minuts. In 30 minutes of recharge, they can guarantee 270 kilometers of autonomy. Supercharger are usually settled near restaurants or hotel’s parking areas. It becomes easier for users to recharge the battery during the meals or the night’s stops. The Supercharger will be completely free for the owners of models S and X ordered before the 2017.

How does the fast recharge work?

The charging station is a network of fast recharged feeded at 480 V where the stations works in parallel. The charging stations provide high-power direct-current power directly to the battery, bypassing the internal charging power supply. In fact, the common charging methods use the inner supply in order to convert from alternate to direct power.

We can observe that the charge between the 10% and the 80% is fast and it guarantees a high autonomy. Instead, recharging from the 80% to the 100% is a slow process because the current’s flux must be reduced in order to fill the battery’s cell in the correct way.

Supercharger Tesla’s stations are 769, spread worldwide: Asia, Africa, Europe. The medium distance among them is of 300 kilometers. In Italy the other Supercharger stations are in Moncalieri, Magliano Sabina, Aosta, Cavaglià, Varazze, Dorno, Melegnano, Verona, Affi, Brennero, Palmanova, Modena, Campogalliano, Forte dei Marmi , Ceprano , Fano and Arezzo. They can be localized with GPS using Google Maps or using the navigator on board. This feature let people organize long trips, planning stops and battery’s recharge.

The higher development and distribution of Superchargers could represent the solution for the issue of electric cars’ autonomy.  As a matter of fact, we know that the fear of staying without the charge is one of the most difficult matter to face while thinking about the purchase of an electric car.

We hope that Elon Musk continues his project of realize an extensive diffusion of the electric mobility and the continuous development of new technologies.