A Tesla – either model, I’m not picky – is
my dream car. I could go 200+ miles on a full charge, and make it across the
country using the Supercharge stations that have been strategically placed
along a Northern route, with more concentrated near big cities.
Unfortunately,
I don’t now, and probably never will, have the means to support or validate
a purchase with such a hefty price tag. In the San Joaquin Valley the roads boast a fairly good number of Chevy Volts and Nissan Leafs, but only
a handful of Teslas. Teslas are far too expensive for most of those in the
Valley and Elon Musk, CEO
of Tesla Motors, has not shown much interest in the more underserved areas of America. The San Joaquin Valley, for example, is massive. Yet there is only one Tesla Supercharge Station at Tejon Ranch in Lebec and one at Harris Ranch near Coalinga; most stations in California are along the coast. Just check out the map below that displays the Supercharge Station Network;
it skips over the much of the country I would have expected:
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| Photo Source: http://www.teslamotors.com/supercharger |
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| It's so pretty! I'll take one in every color. Photo Source: http://www.teslamotors.com/modelx |
In addition, supercharge stations will be open and able to charge vehicles other than Teslas. Good news all around!
As Tesla Motors moves to the Valley, the company plans
to expand
its production and sell 35,000 vehicles this year alone. Hopefully this
growth promotes and increases manufacturing jobs in the US. And who knows? Maybe
it will even lower that initial price tag a bit. There are rumors about it; so I
know I’m not the only one selfishly hoping to see this new EV soon!
