Tesla CEO Elon Musk said at the D11 Conference today that the company will be tripling its supercharger coverage throughout the country. By the end of this year, Musk expects that it will cover most of the metropolitan cities, allowing electric car owners to drive coast to coast.
The technology was developed because traditional charging happens too slowly, so they made something that was quick to charge, Musk said. The chargers are available in California and on the East Coast today, but the company plans to heavily expand coverage by the end of the year.
Musk was planning on announcing the expansion of the network on Thursday, but gave those at the conference a bit of a sneak peek a day in advance. A map of the new superchargers should be available at the announcement, but it should give increased coverage in existing metropolitan markets, as well as coverage throughout the country. That will enable electric car owners to drive cross-country, from Los Angeles to New York City, Musk said.
Not just that, but updates to Tesla cars will enable drivers to have instant access to see where superchargers are located nearby. They’ll be able to enter their final destination and, along with GPS, to show superchargers along the way. That should help get more people interested in electric cars, since they won’t feel worried about running out of power.