Photo: EcoFuture.cz
Expanding and managing its Supercharger network is a bit of an endless job for Tesla. With the North American region pretty much taken care of, the Californian company is now setting its sights on the Eastern part of Europe.
Right now, most Tesla Superchargers in Europe are limited to the Western and Central part of the continent, namely the Scandinavian countries, Germany, Holland and Belgium, France, Italy, Austria, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom. It's like there's an invisible line drawn East of Germany and Austria, where Tesla didn't see fit to venture so far.
And as much as some of the people living there would like to see a stronger Tesla presence in their countries, it didn't (and still doesn't) make financial sense for Musk's company to invest there yet. It may sound cynical, but that's how business works.
Last month, though, there was a sign that Tesla might begin a timid expansion in this direction with the inauguration of the first Supercharger station in the Czech Republic. There still won't be a Tesla store and the company won't officially sell its vehicles there, but that doesn't mean it can't install a Supercharger. After all, the network was imagined as a way for Tesla owners to travel as far as they want without the fear of the dreaded range anxiety ever poking its nasty face.
The station situated in Humpolec, on the E50 - the main highway linking the country's two most important cities, Prague and Brno - was opened last month, but Tesla's Supercharges only became operational a few weeks later, Czech website EcoFuture says. Indeed, this is a mixed charging station with two separate lanes: one consisting of six Tesla Superchargers and the other equipped with a series of charging points using various other standards.
With the introduction of the more affordable Model 3, Tesla will effectively be ready to penetrate a host of other markets that have so far been inaccessible due to the Model S' high price. That means that once the production process is stabilized and the already existing Supercharger network can handle the extra vehicles, we should expect this expansion to continue. We're talking years here, but it's coming.
And as much as some of the people living there would like to see a stronger Tesla presence in their countries, it didn't (and still doesn't) make financial sense for Musk's company to invest there yet. It may sound cynical, but that's how business works.
Last month, though, there was a sign that Tesla might begin a timid expansion in this direction with the inauguration of the first Supercharger station in the Czech Republic. There still won't be a Tesla store and the company won't officially sell its vehicles there, but that doesn't mean it can't install a Supercharger. After all, the network was imagined as a way for Tesla owners to travel as far as they want without the fear of the dreaded range anxiety ever poking its nasty face.
The station situated in Humpolec, on the E50 - the main highway linking the country's two most important cities, Prague and Brno - was opened last month, but Tesla's Supercharges only became operational a few weeks later, Czech website EcoFuture says. Indeed, this is a mixed charging station with two separate lanes: one consisting of six Tesla Superchargers and the other equipped with a series of charging points using various other standards.
With the introduction of the more affordable Model 3, Tesla will effectively be ready to penetrate a host of other markets that have so far been inaccessible due to the Model S' high price. That means that once the production process is stabilized and the already existing Supercharger network can handle the extra vehicles, we should expect this expansion to continue. We're talking years here, but it's coming.
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