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Superchargers power Tesla Model S EVs for over 8M miles [UPDATE]

Ahead of the company's press conference at the Detroit Auto Show tomorrow, Tesla is talking up its Supercharger network with some impressive numbers. Tesla's Alexis Georgeson told AutoblogGreen that Tesla Model S EVs have driven more than eight million miles on Supercharger fill-ups. That's the equivalent of 33-and-a-half trips to the moon and back. We can see how quickly the free Superchargers are getting popular by comparing this milestone to where we were four short months ago. At the end of September, after the Superchargers had been installed for a year, Tesla drivers had hit 3.2 million miles. The rapid increase since then is due mostly to there simply being a lot more chargers being available now. Tesla representatives told us that there are over 70 Supercharger stations in the world today (58 in North America and 14 in Europe) and that six were installed in the past week. Georgeson didn't have numbers on hand to say which stations were the most popular or other details, but did say that it's safe to assume that the Supercharger in Lusk, WY (pictured), part of a sweeping 'S' shape from Los Angeles through the northern US and on to Chicago and the East Coast, is not the most frequently visited. The next target for expansion is finishing the Boston-to-Miami corridor, which means putting in more Superchargers in North Florida and South Carolina. At CES last week, the Supercharger network won our AOL Technology of the Year award. *UPDATE: Tesla just let us know that 8 million is a little premature. The current number is actually closer to 7.5 million, but the total should crest the 8-million mark soon.

Electric Miata smokes Tesla Model S at the track

Yes, folks, you read that headline right. A souped up battery-electric version of a Mazda Miata took down a Tesla Model S on a quarter-mile drag strip. And it wasn't even close. Road Test TV was kind enough to post a video of a forest-green Miata (and its very stoked driver) doing a quarter-mile run in a rather brisk 9.27 seconds, beating the Model S sedan by a whopping 3.5 seconds in the process. And the Mazda crossed the finish line moving at 142 miles per hour, or 40 miles per hour faster than the Tesla was going when it finished the race. It's a good thing for the Tesla owner that they weren't racing for pink slips. Granted, the comparison is probably an unfair one because the Tesla was a stock, production vehicle (the P85 Performance model, but still), whereas who knows how the Miata was juiced up and how much cash it took to do the job. It's sort of like putting, say, an automotive writer against Usain Bolt because we ate the same breakfast and share 99 percent of our DNA. Still, the video does lend a certain credence to the idea that a battery-electric, super-light, rear-wheel-drive Miata would be a lot of fun, or at least a heck of lot more fun than any other Mazda out there. We're just sayin'. Check out the 100-second video below, and remember not to blink. This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings.

Tesla buys test track adjacent to its factory

Two months ago, Tesla hired Chris Porritt to be the vice president of its vehicle engineering program. Tesla's purchase last week of a 35-acre parcel abutting its factory in Fremont, California will give Porritt, formerly the boss of Aston Martin's Vehicle Engineering team (he's the father of the One-77 supercar), at least a portion of a test track where he can challenge and hone the EVs of the future.
The land was part of a parcel of more than 160 acres that had been owned by the New United Motor Manufacturing, Inc., the former joint venture factory built by General Motors and Toyota. When NUMMI (shown above) closed, the land was bought by Union Pacific Railroad, which sold the lot to Tesla.
While Tesla hasn't laid out its plans, we're guessing they'll eventually expand the track as the factory footprint grows; CEO Elon Musk has said Model S production could equal 800 cars per week by the end of next year. As for Porritt, from his new base in Fremont and with that new test track, he'll oversee further development of the Model S and the birth of the Model X, Roadster successor and the "affordable Tesla" due by 2017.