Tesla patents Supercharger that can handle herd of EVs

Sat, Feb 15 2014

Tesla Motors is quietly getting ready for an electric-vehicle charging station that could be considered smarter than the drivers using it. The California-based automaker has applied for a number of patents (details here) in which its super-quick Superchargers would be programmable to better manage what Tesla hopes will be a mass influx of thirsty Model S (and Model X and, potentially, Model E) EVs. This company thinks big.

Among other things, the patents detail a charging station that has multiple charging ports and that can manage multiple charging stages. It can also do things like redirect power to either whichever car arrives first or, by measuring the batteries' respective states of charge, who needs it the most. Heck, there's even a provision where the system can redirect power according to the drivers' intended departure time, i.e. whomever says they're sticking around the longest gets last charge. If the station could also get drivers to be truthful about such things, that'd be a real accomplishment.

Tesla has already had a lot of success with its Supercharger network, which is now expansive enough to exclusively power a cross-country drive. Earlier this month, a couple of Model S vehicles went from Los Angeles to New York City using nothing but Superchargers and pulled off the trip in 76.5 hours (the blog posts are here). We're guessing those EVs may have broken the speed limit here or there, but don't quote us.

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News Source: Google via Green Car Reports

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By Danny King