Tesla Supercharger station now online at Pike & Rose

A new Tesla Supercharger station has now been activated in the Trade Street garage at Pike & Rose. The Federal Realty property's garage was already doing its part for the environment with the largest solar canopy on a retail garage in the state of Maryland. Now multiple stalls are available on garage Level P6 for Tesla owners to recharge while shopping, dining, or taking in a movie at Pike & Rose.

This Supercharger site is also is one more dot on the nationwide network of Tesla charging stations, a network that surpasses any of the automotive company's electric rivals in the industry. Only one Tesla owner was taking advantage of the new Supercharger last evening, but expect that to increase as the word gets out. I look forward to plugging in my Cybertruck here someday.

Tesla Supercharger stations to be constructed at Westfield Montgomery Mall (Photos)

Tesla has big plans to construct Supercharger stations at Westfield Montgomery Mall in Bethesda. The company already has what it calls a Destination charging station in the Nordstrom garage. Now the electric car brand plans to install Supercharger stations in that garage, and in the second garage by ArcLight Cinemas.

Tesla Supercharger station at
RIO/Washingtonian Center in
Gaithersburg

Each Supercharger station will have 12 charging spaces for Tesla owners, and the required cabinets and transformers. The mall previously had a small Supercharger station, but it was removed in June 2016. Supercharger stations require as short as a 20 minute stop to reach a 50% charge, while Destination charging stations are for drivers who plan to spend a few hours charging.

Like Westfield Montgomery Mall,
RIO is right at an off-ramp from I-270

The Supercharger equipment is larger, and looks like what you see in these photos from the RIO/Washingtonian Center garage in Gaithersburg, which currently has a Supercharger station. Superchargers are designed for interstate highway-proximate locations such as malls, grocery stores, and urban centers where Tesla drivers can shop, dine or take advantage of entertainment options while charging. The Owner App alerts the driver when the car is charged.

Supercharger parking sign
at RIO

Tesla says it expects the Montgomery Mall Supercharger stations to open by the end of this year. In Maryland, the company says, the current cost of Supercharging is $0.16 per kWh. Model S and X owners receive 400 kWh per year for free.

Tesla Destination charging station
in use now at Westfield Montgomery Mall

A Model X charging at
Montgomery Mall

Destination charger at
Montgomery Mall

The equipment may be different,
but still, Tesla Parking Only!

Tesla Supercharger to cease operation June 30 at Westfield Montgomery Mall

Here's some decidedly un-Bethesda-like news - the Tesla Supercharger, a free charging station for Tesla Model S owners in the Nordstrom garage at Westfield Montgomery Mall, will cease operation on June 30, 2016. Tesla drivers are being directed to a future Supercharger that is being constructed at Laurel Towne Center.

The mall's supercharger had carried a "temporary" label on the Tesla website. But I'm surprised that Bethesda, with one of the nation's highest numbers of Teslas per capita, would lose out to Laurel. These were also supposed to be in key locations on interstates. Removing this one seems pretty inconvenient for MoCo Tesla owners.

For a progressive, green community like Bethesda, this is puzzling news. I'm used to reporting about the latest alternative fuel vehicle or Zipcar station opening, not going backwards.

TESLA SUPERCHARGER STATION OPEN IN BETHESDA (PHOTOS)

The revolutionary Tesla Supercharger station is now open at Westfield Montgomery Mall in Bethesda. Already, Tesla owners are making use of the facility to recharge their vehicles while shopping and dining. When I stopped by yesterday, two Tesla Model S sedans were getting juiced up at the station, which is located in the garage outside of Nordstrom. 

This Supercharger station is less imposing than some of the outdoor facilities, such as the one pictured when I broke the story about it back in January. But while it doesn't have the massive canopy overhead (and, being within the garage, not needing it), the approximate number of vehicle spaces is the same. The location is fairly close to the Nordstrom entrance, rather than being banished to a far corner.

Remember, the charge is free for Tesla owners, another perk of this cutting-edge vehicle.

TESLA SUPERCHARGER STATION COMING TO BETHESDA (PHOTOS)

Westfield Montgomery Mall in Bethesda has a Tesla Store, and now Tesla owners will have a new reason to visit - a supercharging station that will give them 200 miles of range from a 30 minute charging session. The mall's prime location - by 2 interstate highways - dovetails with Tesla Motors' plan to create a nationwide network of supercharging stations that will allow Tesla owners to drive America's interstate highway system free of charge. 

Remember the car-free future the media has been droning on about for the last few years? It's never coming. Tesla and other zero-emission vehicles are here now, and the autonomous car is on the way (actually, they're here now too, but not yet being marketed to the public). And people are going to travel in those cars on... highways. The demise of which has been greatly, greatly, greatly exaggerated.

Tesla's Supercharger station will have several stalls, where drivers will leave their vehicles while shopping or dining at the mall.

One interesting technological detail, is that you can charge 80% of your battery's power in 40 minutes, but a full charge takes 75 minutes. Why is the last 20% so much slower? Tesla likens it to reducing the flow of a water spigot to carefully top off a glass of water. The company says drivers can easily reach the next Supercharger station on the map on an 80% charge.

Supercharging stations can be located on Google Maps via the Tesla Model S dashboard screen.

Images courtesy of Tesla Motors