Tesla's bid to sell cars directly to Texas consumers, thus bypassing the state's deep-pocketed car dealers, came up short this legislative session. But that's not stopping the electric car company from edging its way into the Texas automotive market.
Tesla announced Thursday that it's tripling the number of Tesla Supercharger stations, with plans to open one by the end of June between Dallas and Austin. Within a year, the network will "stretch across the continent, covering almost the entire population of the U.S. and Canada," the company says.
The stations, which currently cover California and Nevada, as well as the Washington, D.C.-to-Boston corridor, are designed "for city to city travel," Tesla says, "enabling Model S electric vehicle drivers to travel for about three hours, take a 20- to 30-minute break to grab lunch or a soda or coffee, and get back on the road charged up. For free."
Free refueling sounds nice. Buying a $63,000 car, not so much.
