Tesla Motors goes to Europe

Tesla Motors opened its first assembly plant in Europe last month, and the electric carmaker is expanding its 'Supercharger' network abroad. Will Europeans warm to the Tesla Motors Model S?

On the 23rd of August Tesla officially opened its Tilburg Assembly Plant, their first assembly plant in Europe, allowing some of the very first European customers, from Holland, Belgium, France, and Germany, to receive their Model S cars.

The assembly plant is located in the Netherlands, where Tesla believes that it will be perfectly situated to deliver vehicles to all corners of the European market.

Clean Technica reports that the 18,900 square metre plant will receive nearly complete Model S vehicles from US manufacturing plants, before finally assembly and then shipment to customers around the continent. (Related article: Elon Musk Turns his Eye on Iron Man’s Technology)

Tilberg offers a central location for deliveries to anywhere in Europe within 12 hours. It is linked to the mainland continent via an excellent rail and motorway network, and is just 50 miles from the port of Rotterdam. 

The first Model S on the continent were actually delivered to Norway at the beginning of August, as the location of Tesla’s brand new European Supercharger network, that offers stations all across Norway, enabling Model S owners to travel for free between cities.

Marketwatch wrote that “with locations in Lyngdal, Aurland, Dombås, Gol, Cinderella and Lillehammer, Norway's most vital and commonly used roads and highways are covered by Tesla Superchargers. Model S customers can drive routes such as the E6 from Trondheim to Oslo, the E18 from Oslo to Kristiansand, the E39 from Kristiansand to Stavanger, and Highway7 from Oslo to Gol for free and with minimal stops. Approximately 90 percent of the Norwegian population lives within 320 km of a Supercharger station, and about 60 percent of the country's total land mass is within the same distance of a station.”

Tesla superchargers use the most advanced charging technology in the world, to charge the Model S 20 times faster than other common chargers, providing the ability to charge a battery to 50% within 20 minutes. Just enough time to grab a quick bite to eat at one of the, diners, and shopping centres that are situated near to the charging stations.

Original article: http://oilprice.com/Latest-Energy-News/World-News/Tesla-Opens-First-European-Model-S-Assembly-Plant-and-Supercharger-Network.html