Tesla Supercharger deployment lagging

Elon Musk and his Tesla Motors may be receiving kudos from everyone ranging from equity investors to Time magazine to crash-test regulators to the wealthy car-buying public, but one auto writer in the Northeast is taking the electric-vehicle maker to task for not deploying its Supercharger vehicle-recharging network as quickly as advertised.

Another five Superchargers will be open by the end of the week of September 19.

See, originally, Tesla said 18 new Superchargers would be opened by the end of this summer, but just nine are now operational, Green Car Reports says. GCR asked a Tesla spokesperson, who said that another five Superchargers will be open by the end of the week of September 19 (just in time for summer to end). Tesla's own map shows Superchargers coming soon to Waco, TX, and Rockford, IL. GCR also notes that the working stations are concentrated on the West Coast, and that Superchargers earmarked for Rhode Island, Virginia and New Jersey haven't yet seen the light of day. Tesla's official map says 21 Superchargers are open today.

Supercharging is free and can recharge to 50 percent capacity in about 20 minutes, but limited to Model S sedans. Hoi polloi driving other plug-ins are thus left out of the party. Tesla envisions 100 Superchargers open across North America and says that each station costs around $250,000 to open up.