Electric car drivers needing a boost now have a new place to juice up.
Electric car company Tesla installed a new charging station at the Auburn Mall in December.
Tesla, headquartered in Palo Alto, California, has introduced Superchargers to allow Tesla drivers to quickly charge their cars.
According to the Tesla website, there are more than 150 Superchargers in the United States and 184 in Europe and Asia-Pacific. Superchargers are usually placed near commercial centers.
The Supercharger can charge Tesla models "16x faster than most public charging stations." The charging stations are free for any equipped Model S owners, the stations are open 24/7, according to the website.
The Supercharger can only charge Tesla Model S cars right now.
Alexis Georgeson, communications manager at Tesla, said the Model S is currently the only car that can handle the Supercharger power output.
Georgeson said the Supercharger is the fastest charger ever created and a fully charged vehicle lasts 265 miles.
"Auburn is the perfect place for the Supercharger," Georgeson said.
Georgeson said the addition of a charging station in Auburn would be good for travel from Alabama to the east coast or Florida.
Superchargers are designed for travel from city to city, allowing Tesla drivers to travel for approximently three hours, then take a 30 minute break to get their car charged up, according to a Tesla media release about the Supercharger being built in Auburn.
Forrest Cotten, director of planning for the Auburn City Departments said the idea of the Supercharger worked because the mall had more parking than needed.
Cotten also said Tesla "specifically sought out the mall site." Having the Supercharger at the Auburn Mall would help accomplish Tesla's goal to have a "national network" and make traveling easy for Tesla owners.
Coles Doyle, marketing director of Hull Property Group, the group that owns Auburn Mall, said the partnership is a new opportunity for the Auburn Mall.
"We are excited for the new Tesla charging station at the Auburn Mall," Doyle said. "It's a new venture for us, but the partnership made a lot of sense, as drivers can come in and shop or grab a bite to eat while charging their car."
Doyle also said the mall has recently been rebranded with new signage, new interior upgrades and new stores.
The new charging station is almost finished and should be ready for service in the next few weeks.
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