Tesla (TSLA) Building Lake Tahoe Supercharging Station For Electric Cars

The Sierra Sun reported this week that Tesla Motors (TSLA) is expanding its charging station network by building a new supercharger in the Sierra Nevada north of Lake Tahoe where Tesla car owners can recharge along Interstate 80.

According to the publication, six charging bays with ‘Tesla’ written on them have been delivered to a taped off site in Truckee, California, about 30 miles southwest of Reno and construction equipment has been assembled behind a supermarket.

Assistant Truckee town manager Alex Terrazas confirmed to the paper Tesla had pulled the required permits and paid appropriate fees, with funds going to the town’s building division.

Meanwhile, a Tesla spokesperson told the The Sierra Sun the company can’t comment publicly on financing or the exact cost of the Truckee station, but supercharger stations – Tesla has 106 of them across North America – cost, on average, $150K without solar panels, and an additional $150K with.

The Truckee station is about 45 miles from Reno, Nevada where Tesla has broken ground on a site that could potentially be the location of the electric-car maker’s much-anticipated Gigafactory, a $5 billion plant that could produce lower-cost lithium-ion cells for Tesla’s cars and packs for home-power storage devices. The Gigafactory is described as the single biggest new industrial project in the United States.

Other locations being evaluated for the Gigafactory are in Arizona, California, New Mexico and Texas. Earlier this month however, Tesla Motors CEO Elon Musk pointed to Nevada as the leading site.

Steven Poncelet, public information and conservation manager for Truckee Donner Public Utility District, said that besides being excited about the fact Tesla will pay the Truckee DPUD to supply electricity to the station as part of a development agreement, he is also happy about the opportunities that will come as a result of the “electrification” of Interstate 80 and the Truckee-Tahoe community.

“The benefits include reduced environmental impacts from fossil fuel vehicles, economic development opportunities and cementing Truckee’s reputation as a place people want to be,” he said.

Shares of Tesla closed at $256.78 on Friday.

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