Tesla Motors plans 2nd 8-car charging station in the Lehigh Valley area

Drivers of Tesla electric vehicles should have have a new place to fuel up, so to speak, in the Lehigh Valley area.

Tesla Motors Inc. proposes one of its Superchargers outside Wawa at 1300 Route 22 in Pohatcong Township. Superchargers offer eight charging stations fed by a bank of four cabinets screened off inside an enclosure.

There are 1,130 Supercharger stations throughout North America. The next closest one to the Phillipsburg area one is the Allentown Supercharger at the Tilghman Square Shopping Center, 4680 Broadway in South Whitehall Township.

Tesla, on its website, also lists several Lehigh Valley area destination charging stations with up to three connections each, at the Lafayette Inn in Easton, Sands Casino Resort Bethlehem and Sayre Mansion in Bethlehem, Human vs. Room Escape Room in Bethlehem Township, Homewood Suites by Hilton in Upper Saucon Township and Hampton Inn outside Clinton in Franklin Township, Hunterdon County.

Tesla's charging stations are for Tesla models only, spokeswoman Kady Cooper said. She declined to comment on the Pohatcong Township plan.

The company is scheduled to appear 7:30 p.m. Feb. 13 before the township land use board for approval of the new Supercharger station, board secretary Wendy Acevedo said.

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With board approval, the project is good to go for construction, Pohatcong Mayor James Kern III said.

He sees a need for the new station as electric cars gain in popularity, and with the site's location off Route 22 near Interstate 78.

"This Route 78 corridor is crucial for people commuting from the Lehigh Valley, western New Jersey, toward New York," Kern said.

The Supercharger's power cabinet enclosure and eight charging stations are oriented perpendicular to Route 22, in existing parking spots outside Wawa, a schematic drawing from Tesla Motors shows.

This schematic drawing from Tesla Motors Inc. shows an enclosure with four Supercharger cabinets and eight charging stations oriented diagonally along the bottom, as proposed outside Wawa at 1300 Route 22 in Pohatcong Township. Route 22 runs along the top right in this drawing.

Superchargers are designed to charge up a Tesla in about a half-hour, according to tesla.com. Model S and Model X owners receive 400 kWh of free Supercharger credit annually, enough to drive about 1,000 miles. The cost beyond that is a fraction of that of gasoline, according to the company: about $90 to drive 1,500 miles more, versus $195.

They can be charged in rain or snow. Home charging stations are also available, in addition to Tesla's destination and Supercharger stations.

Kurt Bresswein may be reached at kbresswein@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow him on Twitter @KurtBresswein. Find lehighvalleylive.com on Facebook.

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