SUPERIOR – The very first electric filling station in the history of Mineral County made its debut last week as the finishing touches were added to the new Tesla Supercharger facility at the S and S Grocery Store in Superior.

Tesla approached local businessman Gary Bullock about installing the station which recharges Tesla vehicles that, unlike hybrids, are powered solely by electricity. According to Bullock, it takes approximately 30 minutes to recharge an electric vehicle and he is hoping the station will not only benefit his company but surrounding businesses as well.

“Tesla contacted me about this,” Bullock said. “They are putting supercharging stations across the whole country and I believe there is already a route from the East coast to the West coast already in place. From what I understand, they are trying to complete a northern route as well and we are the right distance in between the station that will be in Coeur d’Alene and the one in Missoula.”

Bullock said, originally, the station was to be built at the Travel Center in St. Regis. He said utility infrastructure buried underground prevented them from building at the St. Regis site so it was decided to move the supercharging facility to Superior.

“I suggested the location in Superior at the S and S store and that ended up working for them,” Bullock said. “They want to put the stations in areas where the drivers of Tesla cars can have some accommodations for the half hour or so it takes to charge their cars. They look for places where they can shop or get some food or hang out for a half hour.”

The benefit to local businesses could be significant according to Bullock. He said, while it is not expected to be busy during the winter months, in the spring and summer the usage of the supercharging station could be substantial.

“I think in the spring we should start seeing people,” Bullock said. “The route should be complete by then. Once the vehicles start coming through, they will be parked for about 30 minutes to charge and hopefully they will look around. They will be hanging out in our town and hopefully make some purchases or go to a restaurant or to the supermarket. There could be an economic benefit to that. Getting people to pull off the interstate and check out the town isn’t a bad thing.”

Launched in 2003, Tesla Motors designs, manufactures and sells electric cars. The company first gained worldwide attention when they introduced the first electrically powered sports car, the Tesla Roadster. The company began developing a network of charging stations in 2012. According to the Tesla Motors website, there are 135 stations in the U.S.