Little Rock Outlet Mall to offer Tesla charging stations

The Outlets of Little Rock is planning to install the state’s first Tesla “supercharger” station as the demand for alternative fueling stations for drivers of electric and hybrid vehicles continues to grow in Arkansas and across the U.S.

Teresa Hendrix, generation manager of Outlets of Little Rock, announced Monday (May 1) that charging stations for the high-end electric automobile will operational in the coming weeks. The Superchargers, Hendrix said, are free charging stations located throughout the U.S. that will accommodate ten vehicles and will be able to charge them in minutes versus hours.

“For Tesla owners, the Superchargers will be a welcome addition for charging options in the Little Rock area,” said Hendrix. “With the recent opening of Tesla’s Texarkana and Memphis Superchargers, the addition of Outlets of Little Rock’s Superchargers will enable more routes through Arkansas. Presently, Tesla owners cannot travel these routes frequently, as there are no convenient charging options.”

The rapidly-expanding Little Rock Outlet Mall first opened in the fall of 2015, offering the state’s first open-air outlet mall shopping venue with more than 75 brand name retailers. The Little Rock shopping mall is managed by the New England Development, which owns and operates outlet centers in at least 13 states across the U.S.

The Superchargers can provide energy for up to 170 miles of range in as little as 30 minutes, and charge to full capacity in approximately 45 minutes. According to Tesla officials, there are 848 Supercharger stations in the U.S. and parts of Canada offering 5,487 outlets.

According to the U.S. Department of Energy’s Alternative Fuels Data Center (AFDC), the number of electric vehicles are steadily increasing in popularity in the region, leading to the need for more public charging options. In Arkansas, excluding private stations, there are 43 electric charging stations across the state that have a total of 66 charging outs, AFDC data shows.

Nationwide, there are 15,879 electric charging stations across the U.S. with nearly 43,000 available outlets. California is well ahead of the rest of the nation with 3,779 or 23.8% of the electric charging stations in the U.S. Christie Kozak, spokeswoman for Newton, Mass.-shopping venue said Little Rock charging station will only serve Tesla vehicles.

Tesla recently announced it was cutting the price for its least expensive car, the Model S 75, from around $77,000 to just under $70,000. The price cut comes as the Trump administration has signaled that it plans to phase out the federal tax credit for electric vehicles. The U.S. Environment Protection Agency has already removed the agency’s guide for buying a so-called “green vehicle.”