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Tesla Montreal has two Superchargers and three Connectors for Model S owners at what is said to be the biggest such dealership in North America. In town for the International Jazz Festival, I rolled up with 23 miles on the clock late this morning and left with 208 miles after about 1 hour and 20 minutes. There is plenty of espresso available in the customer lounge, but no milk, only a French Vanilla-flavored substitute. Bottles of spring water also were available. I didn't see any snack bars or other treats, like the ones at the Tesla dealership in Paramus, N.J. I met another owner who said his rear-wheel-drive Model S did much better handling Montreal's bad winter weather this year than the Mercedes-Benz 500 he once owned. He also said the air-conditioning system in his Model S had to be replaced after one year. In the Tesla Montreal service department, rear, a young woman declined my request for a free car wash, explaining they are provided only when the Model S is serviced.

With no Tesla Superchargers between Albany, N.Y., and Montreal, Quebec, we stopped at the Basin Harbor Club, a resort on Lake Champlain in Vergennes, Vt. Owners of the Model S will find at least two Tesla Connectors, which charge the all-electric hatchback at the rate of 31 miles per hour, below.  We had more than three hours to kill before setting off on the final leg of our trip from Hackensack, N.J., to Montreal for the International Jazz Festival. Grass and soil are hardly the ideal parking surface. While we waited for our Model S to charge, we had lunch and then sat in front of the fire in the resort bar, listening to a player piano. Before we left, we made a reservation to stay at the Basin Harbor Club on our way back to New Jersey after July Fourth. By VICTOR E. SASSON EDITOR Owners of the Model S can still tear up the highways on their vacations, speed into service areas and race to the bathroom, their bladders about to burst. If they have Tesla Superchargers to rely on, that i

Does this look like the interior of a Mercedes-Benz? By VICTOR E. SASSON EDITOR When you own a Tesla Model S, the inane TV commercials other manufacturers run can drive you crazy. Tesla Motors doesn't spend tens of millions of dollars to advertise on TV or in newspapers and magazines, which may be at the root of the media's hostility toward the all-electric luxury car and the genius behind it, Elon Musk. But just about every other manufacturers does, and the cost of those ads boosts the MSRP of the vehicle you buy.  And now ... the Chevro-Benz In northern New Jersey, where I live, I've seen a TV commercial showing prospective SUV buyers sitting in a Chevrolet and enthusing over how the interior looks like one in a far more expensive vehicle. In turn, different people say they think they are in a Lexus, Infiniti, Audi, BMW and even a Mercedes-Benz. What were they smoking? They are shown in several gas-guzzling Chevy SUVs, including the enormous Suburban. When I was working f

Less than 10 days before a planned trip to Montreal in my Tesla Model S, the door on my charge port wouldn't open. By VICTOR E. SASSON EDITOR When I picked up my Tesla Model S 60 in mid-April, one of the product specialists in Paramus, N.J., advised me to charge the car every day. But I'm retired and drive 20 miles to 40 miles a day at most, so I often waited two or three days before plugging in the car and scheduling the charging to begin at midnight, when electric rates go down. Tesla says the battery re-charges more easily, if you follow a daily schedule. Then, last Wednesday night, which would have been the second night in a row of my daily charging, the door to the charge port wouldn't open using the touchscreen or the universal mobile connector. I called the Tesla Motors Service Center in Paramus and was told to come in the next day. No problem found As sometimes happens when cars malfunction, the problem went away as soon as I drove into the garage off Route 17 north

No other manufacturer has come up with EV charging to compete with the speed of Tesla Motors' network of free Superchargers, which now allow you to drive across country or from New York to Florida. By VICTOR E. SASSON EDITOR I got an email about the Plugless charging system for electrical vehicles, and watched a video showing a Nissan Leaf being driven into a garage. The Leaf drove over something on the floor of the garage -- just inside the door -- and there was another gizmo on the wall. Gee, I thought, why don't I have that for my Tesla Model S? Cause, the company, Evatran, doesn't make one yet for the Model S. Plus, it's slow, taking 6 to 8 hours to fully charge a Leaf, which only has a range of 84 miles. The system for the Leaf costs about $1,900. Later in 2015, the company says, it plans to release a Leaf system rated at 6.6kW, double the current 3.3kW. With a special 240-volt outlet in my garage, my Model S 60, with a range of 208 miles, is fully charged in about

Tesla Motors Superchargers at a showroom and service center on Route 17 north in Paramus, N.J. Going north, the next Superchargers are in a shopping center outside Albany, N.Y., about 135 miles away, well within the range of a Model S, below. By VICTOR E. SASSON EDITOR 3.5 hours. That's how long it takes to achieve a full charge on the all-electric version of the BMW i3. Then, 81 miles later, you'd have to spend another 3.5 hours recharging the German car. The i3 is best suited for urban and suburban driving. On a long trip, its limited range is crippling. The same goes for the Nissan Leaf, Mercedes-Benz B Class and every other EV except the Tesla Model S. The Model S -- the only electric with a range of more than 200 miles -- also benefits from a network of exclusive Tesla Superchargers that already allows you to drive across the country and from New York to Miami. And recharging is free and fast -- about 30 minutes for a range of 170 miles or enough to reach the next Supercha