Tesla is adding charging stations in city centers

Tesla Inc. is building electric charging stations in city centers to attract urban buyers who don’t have garages in which to charge their cars.

Stations in Boston and Chicago opened Monday. The Chicago station can charge 10 vehicles at a time, and the Boston station can charge eight.

A map on Tesla’s website shows urban stations planned for New York, Philadelphia, Washington and other cities before the end of this year.

The new stations take up less space and are easier to install than Tesla’s previous Supercharger stations, which are mostly along highways or at hotels. Tesla said it’s locating the stations near grocery stores and shopping areas so owners can run errands while they charge their vehicles.

The urban stations can deliver 72 kilowatts of power to each car, so it will take about 45 to 50 minutes for most vehicles to fully charge. Tesla’s highway Superchargers deliver as much as 120 kilowatts; they can charge a car’s battery in 30 to 40 minutes.

The Elon Musk-led company, which is based in Palo Alto, began delivering the Model 3 sedan this summer. With a starting price of $35,000 — which is half that of Tesla’s previous models — the Model 3 is expected to attract many more buyers to the brand.

Tesla said this year that it planned to double its Supercharger network to 10,000 by year’s end.

California is already home to more than 50 Supercharger stations, according to a list on the Tesla website. Statewide, an additional 126 — including a location in downtown Los Angeles — are listed as “coming soon.”

Tesla shares rose 5.9% on Monday to $363.69.

UPDATES:

4:15 p.m.: This article was updated with Tesla’s headquarters location and stock price.

This article was originally published at 10:05 a.m.