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Route 30 and Wolf Rd is a fairly busy intersection. Lots of people prefer taking 30 instead of 80 when going between IL and IN. That said, the intersection of routes 30 and 45 in Frankfort or the 30 and 80 intersection in New Lenox/Joliet would have probably been better spots.

I was in Yosemite for the long weekend. Couple of notes on the Rivian branded EVSEs. Still 100% free, no codes/cards/membership/etc required. The Yosemite Valley Lodge still has 8 EVSEs, and the Village Store still has 1 EVSE. Both are 32A / 208V. The Ahwahnee has two EVSEs, now both 40A /...

Was in Yosemite for the long weekend. No visible construction anywhere to be found in El Portal (checked both on the way in and out). On the plus side, we stayed at the Yosemite Valley Lodge, and the 8 public EVSEs worked out great. Even though the lodge was fully booked this weekend, it...

Being we're in the middle of wildfire session, I've been thinking again about fire-resistant roofing materials. Does anyone know of any research that's happened on the fire resistance of Tesla solar panels or the Solar Roof? At least with Solar Roof, the glass top and metal bottom would...

Personally, I would not plug anything into that until a qualified electrician inspected the wiring and replaced the outlet. In all probability, people are unplugging cables while they're still drawing significant power. That would lead to arcing, and the melting/burning of the outlet...

Maybe, but the new Whole Foods probably drives a fair bit of SC traffic too.

Yes, the SC is open. Currently 1/10 stalls available.

While yes, the interstate is only a few feet away, there is a fence and significant foliage between the stalls and the freeway. The foliage prevents anyone from seeing (let alone hearing) anything happening at the SC, and the fence eliminates that direction as an escape route. As for the...

I don't think actual security guards are being asked. Rather, there are things that can be done to increase safety. For example, adding more lights at both the SC and the adjacent parking lots, adding security cameras, etc. The best thing that can happen, is getting some more businesses...

Great summary! One other benefit of the CAV Flex, is it works the same in NorCal as in SoCal. With the non-CAV Flex in a CAV vehicle, some places require the actual occupancy be set (like most of SoCal) while other places require the 3+ be set.

On Saturday afternoon, Livermore, Dublin, and Pleasanton where all showing at full capacity. I've previously pulled into Livermore with only 1 or 2 available spots. IMHO, the 580/680 interchange area is definitely in need of additional capacity.

Sorry, I should have clarified. The interior seating areas are not available. The outside tables are open. They are actually very nice, they have a canopy, and (at least last weekend) there was a pleasant breeze. Mrs. Janus and I enjoyed Taco Bell takeout on those tables, and it was a nice...

At least a dozen ahead of us at Kettleman City on Monday afternoon. They had two attendants managing traffic. All other stops we charged without waiting.

Last weekend, the coffee bar was open, but the seating areas were not.

I stopped here on Monday. While we got a stall without delay, the lines for bathrooms and food were crazy. There's plenty of land nearby, hopefully more food options open up to help with holiday weekends.

It always seemed more likely that any brand-specific chargers would be a private land, not NPS land; due to their historic aversion to installing brand-specific chargers/EVSEs.

Oh, you north-landers don't always get the 80% prompt each time you SuperCharge??? Huh... What's next, are there no hours-long lines at your SuperChargers??? #CaliforniaProblems

In the settings screen, select the Software tab. You'll see it spin for a sec, and then tell you if the software is current. That basically forces the car to check for updates. Please note, even if there's a newer update available, the car won't download it until it's released for its...

It's interesting that none of them have Tesla connectors. I thought EVgo was fairly broadly rolling those out??

The more useful rule would be in shared dwellings (i.e. apartments and condos) and homes without dedicated garages (i.e. only street parking). They already have these laws in CA. Here, virtually all new residential constructions (including single family and apartments/condos) must be setup...

Why not just increase the taxes on gas? The more expensive gas gets, the more consumers will look towards alternatives. Sure, maybe in 20 years there won't be enough gas cars left to make the tax useful. But so what??? In the intervening time, it'll help reduce emissions AND fund...

But, will this new SuperCharger support Voltswagens?

Ah, sorry, the sentence was not clear. Try this version: While compared to a standard 5-15, a L5-20 may not offer much greater speed, there's a high chance of tripping the breaker (depending on what other loads are on that circuit).

Like others, I've had a very high success rate with SuperChargers. Sure, there's sometimes a line, and sometimes a handful of stalls are busted, but I've personally never experienced a completely offline SC that the Nav system doesn't know about. For road trips, I carry a CHAdeMO adapter, and...

There is one benefit: It's a dedicated circuit. While a standard 5-15 may not offer much greater speed, there's a high chance of tripping the breaker (depending on what other loads are on that circuit).

Regarding StarLink or any other satellite based internet, there's a much higher up-front cost, and higher long-term operating cost. Regarding solar, unless it's grid-tied or there's local battery storage, a standalone solar panel can't just feed an EVSE. When talking about the economic...

The nice part of EVSE Adapters is they properly/automatically set the max amperage. That is (IMHO) the best option. Otherwise, you have to manually set/verify the amperage on the MCU before each time you connect. When you're in a shared/public space, you might not have easy access to the...

I think the load sharing is ideal for scenarios where there are a ton of EVSEs, but wiring costs or the utility feed, caps the max amps. For example, say a location is capped at 80 amps, but the business wants to offer 4 EVSE parking spots. They could just install 4 independent EVSEs and run...

LOL, to each his own, I guess... For a car already hard to steal, I'm really not worried about this scenario. Other than the cars (which are locked) I don't keep expensive things in my garage. I'd be far more annoyed by the insurance deductible (and the loss of my car) than the additional...

Either a 14-50 and 6-50 would work well in this scenario. If it's a short distance to the electric panel, the cost difference is trivial. Three things to consider: First, Tesla makes a version of the UMC with a fixed 14-50 connector, that goes up to 40 amps (standard v2 UMC goes to 32 amps)...

As someone who parks their MX in an area where it's not possible to get WiFi, I'm always looking for alternatives to reliability download software updates. I recently realized that the Whole Foods guest WiFi extends well into their parking lot, and there's no captive portal. I've validated...

As long as you don't fill the disk with DashCam recordings, the car will automatically delete the oldest Sentry Mode clips (this is a new-ish feature). Before, one had to manually clean up the USB stick every so often. Also, in the event you do run out of space, there is now a handy format...

I got one of the first Raven MX. It took a full week to get my first update. I was glad when I did, as several features were super buggy; presumably due to the software version not fully accounting for new Raven hardware. All kinds of fun stuff, including the GPS freezing and the AP...

Where do you keep your vehicle registration card? Most (if not all) states require it kept in the car, and most (if not all) states will print your address on that registration. Another thing to consider, Teslas are much harder to steal than most other cars. Obviously, there are plenty of...

Converting to 14-50 comes with a bit of risk. The UMC, will start pulling at 32 (or 40, depending on version) amps, That's way more than the plug or cabling is capable of handling (ie 20/16 amps). Normally, that would trip the breaker, but regardless, it would still be a fire risk. One would...

In theory, this should be a relatively simple mod to any existing station. The CHAdeMO adaptor/box just needs to be bolted on, and then the holster for the CHAdeMO plug replaced with one that fits a Tesla plug. No new wiring needed, nor any software changes. I'd bet an experienced tech can...

In addition to north/south traffic on CA-99, the big benefit of this location is people taking CA-140 into Yosemite. Especially in the winter when CA-120 can close for weather, CA-140 is the primary route for folks coming from the Bay Area, Sacramento, and other NorCal destinations.

With this SC opening, one would think it'd attract some businesses to all those vacant units. Maybe after the pandemic there will be more interest???

If it's only a mile (even in Bay Area traffic), the higher charging rate at the SuperCharger will more than makeup the extra travel time. BTW: It's widely considered bad for battery health to use fast charging as your primary charging method. You're primary energy source should be a L2 EVSE.

In California, each month there become fewer and fewer places that can't be reached via the SuperCharger network. While I travel with a chademo adapter (and a 14-50 extension cord) I've never had to use them. While non-Tesla L3s are also growing, I just don't see any real places these L3s...

After the Camp Fire, PG&E talked about improving their ability to selective shutdown parts of the gird. Presumably you live near some sort of essential thing (fire station, hospital, etc); and they finally installed a remotely controllable switch which allows them to turn off your power...

First, you're correct about battery export. Because the Tesla Gateway monitors both house usage and solar production, it does a "trick" to stay within the regs, while still allowing both h2ofun and goldengate statements true. Basically, during peak pricing, the battery will discharge at a rate...

That's the rule for single-family new construction. Multi-family require an actual EVSE.

I believe having EV charging is now required in all new multifamily housing across CA.

The problem with the Groveland SuperCharger is the altitude. CA-120 breaks 6,000ft, so during the winter, it often closes when the weather gets bad. Also, the valley is at about 4,000ft, so even though Groveland is close, a lot energy is needed to get over Crane Flats. FishCamp is a good...

The pull in slots are for folks towing trailers.

For v3 chargers, they are generally divisible by 4. While there are a few oddities, it's always due to space constraints. In Merced, I just can't imagine Tesla being unable to find a big enough parking lot to properly fit 12 stalls.

Yeah, I think this is happening for liability reasons. L3 charging uses a ton of energy, and even a minor problem can cause serious damage to the car, charger, and nearby humans/structures/etc. Also, if you use a 3rd party adapter, and it breaks the EVgo charger, this gives them the right to...

While a common model are the ones that look like breakers; there are also in-line surge protectors. Basically, a standalone device that is wired between two things. That said, I don't think there's such a thing as having "too" many surge protectors. It's just a matter of how much one is...

If it makes you feel better, you still have "exclusive" access to the world's best L3 charging network... TBH, the Destination Charging network has become less and less relevant as more SuperChargers are built. A few years ago, the SC network only covered major highways. Really limiting how...