Welcome to Tesla Motors Club
Discuss Tesla's Model S, Model 3, Model X, Model Y, Cybertruck, Roadster and More.
Register

45 Minute QuickCharge

This site may earn commission on affiliate links.
Do we have any confirmation on Supercharger install locations? Has anyone with a Roadster HPC been contacted re: Supercharger install at their location?

Would it be likely for some of the West Coast sales/service locations to have them?
 
I have heard that there will be an "announcement" about Supercharger locations some time in March; but who knows.

From my discussions, they didn't seem to be seriously considering sales/service locations. (They wanted places more between cities, and really easy to get to from the freeway).
 
I have heard that there will be an "announcement" about Supercharger locations some time in March; but who knows.

From my discussions, they didn't seem to be seriously considering sales/service locations. (They wanted places more between cities, and really easy to get to from the freeway).

I think between cities makes the most sense to start. If you're taking your car for service, they'll likely have it for a few hours and can charge with the HPC at 80A.
 
I have reserved the 160 mile battery and I am trying to find good reason to move up to 230 mile.
My question is do I really need access to Tesla’s Supercharging network or will I get similar results with a Public charging station.
They say all Model S cars can use public chargers with the J1772 adaptor so how much slower (or faser) will the public stations be?
 
I have reserved the 160 mile battery and I am trying to find good reason to move up to 230 mile.
My question is do I really need access to Tesla’s Supercharging network or will I get similar results with a Public charging station.
They say all Model S cars can use public chargers with the J1772 adaptor so how much slower (or faser) will the public stations be?

If you can get the 230 pack or see using it for longer trips, it's probably the sweet spot. They both that use the J1772 30A chargers at the same rate with the included adapter. It depends on how fast they build out the Supercharger network and where you live. For longer trips you'd probably want the 230 mile pack anyway and Supercharger access would make traveling much easier.

Tesla's Supercharger will be many times faster that public charging. If Tesla does end up supporting the DC quick charge standard the Leaf uses, that would open up even more fast charging sites but they aren't as fast as the Tesla Supercharger.
 
I have reserved the 160 mile battery and I am trying to find good reason to move up to 230 mile.
My question is do I really need access to Tesla’s Supercharging network or will I get similar results with a Public charging station.
They say all Model S cars can use public chargers with the J1772 adaptor so how much slower (or faser) will the public stations be?
All versions of Model S will come standard with a 10kW charger and J1772 adapter. That means charging at up to 40 amps on 230VAC. But many (most?) J1772 EVSEs are limited to 30 amps max current, which is 7.5kW. So empty-to-full on a 40kWh battery will be at least 6 hours, or 9+ hours on a 60kWh battery for the most common J1772 EVSE stations.

You can optionally add another 10kW charger to the car, upping the max AC charge rate to 20kW, or 80 amps on 230VAC. A few select J1772 stations will support 75 amps max current (18-19kW), but Tesla will also sell a Home Power Connector that will provide the full 80 amps for dual-charger-equipped cars once it's installed in your home/garage. On the HPC at 80 amps, empty-to-full will be 2.5-3 hours for a 40kWh battery, or 4-4.5 hours on a 60kWh battery. But feedback from Roadster owners seems to indicate that for overnight charging, 10kW is usually plenty -- just plug your car in when you get home, and it will be full by morning. Some Roadster owners allow use of their home HPC units by other owners for faster mid-trip charging, but that's entirely up to the individuals. I expect similar patterns for Model S owners.

Tesla's DC Superchargers are spec'ed to provide up to 90kW of DC power, or 9x the power of the base single charger option. So it will obviously recharge the car much faster (at least up to 80% full or so; after that the chargers have to "slow down" and reduce power as they approach max battery capacity, and the time differences between chargers start to shrink). I think they are quoting a restoration of 75% charge in 45 minutes for 85kWh Model S batteries today, we can assume it will be at least that fast for the 60kWh batteries.

Right now there's no guaranteed locations for Supercharger deployments though, but all indications point to US West Coast freeway coverage being first on the list. So when or if you get Superchargers installed near you depends a lot on where you live...
 
I have reserved the 160 mile battery and I am trying to find good reason to move up to 230 mile.
My question is do I really need access to Tesla’s Supercharging network or will I get similar results with a Public charging station.
They say all Model S cars can use public chargers with the J1772 adaptor so how much slower (or faser) will the public stations be?

The supercharging network should be faster. The question becomes "Do you really need the fast charging?" and "what is an acceptable time to wait for charging?: To fill up the 160 pack completely it'll probably take around 2 hrs (19.2 kw/hr) with the J1772.
You are "paying" for a Tesla and having access to the supercharger network is a perk to buying a Tesla.
 
The question becomes "Do you really need the fast charging?"

A typical vacation driving day for me is 600 (what I shoot for) to 700 miles (if necessary).

"what is an acceptable time to wait for charging?

Long enough to have lunch, so 45 minutes is ideal, an hour is acceptable. Longer than that is a burden.
 
Your reservation isn't for a particular size battery, so I'd advise that you delay your decision until we hear more about Tesla's Supercharging plans. As a general matter, if you're planning on using your Model S for inter-city trips, the 60kWh pack is almost surely a better choice. The 40kWh pack is, IMO, aimed at commuter trips.
 
The supercharging network should be faster. The question becomes "Do you really need the fast charging?" and "what is an acceptable time to wait for charging?: To fill up the 160 pack completely it'll probably take around 2 hrs (19.2 kw/hr) with the J1772.

But it's not linear, so maybe another 30-60 minutes onto that.

You are "paying" for a Tesla and having access to the supercharger network is a perk to buying a Tesla.

But will you get access to that for free?
 
But will you get access to [the Supercharger network] for free?
My bet:
Pack sizeAccess setup chargePer-use access charge
85kWh$0 (included in base price)$5-10/use
60kWh$500-1000$5-10/use









I simply don't see how Tesla can afford to give away "lifetime free fuel" with its cars, so I expect that the per-use access charge will reflect retail costs of the electricity. I'm not sure what all would be covered in the "access setup charge" cost that I posit, but the table above is consistent with the Features & Options page of the website.
 
My assumption has always been that Tesla will work out deals with hotel and restaurant chains that are typically located along major freeways - and it will be up to those businesses to determine the per-use access charge. Some may be free, others may not be.

Again, my assumption. I don't know that to be true. But if I were responsible for setting it up, I'd look for the easiest way to deploy and maintain. Who better than the businesses that operate in the vicinity of a charger?
 
My assumption has always been that Tesla will work out deals with hotel and restaurant chains that are typically located along major freeways - and it will be up to those businesses to determine the per-use access charge. Some may be free, others may not be.
I like idea of competing hotels having specials to draw in business. "Free EV charging in October" like the "premium cable included" that some advertise.
 
I simply don't see how Tesla can afford to give away "lifetime free fuel" with its cars.
A few reasons they could:
1) It won't be that expensive. 100,000 miles of electricity cost for my car is just a ~$2000, but even in higher costs states it won't be crazy expensive.
2) Most buyers will use them incredibly infrequently, just for longer trips.
3) The locations will attract people to eat lunch, shop, etc while they charge, so they extra money spent there would offset the charging costs. Tesla probably wouldn't own any of the shops, but instead would sell a station as a "franchise" and the franchisee would agree not to charge Tesla 85kwh customers. Think of how much cash the current gas station mini-marts make...
 
I'd say the real issue is how could Tesla afford to maintain all those chargers - including negotiating installation on property they don't own, setting up accounts with the local utility, dealing with broken charging stations, etc. They HAVE to set up deals with local businesses, doing otherwise doesn't seem sustainable.

My two cents.