Almost as bad as being ICED at a SuperCharger - High Entry Fees

[GolanB]

Today the Brooklyn Museum Supercharging station was empty - not a Tesla in sight even though the parking lot was otherwise relatively full. Why? Because today they were charging an 18$ entry fee, regardless if you were there to charge, and regardless if you planned on visiting for less than 15 minutes. During special events (at the Garden or at the Museum) they apparently have different parking rates. I passed by several times througout the day, and the charging stations remained empty.

Tesla should have negotiated an exception for the Teslas wanting to charge only.

 

[F14Scott]

All things considered, an $18 tank of gas with free included parking ain't too shabby.

 

[StellarRat]

The US has been on the wrong track for decades. We've turned our cities into giant, expensive parking lots instead of using mass transit and other forms of transportation in big cities. Cars are great for intercity trips, but to use them for moving from one part of a large city to another is, well, stupid. That's why we have horrid parking fees everywhere. Using expensive downtown real estate just to park a car, just think of waste.

 

[GolanB]

All things considered, an $18 tank of gas with free included parking ain't too shabby.

Very few people have free super charging; they're paying these parking fees in addition to their charging fees (which incidentally is quite high in NYC over the national average).

 

[eye.surgeon]

The US has been on the wrong track for decades. We've turned our cities into giant, expensive parking lots instead of using mass transit and other forms of transportation in big cities. Cars are great for intercity trips, but to use them for moving from one part of a large city to another is, well, stupid. That's why we have horrid parking fees everywhere. Using expensive downtown real estate just to park a car, just think of waste.

You do realize the OP lives in NYC? Home to one of the oldest and largest subway systems in the world and a world-class public transit system?

 

[GolanB]

The US has been on the wrong track for decades. We've turned our cities into giant, expensive parking lots instead of using mass transit and other forms of transportation in big cities. Cars are great for intercity trips, but to use them for moving from one part of a large city to another is, well, stupid. That's why we have horrid parking fees everywhere. Using expensive downtown real estate just to park a car, just think of waste.

This isn't just a US problem; waste of resources is a problem worldwide. In some parts of the world water waste and conservation is very rapidly becoming the number one issue. We don't tend to think of water this way here, but everywhere you look you will find wasted resources. Raw materials, overproduction (greater quantities produced than demand), over processing (beyond demand), waste of transportation (unnecessary movement of people or components), motion (unnecessary movement of people, parts, machines), creativity, time, food, etc - it goes on and on. There are ways to optimize in every way.

The question is, what would an optimized world look like?

 

[ewoodrick]

The US has been on the wrong track for decades. We've turned our cities into giant, expensive parking lots instead of using mass transit and other forms of transportation in big cities. Cars are great for intercity trips, but to use them for moving from one part of a large city to another is, well, stupid. That's why we have horrid parking fees everywhere. Using expensive downtown real estate just to park a car, just think of waste.

So the answer is to use mass transit, that with taxes is much more expensive?

 

[KG2V]

The US has been on the wrong track for decades. We've turned our cities into giant, expensive parking lots instead of using mass transit and other forms of transportation in big cities. Cars are great for intercity trips, but to use them for moving from one part of a large city to another is, well, stupid. That's why we have horrid parking fees everywhere. Using expensive downtown real estate just to park a car, just think of waste.

NYC is probably the biggest Mass Transit user in the US, and the Brooklyn Museum isn't exactly "downtown"
Google Maps

 

[theredviper]

We have a new Supercharger installation in downtown Vancouver. 22 Stalls, 72kW Urban charging speeds.

It's in a mall parking lot that starts at $3.50 per 30 minutes, and no stores validate parking. So far usage is pretty low, but time will tell.

 

[KG2V]

The US has been on the wrong track for decades. We've turned our cities into giant, expensive parking lots instead of using mass transit and other forms of transportation in big cities. Cars are great for intercity trips, but to use them for moving from one part of a large city to another is, well, stupid. That's why we have horrid parking fees everywhere. Using expensive downtown real estate just to park a car, just think of waste.

I'll also point you to a book with a contrarian view on this. Makes for an interesting read, and SOME of his points are valid
https://amzn.to/2DSH2Gx

 

[BrokerDon]

So the answer is to use mass transit, that with taxes is much more expensive?

Yeah let's have government provide transportation... NOT

California's $77 billion 'bullet train to nowhere' faces a murky future as political opposition ramps up

Corruption at its worse. Senator Feinstein implicated too: Feinstein denies husband's ties to rail bidder

 

[StellarRat]

You do realize the OP lives in NYC? Home to one of the oldest and largest subway systems in the world and a world-class public transit system?

So?

 

[StellarRat]

Yeah let's have government provide transportation... NOT

California's $77 billion 'bullet train to nowhere' faces a murky future as political opposition ramps up

Corruption at its worse. Senator Feinstein implicated too: Feinstein denies husband's ties to rail bidder

But do you actually think that building more and more roads and parking lots is valid long term solution? We can't build ourselves out of problems with a system that is designed to carry and provide parking for one person per vehicle. I don't know of any place where traffic congestion and parking issues are improving no matter how much they build. The concept itself is flawed. Yes, the fast rail project in CA is a cluster and I expected that to happen. It seems like we can't do big civil projects successfully anywhere, anymore in the US. I don't know what happened to this country sometimes. It's depressing.

 

[BrokerDon]

But do you actually think that building more and more roads and parking lots is valid long term solution? We can't build ourselves out of problems with a system that is designed to carry and provide parking for one person per vehicle. I don't know of any place where traffic congestion and parking issues are improving no matter how much they build. The concept itself is flawed. Yes, the fast rail project in CA is a cluster and I expected that to happen. It seems like we can't do big civil projects successfully anywhere, anymore in the US. I don't know what happened to this country sometimes. It's depressing.

No building more and more roads aren't a viable solution, especially in already traffic congested areas since the costs are ridiculously prohibitive. A simpler solution which is FREE or REVENUE POSITIVE (from traffic tickets) that our politically bought and paid for CA government could implement is a simple KEEP RIGHT EXCEPT TO PASS campaign including ticketing the drivers who insist on blocking faster moving traffic. This would actually make traffic FLOW better on our EXISTING highways.

Unfortunately unions and the MEGA inefficient / wasteful CalTrans and the thousands of "consultants" and contractors would go ballistic fighting it... and try to vote out everybody who supported it. If our newly elected Governor Newsome actually wanted to IMPROVE California, he would do this immediately... but he and his Democratic supermajority are beholden to "campaign contributions" of unions, CalTrans contractors & consultants, and government employees. The Governor's refusal to STOP the $77 billion California '"Bullet train to nowhere" boondoggle is absolute proof. DISGUSTING.

 

[woodguyatl]

Yeah let's have government provide transportation... NOT

California's $77 billion 'bullet train to nowhere' faces a murky future as political opposition ramps up

Corruption at its worse. Senator Feinstein implicated too: Feinstein denies husband's ties to rail bidder

Next if we could get them out of the road building business things would be better.

 

[SoManyM3s]

This is so ridiculous. They shouldn't list this on their supercharger network if you have to pay to get into the lot. Or maybe free charging if there's an upfront fee.

 

[mike123abc]

I probably would pay the $18 if I needed the charge...

 

[sjg98]

Become a member of Brooklyn Botanic Garden or Brooklyn Museum, cost is tax deducible & you get a bunch of free parking vouchers...

That said, land is expensive in NYC and other similar areas.
Not sure the value proposition of Tesla asking 1) space to install all their equipment for superchargers 2) spots dedicated to said superchargers and 3) give our drives free/cheaper parking when they come in to charge too please...!
What NYC land owner in their right mind would sign up for that?

I'd rather have paid parking with charging available all day long than not have superchargers in areas with expensive real estate because Tesla/drivers have some "parking must be $0" policy/attitude.

If you want free charging & parking you can go to Gowanus Whole Foods and charge 20x slower if you can even get a spot.

 

[sjg98]

Also if you don't like $18 parking for Urban Superchargers.. you'll LOVE the rates of Manhattan garages with Urban Superchargers, where quite coincidentally real estate is even more expensive.

 

[Kilotango74]

This isn't just a US problem; waste of resources is a problem worldwide. In some parts of the world water waste and conservation is very rapidly becoming the number one issue. We don't tend to think of water this way here, but everywhere you look you will find wasted resources. Raw materials, overproduction (greater quantities produced than demand), over processing (beyond demand), waste of transportation (unnecessary movement of people or components), motion (unnecessary movement of people, parts, machines), creativity, time, food, etc - it goes on and on. There are ways to optimize in every way.

The question is, what would an optimized world look like?

View attachment 404452

Man I wish I had one of those to sleep in on the Navy ships I have cruised on. Much better....