Altoona Supercharger (proposal)

[garsh]

Once Tesla completes the Erie, Harrisburg, and I-80 supercharger installations, I'd like to see them add one more off of I-99 near Altoona.

This is the route between Pittsburgh and Penn State main campus:

There are no superchargers along this route. It's ~150 miles one-way (depending on your exact starting location). That's a 300 mile round-trip. Doable if you plan on sticking around long enough at a destination charger, but it's unfortunately too long to make the entire round trip. One would currently have to drive 50 miles out of the way on the turnpike to Somerset to reach a supercharger.

I would suggest putting one in the vicinity of Logan Valley Mall. This location is just off the intersection of I-99 and route 22.

There are many restaurants within walking distance. Both Eat'n Park and Denny's are open 24 hours.
Lots of shopping too.

Would anybody else be able to make use of such a location? Are there any other good potential supercharger locations along this route?

 

[Saghost]

If I remember correctly, Tesla has an email account where they encourage suggestions for SpC locations...

 

[garsh]

I sent the suggestion to that account.
I wanted to see if there was any user support for the suggested location.

 

[Half Dollar Bill]

I use I-99 coming north to PSU from VA so I'd top off.
But I think Tesla's next area of focus will be energizing I-80; I thought I laid all the groundwork for them in New Columbia but they must have other plans there. So I doubt an Altoona outpost would make the 2016 map.
But, the spot I had in New Columbia did wind up getting a destination charger, so if you know a forward-thinking business (restaurant/hotel) in the area you can easily pitch a destination charger, which is essentially free for the site since the last I heard Tesla pays about $3K in installation charges and provides the equipment. This would help resolve some of the range anxiety today while the future maps evolve.

 

[garsh]

But I think Tesla's next area of focus will be energizing I-80

Definitely, they've stated as much. I mentioned that in my opening sentence:

Once Tesla completes the Erie, Harrisburg, and I-80 supercharger installations...

And I think I-80 should be the next focus area. But once the I-80 superchargers are in place, I think Altoona is the next highest priority for western PA.

 

[bhzmark]

I support Altoona supercharger as well. I've charged at the Sheetz in Altoona a number of times. Hopefully Tesla can see where people are using the Chademos as a good indication of where they need to put superchargers.

 

[DrivingTheFuture]

Once Tesla completes the Erie, Harrisburg, and I-80 supercharger installations, I'd like to see them add one more off of I-99 near Altoona.

This is the route between Pittsburgh and Penn State main campus:

There are no superchargers along this route. It's ~150 miles one-way (depending on your exact starting location). That's a 300 mile round-trip. Doable if you plan on sticking around long enough at a destination charger, but it's unfortunately too long to make the entire round trip. One would currently have to drive 50 miles out of the way on the turnpike to Somerset to reach a supercharger.

I would suggest putting one in the vicinity of Logan Valley Mall. This location is just off the intersection of I-99 and route 22.

There are many restaurants within walking distance. Both Eat'n Park and Denny's are open 24 hours.
Lots of shopping too.

Would anybody else be able to make use of such a location? Are there any other good potential supercharger locations along this route?

I think another SC off the I99 would be completely useless IMO

 

[Plug it in]

A SC near Altoona would be great.

 

[ItsNotAboutTheMoney]

It seems like an obvious location to cover day round-trips between Pittsburgh, PA and State College, PA.

Thinking more widely, it'd also be useful for people traveling between Pittsburgh, PA and Boston, MA and NE New England (and other points along that path (US-22, I-99, I-80, I-81, I-84, I-90.I-495). The ideal stops along a route depend on a number of factors, so splitting the 140-160 mile gap between areas of Pittsburgh, PA and Bellefonte, PA would provide more flexibility.

However, Tesla is planning to add Falls Creek, PA this year. Once that's in place there will at least be a way to do the round trip, although it could add over half an hour each way to State College, PA and 10 minutes + charging each way for people traveling farther east.

(We've done a round-trip vacation to PIttsburgh, PA once and also stayed there on the return leg of longer road trip. On our drive there we ended up stopping to eat at the Chipotle by the Logan Valley Mall, and then, just a few minutes after leaving we were forced to parking on the shoulder of I-99 to wait out a blinding rainstorm.)

 

[bhzmark]

The chaedmo at Altoona Sheetz reports multiple uses by Tesla owners clearly indicating that a SC at that location would be useful to some.

Altoona is not just north south 99 traffic but also the Pittsburgh and Indiana Pa traffic to points north and east via 22.

 

[DrivingTheFuture]

I think another SC off the I99 would be completely useless IMO

Reading this thread while taking a number 2 while supercharging #efficiency

 

[permesso]

I also support this location. I travel to State College and Indiana, PA. This would be a big help.

 

[davidswelt]

+1. The round-trip to Pittsburgh is still difficult and involves a mandatory charge in Pittsburgh. There are many EV chargers in Pittsburgh, but basically, it means planning and staying somewhere you don't necessarily want to stay. The new SC at Irwin will help for trips between State College/Penn State and Pittsburgh, but it, too, is out of the way. Altoona would be a logical location to facilitate N-S travel, too. (As a caveat, I don't have access to actual numbers, like most people here. I'm just a +1.)

 

[bhzmark]

Plugshare reprts that the Chadmeo in Altoona at the Sheetz has been down for a while. Is that still true?

Chademoes are often unreliable, not just for speed, but also for reliability, there should be a SC in Altoona.

 

[ScrawnyB]

Altoona Supercharger - opening by end of 2018.

Supercharger - Altoona, PA