Best route to Tesla factory tour

[Right_Said_Fred]

I am staying in SF with my family for a few days and tomorrow (monday) we will have the factory tour at 10 AM. I heard that rush hour can be brutal. Will we reach Fremont in time (9.30) if we leave downtown SF (Sutter Street) at 8? Which bridge/route is the best option? Any advice is helpful. Thanks!!

 

[Haxster]

Others more familiar with your path can offer you better advice. I will say that you have two things going for you:
1. With your family in the car, you'll be able to use the diamond carpool lanes (far left lane(s))
2. You'll mostly be going in the "light" traffic direction (away from SF).

Allowing extra time is never a bad idea. The visitor center in Fremont is a nice place to spend the extra time.

Enjoy the tour!

 

[ecarfan]

Traffic out of SF on the 101 at 8AM isn't "light" in my experience.

Fred, get the Waze app on your phone, it is very accurate in estimating route times. At 7:30 start checking it for an ETA. Then check it every 15 minutes.

It could easily take you 90 minutes or more to get to the Tesla factory at that time of day. Waze will show you the best route at the time you are checking the ETA.

 

[Right_Said_Fred]

Thank you for the advice and for your suggestions to use the carpool lane and the Waze app (I will install it). We unfortunately cannot leave earlier than 8 AM.

 

[gregd]

I did the factory tour a year ago, and parking at the Fremont site was nearly impossible. It's reported to be way worse than that now. If there is any way to do public transportation, or have someone drop you off / pick you up, it might be worth it in reduced stress.

 

[nikeykid]

BART (our subway system) now goes all the way to Warm Springs, which is on the same block as the factory. The problem right now is that there's no pedestrian bridge over the tracks to get to the factory side, you'll have to walk about a mile around the bart station, Grimmer blvd to Fremont blvd and Kato but if you want to avoid traffic and parking altogether, there are plenty of BART stops on Market St. in SF that will take you to Warm Springs.

 

[nikeykid]

here's my crude attempt at drawing your walking path from the BART station (only takes 50 minutes from downtown SF)

 

[Right_Said_Fred]

Public transport unfortunately is not an option as we will drive to LA right after the factory tour (we already spent some days in SF, wonderful city!).

 

[Right_Said_Fred]

Thank you for your effort though! Very much appreciated

 

[nikeykid]

i'll just leave that here in case any one else wants to make the same trip. warm springs BART is super close, just those damn tracks are in the way (but they are supposedly building a pedestrian bridge soon)

 

[ThisIsTrue]

I did the factory tour a year ago, and parking at the Fremont site was nearly impossible.

I did it in January, and had no trouble whatever with getting a supercharging slot (I too was heading out of town after), which is right by the visitor center, or a real parking spot during the tour since I certainly didn't want to block a charging slot. My tour was at a similar time (11:00 a.m. on a Tuesday). And yes, the tour is VERY interesting!

 

[gregd]

I did it in January, and had no trouble whatever with getting a supercharging slot (I too was heading out of town after), which is right by the visitor center, or a real parking spot during the tour since I certainly didn't want to block a charging slot. My tour was at a similar time (11:00 a.m. on a Tuesday). And yes, the tour is VERY interesting!

Ok, yes, if he's driving an MS/X. They will valet them to the chargers for you, so you don't have to worry about hogging a spot. I had my Roadster, arriving about 9am. Got a spot at the destination chargers, but they weren't the high power kind (30 amps, I think), and it would have taken me most of day to recharge. I ended up at a 70 amp charger over at the Service department (bless them) at the far left, beyond the fence as you face the building. Part of the family arrived separately about 9:45am in ICEs, and it took a lot of driving around to find spots for them. The tour was at 10am for us, and we just made it.

Even with an MS/X and the valet, I still recommend you get there as early as you possibly can. Maybe I just hit it on a bad day, but by the time I moved my car over to the service charger, the cars were stacked about three deep at the destination chargers, where I think they were staging them for the superchargers.

 

[ecarfan]

Thank you for the advice and for your suggestions to use the carpool lane and the Waze app (I will install it). We unfortunately cannot leave earlier than 8 AM.

Then leave at 8. No later.

 

[ThisIsTrue]

Ok, yes, if he's driving an MS/X. They will valet them to the chargers for you, so you don't have to worry about hogging a spot.

They have valets there?! Wow. They didn't in January -- at least, not while I was there.

I still recommend you get there as early as you possibly can.

Certainly good advice.

 

[HankLloydRight]

I'm doing a factory tomorrow at 3pm. I'll be leaving Santa Clara convention center at 2:15 via Uber or Lyft.

Is that enough time to make it there by 3pm?

 

[nikeykid]

I'm doing a factory tomorrow at 3pm. I'll be leaving Santa Clara convention center at 2:15 via Uber or Lyft.

Is that enough time to make it there by 3pm?

237 to 880 can be a little rough that time of day but 45 minutes should be enough, it's only like 10 miles away.

 

[HankLloydRight]

Ok, thanks!

 

[gregd]

They have valets there?! Wow. They didn't in January -- at least, not while I was there.

Well, they did a year ago. They are over at the destination chargers, to the left of the superchargers as you face the building.

Things may have changed, so (now that you're already there...) check before you depend on it.

 

[Right_Said_Fred]

The carpool lane helped a lot! We left at 8am and arrived at 9.15am. Weird sensation to be able to pass miles and miles of traffic jams. Parking was no problem either, lots of open spots left near the entrance.

The tour was somewhat disappointing though. Unless you like looking at static robots, deserted assembly lines and employees fiddling on their phones. Except for the stamping presses not much was happening, due to most people of the early shift having their break. Tesla should consider not planning a tour at 10am. Or at least give us a heads up of what (not) to expect.

 

[ecarfan]

The tour was somewhat disappointing though. Unless you like looking at static robots, deserted assembly lines and employees fiddling on their phones. Except for the stamping presses not much was happening, due to most people of the early shift having their break.

Fred, glad you made it to the tour on time. Very surprised to read your description of the tour. Many many people have posted about their tour experience and have not witnessed what you describe.

I would have thought the line was always moving during both shifts and that breaks would be arranged in such a way as to keep the line moving.

Did your tour guide state that the line was stopped because of a shift break?