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Charging in Fremont - where, what options?

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gregd

Active Member
Dec 31, 2014
2,716
1,916
CM98
Hi folks,

Sorry to bother everyone, but this may prove useful for others in the area...

I'm signed up for a factory tour tomorrow (Monday) morning. The trip to Fremont is a bit over 140 miles, with the return trip being uphill. So, I need a good full charge in order to get home.

I'm told that there are regular MS charging ports somewhere on the site. I've got Henry's CAN-SR adapter, so I should be good. But, where exactly are they located?

One source says they're on the North side of building 4, but he didn't say where building 4 is. The PlugShare map shows them on the right, as you face the Delivery Center, which is on the South-West side of whatever building that is. Looking up close at Google Maps, I see the SuperChargers right by the delivery center. There appear to be some marked parking slots to the North of that, and around the corner to the right. Are those the slots?

I'm confused... Can someone draw me a map?

Thanks,

Greg.
 
When you enter the factory property, let the guard know that you need a charge and they will direct you to the area just south of the delivery center. There are a number of MS HPWCs there. Unfortunately, I think they are all 30 amp. There were a few old Roadster HPCs along the side of the building just south of the delivery center. We found a couple that were 70 amp and we charged there when we were down for TMC Connect last year. We brought some lunch with us and had a very pleasant time talking with the factory employees (some had not see a Roadster before).

We did use Plugshare.com and evtripplanner.com to locate other EVSE locations for our trip back home.

Enjoy the tour!
 
You can find 70amp over at the Service Center outside. If they are not too slammed, they'll let you use one. Also, to the right of the Delivery Center, along the wall (wayyyy to the right) there are some old Roadster HPCs. Usually blocked, but if you can get one, you get 70amp there.
 
Thanks, all, for the helpful tips.

What I ultimately ended up doing was grabbing the one Roadster plug out at the Service Dept; there was a Roadster there, but it looked like it had been there all night (lots of dew on it), and one of the service people offered to move it for me to charge. That worked out perfectly (I had about 3 hrs between when I finally got it plugged in, and when the tour + lunch ended, and the car was just about done with the Range Mode charge I needed to get home. 70A service; didn't note the voltage (probably 208V).

Longer version:

Driving in the main gate (with the flags, gate 5), the person there didn't really know anything about charging, other than where the Supercharger ports were, but I mentioned the "north side of building 4" and she pointed me waaay off to the left. I think what she was thinking of was, in fact, the service dept, but I found the row of Valet MS chargers about halfway there, in a nice line. At the time (8:30am), there were a number of them empty. The Valet was very accommodating, and let me plug in while he got the paperwork going. You need to back into the slots, as the cables aren't long enough to reach the other way around, and Henry's CAN-SR adapter worked fine on the second try. Push the ring in, and the handle button, insert the cable, release the button, release the ring.. They only supply 32A / 208V, however, and I didn't have all day to charge. I quizzed the Valet guy, and that's all he could offer, but suggested I check in with the lobby for any alternatives. The Delivery lobby was still closed, but someone else was there waiting too, and we got their attention to open up. One of the people who run it called the service dept, and set me up with them. By the time I got back to the Valet to move my car over to Service (after first walking all the way over to Service to verify - I didn't want to give up my spot - and then back to Valet), all the MS charging spots were full, and they had another half dozen MS cars stacked up waiting for a spot to open. That was about 9am, so if you want one of these, better get there early. Also, you can't walk from the main parking lot to Service; have to go out to the main road, over, and back in. The MS chargers in the Service dept were all 80A models, so that would have worked too.

I also found there are what appear to be 14-50 plugs along the wall facing some parts of the parking lot, probably a dozen overall. A few available, but most were already occupied by non-Tesla EVs. Need to parallel park against the wall, and supply your own Mobile charger. The presumed 40A / 240V is better than 32A / 208V, but it still would have been a long day waiting for enough electrons to get stockpiled.

Quizzing the service dept person, she said that there probably are some additional outlets at the very far other end of the building (to the right as you face the delivery lobby), but wasn't sure. She thought they might be higher powered too. I forgot to head over there to check it out as I left, sorry. Bonnie, I presume these are the ones you are referring to.

The tour, by the way was excellent. Adam K. did a great job, and their factory is definitely something to see. Lots of MS and MX being built, and before you ask, no sign of the M3. But there is a building inside the building which he described as the equivalent of Area-51, where I presume something 3-ish was going on. Get there early for charging, or even just an ICE spot. The lot is absolutely packed by 9:30am. My tour was at 10, and ran about an hour. Had lunch from the food trucks that arrived about 11:30, and it was pretty good. I can't imagine where you'd park for the afternoon (3pm) slot.

The trip to Fremont from my home was miserable, as I only had the seat warmer going, for fear of runing short. Outside temp was between 46F and 53F; inside probably not much different. Range charge started me out at 215mi ideal, and I beat the ideal by a bit, arriving with about 76mi after a 146 mi drive mostly at 65mph. Probably would not have made it with the heat on. The return trip (up hill), no heat or headlights, got me back with 63 left, I think it was. Outside temp was in the 70s. Nice.
 
The roadster plugs are near the employee entrance on the south side close to parking area C (see map). There are also J1772 plugs and these are 70A. The Model S plugs are near parking areas H and Gate 4 but these are 40A max.

Fremont Factory Delivery

Thanks, all, for the helpful tips.

What I ultimately ended up doing was grabbing the one Roadster plug out at the Service Dept; there was a Roadster there, but it looked like it had been there all night (lots of dew on it), and one of the service people offered to move it for me to charge. That worked out perfectly (I had about 3 hrs between when I finally got it plugged in, and when the tour + lunch ended, and the car was just about done with the Range Mode charge I needed to get home. 70A service; didn't note the voltage (probably 208V).

Longer version:

Driving in the main gate (with the flags, gate 5), the person there didn't really know anything about charging, other than where the Supercharger ports were, but I mentioned the "north side of building 4" and she pointed me waaay off to the left. I think what she was thinking of was, in fact, the service dept, but I found the row of Valet MS chargers about halfway there, in a nice line. At the time (8:30am), there were a number of them empty. The Valet was very accommodating, and let me plug in while he got the paperwork going. You need to back into the slots, as the cables aren't long enough to reach the other way around, and Henry's CAN-SR adapter worked fine on the second try. Push the ring in, and the handle button, insert the cable, release the button, release the ring.. They only supply 32A / 208V, however, and I didn't have all day to charge. I quizzed the Valet guy, and that's all he could offer, but suggested I check in with the lobby for any alternatives. The Delivery lobby was still closed, but someone else was there waiting too, and we got their attention to open up. One of the people who run it called the service dept, and set me up with them. By the time I got back to the Valet to move my car over to Service (after first walking all the way over to Service to verify - I didn't want to give up my spot - and then back to Valet), all the MS charging spots were full, and they had another half dozen MS cars stacked up waiting for a spot to open. That was about 9am, so if you want one of these, better get there early. Also, you can't walk from the main parking lot to Service; have to go out to the main road, over, and back in. The MS chargers in the Service dept were all 80A models, so that would have worked too.

I also found there are what appear to be 14-50 plugs along the wall facing some parts of the parking lot, probably a dozen overall. A few available, but most were already occupied by non-Tesla EVs. Need to parallel park against the wall, and supply your own Mobile charger. The presumed 40A / 240V is better than 32A / 208V, but it still would have been a long day waiting for enough electrons to get stockpiled.

Quizzing the service dept person, she said that there probably are some additional outlets at the very far other end of the building (to the right as you face the delivery lobby), but wasn't sure. She thought they might be higher powered too. I forgot to head over there to check it out as I left, sorry. Bonnie, I presume these are the ones you are referring to.

The tour, by the way was excellent. Adam K. did a great job, and their factory is definitely something to see. Lots of MS and MX being built, and before you ask, no sign of the M3. But there is a building inside the building which he described as the equivalent of Area-51, where I presume something 3-ish was going on. Get there early for charging, or even just an ICE spot. The lot is absolutely packed by 9:30am. My tour was at 10, and ran about an hour. Had lunch from the food trucks that arrived about 11:30, and it was pretty good. I can't imagine where you'd park for the afternoon (3pm) slot.

The trip to Fremont from my home was miserable, as I only had the seat warmer going, for fear of runing short. Outside temp was between 46F and 53F; inside probably not much different. Range charge started me out at 215mi ideal, and I beat the ideal by a bit, arriving with about 76mi after a 146 mi drive mostly at 65mph. Probably would not have made it with the heat on. The return trip (up hill), no heat or headlights, got me back with 63 left, I think it was. Outside temp was in the 70s. Nice.
 
Range charge started me out at 215mi ideal, and I beat the ideal by a bit, arriving with about 76mi after a 146 mi drive mostly at 65mph. Probably would not have made it with the heat on. The return trip (up hill), no heat or headlights, got me back with 63 left, I think it was. Outside temp was in the 70s. Nice.

You could have run the heat. I think the maximum range penalty in the Roadster for running the heat at full blast is about 10%.

Turning off headlights is pointless - they have no noticeable effect on range.
 
More pics of where the 70A roadster plugs are - only 3 of them now and 1 with dedicated roadster plug (closest to motorcycle parking).

Tesla fremont charge.JPG
Tesla fremont charge 2.JPG
 
Oh, wow. I was standing right there, and didn't realize how close I was. I don't recall now if they were all taken or not; perhaps they were, and that's why I didn't see them. I was also thinking they were much farther down the building, from what others were saying, so the context threw me off.

With only 3 ports, I'm guessing these fill up very early on week days. What is their availability on weekends?

Thanks so much for the pictures.
 
There is no more roadster charging at the Fremont factory unless you use the service area's (not 24 hour access). You can use the EV Valet though but make sure you have a CAN Sr and now it's 32A max ;( Go through Gate 4 and head towards the factory (after the service area entrance and before the main security guard entrance).

IMG_4228.JPG