Crossing the Montana Supercharger Desert; Any Generous HPC/HPWC owners along I-90?

[PhilBa]

any note on progress at Sheridan and/or Gillette?

 

[Bighorn]

any note on progress at Sheridan and/or Gillette?

I've been tracking the progress on Sheridan in a separate supercharger thread. They've almost finished and they've been at it less than a week. The contractor is hopefully headed to Gillette from here, but he wouldn't confirm that. I have a friend there who is keeping an eye on the site at the Hampton Inn.

 

[PLUS EV]

Missoula all full on a Friday at 6:30pm. There was even one car waiting right before I took this pic, but someone pulled out and she pulled in. I did notice one stall was charging about half speed when I pulled in and was the only one charging. Nav says 1 stall out of order so maybe that’s what it was talking about.

I should also point out that CDA had 5 of 6 occupied at 1pm on Monday.

I think these stations will probably get the job done for the rest of this summer but hopefully we see some v3 expansions and new locations before next summer.

 

[PLUS EV]

View attachment 685192

Missoula all full on a Friday at 6:30pm. There was even one car waiting right before I took this pic, but someone pulled out and she pulled in. I did notice one stall was charging about half speed when I pulled in and was the only one charging. Nav says 1 stall out of order so maybe that’s what it was talking about.

I should also point out that CDA had 5 of 6 occupied at 1pm on Monday.

I think these stations will probably get the job done for the rest of this summer but hopefully we see some v3 expansions and new locations before next summer.

Posted this from my phone earlier. Didn't realize Missoula doesn't have its own thread! I just followed the link from supercharge.info. I thought I had gone through and created separate threads for every supercharger in the Northwest at some point but I may have forgotten about Idaho and Montana. Might have to do that soon!

 

[alpinehijinx]

I think these stations will probably get the job done for the rest of this summer but hopefully we see some v3 expansions and new locations before next summer.

Not that they have to be mutually exclusive of course, but I wonder if Tesla prioritizes working on new sites in conspicuous gaps/unserved areas or adding SCs to upgrade those areas already at capacity? Any insight or observations about which they seem to prioritize allocating resources toward? I waited in line for 30+ minutes in Superior recently and it was pretty obviously in need of expansion too.

 

[ChadS]

A couple of weeks ago, we had our first-ever wait for a supercharger...in Billings MT. We had to wait over a half an hour before we could plug in. Within 10 minutes of that, however, we had the place to ourselves...

I think we have seen Missoula briefly full twice, but haven't yet seen anyone wait there.

 

[Tectonic]

Not that they have to be mutually exclusive of course, but I wonder if Tesla prioritizes working on new sites in conspicuous gaps/unserved areas or adding SCs to upgrade those areas already at capacity? Any insight or observations about which they seem to prioritize allocating resources toward? I waited in line for 30+ minutes in Superior recently and it was pretty obviously in need of expansion too.

If you look at new supercharger construction, the vast majority of sites are built to add capacity to already-served areas. Although it's frustrating that big gaps don't get filled more quickly (see thread about the non-existent supercharger in Kalispell for evidence of that!), I imagine Tesla hears even more complaining when people have to wait in long lines to charge - thus the reason why most new superchargers in the U.S. are built in California and other high-traffic areas.

As mentioned above, I-90 through Montana is reaching saturation, with the small 4-6 stall V2 installations frequently in full use with occasional lines. Let's hope Tesla is ramping up supercharger installation capacity enough to stay ahead on high-use sites, while also filling gaps!

 

[ReddyLeaf]

View attachment 685192

Missoula all full on a Friday at 6:30pm. There was even one car waiting right before I took this pic, but someone pulled out and she pulled in. I did notice one stall was charging about half speed when I pulled in and was the only one charging. Nav says 1 stall out of order so maybe that’s what it was talking about.

I should also point out that CDA had 5 of 6 occupied at 1pm on Monday.

I think these stations will probably get the job done for the rest of this summer but hopefully we see some v3 expansions and new locations before next summer.

This is definitely a sign of the times. Notice that none of those cars have the old nosecone. All relatively new (after this SC was built). I saw mostly new Y’s on my May trip through this area. Tesla needs double the SC network by 2022, with the addition of V3s (and V4s or whatever’s next).

 

[whitex]

This is definitely a sign of the times. Notice that none of those cars have the old nosecone. All relatively new (after this SC was built). I saw mostly new Y’s on my May trip through this area. Tesla needs double the SC network by 2022, with the addition of V3s (and V4s or whatever’s next).

Ah, nostalgically reminiscing of the old times, before Model 3/Y flood, when Tesla service had Tesla car loaners for when your car needed service, when service techs were allowed to actually spend time reproducing issues (rather than charge you $175/hr if the problem doesn't reproduce even if you have a video of it happening), and not give you lines like "your less than a year old screen which just went yellow is not covered under warranty". As for superchargers, I did a end-to-end round trip on I-90 in 2016, here is what the superchargers looked like along the return leg from Toronto to Seattle (one of those is Missoula).

 

[PLUS EV]

Ah, nostalgically reminiscing of the old times, before Model 3/Y flood, when Tesla service had Tesla car loaners for when your car needed service, when service techs were allowed to actually spend time reproducing issues (rather than charge you $175/hr if the problem doesn't reproduce even if you have a video of it happening), and not give you lines like "your less than a year old screen which just went yellow is not covered under warranty". As for superchargers, I did a end-to-end round trip on I-90 in 2016, here is what the superchargers looked like along the return leg from Toronto to Seattle (one of those is Missoula).
View attachment 693728

Nice trip down memory lane! I drove most of that in reverse going from Cleveland to Seattle back in 2016 on my first Tesla road trip. I recognize the first couple and everything from Madison to Ellensburg, but I get a little lost on the top row numbers 3-6. Would you mind refreshing my memory on those? Part of the problem is you had a few different options in terms of routes to take between Comber and Madison.

 

[whitex]

Nice trip down memory lane! I drove most of that in reverse going from Cleveland to Seattle back in 2016 on my first Tesla road trip. I recognize the first couple and everything from Madison to Ellensburg, but I get a little lost on the top row numbers 3-6. Would you mind refreshing my memory on those? Part of the problem is you had a few different options in terms of routes to take between Comber and Madison.

Yea, there were a couple different options at the east end of I-90 to Toronto. I actually ended up driving slightly different route there than back. This was the return trip, so the order from top left to bottom right should be:
Woodstock
Comber
Maumee
Angola
Mishawaka
Country Club Hills
Rockford
Madison
Mauston
La Crosse
Albert Lea
Worthington
Mitchell
Murdo
Rapid City
Gillette
Sheridan
Billings
Big Timber
Bozeman
Butte
Missoula
Superior
Coeur d'Alene
Ellensburg

PS> I might repeat this same trip next summer or fall (depends on COVID situation), but this time probably in a Taycan Cross Turismo (on a wait list for one now). If Elon sticks to his promise (hang, on, have to stop laughing) and opens the superchargers to other EV's by the end of this year, I might ending up visiting a lot of the same superchargers (but not for free this time ) for old times sake. I did spec out a 400V 150KW charging option for the Taycan (native it's 800V 250KW, with a 400V charger included but only 50KW, but there is an option to upgrade the 400V charger to 150KW) primarily for this purpose.

 

[OlderThanDirt]

Ah, nostalgically reminiscing of the old times, before Model 3/Y flood, when Tesla service had Tesla car loaners for when your car needed service, when service techs were allowed to actually spend time reproducing issues (rather than charge you $175/hr if the problem doesn't reproduce even if you have a video of it happening), and not give you lines like "your less than a year old screen which just went yellow is not covered under warranty". As for superchargers, I did a end-to-end round trip on I-90 in 2016, here is what the superchargers looked like along the return leg from Toronto to Seattle (one of those is Missoula).
View attachment 693728

Now that brings back some wonderful memories. And people wonder why we love this car so much…. We have those same photos except for a couple on each end. Only the Model S is black but just as alone. Times sure have changed.

Thank you for the trip down memory lane.