DCFC charging - Bakersfield, CA - Wible Rd (not Supercharger)

[Mrbrock]

Thanks for the assist from @1100MCM.

Can someone in the area please check out Bowlero Bakersfield at 3610 Wible Road for sign of supercharger (or other DCFC) construction? The site has already passed an underground electrical inspection, has a value of $196,000 and the electrical work is being done by Cupertino Electric. Might be a small 4 stall chargepoint or something similar but could also be 8 V3.

 

[David99]

Is that the location that will have 164 stalls?

 

[Mrbrock]

Is that the location that will have 164 stalls?

A bowling alley in a city with 164 charging stalls? No. That will be in Lost Hills.

@ratsbew @manuel garcia @dannyrt @Henrykaed @1100MCM If any of you are going to be in the Bakersfield area, can you please swing through here and check this out?

 

[ucmndd]

I've done a lot of work with Cupertino Electric. They strike me as an odd partner for a supercharger site - have we seen any other permits with them as the contractor?

They definitely work in this general space, but a lot of the services they provide are things that Tesla generally accomplishes in-house.

Cupertino Electric, Inc. | CALeVIP

Cupertino Electric, Inc. is a private electrical engineering and construction company headquartered in San Jose, CA that has been delivering power and possibilities to cutting-edge clients for more than 60 years.

calevip.org

Could definitely be a non-Tesla site.

 

[Mrbrock]

I've done a lot of work with Cupertino Electric. They strike me as an odd partner for a supercharger site - have we seen any other permits with them as the contractor?

They definitely work in this general space, but a lot of the services they provide are things that Tesla generally accomplishes in-house.

Cupertino Electric, Inc. | CALeVIP

Cupertino Electric, Inc. is a private electrical engineering and construction company headquartered in San Jose, CA that has been delivering power and possibilities to cutting-edge clients for more than 60 years.

calevip.org

Could definitely be a non-Tesla site.

There is a 750kVa transformer request there so it is enough for 8V3 and is right off 99. There is no pin for EA so it would be a larger site for ChargePoint or EVGo. Just trying to suss it out based on power and not having boots on the ground. I tagged those who posted pictures in the other Bakersfield thread.

If they are installing DCFC for someone else, why wouldn't they do Superchargers? Tesla does do some SC installs themselves but mostly farms them out.

 

[ucmndd]

If they are installing DCFC for someone else, why wouldn't they do Superchargers? Tesla does do some SC installs themselves but mostly farms them out.

CEI is a big name, high dollar firm. My background with them is in the context of a 10 figure project. Clearly they do all sorts of things and smaller jobs than that, but they strike me as the type of people you call when you're looking for full service... design, engineering, commissioning, maintenance, etc etc etc.

The typical contractors I see working on supercharger sites in California are more of the "please dig holes and install this stuff according to the plans we give you" variety (not saying there's anything wrong with that, those folks do fine work ). Keeping engineering and commissioning and other services in-house seems to be how Tesla manages to install these sites at a fraction of the cost of pretty much anyone else.

I could be completely wrong. As it so happens I'm driving through Bakersfield on Wednesday so if nobody has poked in by then I can take a peek.

 

[Mrbrock]

CEI is a big name, high dollar firm. My background with them is in the context of a 10 figure project. Clearly they do all sorts of things and smaller jobs than that, but they strike me as the type of people you call when you're looking for full service... design, engineering, commissioning, maintenance, etc etc etc.

The typical contractors I see working on supercharger sites in California are more of the "please dig holes and install this stuff according to the plans we give you" variety (not saying there's anything wrong with that, those folks do fine work ). Keeping engineering and commissioning and other services in-house seems to be how Tesla manages to install these sites at a fraction of the cost of pretty much anyone else.

I could be completely wrong. As it so happens I'm driving through Bakersfield on Wednesday so if nobody has poked in by then I can take a peek.

Ah, ok. That makes more sense. And some eyes on the site would be great! I created the site on PlugShare as coming soon with CCS and Tesla (fast) with a note to update it with what it actually is so maybe someone will help from that.

 

[ucmndd]

Definitely a charger of some sort but doesn’t look Tesla. Workers were there setting the transformer it looked like.

EV charging stalls marked with some conduit ran and stubbed off.

 

[Mrbrock]

Definitely a charger of some sort but doesn’t look Tesla. Workers were there setting the transformer it looked like.

EV charging stalls marked with some conduit ran and stubbed off.

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Bummer. Green switchgear is not Tesla. Thanks for swinging by.