Do Truckee, CA Superchargers Get Much Use?

[gnuarm]

I know someone who lives in San Francisco and claims getting to Truckee in an EV would be dangerous in the winter. He is really just argumentative and opposed to EVs in general. He often posts pictures of the Truckee Superchargers empty or with ICE autos parked in them. I was wondering if folks in that area could find a busy time and take pictures of the Truckee Superchargers actually being used? As many as possible in use would be great. Looking on the map I see there are actually two stations. The one he posts photos of is by the Safeway on the west side of town. Looks like Tesla is planning a third station. Wow, obviously they get used a lot or a third station would not be on the map.

 

[Merrill]

I have only been to Truckee and Brockway in the summer and usually only 2 or 3 cars at either place. The argument of getting to Truckee in the winter in an EV would be dangerous is strange. You can charge at the Roseville SC and have no problem getting to Truckee, of course it would depend on the weather and if there is chain control. But no different than an ICE.

 

[PLUS EV]

I know someone who lives in San Francisco and claims getting to Truckee in an EV would be dangerous in the winter. He is really just argumentative and opposed to EVs in general. He often posts pictures of the Truckee Superchargers empty or with ICE autos parked in them. I was wondering if folks in that area could find a busy time and take pictures of the Truckee Superchargers actually being used? As many as possible in use would be great. Looking on the map I see there are actually two stations. The one he posts photos of is by the Safeway on the west side of town. Looks like Tesla is planning a third station. Wow, obviously they get used a lot or a third station would not be on the map.

You should probably look for pictures in the threads for those superchargers.

But really, you shouldn't even do that. You're falling into his trap. Just send him a pic of an empty gas station. I've been debating with Trumptards and EV haters for 2-3 years now so I've gotten pretty good at this.

Also, Truckee is in California so this should have been posted on one of the California forums.

 

[mspohr]

I live in the area (at Lake Tahoe) and I have used these SC before I had my home charging installed. I also shop in the area (Safeway, Mountain Hardware and the restaurants near both of these SC stations). They get busy on weekend and holiday travel times. I've never seen any of the stalls ICEd.
I frequently travel over Donner Summit. I charge in Rocklin or Roseville to 225 miles to make it to my house with 50 miles reserve even in Winter. Going down to the valley takes very little electricity and I can make it to Vacaville or Livermore with a full charge from home. I've been over the summit in snow storms and never had any problems with reserve. Don't know what could be "dangerous" about winter EV travel (except for the clueless ICE cars and trucks). My 85D is solid in ice and snow... amazingly I've never felt it slip.
Since you asked, here are some photos of the Safeway location:

 

[dmode]

I have charged in Truckee last year twice during ski season and it was full both times

 

[PLUS EV]

If you send him a photo with all stalls occupied he will respond with how hilarious it is that you have to wait in line for a long time before you can charge.

You need to debate on your terms, not his.

 

[chillaban]

There’s like 5 different supercharger stations on the way between San Francisco and Tahoe.... Yes sometimes some are more occupied than others, but it’s not a huge deal to plan ahead and choose a more conservative stop. For me I usually stop at the Sacramental Arden mall one or Rocklin if it’s not too busy. (S100D and M3LR both can do that just fine)

Plus a lot of the nice hotels up there have Tesla destination charging so you just have to arrive with enough for them to plug you in.

 

[gnuarm]

I live in the area (at Lake Tahoe) and I have used these SC before I had my home charging installed. I also shop in the area (Safeway, Mountain Hardware and the restaurants near both of these SC stations). They get busy on weekend and holiday travel times. I've never seen any of the stalls ICEd.
I frequently travel over Donner Summit. I charge in Rocklin or Roseville to 225 miles to make it to my house with 50 miles reserve even in Winter. Going down to the valley takes very little electricity and I can make it to Vacaville or Livermore with a full charge from home. I've been over the summit in snow storms and never had any problems with reserve. Don't know what could be "dangerous" about winter EV travel (except for the clueless ICE cars and trucks). My 85D is solid in ice and snow... amazingly I've never felt it slip.
Since you asked, here are some photos of the Safeway location:

Thanks for the pics. That is exactly what I needed. I see the second and the planned third station in town and I made sure to mention that. Obviously there are actually lots of Teslas around and he insists in being ignorant of the fact.

 

[ThisIsTrue]

I live in Colorado, and have been to the Truckee SCs several times. But when I came through last week, I didn't need to stop there, thanks to a good charge at Roseville (which was a new one for me) and then Reno. Arguing about such things just means he doesn't have something substantive to argue about.

 

[gnuarm]

There’s like 5 different supercharger stations on the way between San Francisco and Tahoe.... Yes sometimes some are more occupied than others, but it’s not a huge deal to plan ahead and choose a more conservative stop. For me I usually stop at the Sacramental Arden mall one or Rocklin if it’s not too busy. (S100D and M3LR both can do that just fine)

Plus a lot of the nice hotels up there have Tesla destination charging so you just have to arrive with enough for them to plug you in.

Yes, I've pointed out the many chargers along the way, etc, but he is the sort of person who has formed his opinion and isn't going to change. I just want others reading his drivel to know he is full of it.

The funny part is the guy is a highly intelligent, successful owner of an electronics company. But anything outside of his field he is a poor thinker. So because he has a "flaming-red Audi" with "250 HP". He never replies to my posts of a 500 HP model X.

 

[Merrill]

Yes, I have friends that just do not want to think about driving a BEV. They come up with all the excuses why and I refute them all but will keep trying to educate them. My neighbor who is a doctor and did research, now retired who drive 2 Prius hybrids and has solar tells me he will not drive a Tesla because when he drives to LA to visit his daughter he does not want to stop. So 7 hours non stop without going to the bathroom or getting some food. I said what is the hurry you are retired, he says does not want to waste time stopping. Honestly I think it is just one of many weak excuses not to have to think about charging and anything new.

 

[gnuarm]

Yes, I have friends that just do not want to think about driving a BEV. They come up with all the excuses why and I refute them all but will keep trying to educate them. My neighbor who is a doctor and did research, now retired who drive 2 Prius hybrids and has solar tells me he will not drive a Tesla because when he drives to LA to visit his daughter he does not want to stop. So 7 hours non stop without going to the bathroom or getting some food. I said what is the hurry you are retired, he says does not want to waste time stopping. Honestly I think it is just one of many weak excuses not to have to think about charging and anything new.

That's pretty hard core. In 7 hours you have to stop once, no matter what. But how many times do you need to stop driving a Tesla? I expect in my model X it would be at least 2 if not 3. On an 8 hour drive I have to stop 3 times. There is a Supercharger in the middle, but I can't quite reach it reliably in an X P100D in the winter. The second half of the trip is 250 miles with no place to charge once I get there, so I always charge in Knoxville just to not have to wait a day or two on 120 volt charging before I can even reach another Supercharger. The real problem with this is that the restaurant choices in Wytheville are really bad, a cheap Chinese place and a Shoney's.

I friend who has small kids drove my Tesla for part of a business trip where we stopped at a Wawa to charge and eat. He likes the food more than I did and when we were done fooling around inside he was surprised to find we had 220 miles on the car. His attitude has changed a lot.

 

[ThisIsTrue]

I *like* the stops. Pee, eat, stretch, walk. It makes the drive MUCH less tiring. I did one 1100 mile stretch in 19 hours once, stopping only for the above and, one time, to sleep a few hours. (Wife wanted me home. )

 

[Merrill]

Yes, I drove once for 24 hours straight, but I was 22 what did I know.

 

[gnuarm]

I *like* the stops. Pee, eat, stretch, walk. It makes the drive MUCH less tiring. I did one 1100 mile stretch in 19 hours once, stopping only for the above and, one time, to sleep a few hours. (Wife wanted me home. )

Sure, stops are mandatory as far as I'm concerned. My issue is that I don't get to pick when and where. I have to stop where the few chargers are whether there is a good place to eat or whatever. The last trip I lucked out discovering that unlike Sheetz, Wawa actually has something I'll eat. Anything else would have been a half mile hike.

I've been trying to figure out what to do about home charging and I'm finding that to be rather more complex that it should be as well. So many changes so that it can be very hard to know what your options even are. Cables change, cars change and very few can tell you just what the options are.

Owning a Tesla is an exercise in complexity if nothing else.

 

[tmoz]

Sure, stops are mandatory as far as I'm concerned. My issue is that I don't get to pick when and where. I have to stop where the few chargers are whether there is a good place to eat or whatever. The last trip I lucked out discovering that unlike Sheetz, Wawa actually has something I'll eat. Anything else would have been a half mile hike.

I've been trying to figure out what to do about home charging and I'm finding that to be rather more complex that it should be as well. So many changes so that it can be very hard to know what your options even are. Cables change, cars change and very few can tell you just what the options are.

Owning a Tesla is an exercise in complexity if nothing else.

Home charging a Tesla seems like the easy part of owning a Tesla. Put in a 50 A 204V breaker, run the wire to an outlet (NEMA 14-50), and charge at 40 A every night by plugging in the cable that comes with the tesla.

 

[gnuarm]

Home charging a Tesla seems like the easy part of owning a Tesla. Put in a 50 A 204V breaker, run the wire to an outlet (NEMA 14-50), and charge at 40 A every night by plugging in the cable that comes with the tesla.

Sure that's easy until you come home one day with a few hours to pack and head back out. That recently happened to me and I had to go 40 miles out of my way to get to a Supercharger before I went to my place. The 50 amp outlet only charges at 32 amps, less than half what a proper connector will provide.

Day to day routine is fine. But I want to be prepared for the unexpected. I'm pretty sure I have 72 amp charging capability in the car, if so, I want to use it here where I am at least 25 miles from the nearest charger and depending on the direction it's more like an hour highway drive, even with the installation of a new Supercharger on a common route I take.

If only I could pick the locations for Superchargers. No more Sheets, no more crappy chain restaurants. They would all be next to at least one good restaurant. Instead of posting about the charging, I'd be posting about all the good food I had on every trip.

 

[PLUS EV]

I'm starting to wonder if this entire thread has been a troll job from the beginning.

Anyways, if serious, electric vehicles may not be for you. I even wonder why you bought one in the first place.

FWIW I prefer Sheetz to Wawa and it's not like people get to choose where the gas stations are.

 

[mociaf9]

For anyone who is concerned about being able to even make some drive with an EV, I always recommend that they go to ABetterRoutePlanner.com, play with the settings to seriously stack the deck against the car (some battery degradation, cold temps, added weight, bad road conditions, etc., etc.) and then map their route.

 

[bomquito]

I live in the area (at Lake Tahoe) and I have used these SC before I had my home charging installed. I also shop in the area (Safeway, Mountain Hardware and the restaurants near both of these SC stations). They get busy on weekend and holiday travel times. I've never seen any of the stalls ICEd.
I frequently travel over Donner Summit. I charge in Rocklin or Roseville to 225 miles to make it to my house with 50 miles reserve even in Winter. Going down to the valley takes very little electricity and I can make it to Vacaville or Livermore with a full charge from home. I've been over the summit in snow storms and never had any problems with reserve. Don't know what could be "dangerous" about winter EV travel (except for the clueless ICE cars and trucks). My 85D is solid in ice and snow... amazingly I've never felt it slip.
Since you asked, here are some photos of the Safeway location:

Recently I traveled to South Lake Tahoe from So-Cal (450mi) with our P85D (245 mile @ 100%) and the slope within the US-395N along with the cold temperature did not go well with the estimated range. The worst consumption was in a mid 600 w/mile for 50 miles straight, bringing down almost 100 miles of estimate range. Won't do that again. The range anxiety took the fun out of travelling.