Welcome to Tesla Motors Club
Discuss Tesla's Model S, Model 3, Model X, Model Y, Cybertruck, Roadster and More.
Register

First public Tesla charging station in Woodland, CA

This site may earn commission on affiliate links.
Hey look! Here I am charging by the first Tesla charger that I know of that's installed in an open, public lot. Of course I'm charging from the small paddle inductive that is behind the Tesla unit, but hey, I'm *really* close. :biggrin:

The top four pictures here were taken today. There are two Avcons, one Tesla and one SPI. This is likely the most *complete* charging facility in the country right now, as it is capable of charging 100% of the full-function, production EVs on the road today.

Public Charging
 
From EVnut's link:
woodland04.jpg
 
...the first Tesla charger that I know of that's installed in an open, public lot...
Public Charging


http://www.diyelectriccar.com/forums/showthread.php/rav4-ev-first-public-tesla-charging-30609.html
The first Public Tesla charging station is open for business! I'm too far away to test it myself so I'd appreciate if one of the NorCal Tesla owners could swing buy, grab a few coulombs, and let EVeryone know for sure that it's up and working.

It's in Woodland, CA (off I-5 near Sacrament) at:
Woodland Gateway Shopping Center, by I-5 and Road 102 (south of the freeway)
the chargers are closest to the 'In-N-Out' Burger location at that plaza (almost south-west location within the giant parking space)

There's going to be an opening party there at 10:00 am on Saturday, 25 April, at 10:00 am.

The charging station was provided by the real estate developer of the strip mall so it would be great if as many people as possible could come to show our support for their support for this new phase of public EV charging.

This should be a great stop for Bay Area people heading to Sacramento, Tahoe, Reno, Yosemite, etc.

Please publicize this as much as you can.
 
This is shaping up to be a pretty big party. Somebody from Tesla will be there, we have six Roadsters at last count, and too many Ravs to even try to count. We're even having a special cake made. Should be a fun time. At least as much fun as you can have standing around in an otherwise empty parking lot. :)

The ironic part is that most of the Roadster drivers will need to charge to get back home - and we can only charge three off them at any significant rate. Aggh! Too many Roadsters! Who'd have thought?
 
Are these esentially the same as an HPC ? Or even exactly the same ? How quickly can a Roadster be charged on one ? For the EV owners or some of you technically savy people out there .... Is there a benifit to charging a little bit as often as possible - other than keeping a full tank. Does it effect the battery life and cycling ? I did notice at the Roadster test drive that I went to that the Roadster was plugged in at every opportunity. Was this for show of charging or was there a benefit? Assuming that a couple little test drives would not depleat the battery too much but not sure how far he had to drive after the event was over or if it was actually trailered to the event ... Just curious ... thanks.
 
Are these esentially the same as an HPC ? Or even exactly the same ? How quickly can a Roadster be charged on one ?

From what I have seen and read on the Owners Forum, this is a standard ClipperCreek HPC, same as people are installing in their houses. This is supposedly on a 70 amp circuit, so the car can get the standard 3.5 hour charge off of it.

I believe they said the AVCON next to it (which the Roadster can charge from with an adapter box) is only 30amps. So it will take significantly longer to charge from, but is available in a pinch (to someone with an adapter) if the HPC is in use.
 
Well this is good news to me as well. I was under the impression that the Clipper Creek units HAD to be mounted inside as they were not weather resistant. Thus the need for EV owners to have a garage. Is this not the case ? I will need to charge outside so if a HPC can be mounted outside that would be great. Can this also be mounted in-ground ? Meaning that it is flush with the ground ? or perhaps in a water tight below ground box ?
 
Well this is good news to me as well. I was under the impression that the Clipper Creek units HAD to be mounted inside as they were not weather resistant. Thus the need for EV owners to have a garage. Is this not the case ?

Yeah, I am a bit confused by that as well as I have heard conflicting reports.

The Clipper Creek box itself is weather resistant, and should be fine - but I am not so sure about the Tesla cable/connector coming out of it. I don't think Tesla recommends installing them outdoors - but maybe I have old information.
 
Is the cable coming out of it removable or permanently attached. I would like to have a unit that I can unplug both ends and take the cord with me. The reason for this is that I would have to charge outside at home - no garage - so I would like to be able to take the cord inside when I am finished charging and leave the box outside flush with the ground. Possible ?
 
Are these essentially the same as an HPC ?

I suspect that charge controller is the same as the new HPCs they are installing now. Recall that Tesla recently switched from their own design to Clipper Creek boxes.

This spec sheet shows that they make them in different current ratings.
Model / Circuit Breaker Rating (Amps) / Continuous current (Amps)
CS-100 / 100 / 80
CS-90 / 90 / 72 <== Tesla home HPC?
CS-80 / 80 / 64
CS-70 / 70 / 56 <== Tesla home HPC?
CS-60 / 60 / 48
CS-50 / 50 / 40
CS-40 / 40 / 32 <== "Level 2" public / outdoor?
CS-30 / 30 / 24
I would guess that a lot of public charging spots don't have 100 amp breakers, so it might be that public spots might not get the full CS-100 80amps.

How quickly can a Roadster be charged on one ?

Maybe EVnut knows? Somewhere between 4 and 8 hours for a full charge, depending on how much current the box is configured to deliver.

Is there a benifit to charging a little bit as often as possible

Li-Ion has no 'memory effect', so you don't have to full cycle it like old Ni-Cad batteries. If for instance you had a short commute and only used 1/8 charge every day I still think they would recommend recharging every day rather than letting it run down all the way first. Li-Ion generally doesn't like to be stored totally empty or totall full though. If extending pack life as much as possible was your goal you would want to configure your charge profile to never fill the pack all the way up.


I did notice at the Roadster test drive that I went to that the Roadster was plugged in at every opportunity.
My guess would be that they needed to do this so that the charge didn't run all the way down before the end of the day. They probably needed to keep it on charge whenever possible to replenish some of the charge used up by the drives in between.

At the end of the day, convenience (down time near a charging spot) and avoiding ever going to empty usually outweigh trying to manage other aspects of charging.
 
Last edited:
From what I have seen and read on the Owners Forum, this is a standard ClipperCreek HPC, same as people are installing in their houses. This is supposedly on a 70 amp circuit, so the car can get the standard 3.5 hour charge off of it.

As I was saying before, owners on the Owners Forum are claiming they have charged from it and it delivers a full 70amps.

I am confused about the difference between the "circuit amps" and "continuous current / delivered amps".
When you said "70 amp circuit", I took that to mean that the charger could draw 80% (56amps) which would be less than the old HPC that could (AFAIK) draw a continuous 70amps, probably off a 90amp breaker.
 
I am confused about the difference between the "circuit amps" and "continuous current / delivered amps".
When you said "70 amp circuit", I took that to mean that the charger could draw 80% (56amps) which would be less than the old HPC that could (AFAIK) draw a continuous 70amps, probably off a 90amp breaker.

Sorry, I could have been more clear, I guess. People are saying that it seems to be a 90 amp breaker. It is a real HPC and delivers what you would expect from one installed in your home.
 
**For Immediate Release**


Woodland is the Home to the
“World’s First Tesla Public Electric Vehicle Charging Station”

Please join us for the ribbon-cutting ceremony for the most “complete” charging facility in the country right now. It is capable of charging 100% of the full-function, production EVs on the road today.
The Tesla public “free of charge” electric vehicle charging station hosts one Tesla, two Avcons (all conductive chargers), and one SPI (a small paddle inductive charger) plus 2 NEV standard outlets (neighborhood electric vehicle) at Woodland Gateway Shopping Center located at southeast of the interchange of I-5 at CR102 (use Maxwell Road entrance into the center) located in Woodland, CA. The site is just 10 minutes north of SacramentoInternationalAirport. The Charging station is an open, public lot, located in the southwest corner of the shopping center, east of “In–and-Out Burger”.

When: 10:00 am, Saturday, April 25, 2009
Where: Woodland Gateway Shopping Center, southeast of the interchange of I-5 at CR102 (use Maxwell Road entrance into the center) located in Woodland, CA
Attending: 2 Tesla roadsters and numerous other full electric vehicles

For more information, please contact: Eugen Dunlap (530) 754-9114, evgroup
City of Woodland, Wendy Ross, 530 661-5921

Made possible by City of Woodland, Petrovich Development Co. and eaaev.org

A Clean Air Solution!
**end**
 
Last edited: