Has Tesla changed their minds on SCs in urban areas?

[wayner]

Back in about 2017 Tesla announced a strategy of SCs in urban locations that would facilitate Tesla ownership for those that can't install charging at home. Are they still committed to that strategy? The reason that I ask is that many of the SCs announced in that time frame have become the most "overdue" SCs at least in Southern Ontario. The three examples in Toronto are: Liberty Village, Annex and Yonge-Eg. I don't believe anything has been done on these sites at all, despite the fact that they were announced at least two years ago.

Or is Tesla just prioritizing highway routes like the trans-Canada route?

FYI - I am not complaining about this, just wondering why these three sites in Toronto do not appear to be progressing.

 

[tjkessler]

Certainly in the san francisco bay area there are lots of urban/in town chargers. They've been going up at a steady pace.

 

[tjkessler]

With the notable exception of San Francisco proper where I understand it's difficult to find space and get permits.

 

[mociaf9]

Back in about 2017 Tesla announced a strategy of SCs in urban locations that would facilitate Tesla ownership for those that can't install charging at home. Are they still committed to that strategy? The reason that I ask is that many of the SCs announced in that time frame have become the most "overdue" SCs at least in Southern Ontario. The three examples in Toronto are: Liberty Village, Annex and Yonge-Eg. I don't believe anything has been done on these sites at all, despite the fact that they were announced at least two years ago.

Or is Tesla just prioritizing highway routes like the trans-Canada route?

FYI - I am not complaining about this, just wondering why these three sites in Toronto do not appear to be progressing.

To me it looks like almost all of Tesla's Canadian supercharger effort for the past year and a bit was diverted to finishing the TCH route. My impression being that they didn't significantly expand their Canada team just to handle the TCH project, so as a result the other locations were put on hold. This included not only the type of urban locations you're talking about but also some in Quebec (e.g. the route from QC to Saguenay) and likely some other in-fill between cities. I won't be surprised to see a return to progress on those over the next 18 months.

 

[RedSafari]

It may be just a spending control measure to delay urban supercharger construction. It’s possible that Tesla saw healthy sales in urban areas despite limited in-town charging options, and decided to postpone building them.
I agree that for people who have no designated parking it is a very good option to have an urban supercharger nearby, even if that means additional time spent making charging trips.

 

[ajdelange]

other locations were put on hold. This included not only the type of urban locations you're talking about but also some in Quebec (e.g. the route from QC to Saguenay)

There's one in Baie St Paul.

 

[mociaf9]

There's one in Baie St Paul.

Yes. I meant L’Étape and Saguenay (plus Lebourgneuf in Quebec City).

 

[MD-2000]

They finished the hardware install in Winnipeg - not far from downtown (Polo Park Mall). So not sure if that qualifies for urban, it may simply be for the trans-Canada; but there are chargers in Prawda 100km east and Portage la Prairie 100km west so it was somewhat unnecessary, until they finish the Pembina-Grand Forks-Fargo connection to Minneapolis. Plus they put one on Regina, which despite my jokes is pretty close to urban out here.

I think they are currently filling in the very basic missing links for long distance first, since even people who have no problem charging at home will still raise the objection "what about road trips".

Also note that Albert Lea (south of Minneapolis) they finished installing a second charger a few months ago - which seems to have made some people happy, since there was already a supercharger there but reports were it was not reliable. I think the other point is that there are additional fast chargers coming online, like PetroCanada and Canadian Tire, so less urgency to fill every nook and cranny.

But yes, apartment building owners are going to have to address this issue eventually, much as they had to deal with cable service and internet service in previous iterations of the march of technology.

 

[ajdelange]

Yes. I meant L’Étape and Saguenay (plus Lebourgneuf in Quebec City).

It is certainly true that Baie St Paul is the end of the line on the north shore (nicest place to super charge I've encountered with 12 (!!!) stalls) but for the Teslaist passing through the 50 kW CHAdeMOs are plenty adequate and reliable (Circuit Electrique). I would not want those to be my sole means of charging, however, if I lived in a situation without a home charger.

 

[electracity]

The ROI for urban superchargers is poor. It has to happen eventually, but comprehensive urban coverage should probably be viewed as aspirational.

Perhaps third parties will enter this market and charge higher prices. Tesla would be criticized if they installed expensive superchargers.

 

[darkenergy]

Don't forget that Tesla is a data driven company. They know how many Canadian Teslas regularly charge at home, office, SC etc and the TCan has been 'coming soon' for as long as they've been rolling out the super charger network.

As long as most owners are in good shape for regular charging, which I suspect is accurate, they're going to put most of their efforts into long distance travel. It benefits the most users, and has the biggest PR impact for EV "utility", even though most drivers stick close to home 99% of the time.

Negotiating leases and permitting probably also takes some time, particularly in an urban setting.

 

[Aphinity]

I know I am anxiously awaiting the install of the North Vancouver supercharger. I can't charge at home (basement suite, street parking only) and am getting a bit frustrated using the city L2 charger that restricts you to 2 hours max. If Tesla installs the supercharger they promised, it'll be about 5 blocks from my current home.

 

[wayner]

Don't count on that exact location. Tesla drops the pin at the centre of the Google Map label for the city. That is the case in this instance - see the image that I have pasted. We generally don't know the exact site until construction has begun or if someone finds a zoning approval.

But on the original premise of this thread - the "urban" sites announced by Tesla here in Toronto are not yet under construction as far as we know. This includes three urban sites of the Annex, Liberty Village and Yonge and Eglinton.

 

[wayner]

To answer the question I posted in this thread title 13 months ago - the answer appears to be yes, at least as far as Toronto is concerned as the Yonge and Eg and Annex locations have been deleted from the Tesla map. Liberty Village is still slated to go ahead.

 

[Mayoo]

To answer the question I posted in this thread title 13 months ago - the answer appears to be yes, at least as far as Toronto is concerned as the Yonge and Eg and Annex locations have been deleted from the Tesla map. Liberty Village is still slated to go ahead.

Yup .. Brampton, Mississauga, Oakville all pushed to 2022

 

[wayner]

Although those are more suburban than urban.

 

[CanadaGoose]

Ville de Québec has two urban (or maybe suburban) locations on the map. (Both Q2)

Montreal (Q2) has one downtown on the map (previously Griffintown).

Looks like superchargers in urban areas are still happening but not at a large scale.

Maybe, they’ve learned that they should avoid placing superchargers in paid parking garages.

 

[wayner]

Ottawa should the issue with paid parking garages, I imagine the good thing is that such sites should last longer as they would be less exposed to weather damage or snow plow damage.

 

[Vawlkus]

Honestly, I don’t think Tesla should bother with urban chargers right now. I’d rather see them blanket more routes with more v2 and V3 super chargers for traveling. Having more than one route, and having more options along a route to handle outages is a better idea IMHO.
Give people travel options and coverage, then backfill with urban chargers later. In a pinch, they could deploy L2 chargers in urban areas, then upgrade heavily trafficked sites with urban super chargers once they have the data to know better where to place them.

 

[wayner]

Honestly, I don’t think Tesla should bother with urban chargers right now. I’d rather see them blanket more routes with more v2 and V3 super chargers for traveling. Having more than one route, and having more options along a route to handle outages is a better idea IMHO.
Give people travel options and coverage, then backfill with urban chargers later. In a pinch, they could deploy L2 chargers in urban areas, then upgrade heavily trafficked sites with urban super chargers once they have the data to know better where to place them.

I disagree. Have you lived in the denser parts of Toronto or Montreal? You are parking in your apartment/condo lot or garage where you may not be able to put a charger, or on the street. Not being able to charge is a deterrent to being an EV for such folks. I think that is more of an issue than adding more routes that don't get a lot of traffic.