One thing that I've been told is that it's not the money that's holding them back from putting in more Superchargers, it's actually local governments, permits, and electrical infrastructure that holds them back. Or, in one case, a lawsuit that gets filed in the middle of construction. I'm sure Tesla would have loved to have 1100 Superchargers by now, but sadly local jurisdictions don't always agree.
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One thing that I've been told is that it's not the money that's holding them back from putting in more Superchargers, it's actually local governments, permits, and electrical infrastructure that holds them back. Or, in one case, a lawsuit that gets filed in the middle of construction. I'm sure Tesla would have loved to have 1100 Superchargers by now, but sadly local jurisdictions don't always agree.
In the early days of automobile transportation some towns dug trenches across the road so that cars would break their axles. Some city governments haven't progress much from those days when it comes to accepting new ideas.
They can call it whatever they want, fact is they are making money selling Supercharger access. The simple math just shows how much money Tesla would have to build more but don't.
Tesla isn't making money selling supercharger access any more than it's making money selling cars. Tesla is not yet profitable. Superchargers are an expense, not a profit center!
People noting that they bought their tesla with few superchargers online is pretty irrelevant to the OPs comment. It's the equivalent of the old "I walked uphill both ways in the snow" statement...
He lives in an area with very few accessible superchargers. So do I. It's a major limiting factor to the sales of Tesla vehicles in my city. Therefore.. Anyone in the market for a tesla in my area must also have the financial resources to keep a ICE vehicle handy to drive anywhere but east. South or west... Forget it. Completely inconvenient for anyone that has any sort of schedule limitations. Stopping at ChaDemo chargers is apparently a complete crapshoot so that's out too. That's why in a relatively wealthy county of over a million people there are only 5 or 6 teslas registered.
If Tesla wants to go mainstream in middle America they MUST continue the buildout through our regions. It seems that they are actively working to do so and I hope it continues!
He lives in an area with very few accessible superchargers. So do I. It's a major limiting factor to the sales of Tesla vehicles in my city. Therefore.. Anyone in the market for a tesla in my area must also have the financial resources to keep a ICE vehicle handy to drive anywhere but east. South or west... Forget it. Completely inconvenient for anyone that has any sort of schedule limitations. Stopping at ChaDemo chargers is apparently a complete crapshoot so that's out too. That's why in a relatively wealthy county of over a million people there are only 5 or 6 teslas registered.
If Tesla wants to go mainstream in middle America they MUST continue the buildout through our regions. It seems that they are actively working to do so and I hope it continues!
Exactly the same in my city, no way to SC except to the SE. Recently a new SC opened, add east.
There is a huge circular gap in SC dead centered on Memphis TN. (not where I live)To the West from Memphis , not many chargers of any kind. So it would be surprising if they sold many Teslas in this huge SC desert,
Tesla has put 68 chargers in China resulting in few sales. 68 extra SC in the US would be a big help to present owners and add a lot more car sales than Tesla got in China
Tesla seems to be actively working on N to S routes . But doing y little E to W except along the Gulf of Mexico. Well I guess somebody has to be last and that seems to be me...
Fortunately I can travel to and from my vacation cabin because I installed a 1430 there..
All should be well in 18 months. But Tesla time ticks to it 's own beat, "coming soon".
There is a huge circular gap in SC dead centered on Memphis TN. (not where I live)To the West from Memphis , not many chargers of any kind. So it would be surprising if they sold many Teslas in this huge SC desert,
Tesla has put 68 chargers in China resulting in few sales. 68 extra SC in the US would be a big help to present owners and add a lot more car sales than Tesla got in China
Tesla seems to be actively working on N to S routes . But doing y little E to W except along the Gulf of Mexico. Well I guess somebody has to be last and that seems to be me...
Fortunately I can travel to and from my vacation cabin because I installed a 1430 there..
All should be well in 18 months. But Tesla time ticks to it 's own beat, "coming soon".
cpa
Active Member
I agree with this and would like to add that to cover North America with Superchargers also takes a lot of legwork from Tesla's "Supercharger" team of locating properties, negotiating the lease terms and determining the construction schedules. I do not know how many employees Tesla has to work on the logistics. I do not know if they also work on determining new locations for sales and service centers in addition to Supercharger sites. Even though Black and Veatch acts as the general contractor, several subcontractors are needed, and there might be timing issues for contractor availability.
Tesla might also bundle the construction of 3-5 locations together in order to provide a steady stream of work for the contractors and perhaps getting lower bids for "guaranteed work for 3 months", or whatever. I would not be surprised to see another construction surge starting late in the third quarter that will start to fill in some of these gaps still prevalent in the country.
William13
Active Member
I think the real cost of the standard set of eight Superchargers is more likely over $300,000. Rent for land, several electric poles and new wires from the nearest transformers, digging trenches and refilling/repairing road/parking lot, 20 years of electricity, the Tesla equipment and its installation, and maintenance. Tesla is not making any money by placing Superchargers. It is however able to sell cars.
I think the OP didn't realize that the Tesla is still in the early adopter phase especially in the Midwest and South. Looking at the current and projected SC maps makes me think that Elon doesn't like Elvis or Country Music...
I think the OP didn't realize that the Tesla is still in the early adopter phase especially in the Midwest and South. Looking at the current and projected SC maps makes me think that Elon doesn't like Elvis or Country Music...
I can only roll my eyes at these types of discussions. Not the original OP complaint, necessarily, but the belief that if Tesla simply threw more money/people at the problem that all would be solved. I find it remarkable what Tesla has done in 2.5 years. They've delivered superchargers on 3 continents, enabled convenient long distance traveling by EVs and is filling in the gaps in North America. Would I have liked the Detroit-Buffalo route through Ontario to have been completed last September? Sure. Would have made my trip a lot easier ... along with the Syracuse and Utica stops. But 8 months later those were completed and my trip would be completely different today.
Someone is always going to be last in being connected to the SC network. Some will never be connected. Tesla makes business decisions about this and has to work with local jurisdictions to make things happen. Eastern and central PA have absolutely nothing right now even though there have been plans in those areas the past two years. Do you think that's a Tesla issue or perhaps something else ...
Someone is always going to be last in being connected to the SC network. Some will never be connected. Tesla makes business decisions about this and has to work with local jurisdictions to make things happen. Eastern and central PA have absolutely nothing right now even though there have been plans in those areas the past two years. Do you think that's a Tesla issue or perhaps something else ...
Huh, most would have looked at the Supercharger map before ordering their car if the location of Superchargers was important to them.
Also, Supercharger access isn't about monetary payback or "getting what you paid for". The value is in being able to travel long distances.
brucet999
Active Member
I'm pretty sure that Elvis is living under an assumed name in Silicon Valley and drives a Tesla…OK, maybe not.
But you are right, Tesla is certainly using population, traffic patterns and demographics as the primary considerations for placement of superchargers. California has the highest number of Tesla owners (thank you Silicon Valley), so has gotten the earliest and greatest number of installations. Ditto the I-95 corridor from DC to southern New England, where environmental consciousness and affluence are both high. There is not a single one in Nebraska, a state of small towns twenty miles apart and relatively low incomes - even Warren Buffet would have to drive across the Missouri River to Council Bluffs to supercharge. Who knows if Arkansas and Mississippi will ever get any and North Dakota's sparse population and recent shale oil boom doesn't augur well for high rates of EV adoption.
jdo
Member
Have to admit I chuckled at seeing this thread, since I'm temporarily in Kentucky for the next month and am living through the pain of not having SCs in either Louisville or Cincinnati. Hopefully, the Cincy SC will open as planned in the next week, making the trip back much easier.
Years from now, we'll be telling the newbies how they're not having the full Tesla experience because they never had to go through a serious range anxiety attack.
Years from now, we'll be telling the newbies how they're not having the full Tesla experience because they never had to go through a serious range anxiety attack.
I was told there were to be Superchargers in these cities so what's your point???
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Hey Tree, I was told there were chargers coming to these areas. Not asking for much, these are huge cities on routes to other cities and areas where people visit frequently. They put one in Lexington, makes no sense.
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Let me do the math for you. I have used the supercharger 4 times. Supercharge enabled is 2K.
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Thanks KJD
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Hey Tree, I was told there were chargers coming to these areas. Not asking for much, these are huge cities on routes to other cities and areas where people visit frequently. They put one in Lexington, makes no sense.
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Let me do the math for you. I have used the supercharger 4 times. Supercharge enabled is 2K.
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Thanks KJD
Cincinnati, Lexington, and London, KY Superchargers are all live now. Louisville is coming, perhaps this year.
Patience Grasshopper.
GSP
PS. It looks like I will have to wait until sometime in 2016 for Lansing and Bay City, MI. I will wait (semi-patiently).
Patience Grasshopper.
GSP
PS. It looks like I will have to wait until sometime in 2016 for Lansing and Bay City, MI. I will wait (semi-patiently).
caddieo
Member
Case illustration: the long overdue Miami supercharger. Look up that thread to see the hoops that TM had to jump through.
Tesla's strategy was to first start with the major Interstates - the I-x0 and I-x5 routes.
On my family's recent vacation, it required us to drive an extra 500 miles out of our way in the round trip, via Indianapolis instead of St. Louis down I-24 and into Tennessee. 'tis okay for now, I saved $300 in fuel on the trip and we absorbed the extra miles in the car instead of in a hotel.
I do agree that Tesla's missing a couple of critical Interstate routes that were built after the major grid... for me, that's I-24 via Paducah and Nashville over to Chattanooga; I-64 via Mt. Vernon, IL and Louisville, KY, I-44 toward Springfield, MO and Tulsa, OK; and and I-55 down south toward New Orleans.
It's disingenuous to say $500 per charge because you paid for Supercharger enabling... It's unlikely that you'll stop right now.
On my family's recent vacation, it required us to drive an extra 500 miles out of our way in the round trip, via Indianapolis instead of St. Louis down I-24 and into Tennessee. 'tis okay for now, I saved $300 in fuel on the trip and we absorbed the extra miles in the car instead of in a hotel.
I do agree that Tesla's missing a couple of critical Interstate routes that were built after the major grid... for me, that's I-24 via Paducah and Nashville over to Chattanooga; I-64 via Mt. Vernon, IL and Louisville, KY, I-44 toward Springfield, MO and Tulsa, OK; and and I-55 down south toward New Orleans.
It's disingenuous to say $500 per charge because you paid for Supercharger enabling... It's unlikely that you'll stop right now.
Several misses here, for the first, they haven't sold 90000, more about 75000. And I have heard from a very good source that tesla count one supercharger station per 150 car sold to come over all cost. If you take 75000/150=500 Supercharger. Right now they have 447 superchargerstations open and 23 that is known to be under construction according to supercharge.info. That's 470, just 30 under what they should have built. And all under construction isn't lifted on supercharger.info.
