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Minnesota Superchargers (location speculation, discussion)
- Thread starter Thxdude
- Start date
I assume you looked at Tobie's in Hinckley? To me that seems like such an obvious spot I was/am hoping somebody will say that construction is underway there.
It will be really nice for going to/from Ely to MSP to have an SC near Hinckley, then you don't need to drive out of your way to Duluth, probably saving about an hour total.
I'm having trouble posting pictures from my phone. There was a crew working there about 7pm. They had ripped up the ground and it looked like there was lumber placed for concrete forms. There were big Tesla crates too. Hopefully it won't take long. I'll be through again in a few days and will give another update.
ElectricTundra
P85D AP1
That's great news about Tobies. That'll make the trip to my brother and sister in laws in Webb Lake WI a more doable trip.
Sweet news!
I checked the ETRAKIT web site and couldn't find a permit. Maybe they don't need one until they finish more of the ground preparation work or something.
-m
I checked the ETRAKIT web site and couldn't find a permit. Maybe they don't need one until they finish more of the ground preparation work or something.
-m
Really uncomfortable driving to Duluth in near 0 temperatures without a quick boost halfway.
I am going to bet that Model X won't make it there on a single charge doing 70mph in January.
Good stuff!
I am going to bet that Model X won't make it there on a single charge doing 70mph in January.
Good stuff!
Woohoo! Found the SC going into Baxter, MN (next to Brainerd). It's already under construction, and appears to be further along than Hinkley. It's at the Arrowwood Lodge at
6967 Lake Forest Rd
Baxter, MN 56425
And below are some more photos, taken today, of Hinkley. (These were supposed to be in a separate post, but the editor kept thinking I wanted to append them to the message about Baxter. Sorry about the confusion and long message.)
6967 Lake Forest Rd
Baxter, MN 56425
And below are some more photos, taken today, of Hinkley. (These were supposed to be in a separate post, but the editor kept thinking I wanted to append them to the message about Baxter. Sorry about the confusion and long message.)
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I was told today that Lutsen Resort has an HPWC and J1772 fastned to poles but have been waiting months for an electrician to hook them up. I am going to very this tomorrow. I know they did have the chargers on hand a few months back, but thought it was dead in the water because so much time has passed.
The Brainerd/Baxter area and surrounding area, including north of Brainerd is a very large vacation area for Minnesota. While the Baxter SC is nice, as far as priority, I would say I-94 from Minneapolis/St. Paul to the northwest would be much higher.
Whats up with the sudden boost of multiple superchargers in Minnesota? Any area getting covered is great but as a non-US citizen I have a hard time understanding why it would be prioritized when there are lots of other areas which I would feel are more important to cover first.
Have there been a boost of Tesla sales there? Are there more people suddenly living there? Or is for vacation spots for other areas (like maybe Chicago/Detroit areas going skiing)? Or is it just because winter is coming (pronounced with a Ned Stark voice) and they know they can do superchargers in southern US all year long?
These are genuine questions and I like to be educated if someone knows.
Have there been a boost of Tesla sales there? Are there more people suddenly living there? Or is for vacation spots for other areas (like maybe Chicago/Detroit areas going skiing)? Or is it just because winter is coming (pronounced with a Ned Stark voice) and they know they can do superchargers in southern US all year long?
These are genuine questions and I like to be educated if someone knows.
The Baxter SC will serve as a gateway to northern Minnesota. Minnesotans do one of three things on the weekend: They go up to the cabin, they go up to the lake, or they go up north. A SC at Baxter makes those possible. One of the local Tesla sales folks told me a few months ago that when they talk to potential customers about the MS, telling them seemingly important stuff like how easy it is to drive to Chicago with the SC network (and it is; almost too easy), those potential customers often dismiss those parts, waving them away. What they really want to know is can they drive the Tesla up to the cabin for the weekend.
As to why there's a recent surge in SC construction in MN, I suspect it's just coincidence. The Duluth SC is at a hotel and one of the hotel owners has a Tesla; they've had Level 2 chargers for a few years. Tesla has long planned to put a SC in Duluth; the hotel owners may have lobbied to make it happen sooner rather than later, saying "We own the parking ramp, we can make everything happen quickly." Duluth might be a stretch in a 60 in the winter, thus the need for Hinkley. I do know that a few months ago (June?) the local Tesla showroom had their biggest month of deliveries ever. They've got a pretty good sized parking lot (but a small showroom; hopefully, they'll move to a bigger place at some point) and it was FULL of new Tesla's waiting for delivery that month. It could be that the Tesla sales folks told the SC folks that "If we had a SC in, say, Baxter, we could bump our sales by 50% because people want to go up north." I just made that number up, but I suspect it's not too far off the mark.
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As you drive northwest out of Minneapolis/St. Paul on I-94, the traffic is really heavy (and even worse if you're coming into the cities that way on Sunday night). When you get to St. Cloud, where Hwy. 10, which has been running parallel to I-94 up to this point, banks north, the traffic on I-94 drops by at least 50%, probably more as people from both highways turn north. That's because most of the traffic out of the Twin Cities is heading up north to the cabin on the lake, not to Fargo. Tesla will be adding SCs to St. Cloud and Alexandria next year, so they're not completely ignoring North Dakota. It's also worth mentioning that the ratio of cars to trucks (semis) shifts substantially once you get past St. Cloud: IOW, you are right that there is significant traffic continuing on I-94, but all that traffic that turns north at St. Cloud is mostly cars, not semis. And since Tesla sells cars and not trucks (not yet, anyway), the SC at Baxter is arguably a higher priority than St. Cloud or Alexandria.
As to why there's a recent surge in SC construction in MN, I suspect it's just coincidence. The Duluth SC is at a hotel and one of the hotel owners has a Tesla; they've had Level 2 chargers for a few years. Tesla has long planned to put a SC in Duluth; the hotel owners may have lobbied to make it happen sooner rather than later, saying "We own the parking ramp, we can make everything happen quickly." Duluth might be a stretch in a 60 in the winter, thus the need for Hinkley. I do know that a few months ago (June?) the local Tesla showroom had their biggest month of deliveries ever. They've got a pretty good sized parking lot (but a small showroom; hopefully, they'll move to a bigger place at some point) and it was FULL of new Tesla's waiting for delivery that month. It could be that the Tesla sales folks told the SC folks that "If we had a SC in, say, Baxter, we could bump our sales by 50% because people want to go up north." I just made that number up, but I suspect it's not too far off the mark.
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As you drive northwest out of Minneapolis/St. Paul on I-94, the traffic is really heavy (and even worse if you're coming into the cities that way on Sunday night). When you get to St. Cloud, where Hwy. 10, which has been running parallel to I-94 up to this point, banks north, the traffic on I-94 drops by at least 50%, probably more as people from both highways turn north. That's because most of the traffic out of the Twin Cities is heading up north to the cabin on the lake, not to Fargo. Tesla will be adding SCs to St. Cloud and Alexandria next year, so they're not completely ignoring North Dakota. It's also worth mentioning that the ratio of cars to trucks (semis) shifts substantially once you get past St. Cloud: IOW, you are right that there is significant traffic continuing on I-94, but all that traffic that turns north at St. Cloud is mostly cars, not semis. And since Tesla sells cars and not trucks (not yet, anyway), the SC at Baxter is arguably a higher priority than St. Cloud or Alexandria.
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