Mobile Megapacks and Superchargers
Today, I was pleasantly surprised when I stopped to charge at Green Acres Mall on Staten Island. This mall has first-generation superchargers that deliver 72 kW of power. There are 16 of them installed there. Last winter and summer, I had no problems charging at this location. However, starting this fall, almost all the chargers are occupied most of the time because the number of Tesla vehicles in New York state is growing exponentially. This creates significant issues. For example, my car has lifetime supercharging, so it is more economical for me to charge at Tesla's chargers than to pay for it at home.
Imagine my surprise when I arrived in mid-February to charge and found a mobile Tesla charging station. Several flatbed platforms were installed with huge Tesla Megapacks along with Tesla charging devices. I spoke with the workers and asked them how they charge the batteries and how long their charge lasts. The workers told me that the batteries are connected to the nearby superchargers at night, and their infrastructure charges the batteries. When high demand for charging begins, they distribute electricity from the Megapacks to the mobile superchargers installed on these same platforms.
The fact is, I live in Brooklyn, 16 miles from this location, and I only go there for shopping or to the gym. Next to me is perhaps the busiest supercharger in the country, which opened in November 2023. Its address is: Brooklyn NY United States 11224. There are 12,250-kilowatt chargers here that are loaded 24 hours a day. The queue sometimes reaches over an hour or even an hour and a half because all TLC drivers charge at this charger, as all others in New York City are located only in paid parking lots, and this is the only free place. Plus, there is another charging station in a free parking lot near JFK Airport. All other charging stations in New York are located in private paid parking lots, where the parking price can reach $30 - $40 per hour.
That's your energy savings for you. I asked the workers why such a mobile Megapack couldn't be placed in Brooklyn.
The answer shocked me to my core. The fact is, according to the laws of New York City, users cannot store electricity, and the presence of energy storage batteries is illegal. Solar panels - no problem. And sell electricity to the local electric company. But storing it in batteries is illegal. Therefore, they cannot bring this mobile Megapack to Brooklyn. That's one of the most progressive states in the country for you. Meanwhile, all the authorities declare and shout that they are for green energy, but they cannot solve such a basic problem at the city level.
Today, I was pleasantly surprised when I stopped to charge at Green Acres Mall on Staten Island. This mall has first-generation superchargers that deliver 72 kW of power. There are 16 of them installed there. Last winter and summer, I had no problems charging at this location. However, starting this fall, almost all the chargers are occupied most of the time because the number of Tesla vehicles in New York state is growing exponentially. This creates significant issues. For example, my car has lifetime supercharging, so it is more economical for me to charge at Tesla's chargers than to pay for it at home.
Imagine my surprise when I arrived in mid-February to charge and found a mobile Tesla charging station. Several flatbed platforms were installed with huge Tesla Megapacks along with Tesla charging devices. I spoke with the workers and asked them how they charge the batteries and how long their charge lasts. The workers told me that the batteries are connected to the nearby superchargers at night, and their infrastructure charges the batteries. When high demand for charging begins, they distribute electricity from the Megapacks to the mobile superchargers installed on these same platforms.
The fact is, I live in Brooklyn, 16 miles from this location, and I only go there for shopping or to the gym. Next to me is perhaps the busiest supercharger in the country, which opened in November 2023. Its address is: Brooklyn NY United States 11224. There are 12,250-kilowatt chargers here that are loaded 24 hours a day. The queue sometimes reaches over an hour or even an hour and a half because all TLC drivers charge at this charger, as all others in New York City are located only in paid parking lots, and this is the only free place. Plus, there is another charging station in a free parking lot near JFK Airport. All other charging stations in New York are located in private paid parking lots, where the parking price can reach $30 - $40 per hour.
That's your energy savings for you. I asked the workers why such a mobile Megapack couldn't be placed in Brooklyn.
The answer shocked me to my core. The fact is, according to the laws of New York City, users cannot store electricity, and the presence of energy storage batteries is illegal. Solar panels - no problem. And sell electricity to the local electric company. But storing it in batteries is illegal. Therefore, they cannot bring this mobile Megapack to Brooklyn. That's one of the most progressive states in the country for you. Meanwhile, all the authorities declare and shout that they are for green energy, but they cannot solve such a basic problem at the city level.
