New DC Metro Supercharger Plans-2018

[boaterva]

New 2018 planned Superchargers!

Several of the DC ones (SE, NE, Columbia Heights) and Arlington are new for 'end of 2018'.

Edit: And Annapolis!

And I missed Gainesvillle!

These will all probably be these new Urban Superchargers (at least DC, maybe Annapolis and Gainesville).

Tesla unveils new ‘urban’ Supercharger with a slower dedicated charge rate

 

[Sir Guacamolaf]

Also Bethesda

 

[boaterva]

Also Bethesda

Yep... .I had to stop somewhere.... looks this was a lot of urban 'in-fill', which will be definitely needed as the 3s start to roll out!

But also some of these are a great addition for road trips (several in the Norfolk/64 area on the way to OBX/Virginia Beach, for example, as a general Mid-Atlantic comment, not a metro DC one).

Now if we can just get the 2017 ones started/finished!

 

[FireLT]

Spoke to a manager of the garage in columbia heights. He said Tesla is planning on putting the superchargers in that garage. I REALLY hope they don't put it in that garage, but sounds like all the talks have pretty much been done and finalized.
There is no cell phone service in that garage and no way to communicate with the cars and it's always constantly packed ( I guess thats normal for DC garages anyways).

 

[boaterva]

Spoke to a manager of the garage in columbia heights. He said Tesla is planning on putting the superchargers in that garage. I REALLY hope they don't put it in that garage, but sounds like all the talks have pretty much been done and finalized.
There is no cell phone service in that garage and no way to communicate with the cars and it's always constantly packed ( I guess thats normal for DC garages anyways).

It's going to be done in 15 months and they already have the location down? Interesting... wish we knew as much about some of the 2017 ones! Yeah, too bad comms is going to be a hassle there!

 

[FireLT]

It's going to be done in 15 months and they already have the location down? Interesting... wish we knew as much about some of the 2017 ones! Yeah, too bad comms is going to be a hassle there!

Well, in Tesla world, I'll believe it when I see it. We all know how Tesla is about these things. But, the manager said they had been talking to Tesla about it for 4 - 6 months, and this was 3 months ago. I have monthly parking there and he sees my car often, so he shared. Hopefully, by then they will have cell service in that garage. Don't superchargers also communicate back to tesla? I wonder how they communicate.

 

[MP3Mike]

Don't superchargers also communicate back to tesla? I wonder how they communicate.

I don't think the Superchargers have Internet connectivity as all the communication is done through the car. (Which is why when you have a problem at a Supercharger they sometime ask for you to stay plugged in to the bad stall so they can communicate with it.)

 

[boaterva]

I don't think the Superchargers have Internet connectivity as all the communication is done through the car. (Which is why when you have a problem at a Supercharger they sometime ask for you to stay plugged in to the bad stall so they can communicate with it.)

Yeah, I would doubt there's any 'connection' except for power. Anything else is extra complexity to support. Mothership knows because it has to 'approve' you getting the power in the first place over the net (from the car), and then whether its free, etc.

Now, how this works in a garage beyond any external comm reach, I have no clue. Do we have any current SuC installs where nothing works (like car connectivity)?

 

[CHGolferJim]

This is great news. SpC at Charlottesville and Arlington greatly smoothes my travel to D.C. and northwards.

 

[MMC-]

What's I still find strange is no mention of the finished supercharger (except no power yet) in Martinsburg WV.

 

[boaterva]

Not sure Martinsburg is Metro DC.. I know people commute from everywhere, but let's have a limit!

Does appear to be some hold-up there....
Supercharger - Martinsburg, WV

 

[scaesare]

I don't think the Superchargers have Internet connectivity as all the communication is done through the car. (Which is why when you have a problem at a Supercharger they sometime ask for you to stay plugged in to the bad stall so they can communicate with it.)

Superchargers have their own link back to the Tesla mothership. In most (all?) cases it's a cellular link. You can often see the modules mounted on the outside of the back-end supercharger cabinets.

My assumption is that these are standard data plan type installations so the superchargers probably technically do have "internet connectivity", but I suspect they solely communicate back to the mothership via VPN.

The superchargers have a digital comm link with the car over the supercharging cable as well. It's the car's BMS that commands the supercharger to deliver specific power. The car also passes VIN information and the like to the supercharger for authentication and authorization/billing purposes.

I believe the reason a tech wants you to stay connected is so they can determine what's going on in that dialog between the car and charger. I don't believe the car provides any network connectivity to the charger.

 

[boaterva]

Superchargers have their own link back to the Tesla mothership. In most (all?) cases it's a cellular link. You can often see the modules mounted on the outside of the back-end supercharger cabinets.

My assumption is that these are standard data plan type installations so the superchargers probably technically do have "internet connectivity", but I suspect they solely communicate back to the mothership via VPN.

The superchargers have a digital comm link with the car over the supercharging cable as well. It's the car's BMS that commands the supercharger to deliver specific power. The car also passes VIN information and the like to the supercharger for authentication and authorization/billing purposes.

I believe the reason a tech wants you to stay connected is so they can determine what's going on in that dialog between the car and charger. I don't believe the car provides any network connectivity to the charger.

Interesting.... is there a special connection/setup for SuC's that are underground (in a parking garage)? I assume they would need to run the connection 'outside'.

 

[scaesare]

Interesting.... is there a special connection/setup for SuC's that are underground (in a parking garage)? I assume they would need to run the connection 'outside'.

Yeah, it would seem likely in some places. That's why I was hesitant to say that's what they all used.

But I note even in the recent video of the new urban superchargers in Boston, the cell module seems present on the cabinets:

Of course that could be not utilized and they are connecting in some other fashion....

 

[republic]

I'm sure they can install a signal repeater for cellular access.

DCUSA is a good location -- there aren't any other large, cheap garages with spare capacity in uptown DC. I've never seen this garage fill up. The first floor, yes, but not the whole thing.

 

[DarrenK]

The car also passes VIN information and the like to the supercharger for authentication and authorization/billing purposes.

Ingineer has previously posted that authorization is done at the car level, not at the supercharger level, and claims he can turn supercharging on from the car side. I'm not sure if you are saying something different? It seems like you are...and I don't know who is right...However, since Tesla disables supercharging on totaled vehicles, which includes even using a CHADeMo adapter, it would seem that car side control is correct. I'm curious to know more about this.

 

[MMC-]

Not sure Martinsburg is Metro DC.. I know people commute from everywhere, but let's have a limit!

Does appear to be some hold-up there....
Supercharger - Martinsburg, WV

I agree not quite "metro dc" but only about 40 mins or so from Frederick, MD.
But what I was really referring to and should have stated it more clearly is the site is not listed anywhere in on Tesla's site as coming soon or anything.

 

[boaterva]

I agree not quite "metro dc" but only about 40 mins or so from Frederick, MD.
But what I was really referring to and should have stated it more clearly is the site is not listed anywhere in on Tesla's site as coming soon or anything.

That has been the point since day 1 and no one (we know of) knows why. It's a puzzler, as they say....

Anyone want to call the Supercharger Team and tell them they have a rogue SuC?

 

[MMC-]

That has been the point since day 1 and no one (we know of) knows why. It's a puzzler, as they say....

Anyone want to call the Supercharger Team and tell them they have a rogue SuC?

Ha.. reminds me of the rogue supercharger pedestal that was in the parking lot at Newark. It was just a new style pedestal with no cabling in it mounted in front of a space fully installed in the asphalt. No one even the supercharger team knew who put it there or where it came from.

Now we have a complete site installed. Wonder if they know about this one?

 

[scaesare]

Ingineer has previously posted that authorization is done at the car level, not at the supercharger level, and claims he can turn supercharging on from the car side. I'm not sure if you are saying something different? It seems like you are...and I don't know who is right...However, since Tesla disables supercharging on totaled vehicles, which includes even using a CHADeMo adapter, it would seem that car side control is correct. I'm curious to know more about this.

That was originally true. Although the car passed the VIN to the supercharger as part of the conversation, however it appears the supercharger didn't so anything with that info. The VIN passing appears to be there for future authorization/accounting usage.

So the sole factor in determining if the car could supercharge was based on the configuration of the car itself, which someone with root access could toggle. As far as I know that global toggle within the car still exists, and may still be how Tesla disables supercharging for salvaged cars.

Since that time, however, Tesla has moved to a pay-per-usage plan. That plan also grandfathers in "free for life" folks, as well as allows for some initial free credit each year. As this would have to be tracked per-car, I believe it's now done via that authorization with the supercharger. I've not seen the decodes since that was implemented, thus it's plausible the car itself talks back to HQ instead, but I doubt it.