New Oregon Superchargers (2018)

[Guvnah]

It's Woodburn!

From my anecdotal personal experience: I have encountered full Woodburn SC more than once, the Dalles with a stall down on multiple occasions but got a spot, and of course the urban SC in Tigard (mall) being busy or full on weekends. I have definitely been out of luck at Tigard and there's no good way for cars to queue there.

 

[Rocky_H]

You've got some interesting responses to this.

No I'm saying they are evaluating how many people will buy a $50k Tesla vs something else if they build a Supercharger in Burns. If a supercharger costs $400k

Let's talk about that price. I was looking through threads about other permits and locations and just saw a permit application at another site. The whole project cost was listed in the permit at $200,000 for an 8 stall location. This certainly would not need to be an 8 stall location. There are plenty of 4 stall places. But really, what would be perfect for this is one of the pallet ones. We've been talking about this for a while. At several places Tesla has put in these ones that have 2 stalls with the charging cabinet included on a pallet. It requires a much smaller utility connection and can be put in much faster and cheaper, with very little excavating and construction. And even better product for a smaller site like this is something they haven't done before. They could connect to a 100A or 200A AC circuit, so the connection/build cost is very cheap, and then put a battery bank with the pallet setup, so it could build up energy and then dump it in a Supercharging session and build it back up again after. So anyway, much less than $400,000.

and Tesla makes $7.5k on each vehicle they need to sell 53 cars to Burns or Busters to break even.

OMG, are you still on this? We've been over that. It's not about selling cars to people who actually live in Burns.

How many people who live in Bend and Boise are looking to buy a Tesla but just holding out for that Burns SC?

I know a few, but it's kind of both the Bend route, and the Winnemucca route.

Tesla would do well though to subsidize $4k by installing a 100A pair of destination chargers in Burns and Ontario. The Burns L2 is pretty anemic.

I don't get this at all. What do you mean, "anemic"? It isn't. It supplies 70A and is already on at least a 90A circuit. That is more power than most Tesla cars can take anyway. Upgrading it from a 90A circuit to a 100A circuit wouldn't do anything. That is the point of why AC charging solutions aren't being very helpful for this. Tesla keeps lowering the onboard AC charging capabilities, so cars with 40A or 32A onboard chargers have a pretty tough time with it. Bypassing it with some kind of fast DC charging is the thing that is really needed. Even some kind of 40-50kW DC solution would make this a lot easier.

 

[im.thatoneguy]

It's not about selling cars to people who actually live in Burns.

Right, which is why I said 3 times "People living in Boise and Bend and who regularly drive back and forth". You're burning a straw man here.

What do you mean, "anemic"? It isn't. It supplies 70A and is already on at least a 90A circuit.

If there is a 70A in Burns it's new. Last time I checked the Burns L2 was 20A trickle charger.

 

[cpa]

Right, which is why I said 3 times "People living in Boise and Bend and who regularly drive back and forth". You're burning a straw man here.



If there is a 70A in Burns it's new. Last time I checked the Burns L2 was 20A trickle charger.

I used it in May 2016. And I knew about it at least six months earlier.

 

[Rocky_H]

If there is a 70A in Burns it's new. Last time I checked the Burns L2 was 20A trickle charger.

Now I'm genuinely curious what city you are even thinking of. There never has been a 20A option in Burns.

I used it in May 2016. And I knew about it at least six months earlier.

Not new. People were using the RV park with 14-50 outlets providing 40A for a couple of years, and then the Harney County Chamber of Commerce building put in the 70A Clipper Creek J1772 station in September, 2015, or at least that's when the checkins on it started. They added the extra 14-50 outlet next to it sometime later.

 

[PLUS EV]

I do. Was almost asleep

I'm still confused though. There isn't a supercharger in Wilsonville. Maybe you mean Woodburn?

 

[Raleel]

I'm still confused though. There isn't a supercharger in Wilsonville. Maybe you mean Woodburn?

Ok, I went and looked at the map. Woodburn it is. Isn’t everything from the outlet mall to salem “Wilsonville”?

 

[Vic_F]

A key part of Tesla's continuing success depends on the widespread "freedom of travel" anywhere in the country. Stations in remote and less traveled areas are more important the the traffic volume would indicate. Many Tesla owning families have an ICE vehicle that is used for certain travel situations. Freedom of travel coverage can convert those families to all Tesla families. Single car families depend on freedom of travel, more coverage equals more potential sales.

 

[MikeBur]

A key part of Tesla's continuing success depends on the widespread "freedom of travel" anywhere in the country. Stations in remote and less traveled areas are more important the the traffic volume would indicate. Many Tesla owning families have an ICE vehicle that is used for certain travel situations. Freedom of travel coverage can convert those families to all Tesla families. Single car families depend on freedom of travel, more coverage equals more potential sales.

^^^ this ^^^

TL;DR: Tesla’s got this. If you want to help influence send use case data, not opine/whine, to supercharger at tesla for com

Regular Superchargers (SpC) are primarily intended for travel through locations.
Urban Superchargers (uSpC) are primarily intended for local travel, shopping and local residents who don’t have personal charging capability.
Increasing density of SpC outside of area where cars are sold may appear counter-intuitive though is purposeful. Installing them between areas where cars are sold based is more logical and facilitates less angst when traveling; there should be no angst for local traveling and commuting anyway.
A number of people are more recent Tesla owners and may not have witnessed the fill out of this as it was a few years previous. a great example of this currently is the trans-Canadian highway priority. Less recent is the west to East WA paths on US-2.
BC Canada and WA appear to be enjoying the majority focus recently and there are a few reasons for that.

Tesla has intimate knowledge on where / when and SoC of vehicles as well as charging density (note not just for *SpC), as some of the heuristics for SpC placement - I would expect receptiveness of local infrastructure and property owner, expected leisure destination, time of year, local staff to manage work, trusted electrical contractor, etc come into play also. The fill-in for distance travel has to be first, and these prioritized by frequency of expected use.

I'd love to see one near Grass Valley, OR.

@brianman presumably as close to 93811 Blagg Ln, Grass Valley, OR 97029 as possible?

 

[Rocky_H]

^^^ this ^^^

TL;DR: Tesla’s got this. If you want to help influence send use case data, not opine/whine, to supercharger at tesla for com

I don't know if you even realized the extra irony in replying this to @Vic_F. He is our hero for chatting on Facebook with the owners of Rome Station on U.S. highway 95 between Boise and Winnemucca and getting them to contact Tesla directly to offer to host a Supercharger there. And I have also contacted Tesla to request that they respond to Rome Station's offer. So yes, not just opining or whining.
Rome Station, Oregon (Hwy 95)

Tesla has intimate knowledge on where / when and SoC of vehicles as well as charging density (note not just for *SpC), as some of the heuristics for SpC placement - I would expect receptiveness of local infrastructure and property owner, expected leisure destination, time of year, local staff to manage work, trusted electrical contractor, etc come into play also. The fill-in for distance travel has to be first, and these prioritized by frequency of expected use.

Well...this is like a Shroedinger's cat situation, and I see people say this kind of thing often: "Tesla has all the data and knows all about it." No--they don't. How can you analyze data that doesn't exist? They can't know about the reason why a particular Tesla car is sitting in someone's garage for 3 or 4 days because they are having to drive their gasoline car on a trip that the electric car doesn't really work for. There is no method for Tesla to get the information that that's what is happening or where the person is going.

 

[brianman]

@brianman presumably as close to 93811 Blagg Ln, Grass Valley, OR 97029 as possible? [/QUOTE]
Yes, that would be lovely.

 

[RocketMan88]

yeah we really need one in Burns. Bend to Boise is undoable. If you use Tesla's route planner it takes an extra 7 hours longer than doing it in a gas car. Also Bend and Boise are both 100k people + and Bend probably has more Tesla's on account of its wealth than Boise.
The charging station in Burns is terrible. You literally park in a dark Alley and it charges, even with dual chargers, at 40MPH assuming it isn't taken because it is a 1 charger spot. Time before last I was there the other Tesla tha was taking up that spot got broken into.

So to recap: Burns to Boise connects hundreds of thousands of people.
Connects Boise to its biggest neighboring city
Connects a higher than average amount of Tesla's because Bend has TONS of them and more everyday
Right now it isn't practical to drive from Bend to Boise
If you do, it is unsafe.

 

[ItsNotAboutTheMoney]

yeah we really need one in Burns. Bend to Boise is undoable. If you use Tesla's route planner it takes an extra 7 hours longer than doing it in a gas car. Also Bend and Boise are both 100k people + and Bend probably has more Tesla's on account of its wealth than Boise.
The charging station in Burns is terrible. You literally park in a dark Alley and it charges, even with dual chargers, at 40MPH assuming it isn't taken because it is a 1 charger spot. Time before last I was there the other Tesla tha was taking up that spot got broken into.

So to recap: Burns to Boise connects hundreds of thousands of people.
Connects Boise to its biggest neighboring city
Connects a higher than average amount of Tesla's because Bend has TONS of them and more everyday
Right now it isn't practical to drive from Bend to Boise
If you do, it is unsafe.

It's a gray pin on Tesla's findus map. So you know they know.
But if they're going to make that connection, they also need to have Ontario, OR.
So, also look for activity in Ontario, OR.

 

[acarney]

It's also worth noting that these less populous superchargers open up activities for Tesla owners. National parks, camping, skiing, etc, so it doesn't always just have to come down to "do a lot of people live here?" This will be even more important as FINALLY legacy automakers start rolling out EVs that you would consider doing a road trip with. As charging infrastructure starts to build out I figure they'll follow a Tesla model (if they're even slightly smart) and start to build links across states along major roadways. Suddenly the conversation won't be about how a Tesla can drive across the state without even thinking about where they'll charge but instead how it can take the family into the national park for a day and back, or out to the beach, or to a winter festival of lights or skiing or whatever.

There are still some areas that I would be worried to take my SR+ into, specifically for recreational activities. If I was staying overnight at a lodge I would probably be fine with their strong destination network and general chargers, but if I was just driving up in the morning to ski and then heading home that evening, it might get tricky. This especially wouldn't be somewhere you want to go shuffle the car after two hours or constantly be checking your phone looking to see if the charger is open. But if I knew the supercharger was 50 miles away down the mountain then I would be able to charge up before getting there and then as I depart....

 

[RocketMan88]

Right. Bend is like Sun Valley or Telluride in a sense. But you basically can't get there right now from anywhere east of bend in a Tesla.

 

[CharleyBC]

I just found this thread. Interesting stuff! We may be moving to Oregon next year, and I was wondering what folks thought about the state’s Supercharger density and locations. Good discussion. We’ve done I-5 through Oregon several times. That coverage seems good, though Grant’s Pass can be busy. We’ve usually been the only car at Woodburn.

I think Ashland might be a good spot. Currently coming up from the south, our last charge will be Mount Shasta. Then we visit Ashland for several days, tooling around to wineries, plays, restaurants and other adventures, depleting the battery. There are a few L2s in town, but a Supercharger to support multi-day tourists, as well as providing some stress relief on Grant’s Pass could be useful.

 

[acarney]

I just found this thread. Interesting stuff! We may be moving to Oregon next year, and I was wondering what folks thought about the state’s Supercharger density and locations. Good discussion. We’ve done I-5 through Oregon several times. That coverage seems good, though Grant’s Pass can be busy. We’ve usually been the only car at Woodburn.

I think Ashland might be a good spot. Currently coming up from the south, our last charge will be Mount Shasta. Then we visit Ashland for several days, tooling around to wineries, plays, restaurants and other adventures, depleting the battery. There are a few L2s in town, but a Supercharger to support multi-day tourists, as well as providing some stress relief on Grant’s Pass could be useful.

There are a few destination chargers in Ashland. If you're planning to stay a couple days, personally I would try to book a hotel that has a destination charger.

Plaza Inn & Suites Ashland Creek
2 at up to 13kW

The Peerless Hotel
2 at up to 16kW

RedTail Inn
2 at up to 16kW

Palm Cottages
1 at up to 8kW

Then I would charge up the first night I got into town so I had a ~90% battery. Then I would charge up the night before leaving to ~80%+ and continue the trip.

It does sound like Tesla is expanding Grants Pass, or at least has it slated for expansion at some point. There is a "coming soon" pin at Roseburg and Salem which would help the I-5 North/South travel options some and there is a coming soon pin at Hood River and Boardman which would help the East/West I-84 travel. Madras, Burns, and Ontario also have coming soon pins which would open up a second East/West route across the middle of the state. Based on what Washington did this year, if Tesla wanted to, they could open or at least break ground on all of those in the next year, which would wildly improve across the state redundancy, holiday travel, and more remote routes. I'm just surprised they haven't started working on those listed ones, not that they haven't identified other areas...

 

[MikeBur]

I don't know if you even realized the extra irony in replying this to @Vic_F. He is our hero for chatting on Facebook with the owners of Rome Station on U.S. highway 95 between Boise and Winnemucca and getting them to contact Tesla directly to offer to host a Supercharger there. And I have also contacted Tesla to request that they respond to Rome Station's offer. So yes, not just opining or whining.
Rome Station, Oregon (Hwy 95)

Um, I was agreeing with @Vic_F and yourself from previous. The ^^^this ^^^ was intended as agreement and support. The rest was to the people who disagreed. Reading it through again I can see it through your lens, though the fact you though it ironic meant your belief was incongruent with my text; perhaps requiring another viewpoint...

 

[MikeBur]

Well...this is like a Shroedinger's cat situation, and I see people say this kind of thing often: "Tesla has all the data and knows all about it." No--they don't. How can you analyze data that doesn't exist? They can't know about the reason why a particular Tesla car is sitting in someone's garage for 3 or 4 days because they are having to drive their gasoline car on a trip that the electric car doesn't really work for. There is no method for Tesla to get the information that that's what is happening or where the person is going.

it is correct Tesla has no way to understand why a Tesla is sitting in a garage unused
It is incorrect to say Tesla has no idea on traffic flows for non-Tesla vehicles. That data is available and will determine the ratio of Tesla:non-Tesla vehicles, and density, per route vs other routes

Just because you don’t understand something doesn't necessarily mean it’s not possible...

 

[PLUS EV]

So to recap: Burns to Boise connects hundreds of thousands of people.
Connects Boise to its biggest neighboring city
Connects a higher than average amount of Tesla's because Bend has TONS of them and more everyday
Right now it isn't practical to drive from Bend to Boise
If you do, it is unsafe.

Dubious claim in bold.