New Supercharger expansion model?

[Garlan Garner]

There's no reason to place SCs at gas stations. Gas stations exist because there needs to be a centralized place to deliver the gasoline to (usually via truck). But charging stations can be placed anywhere there is electricity. I like the SCs by the malls & restaurants, which are often near freeways as well. Grocery stores work well, too (and Tesla seems to be locating more chargers there lately). The notion of putting chargers at gas stations is usually expressed by people who are not familiar with life with an EV because they still think in terms of ICEs. Mind you, I'll use a charger anywhere it's located. But the point is they can be anywhere, and I think the large wave of M3 owners will quickly figure out that there's no need to be tied to gas stations.

Police departments should lobby for SC's. In order to charge your car....you have to take a breathalyzer test.

 

[ItsNotAboutTheMoney]

Not my favorite place to eat, but also not the worst.

I'd stop in and patronize the establishment, even if it's just an order of fries and a coke. Which is probably what they're hoping for.

They need it. Ruby Tuesday's been losing money for years. Hmm, with this they might become profitable once the Model 3 is being produced. Maybe Tesla should make a bid...

I also haven't been to Ruby Tuesday's for a while either. The menu was dull, although the atmosphere was more pleasant than other places. But maybe that's their problem.

 

[Garlan Garner]

Probably a combination. But as more Teslas "come into service", it doesn't matter as much if there are local drivers...they should be building out for travelers. Nebraska, North Dakota, Arkansas, and West Virginia are currently under-served.

I would have to suppose that there really "aren't" that many travelers on the road - especially ones who can afford a MS. I know I may get blasted for this, but......MS drivers can probably afford to fly everywhere.

 

[Electroman]

On the contrary I would wager an MS owner would have higher propensity to road trip his car compared to gas car owner.

 

[Garlan Garner]

On the contrary I would wager an MS owner would have higher propensity to road trip his car compared to gas car owner.

Why would that be? My family is "much less well off" than middle class. There is no way they can afford plane tickets to anywhere. They have to drive or they ain't going nowhere. If you own a $60K-$100K car then it would be my speculation that you should be able to buy a plane ticket.

Sure MS owners might try it once to see how things work, but twice? 3times? I don't think so.

 

[TaoJones]

Announcement regarding superchargers located at Ruby Tuesdays:

Tesla and Ruby Tuesday partner to open a series of new Supercharger Stations

I seem to remember an SC adjacent a Ruby Tuesday in Augusta, Maine
within the past month.

I'm surprised that a regional/national truck stop chain hasn't stepped up. In particular, the Petro chain would be a good match as they are a bit higher end.

There are already a lot of Flying J travel plazas that are near existing SCs.

Quite an opportunity for some of the better independents as well insofar as expansion of the network is concerned. See for example the Triple T truckstop outside of Tucson - and if they're not up to standard (despite their legendary history and apple pie a la mode), there's a TA on the other side of I-10.

Refocused as "travel plazas" these days, many with dedicated auto/RV parking, there is a definite correlation between distance travel, established locations, and EVs,

 

[ModelNforNerd]

Why would that be? My family is "much less well off" than middle class. There is no way they can afford plane tickets to anywhere. They have to drive or they ain't going nowhere. If you own a $60K-$100K car then it would be my speculation that you should be able to buy a plane ticket.

Sure MS owners might try it once to see how things work, but twice? 3times? I don't think so.

speaking from my own experience...we have 2 dogs. they aren't flying. so if we drive to see family, they're coming with us. furthest we've gone is 850 miles, which is at least 3 long stops at a Supercharger, or 4 or 5 shorter stops, depending on spacing.

(that's probably the furthest we'd go at once. where we live to the in-laws is ~575 miles)

 

[Garlan Garner]

I seem to remember an SC adjacent a Ruby Tuesday in Augusta, Maine
within the past month.

I'm surprised that a regional/national truck stop chain hasn't stepped up. In particular, the Petro chain would be a good match as they are a bit higher end.

There are already a lot of Flying J travel plazas that are near existing SCs.

Quite an opportunity for some of the better independents as well insofar as expansion of the network is concerned. See for example the Triple T truckstop outside of Tucson - and if they're not up to standard (despite their legendary history and apple pie a la mode), there's a TA on the other side of I-10.

Refocused as "travel plazas" these days, many with dedicated auto/RV parking, there is a definite correlation between distance travel, established locations, and EVs,

I vote for Cracker Barrels. That would be perfect.

 

[Garlan Garner]

speaking from my own experience...we have 2 dogs. they aren't flying. so if we drive to see family, they're coming with us. furthest we've gone is 850 miles, which is at least 3 long stops at a Supercharger, or 4 or 5 shorter stops, depending on spacing.

(that's probably the furthest we'd go at once. where we live to the in-laws is ~575 miles)

Sounds good.

The count of my poll is now 1. 1 vote for SC travelling due to dogs.

 

[trils0n]

Why would that be?

Trip choices for gas car owner are:
Fly: $$ / Faster
Drive Gas Car: $$ / Slower

Flying clearly wins, similar costs, and is faster/

Choices for Tesla owner:
Fly: $$ / Fast
Drive Tesla: Free / Slower

Now there isn't as clear a winner.

Some might want to do the free thing, even if it takes a little longer. Tesla owner more likely to drive than a gas car owner.

This ignores other factors like pets (not good for flying), enjoying driving, seeing new places, etc.

 

[ModelNforNerd]

Sounds good.

The count of my poll is now 1. 1 vote for SC travelling due to dogs.

* to that. I don't own a Tesla currently. I could. But I don't want one that large.

The Model 3 I configure will be possibly maxed-out...so yea, I probably could fly, depending on where we're going.

 

[SW2Fiddler]

Yes, Farmvegas is definitely a "thing."

Beaver Nuggets are a thing too...

 

[Garlan Garner]

Trip choices for gas car owner are:
Fly: $$ / Faster
Drive Gas Car: $$ / Slower

Flying clearly wins, similar costs, and is faster/

Choices for Tesla owner:
Fly: $$ / Fast
Drive Tesla: Free / Slower

Now there isn't as clear a winner.

Some might want to do the free thing, even if it takes a little longer. Tesla owner more likely to drive than a gas car owner.

This ignores other factors like pets (not good for flying), enjoying driving, seeing new places, etc.

I understand and partially agree.

The predominant reason people fly is for speed. Speed is amazingly attractive to more people since more people fly than drive. That's a definite fact.

I would suppose that people will Continue to pay for flying even if driving is free. Time is more valuable to those who can afford to fly.
If I can be in DC in 45 minutes @ $120 rather than driving for 7 hours for free - I would pay the $120. Because I won't miss the $120. I can afford it.

 

[KJD]

Why would that be? My family is "much less well off" than middle class. There is no way they can afford plane tickets to anywhere. They have to drive or they ain't going nowhere. If you own a $60K-$100K car then it would be my speculation that you should be able to buy a plane ticket.
Sure MS owners might try it once to see how things work, but twice? 3times? I don't think so.

Different people have different priorities I guess.

In the last year of owning a Tesla I have driven rather than flown several times. The reasons are simple.
1) I hate standing in endless lines at the airport security check points only to be treated like a criminal for no reason.
2) When I get to my destination I then have to pay money to drive a piece of **** rental car that is just horrible to drive.

When I drive the Tesla I get to spend more time driving the best car ever built along with avoiding the 2 things mentioned above. I have also had some great conversations with people that have never seen a Tesla and that is fun. There are often things along the way that I would otherwise miss.

Yes it takes more time and the money I spend on Hotels negates the part of what I would have spent on air fare, but the experience is much more enjoyable and isn't that what travel is supposed to be about?

As far as having superchargers at Sheets or Ruby Tuesdays, I will use them anywhere Tesla builds them.

 

[Bimbels]

GarlanGarner- We've taken several trips where we needed a supercharger - some trips are long enough to need a SC but not long enough to fly. We've taken our MS camping in Maine, Skiing in Vermont, for a weekend in the Berkshires, weekend visiting friends in Hartford and Portland. Not to mention our regular commutes which are 185/300 miles. Plenty of MS drivers are "traveling," even if it's just regionally. So we "travel" in our MS a lot and we are using plenty of superchargers.

Not to mention, you find yourself planning more of these types of road trips because of your Tesla - because you love to drive it and you can take advantage of the supercharger network (sort of an adventure.)

 

[James Anders]

Have to chuckle at those turning-up their noses at Superchargers at gas stations. The smell? Really? There's going to be gas/diesel powered vehicles for the foreseeable future. It's a fact of life that we're going to have to co-exist for awhile.

How else do you expect the electrification of the automobile and infrastructure will happen? It's going to be a slow process over the next 25 years and during the transition there's going to be more and more conventional businesses (restaurants, gas stations, Mini or Quick Marts, etc.) providing fast charging equipment.

I applaud those gas stations considering this. And most new gas stations are well lighted and there's people in the vicinity - as opposed to an isolated Supercharge that might be off to the side or behind a store/business. Gives me more choices and opportunities for recharging. Tesla says they're going to double the number of Superchargers in 2 years. That's fine. But we really need an order of magnitude (maybe 2) more.

 

[TaoJones]

Why would that be? My family is "much less well off" than middle class. There is no way they can afford plane tickets to anywhere. They have to drive or they ain't going nowhere. If you own a $60K-$100K car then it would be my speculation that you should be able to buy a plane ticket.

Sure MS owners might try it once to see how things work, but twice? 3times? I don't think so.

I have exactly zero intention of flying domestically (short of an emergency in the winter months, and even then I'd consider buying snow tires or *twitch* chains). In general, if I can drive to wherever, I'm driving. Does it take longer, yes. But as long as I have the opportunities to drive versus fly, I'd rather spend a couple days in the car than the better part of a day getting to/from and waiting in lines at an airport.

Not to mention the conditions onboard most commercial flights. And nothing against first class or fractional chartered travel, but I'm just far too Scottish to spend thousands for domestic travel.

 

[Garlan Garner]

Different people have different priorities I guess.

In the last year of owning a Tesla I have driven rather than flown several times. The reasons are simple.
1) I hate standing in endless lines at the airport security check points only to be treated like a criminal for no reason.
2) When I get to my destination I then have to pay money to drive a piece of **** rental car that is just horrible to drive.

When I drive the Tesla I get to spend more time driving the best car ever built along with avoiding the 2 things mentioned above. I have also had some great conversations with people that have never seen a Tesla and that is fun. There are often things along the way that I would otherwise miss.

Yes it takes more time and the money I spend on Hotels negates the part of what I would have spent on air fare, but the experience is much more enjoyable and isn't that what travel is supposed to be about?

Ok. Count is now 2.

I would certainly fly over driving. I live in Chicago. If I take a cruise that starts off the coast of Florida...I'm not going to drive 15 hours before I start my vacation. Of course.....because I can afford it.

Time is more valuable than money for me.

 

[ModelNforNerd]

I understand and partially agree.

The predominant reason people fly is for speed. Speed is amazingly attractive to more people since more people fly than drive. That's a definite fact.

I would suppose that people will Continue to pay for flying even if driving is free. Time is more valuable to those who can afford to fly.
If I can be in DC in 45 minutes @ $120 rather than driving for 7 hours for free - I would pay the $120. Because I won't miss the $120. I can afford it.

I'll use my own situation, since it's the only frame of reference I have.

I live an hour from the airport, and I'd likely park in Economy and take the shuttle bus. So say an hour and a half. And then they want you at the airport 2 hours early. That's 3 1/2 hours "wasted".

For me, it is literally faster to drive from my house to NYC than it is to catch any shuttle. Anything beyond that though....as long as it's a direct flight, flying wins.

 

[SW2Fiddler]

Choices for Tesla owner:
Fly: $$ / Fast
Drive Tesla: Free / Slower

Fly: $$ / Fast / When And Where 100% Determined By Carrier And Infrastructure

Drive Tesla: Free / Slower / When And Where Somewhat Influenced By Charging Speeds And Locations Of Infrastructure