Supercharger - Seattle, WA - NE Northgate Way

[im.thatoneguy]

Note that pre-pandemic they had signs warning that they would tow anyone who parks and goes to Regal.

I emailed the property and asked if that included charging, even if you also eat at the mall and they said Yes, they will still tow even if you eat at the mall and then cross the street. (I still did it but I was sure to be extra sneaky to not make it easy for them to tell). It could just be hot air, but I know some parking lot enforcers in Seattle do very carefully watch out for people parking and then crossing the street. Ballard Safeway ticketed me because I went into Safeway and my wife went across the street to Starbucks. And they only begrudgingly voided the ticket with the threat that it's exclusively Safeway parking and they wouldn't refund me next time.

 

[DSolie]

How are they going to tow you if you are plugged in?

 

[acarney]

Note that pre-pandemic they had signs warning that they would tow anyone who parks and goes to Regal.

I emailed the property and asked if that included charging, even if you also eat at the mall and they said Yes, they will still tow even if you eat at the mall and then cross the street. (I still did it but I was sure to be extra sneaky to not make it easy for them to tell). It could just be hot air, but I know some parking lot enforcers in Seattle do very carefully watch out for people parking and then crossing the street. Ballard Safeway ticketed me because I went into Safeway and my wife went across the street to Starbucks. And they only begrudgingly voided the ticket with the threat that it's exclusively Safeway parking and they wouldn't refund me next time.

Regal isn't part of the mall complex?

So this location then basically won't be 24 hr since the mall probably closes up by 9pm even without a pandemic. So... either has to allow parking for charging only (in that case why the hell would they care if you got out of your car and took a walk or anything else as long as you were only there while charging, level 2's take awhile to charge...) OR it's only for when the mall is open and you can/could go in and shop...

This stuff is such a pain in the ass. Tesla needs to start to pony up a lease amount or something and then demand some rights on these properties rather then just hope their customers deal with it. I already feel like an ass walking into a fast food joint and using the rest room and walking right back out because I already have a coffee and was just stopping to charge real fast and it happens to be in the same parking lot, etc.

 

[PLUS EV]

Regal isn't part of the mall complex?

So this location then basically won't be 24 hr since the mall probably closes up by 9pm even without a pandemic. So... either has to allow parking for charging only (in that case why the hell would they care if you got out of your car and took a walk or anything else as long as you were only there while charging, level 2's take awhile to charge...) OR it's only for when the mall is open and you can/could go in and shop...

This stuff is such a pain in the ass. Tesla needs to start to pony up a lease amount or something and then demand some rights on these properties rather then just hope their customers deal with it. I already feel like an ass walking into a fast food joint and using the rest room and walking right back out because I already have a coffee and was just stopping to charge real fast and it happens to be in the same parking lot, etc.

He was talking about the existing L2 chargers on the south end of the mall complex. I'm pretty sure the supercharger will be 24/7. There's never been a gate or anything preventing anyone from going to the supercharger area. You can go up to the superchargers right now at 3am or whenever no problem. So all that needs to be done to make this a 24/7 supercharger is to tell the roaming security patrol guards not to hassle Tesla drivers. I wouldn't imagine that this will be an issue.

 

[acarney]

He was talking about the existing L2 chargers on the south end of the mall complex. I'm pretty sure the supercharger will be 24/7. There's never been a gate or anything preventing anyone from going to the supercharger area. You can go up to the superchargers right now at 3am or whenever no problem. So all that needs to be done to make this a 24/7 supercharger is to tell the roaming security patrol guards not to hassle Tesla drivers. I wouldn't imagine that this will be an issue.

Ah, interesting. I was thinking the signs were already priming Tesla owners to get ready to be hassled if they didn’t run into the mall while supercharging.... after Tumwater I was wondering if we might be getting another site that said yes for some reason when they didn’t really want anything to do with hosting a site...

 

[Araman0]

The mall is also being turned into a mixed-use urban center with apartments, hotels and everything. There will be some level of activity there 24x7 once the mall's construction is finished.

 

[im.thatoneguy]

It's also going to be an even worse commuter hot spot with a lot more people wanting to use the Mall parking lot to park & ride at the new light rail station. Especially since the garage is one of the closest to the light rail. (And the actual park and ride has no charging spaces) So I could see some activity to try and discourage light rail commuters from using mall parking\Tesla destination chargers all day. The Regal parking lot already fights commuters and security is apparently pretty diligent in their enforcement. Edit: Scratch that. Looks like King County Metro has now leased some spaces at Thornton Place and the Mall. Not sure when that happened.

But that wouldn't be the case at 3 in the morning. I'm sure they don't care if it's after hours.

 

[PLUS EV]

A couple pics from Wednesday evening. The top pic is looking down on the transformer pad from the upper level. Both pics were taken from basically the same spot. They've been doing some work on the transformer area lately, but it's beyond my paygrade to tell what they are up to. The downstairs area around the cabinets and switchgear (not pictured) also is a lot more tidy than it used to be so hopefully we are getting closer. There's also a lot of conduit leading from the downstairs cabinets along the ceiling and up the side to where the first stall is in the upstairs pic. Obviously no meter or transformer yet, but hopefully we are getting close to the point where we are just waiting on those two.

 

[DSolie]

They might want to add a drainage system to that vault surround.

 

[PLUS EV]

Went by again tonight and no visible change.

 

[PLUS EV]

Upstairs looks the same so I didn't bother taking new pics. They've cleaned up the downstairs quite a bit and they took down the fencing, both inside and outside around the transformer pad.

 

[PLUS EV]

No visible progress last few days.

 

[PLUS EV]

I checked again on March 4th and again no visible progress. Although I do see some things moved around here and there, so it looks like someone is working on something. Probably the wiring of all the pedestals or something like that. Anyways, I'm going to be out of town for about a month so someone else can feel free to drive by and post weekly updates Usually when I scout a location for months, it opens when I leave the area, so maybe this will do the trick.

 

[swoozle]

No change as of this morning.

 

[homegrown77]

Stopped by during the day today. Transformer was installed and no active work going on upstairs or downstairs. I can not tell if the transformer has been energized yet. No power to the chargers.

 

[SeaM3White2021]

oh - this is work since last night. I came by last night as I live just a couple blocks away. I can visit daily if there is anything else to watch out for? How does Tesla announce or make available superchargers? I am on my way to pick up my new Model 3 tonight.. .

 

[chrstna4]

@SeaM3White2021 Normally, I would look in the car navigation or on Tesla.com/findus to see if it’s online. It’s on neither right now.

Enjoy your new Tesla!

 

[DSolie]

Look for the meter cabinet(s). Once those are good to go, then Tesla will send out a person to commission the system. Takes a few hours if all is well. Based on the transformer being installed, I'd say you have a week to 2 until the meters are installed, then a week after that for commissioning.

 

[SeaM3White2021]

Look for the meter cabinet(s). Once those are good to go, then Tesla will send out a person to commission the system. Takes a few hours if all is well. Based on the transformer being installed, I'd say you have a week to 2 until the meters are installed, then a week after that for commissioning.

Thank you. Any hint what a meter cabinet looks like? I guess I can try and figure that out the first time I supercharge. Oh... and home and with new car!! Woot..

 

[DSolie]

That double door cabinet with the padlock is probably the metering cabinet. Currently it has the tesla combo lock on it. When PSE comes (not sure if that is served by PSE or Seattle City Light) and does their thing they will likely add their tag to it as well. Basically, compare it to the photo above... If it's been moved at all, she's at least been entered.

You will know the SC are live when the pedestals are lit up.