It's amazing how many people I meet at Superchargers who quote " Tesla told me they are adding more chargers soon". I just laugh at the amount of bullshit that people believe!
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No new CA superchargers in over 4 months....
- Thread starter sorka
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- California Supercharging USA
It's amazing how many people I meet at Superchargers who quote " Tesla told me they are adding more chargers soon". I just laugh at the amount of bullshit that people believe!
It's true that Tesla's current charge speed is mostly limited by the batteries, not the superchargers. But different/improved battery chemistries in the future will likely mean higher charge speeds at the same capacity.
The Hyundai Ioniq's LG battery pack can sustain ~70kW all the way up to 80% - in a 28kWh pack! Extrapolating out to a 90kWh pack, that would mean charge rates in excess of 200kW.
Problems grasping reality?
Between Gilroy, Harris, Cabazon, Rocklin, Vacaville, Barstow, Oxnard, and Dublin, well over 50 pedestals have been added in CA since this thread was created.
Plus permits/construction for a new Burbank, Yermo, and Sacramento.
And not to mention the temporary pallets that have been moving around, in places like Tejon and Barstow and beyond.
PLUS whatever I'm missing in those lists...
So who's really the one making themselves believe BS here...?
2 permits and 1 construction activity in California since December 16th is by far the slowest expansion for CA since the inception of the SC network.
From what I've read the Burbank Mall is a new location with 20 stalls being added. Supercharger - Burbank Mall (Under construction, 20 stalls!)
CameronB
Member
Just a month or two ago they added 8 stalls to Oxnard (from 10->18). And like has been said earlier, Gilroy has some new stalls. Those are the ones I have personally seen expanded lately but it does seem others are getting expanded as well.
That said, Supercharger-thirsty California can always use more. And it is happening - even if it slower than we all prefer.
In the California Superchargers forum at California Supercharger locations any time an existing Supercharger location is expanded I have modified the thread title to indicate that. So it is easy to see which sites have been or are currently being expanded by scanning the thread title listing. And quite a few sites have been expanded.
By my count, this year 9 existing California Supercharger sites have been expanded and one new site is under construction at the Burbank Mall.
By my count, this year 9 existing California Supercharger sites have been expanded and one new site is under construction at the Burbank Mall.
It's a new paradigm; it's erroneous to not include existing site expansion in such an assessment. The network is built out to a degree where we're going to see a significantly higher ratio than we've previously seen for site expansions vs. new sites. The pendulum is swinging from location coverage to volume coverage.
Whether the network buildout is 'still not fast enough' is certainly a valid debate, but that wasn't the context of my post.
Ulmo
Active Member
It's slightly right and slightly wrong. There's a massive buildout underway. They already massively expanded capacity in the last two months alone, in California. The slightly wrong part is that a lot of the expansion has not been new SuperCharger sites, but new SuperCharger stalls. The slightly right part is that a SuperCharger stall can be called, and is called, a SuperCharger, and it's used as a slightly misleading marketing and communications ploy (by not differentiating from SuperCharger site), which at the same time, makes it slightly wrong.
By now, I presume Tesla is also underway with many new SuperCharger sites, both in California and Earth-wide. Sorry, nothing in Mars yet. That's coming. Always something to look forward to and/or complain about.
Ulmo
Active Member
We knew those flexible pallets would become really useful. We're seeing that constantly. They really help tip the balance as Tesla sees and/or predicts hot spots. They have been very proactive and effective with them. Most recently, they put them in Seaside for the TMC conference, and I must say, that is a timely way to do that. When I visited that SC during peak use time, there were many chargers being used, but there was ample open space, almost surely helped by the two flexibly installed chargers. For intrigue, I charged up there on the way home from the body shop the other day, and they worked great.
The problem is they're adding stalls to existing locations in highly populated areas which will only feed the local charging crowd since Tesla has once again started giving out free unlimited supercharging and they're not enforcing the idling fee.
They really need new locations along major routes that are NOT in large metropolitan areas.
Stick with the facts.
Of the 8 expansions I mentioned (Gilroy, Harris, Cabazon, Rocklin, Vacaville, Barstow, Oxnard, and Dublin), only Oxnard and Dublin are overcrowded with locals.
Of the three new locations (Burbank 2, yermo, and Sacramento), only Burbank will serve a major local charging population.
Are you sure about this? I don't see the connection between the two.
I understand Tesla not discouraging local charging any more, when they start making us pay for charging, but don't see the connection with idle fee.
While I think expanding the long-distance network will ease people's anxiety and add to the convenience of not overshooting their route to get the necessary charge on trips, Tesla recognizes and needs the Average Joe driving base in order to succeed as a car company. Many of these future drivers don't have access to charging at home, don't own the home, can't afford the electrical work required to install a home charger, whatever and I think Tesla does need to first address those populated areas to accommodate them coming down the pipeline. Planning for so many M3's has got to be a bigger priority for them (and the M3 will be fee based charging). If we see these large capacity charging oasis powered by solar come to fruition, it's a whole new ballgame for them. The next couple of years are going to be interesting. Lots of change on the horizon and maybe other manufactures as partners. Haven't owned a Tesla for long but kind of like hanging out with other Tesla owners when we charge. I will say that a lot don't bother to get out of their cars though.
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Nosken
Active Member
The supercharger expansion is critical going forward, as the demographic of the Tesla owner changes. Generally speaking, people that buy $100,000 cars can afford a house with a garage. On the other hand, people that buy $35,000 cars, may live in apartments or condominiums, so charging at home may not be an option.
Or they may live in houses but have long commutes because they can't afford either houses or apartments in high-cost areas.
Ulmo
Active Member
I think generally @sorka is right long-term, but that Tesla also has an opportunity to quickly and less expensively expand existing sites that are being used a lot that need to be in the network to legitimately enable long distance travel. The expansions have shown to be fantastically effective at relieving pressure. I frequented many of the expanded sites and found that the availability of charging spots is much better since the expansions last month or two. The longer and harder work of siting new locations and getting the charging paradigm over to a cost basis will slowly happen, too. This is a case where I think Tesla is trying to get the optimum output from their efforts, and it seems to be working.
I admit that there will be some hiccups, such as more locals crowding newly expanded SuperChargers in dense areas.
I admit that there will be some hiccups, such as more locals crowding newly expanded SuperChargers in dense areas.
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