Oakland, Berkeley, Alameda & Piedmont such a desert for Superchargers

[Hacov]

Having JUST acquired my Black on Black Model 3 (dual motor, long range) I am surprised that there are no superchargers close to Oakland. There are hundreds of Tesla owners in my neighborhood alone. And Piedmont is awash with cars, but not a supercharger to be seen. We have a lot of freeways too (580, 880, 24, 780, 13), so you would think there might be one or two.

I do not yet have a 240v outlet in the garage, 117v is so slow, so where do people in these cities go to charge faster? I ordered a chargepoint card, but there are not many of those around here either.

Thanks

 

[JPP]

...maybe because Superchargers were originally conceived for long distance travel on highways, not urban areas. There are some 'to be announced sites in the East Bay, like Emeryville.

 

[bmah]

Congrats on the new car!

If one can set up home charging (doesn't need to be a full-blown Tesla wall connector) it will, for the majority of use cases, make life much more pleasant. Even an electric dryer outlet will, for many people, be sufficient. If you have one available, just buy the appropriate adapter for your mobile connector and you're good to go.

By the way there is a Supercharger in Alameda, it's been up for a few months now. A Supercharger in Emeryville is in permitting.

Supercharger - Alameda, CA (LIVE 15 Dec 2018, 12 stalls)
Supercharger - Emeryville (Permit found, location 5795 Christie Ave, construction not started)

We don't have a Supercharger in my city either (Lafayette), but I haven't missed it in almost four years of owning a Model S because I charge every night at home and I roll out of the garage every morning with a (90%) full battery.

Bruce.

 

[Hacov]

Thanks JPP. That I do know, which is why I mentioned all the freeways that converge and go through the cities. 880 is used for long distance travel, 80 across the bay bridge is used, and finding charging in San Francisco will be even more difficult. 80 is also a router to Sacramento and north. 580 is a main route into the central valley. Sorry for the confusion, I should have been more clear, there are no super chargers anywhere along or near any of the highways that run in and around these cities.

Thanks bmah. I will be getting a 240v circuit pulled to the car so I can charge on my own without a problem. Because of the distance of the garage from the main house, it will take a while. Right now, I can pull about 10A max, so I get 2 to 4 MPH charging, and I will be driving 100+ miles a day, so sadly, charging from the time I get home (around 8 PM) to the time I leave (around 7 AM), it does not cover the needed range. Hopefully I can plug in at work, and that will solve the problem.

Back to your comment JPP, while I agree with you about residential, then why would they put a 12 stall Supercharger in Alameda? There are no long distance routes or freeways anywhere going through Alameda. In fact, in South Shore center is just about as far from the freeway one can get. So you can see my confusion? Anyway...

The one in Emeryville does make sense as that is where 580, 80, 880 all meet up.

 

[ewoodrick]

How many Superchargers are within 30 miles of you?
Me? The answer is 1.

Maybe this is something that you should have thought about before getting the car.

 

[Hacov]

Wow, a snarky answer. Thanks, I was expecting at least one. Not at all disappointed.

(Its why I bought a long range, thank you.)

 

[jboy210]

Having JUST acquired my Black on Black Model 3 (dual motor, long range) I am surprised that there are no superchargers close to Oakland. There are hundreds of Tesla owners in my neighborhood alone. And Piedmont is awash with cars, but not a supercharger to be seen. We have a lot of freeways too (580, 880, 24, 780, 13), so you would think there might be one or two.

I do not yet have a 240v outlet in the garage, 117v is so slow, so where do people in these cities go to charge faster? I ordered a chargepoint card, but there are not many of those around here either.

Thanks

First, congrats on the car!!!

If 240V is an option for you, you should pursue it. The whole 'charge your car where you charge your phone' become a reality and the convenience factor shoots way up.

 

[econalan]

No superchargers nearby me as well; 240V in your garage is the way to go. For us, it was a fast and inexpensive installation.

 

[M3BlueGeorgia]

Having JUST acquired my Black on Black Model 3 (dual motor, long range) I am surprised that there are no superchargers close to Oakland. There are hundreds of Tesla owners in my neighborhood alone. And Piedmont is awash with cars, but not a supercharger to be seen. We have a lot of freeways too (580, 880, 24, 780, 13), so you would think there might be one or two.

I do not yet have a 240v outlet in the garage, 117v is so slow, so where do people in these cities go to charge faster? I ordered a chargepoint card, but there are not many of those around here either.

Thanks

Sounds like you have the ability to improve your home charging capability. Best solution anyway is to charge overnight rather than seek out a Supercharger.

Really any improvement will help. Ideal is 240v, with either a dryer (14-30) socket or a (better) 14-50 socket.

All driven by the capacity of your breaker box and the cost of running wire to it.
If you can't add 240v, consider upgrading to TT-30 (120v/30A).

 

[ecarfan]

Having JUST acquired my Black on Black Model 3 (dual motor, long range) I am surprised that there are no superchargers close to Oakland. There are hundreds of Tesla owners in my neighborhood alone

It was never Tesla’s plan to provide nearby Superchargers for all owners, no matter how high the density of owners in a particular area might be.

Initially, Superchargers were located on highways to provide rapid charging locations for long trips. Then Tesla started building Superchargers in urban and suburban areas to provide charging at places like malls, and with the side benefit of providing charging for those who could not charge at home.

I strongly recommend that you invest a few hundred dollars in a 50A/240V NEMA 14-50 outlet for your garage. One of the major benefits of owning an EV is overnight charging at off peak rates so that every morning you have a charged car that is ready to go.

 

[jeffro01]

Having JUST acquired my Black on Black Model 3 (dual motor, long range) I am surprised that there are no superchargers close to Oakland. There are hundreds of Tesla owners in my neighborhood alone. And Piedmont is awash with cars, but not a supercharger to be seen. We have a lot of freeways too (580, 880, 24, 780, 13), so you would think there might be one or two.

I do not yet have a 240v outlet in the garage, 117v is so slow, so where do people in these cities go to charge faster? I ordered a chargepoint card, but there are not many of those around here either.

Thanks

That would be because there is literally zero reason to have them there... Supercharging is for the enablement of long distance travel, not for people who refuse to charge at home to abuse the network. Sure the abuse will eventually be curtailed as everyone is moved from free for life to pay as you go but still...

Why in gods green earth would anyone buy a Tesla without a charging solution already worked out...??? That just makes no sense to me...

Jeff

 

[Hacov]

Thanks jboy and econalan. The install and pull of the circuit and cable should be in two weeks. I was just looking for a short term solution. I have to pass the factory every day so maybe I'll add a little there. Thanks.

M3BlueGeorgia, ecarfan, thanks, in the works. There is 240v to a spa about 100 feet from the garage. We are going to pull a line from there. Set the car to charge at midnight, which should be fine since we do not use it that late. Will be adding a circuit to kill the pilot line if the spa comes on, so that car will stop charging until the spa turns off. That way, full charging when available, and no chance to blow the breakers.

Seriously, was just looking for a short term solution for a few weeks. And yea, I get that superchargers are not really for neighborhoods, but then again, they are showing up in lots. And Oakland, Berkley, Emeryville, and a few other cities have lots of shopping centers, a LOT of freeways, and a ton of Teslas here. Just seems like it was overlooked.

YMMV (does that still apply here? )

 

[Hacov]

Wow there are a lot of self-righteous people on this forum. I thought this would be a great place to chat and share some tips and experiences, maybe get some help, but obviously I was mistaken.

Or should just plan on becoming just as self-righteous after being here for some time? Is it the car that does it, or being on the forum and having to deal with questions you don't like?

Really people, try not to jump to such conclusions (jeffro01). The install of the 240v circuit was stalled, the delivery of the car was not. That simple. I was just asking for some help.

Instead, I have received a ton of grief and crap from most of you guys.

Thanks for not helping

 

[Blu Zap]

@Hacov, sorry to see your lousy experience on the forum. There really are a lot of positive and helpful owners here. They just get over shadowed by some snippy participants sometimes. Don't take it personally.

Now down to the main point - - Congratulations on your new Tesla! Exciting times. There is no going back.

As far as SuperCharger coverage. There really is no consistent way they are doing it. Look at the coverage in the Tri-Valley area. Livermore, Dublin, San Ramon and now a second SuC in San Ramon. I live in Marin. Nearest SuC was in Petaluma. They just now opened the Urban SuC in Corte Madera. Great news!

We have heard what the SuC "mission" was. But that has changed with the advent of the Model 3. The demographic of the Model 3 owners is completely different. Most notably, less likely to have a garage and home charging. That is when we began to see the Urban SuCs and charging for SuperCharging. So in addition to supporting long distance travel, we are seeing charging closer to home for those who need to charge once a week or so.

I have owned my Tesla for four and a half years now. The first two years I had home charging at 80amps and life was good. Then my landlord sold the house and my HPWC now sits in a storage box. I live in an apartment with no charging possible. So I plan my travels with destination charging and occasional SuperCharging. It is doable. It looks like you have got that figured out too.

Why in gods green earth would anyone buy a Tesla without a charging solution already worked out...??? That just makes no sense to me...

To make sense here, life changes. We deal with it. And Tesla anticipated it.

 

[Watts_Up]

Because of the distance of the garage from the main house, it will take a while. Right now,
I can pull about 10A max, so I get 2 to 4 MPH charging, and I will be driving 100+ miles a day,
so sadly, charging from the time I get home (around 8 PM) to the time I leave (around 7 AM),
it does not cover the needed range. Hopefully I can plug in at work, and that will solve the problem.

I had to instal a 150 ft electrical conduit, how far away is your garage?

 

[Hacov]

Thanks BluZap, I appreciate the message. I solved this a different way. I started working at Apple (again) and they have ChargePoint chargers in many garages near me. So I am charging to the 85% point each day, keeping it mostly full at work. My daily round trip is about 100 miles, and I can't always find an open charger. (People leave them plugged in all day even when full, and there is no way to know who owns what car to ask them to move. Guilty of this myself on a few days I got too busy).

Watts_up: about the same. I am installing that same length (about) to put a 240v socket. That should help on the times I cannot charge at work.

Cheers for the help and comments.

 

[CAVol]

The alameda charging station kind of sucks to navigate to. Driving thru the downtown area with all the traffic lights and people turning across traffic takes forever. Definitely a long detour and not quick.

 

[bmah]

So you changed jobs to solve your charging problem? That’s a solution I would not have come up with.

Bruce.

 

[GHammer]

Wow there are a lot of self-righteous people on this forum. I thought this would be a great place to chat and share some tips and experiences, maybe get some help, but obviously I was mistaken.

Like Blu-zap said, don't take it personally. You're new Tesla and us old farts have seen these "why doesn't Tesla have a SC at {pick your place}" for years. It takes time to cite and build them and in urban areas it can be exceedingly difficult. I remember when there wasn't a single Supercharger in the bay area other than the factory, when the one in Mountain View opened it was big news and quickly became the most used Supercharger worldwide, now there are 15. Patience, you're on Tesla Time now.

 

[Hacov]

Bruce: Not exactly Bruce, it was the other way around. The change of jobs was the reason for finally buying the Tesla. I have a long commute in mostly heavy traffic, and auto pilot and cruise will make that drive MUCH less stressful. Before, I did not drive much at all, worked from home, and just could not justify the cost for small amount of driving. Now I will be driving 500 miles a week, and for that, I wanted the best car out there. I am not sorry.

And yesterday the 240v outlet near the car was installed, and I can get fast charging now at home if needed.

Hammer: Thanks. I guess hearing the same questions all the time can get annoying. But you have to remember, we have not heard all the answers yet. (And yes, I did search, but obviously not successfully.) Tesla time, I like that.

And I found a charge point near me (but you have to pay for parking ) so I have a fall back.

Thanks