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Pacific NW - Superchargers
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mknox
Well-Known Member
ChadS
Last tank of gas: March 2009
Capt Zap meant people that own both a Roadster and a Model S were first in line for the adapter. We would be very disappointed to not be able to use our new Model S at HPCs that we are used to charging our Roadsters at.
I imagine the restriction was only temporary - they will offer the adapter to anybody that wants one once they have enough. They just wanted to give the Roadster owners first crack so we don't feel we lost anything by buying the latest Tesla.
What they really should do is offer to upgrade Roadsters to the Model S connector for, say, $250 (it's just the port that needs changing; the protocol is the same) and then update the HPCs in the wild to use the Model S connector (total hardware cost: maybe $20k?). Then every Tesla car and charger would use the same connector and life would be much simpler. I've tried asking if they have plans along those lines, but of course they refuse to say anything. In the absence of plans some people will probably start converting their Roadsters and some of the public HPCs to J1772, and then things will be even more confusing (and then some of the HPCs - which were paid for by Roadster owners, Tesla didn't install them - will be taken for hours on end by other EVs charging at 3.3kW).
I LOVE the Supercharger idea, but even when fully built out they won't get you everywhere. Regardless of who pays for it, there should be a plan for getting the far-cheaper HPWCs out there too, but that would be much simpler (and could reuse existing HPC installations) if all Teslas used the same connector.
I imagine the restriction was only temporary - they will offer the adapter to anybody that wants one once they have enough. They just wanted to give the Roadster owners first crack so we don't feel we lost anything by buying the latest Tesla.
What they really should do is offer to upgrade Roadsters to the Model S connector for, say, $250 (it's just the port that needs changing; the protocol is the same) and then update the HPCs in the wild to use the Model S connector (total hardware cost: maybe $20k?). Then every Tesla car and charger would use the same connector and life would be much simpler. I've tried asking if they have plans along those lines, but of course they refuse to say anything. In the absence of plans some people will probably start converting their Roadsters and some of the public HPCs to J1772, and then things will be even more confusing (and then some of the HPCs - which were paid for by Roadster owners, Tesla didn't install them - will be taken for hours on end by other EVs charging at 3.3kW).
I LOVE the Supercharger idea, but even when fully built out they won't get you everywhere. Regardless of who pays for it, there should be a plan for getting the far-cheaper HPWCs out there too, but that would be much simpler (and could reuse existing HPC installations) if all Teslas used the same connector.
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The Centralia exit #82 and the Burlington exit off of I-5 have outlet malls and several restaurants and that fits the Tesla Supercharger vision.
How do we provide input to the Supercharger Planning Team?
I noticed that WSDOT is putting in collector/distributor lanes in along I-5 right now in the Centralia area. I wonder if that will hold up or otherwise influence any Supercharger plans.
WSDOT - Project - I-5 - Mellen Street to Blakeslee Junction
It'd be great if one or two superchargers came on-line in the Pacific NW within the next few months as my family is planning a road trip from the SF Bay Area to Spokane for a cousin's graduation, and we'd really like to take the Tesla. A couple of superchargers would go a long way in making that more feasible. That or a CHAdeMO adaptor (although, I think the superchargers are more likely to be ready in time at this point).
I was told by a Tesla employee that the Supercharger team was in the area a couple of weeks ago scouting areas near a mall in the Chehalis area just off I-5. That's where the scouts should look. There's an obvious choice, when you look at google maps.
Norbert
TSLA will win
Also, unfortunately, the push for "standard" J1772 doesn't result in chargers with the charging speed that Tesla owners would ask for (19 kW or at least 10 kW for Level 2 charging, still "slow" by Tesla standards), instead they are limited to about 6 kW, and I haven't heard anything that this would be about to change, now that Model S is on the road.
I'd hope that eventually it will go beyond the current idea of "fully built out". Of course, we'll still want Level 2 chargers additionally, not only for hotels and other over-night parking. I does appear to make sense to reserve higher rate chargers for those EVs which can take advantage of it, given that there is currently little, if any, support for higher rate chargers other than from Tesla supporters, speaking of the US. Fortunately, Tesla now has a sufficient market share within the plug-ins to make it feasible to have Tesla-specific Level 2 chargers, at hotels and within cities, malls, at movie theaters, etc.
At the same time, it appears to me that Tesla owners are so much in favor of the Supercharger network, that Tesla may (eventually) decide to increase the network beyond the currently planned level, depending on the availability of financial resources and sales volumes. At the very least, if/when the Gen III is a success, this won't be an issue anymore, I'd think.
I did a little time wasting last night and came up with a list of locations that would extend the existing Supercharger network in California to Seattle. My thought was to keep the chargers approximately 150 miles apart and then try and put them in places where one could kill some time. I've tried to take into account distance, the range of both 85 and 60 kWh packs and also what activities might be available to kill time while charging. In the end, Tesla will put them where Tesla wants and I'm sure the locations have already been selected and may even be under construction by now. I'm very interested to see how my predictions compare. Feel free to tell me the picks are brilliant... or totally idiotic. 
Mostly, feel free to tell me why!
Here's my list:
Red Bluff, CA (151 miles from the Fulsom charger)
- Problems: I have no idea if there's anything worth doing there but it doesn't look like it on Google maps
Yreka, CA (127 miles from Red Bluff)
- Problems: it's a short distance but you will have either just gone over the pass or will be about to go over and it can get snowy so you're going to need to stop there ESPECIALLY if you're in a 60kWh vehicle
Canyonville, OR (120 miles from Yreka)
- Benefits: Seven Feathers casino is right on the freeway, they already have EV charging (including a Roadster HPC) and they'd love to
- Problems: again, short distance, but, again, there's mountains to consider.
Salem, OR (159 miles from Canyonville)
- Benefits: several shopping centers just off the freeway, Portlanders who ski in the Bend area could stop for a charge before taking hwy 22 over the pass.
- Problems: the shopping centers aren't all that interesting until
- Parenthetical: I initially assumed it would be the Outlet Malls at Woodburn, OR. However, that's about 20 miles north of Salem which might make it a stretch if the weather's bad.
Centralia, WA (136 miles from Salem, OR)
- Problems: something of a shorter distance from Salem and quite short from Seattle. Also, I'm unfamiliar with the area so I can't say if there are interesting things to do there.
- Benefits: Driving through (or even around) Portland can involve some pretty nasty stop and go traffic so it's not a bad idea to make that leg of the journey somewhat compact
Mostly, feel free to tell me why!Here's my list:
Red Bluff, CA (151 miles from the Fulsom charger)
- Problems: I have no idea if there's anything worth doing there but it doesn't look like it on Google maps
Yreka, CA (127 miles from Red Bluff)
- Problems: it's a short distance but you will have either just gone over the pass or will be about to go over and it can get snowy so you're going to need to stop there ESPECIALLY if you're in a 60kWh vehicle
Canyonville, OR (120 miles from Yreka)
- Benefits: Seven Feathers casino is right on the freeway, they already have EV charging (including a Roadster HPC) and they'd love to
- Problems: again, short distance, but, again, there's mountains to consider.
Salem, OR (159 miles from Canyonville)
- Benefits: several shopping centers just off the freeway, Portlanders who ski in the Bend area could stop for a charge before taking hwy 22 over the pass.
- Problems: the shopping centers aren't all that interesting until
- Parenthetical: I initially assumed it would be the Outlet Malls at Woodburn, OR. However, that's about 20 miles north of Salem which might make it a stretch if the weather's bad.
Centralia, WA (136 miles from Salem, OR)
- Problems: something of a shorter distance from Salem and quite short from Seattle. Also, I'm unfamiliar with the area so I can't say if there are interesting things to do there.
- Benefits: Driving through (or even around) Portland can involve some pretty nasty stop and go traffic so it's not a bad idea to make that leg of the journey somewhat compact
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Very good point! A lot of the trip through Northern California and Southern Oregon is essentially flat, straight cruising with light traffic so it's quite easy to set the cruise control and really get the most out of your charge. The section just on the border, however, could be tough for a 60 kWh pack on a standard charge if there's a bunch of show.
I can comment on Centralia, WA as a location. It may seem like a short run from Seattle/Portland but traffic can be congested Northbound from there up through Olympia, Tacoma and Seattle and it continues on to Everett. EV's do not have access to carpool lanes in Washington State. :-{
The distance from Centralia to Mt Vernon or Burlington is optimal for making it a great run up to Vancouver, BC or to the San Juan Islands.
Also, you can make it from Centralia, WA up to Port Angeles, WA which is the gateway to the Olympic National Park and it has the ferry to Victoria BC on Vanouver Island. There is local talk about putting in a Model S HPWC in Port Angeles.
There is a couple small outlet malls a few restaurants and a good pizza place at one of the Centralia exits.
Burgerville is there too and it has a Roadster HPC, burgers with great secret sauce and seasonal Walla Walla onion rings that are awesome. Burgerville is interested in hosting Teslas. They paid for the installation of the Roadster HPC at that location.
JackA
Member
The SEA 1772 Standard allows up to 240V/80A delivery. Plug-In North Central Washington is working to place haL2 chargers in central Washington. Our definition is an L2 charger that will provide >70A. Currently we are negotiating the purchase of Clipper Creek CS-90 units that will provide 75A charging. So, my point is that there are higher amperage L2 chargers it just seems that because the Leaf was limited to 3.3 kW that the 30/32A versions became the "accepted" unit.
The fourth dot in Oregon from today's announcement looks like it's in Stayton or some crazy thing. Any speculation as to where that might be and why Tesla thinks it's necessary to put one there?
deonb
Active Member
Yeah, that does look weird.
Maybe because there is an existing CHAdeMO adapter on the same road?
I'm seeing the dots there as Salem and Roseburg, then Eugene. Remember that they are to enable travel between cities.
just got off the phone with the mother ship, I put in a comment on the super charger announcement. I noted I was disappointed that so few were slated for this area and that significant portions of WA state are basically in the dark. I specifically requested that two additional locations be considered, Leavenworth WA, which being just over the pass would be a great place to top up before heading out into the various camping/hiking/vacationing areas that are currently a challenge. the other one was somewhere out on the Peninsula, like Port Angeles. I also put in yet another request for a TT30 adapter, which seems like a common RV plug up in this neck of the woods.
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