I drove by today, there were 5 TESLA transformer cabinets on site that were still wrapped with crane hooks on the top. Really have no idea where the parking spaces will be but finally something with the TESLA name on it showed up.
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Supercharger — Mission Viejo, CA (LIVE Mar 25 2020, 10 urban stalls)
- Thread starter MountainRatMat
- Start date
That is probably for the EA site. Electrify sometimes uses Tesla cabinets to power their chargers.
For real? That would surprise me, Tesla is manufacturing constrained on V3 superchargers, that came straight from an Elon tweet. Also, why would Tesla support EA? Seems counter productive at this point with the supercharger build out.
Is this what you saw on site? This photo was taken from a Walmart Supercenter in Kearny NJ. Photos would help to further confirm your hypothesis.
If this is not what you saw in Mission Viejo, I withdraw my previous comment.
There were 5 and they each looked about the size of that white box with mesh siding. Battery buffer would make sense, transformer for Tesla chargers would also make sense.
Battery buffers at EA chargers seems like a waste of money to me. Utilization of the EA chargers is so low that the payback will be years, if ever, especially with the rates I've seen them charging for electricity.
Maybe they have a lot of money from VW they are trying to spend.
I have seen some other EA chargers that confuse me as well though. One example, foothill ranch Walmart and RSM Target both have EA chargers. Less than 10 miles apart and not near a major freeway.
bkp_duke
Well-Known Member
It only takes a few minutes per month of "high demand" usage to incur demand charges from the utility. And those demand charges often dwarf the actual kWh charge.
I'm 100% certain that someone that EA did the math when these were deployed and found that even at a low utilization rate, they were cost effective, especially in areas like SDG&E where power rates are nucking futs.
Regarding location of the EA chargers, remember that their deployment was part of the large Audi/VW Dieselgate settlement with the US gov. They had to be deployed, and I'm betting that most Walmarts already have sufficient power deployed to make them a relatively inexpensive location to install chargers at.
I'm glad to see they are utilizing Tesla batteries but I would love to see a cost breakdown. Where is the break even point to make it cost effective to put in Tesla batteries to avoid the demand charges.
Thanks for all the info. I am learning things with these posts.
bkp_duke
Well-Known Member
I suspect that is info that they will never share. It's deep into their business model, and if I were the COO/CEO, I would not share that level of detail. Gives competitors too much insight into your business model.
I totally agree but it would be nice to see. I guess I'm just a bit pessimistic about EA because the funding is coming from dieselgate. I could be wrong but I admit I am playing a bit of devils advocate.
Now if it were Ford dumping a bunch of money in to a charging network to show they are serious about the Mach-E and want to have long distance charging options I would be optimistic, I just don't see the rest of the industry jumping in head first like Tesla is.
bkp_duke
Well-Known Member
I've used some of their chargers in the boonies (Chademo adapter), and they are not bad. Pricing per charge was close to what Tesla charges, but there is a $1 per session fee for the "plan" that I signed up for. And you have to pre-load your account ($10 increments IIRC).
The deployment of EA chargers have been relatively has been quiet, but they are moving quickly. Tesla needs this kind of kick in the pants on charging network competition.
Now, if Tesla would just release a CCS adapter that would open things up a lot for our cars on this network.
Not Tesla charging hardware but Tesla Powerpacks for battery storage to reduce peak charges.
EA announced almost a year ago that it would use Tesla Powerpacks at many of their locations. See https://electrek.co/2019/02/04/tesla-electrify-america-powerpacks-charging-stations/
The discussion of that interesting development can continue at the existing thread in the Supercharger and Charging Infrastructure forum
Electrify America (VW's EA) to Install Tesla Powerpacks at High Power Stations
Doug Martoccia
Member
I agree. Elon's plan for world domination makes EA look very amateurish. I'm surprised that they would think using batteries at their sites makes any financial sense. Still...can anyone take a picture of the cabinets to confirm if they are for batteries or SCs? I'd hate to see EA take over prime spots before Tesla!
I'll try and get pictures.
EDIT: EA chargers are already installed but not active, no sign of Tesla chargers. I hate to see it too.
Swung by today hoping to catch some pics, since today is US national holiday and figured workers would have the day off. Alas active workers on site, and I did not want to muggle.
Thankful for any and all superchargers we get in the area, but it looks like this location is going to be tough to use during mall hours. The stalls are located on a main mall traffic street, and it appears getting into a spot is going to require cutting off traffic in both directions. Those that are not comfortable swinging in and out quickly, both backing in and pulling out, beware.
Thankful for any and all superchargers we get in the area, but it looks like this location is going to be tough to use during mall hours. The stalls are located on a main mall traffic street, and it appears getting into a spot is going to require cutting off traffic in both directions. Those that are not comfortable swinging in and out quickly, both backing in and pulling out, beware.
I think the area where you thought the chargers were going to be is actually being placed with a bunch of other cabinets, so I'm still thinking the chargers will be in the main parking lot where Forever 21 used to be. Still a *sugar* show, but whatever. Time will tell. The Electrify America chargers are there but still not operational, and no one cares it's for EV.
