Supercharger — Montrose, CO

[dgpcolorado]

^ My sense is that the Chargepoint CCS stations that are part of the Colorado Electric Highway program are well maintained by CCS standards. However, I can't use them so I don't have personal experience.

I do have neighbors with a BMW EV who use the CCS station in Salida to get to the Front Range and they have been pleased with it. I have used level 2 Chargepoint stations a lot and they are easy to turn on with the RFID card and quite reliable. Perhaps biased by limited experience, but I consider Chargepoint the best of the non Tesla charging networks. I consider a Chargepoint account and card basic road trip equipment, like my MC adapters. YMMV.

 

[fhteagle]

This location doesn't make much sense for Magic Docks, except to provide redundancy. It is adjacent to two Chargepoint CCS stalls that, last I checked, were cheaper than the Superchargers: 30¢/kWh.

Competition always makes sense to me. Chargepoint took down every CCS between Delta and Durango simultaneously for upgrades. No backups. Was damn glad I didn't own a CCS for those ~4 months.

In other words, duplicate / redundant and therefore more resilient infrastructure is good for the consumer....

Montrose is still not showing in the Tesla app as a charge non-Teslas location though. Hmm.

 

[LHendren]

It looks like magic docks are popping up like dandelions. What a cash cow this will be for Tesla.

 

[LHendren]

They seem to targeting sites where they have excess capacity. I'd expect Craig and Lamar to be next in Colorado!

Hopefully, Limon, CO with its excess capacity of stalls.

 

[DeepBlueMN]

Hopefully, Limon, CO with its excess capacity of stalls.

The V3 chargers at Limon, if they had Magic Docks, would probably be VERY popular. Not sure if I am in favor of that though. I don’t want to roll in there and all the V3s are blocked by poorly parked CCS vehicles.

 

[fhteagle]

Montrose is now in the Tesla app in the charge your non Tesla section.

 

[dgpcolorado]

Got a chance to check out the Magic Dock today — first one I've ever seen. I noticed that all the signs and bollards between stalls have been removed, to allow non Tesla cars more space to nudge in close.

Of interest, after I used the Supercharger I got a survey on my phone app asking me about the experience. I presume that Tesla is trying to gauge the reaction of its owners to using Magic Dock stations. I had no hassle. Push button to release the plug and it opened my charge door at the same time. Easy.

The venerable six stall Supercharger Station in Grand Junction was full today. No line, but that station sure could use expansion, despite the addition of Parachute. I've charged there 52 times over seven and a half years — every one on a road trip, since it is 95 miles from home.

 

[krsgio]

Got a chance to check out the Magic Dock today — first one I've ever seen. I noticed that all the signs and bollards between stalls have been removed, to allow non Tesla cars more space to nudge in close.

View attachment 978329

Of interest, after I used the Supercharger I got a survey on my phone app asking me about the experience. I presume that Tesla is trying to gauge the reaction of its owners to using Magic Dock stations. I had no hassle. Push button to release the plug and it opened my charge door at the same time. Easy.

Survey doesn't have just to do with magic dock stations I've got surveys for using various chargers before.

 

[theflyer]

The survey is always available via the app for your most recent charging session. It's buried deep, so you have to know where to look.

Profile -> Account -> Charging -> History. the survey is available at the top of the list.

 

[dgpcolorado]

^ Interesting. First I've ever seen the survey in 896 Supercharger visits.

 

[theflyer]

^ Interesting. First I've ever seen the survey in 896 Supercharger visits.

I got it three times on my 16,000 mile road trip. I think it sometimes prompts you when it thinks you had a problem charging.

 

[dbldwn02]

^ My sense is that the Chargepoint CCS stations that are part of the Colorado Electric Highway program are well maintained by CCS standards. However, I can't use them so I don't have personal experience.

I do have neighbors with a BMW EV who use the CCS station in Salida to get to the Front Range and they have been pleased with it. I have used level 2 Chargepoint stations a lot and they are easy to turn on with the RFID card and quite reliable. Perhaps biased by limited experience, but I consider Chargepoint the best of the non Tesla charging networks. I consider a Chargepoint account and card basic road trip equipment, like my MC adapters. YMMV.

I love the Salida ChargePoint station. It's covered and has a pull through for trailers. It was charging at a solid 160kw on my Ioniq5 which was significantly better than most EA chargers I've been to. The 160kw is shared between two chargers so I assume it would drop to 70-80kw, unlike the old SC which would give priority to the first car plugged in.

The magic dock at montrose will be great if I'm ever out that far in my I5.

 

[dgpcolorado]

...The magic dock at montrose will be great if I'm ever out that far in my I5.

The two Chargepoint DCFC stalls adjacent to the Montrose Superchargers charge only 30¢/kWh. I would guess that the Superchargers are more expensive, although I haven't checked the price lately since I can't see it in my car.

 

[dbldwn02]

The two Chargepoint DCFC stalls adjacent to the Montrose Superchargers charge only 30¢/kWh. I would guess that the Superchargers are more expensive, although I haven't checked the price lately since I can't see it in my car.

Nice...didn't know Chargepoint was there. $0.30 seems like the breakeven when gas is $3.50. As long as it charges at 150kw or more, I'm good with that.

 

[fhteagle]

Nice...didn't know Chargepoint was there.

It was a little bittersweet when they ripped up the ultra reliable (but impossible to read screen in full daylight) CPE250's to "upgrade" to the CPExpress dispensers. Screen is more legible in hard SW sun, but the reliability dropped significantly with the newer dispensers. Oh and Chargepoint taking down all of their units between GJ and Durango at the same time was a stroke of stupidity...

$0.30/kWh but possibly wasting time with the adapter, app, CCS handshake, or $0.40/kWh at Tesla that just works ... Decisions, decisions...

 

[LHendren]

Charged my MB EQS here on 10/28/2023. Flawless experience charging with the magic dock. While there, an Audi E-Tron tried to charge at the adjacent ChargePoint two-stall charger, but the unit was down. The second unit had a vacant Leaf charging to 100%. The couple in the E-Tron had just bought the EV, were very frustrated, needed options, and needed enough charge to return to Silverthorne, CO. So, I helped them set up the Tesla app, they charged, thanked me profusely, and headed down the road. It sure is nice to have options.
I also received the Tesla survey after charging.
It was $0.50/kWh. I had not signed up for the $12.99/month "Supercharging Membership". At this station, I believe the cost would have been about $0.40/kWh with the membership. Was it worth it? Given the parking lot shares Tesla and ChargePoint (one broken and one charging a vacant Leaf to 100%) chargers, I would say hell yes.

 

[DeepBlueMN]

I think it is time for ChargePoint and EA to cut the cord on Chademo. And, to start charging idle fees, and to eliminate free charging over 80% SOC, and to start charging higher fees over 80% SOC. This would solve a lot of the public charging problem immediately.
I think Tesla needs to charge extra over 80% SOC at Magic Dock sites too.

 

[dbldwn02]

I also received the Tesla survey after charging.
It was $0.50/kWh. I had not signed up for the $12.99/month "Supercharging Membership". At this station, I believe the cost would have been about $0.40/kWh with the membership. Was it worth it? Given the parking lot shares Tesla and ChargePoint (one broken and one charging a vacant Leaf to 100%) chargers, I would say hell yes.

Yikes...SC rates are terrible these days. That's equivalent to $3.50 gas and a 20 minute wait. Don't get me wrong (100% EV household), but they need to keep the prices about 80-90% of gas if they want to get more people off the fence and into 100% electric.

 

[dgpcolorado]

Yikes...SC rates are terrible these days. That's equivalent to $3.50 gas and a 20 minute wait. Don't get me wrong (100% EV household), but they need to keep the prices about 80-90% of gas if they want to get more people off the fence and into 100% electric.

It's not as bad as it seems for most of us with home charging, I think. If you start out with a full battery and also charge overnight at destinations, the proportion of the trip that is fueled by Superchargers is reduced somewhat. It isn't as if you take the entire trip length and divide by 40¢/kWh.

The 50¢/kWh for CCS cars is a convenience charge for them. If they want to use Superchargers a lot, they can pay the monthly fee and get the Tesla driver rate. Or they can just stick with the CCS stations.

Of course, I have FUSC, so I've paid nothing over 157,000 miles...

 

[ItsNotAboutTheMoney]

I think it is time for ChargePoint and EA to cut the cord on Chademo. And, to start charging idle fees, and to eliminate free charging over 80% SOC, and to start charging higher fees over 80% SOC. This would solve a lot of the public charging problem immediately.
I think Tesla needs to charge extra over 80% SOC at Magic Dock sites too.

EA already stopped CHAdeMO except where required by states. To be honest they got away with being allowed to install only 1 50kW CHAdeMO at each location. Leaf drivers get some free charging at EVGo so never had much incentive to choose EA over any other location, which gave more reason for Nissan and other Japanese to switch to CCS, giving EA an easy excuse to stop.

ChargePoint is generally just the charger supplier so supplies what the installer wants. Their common 62.5/125kw shared units have 2 cords, CCS and CHAdeMO and a lot were installed for Dieselgate. Not all of the high power units on their network have CHAdeMO.