Supercharger - Alameda, CA (LIVE 15 Dec 2018, 12 stalls)

[israndy]

The landscaping people are there today. Putting in lots of flowers and bushes and an irrigation system.

These are from yesterday:

Just noticed that at least the ones to the right of the path all say 30 min ICE parking. I know at least ONE on the other side doesn't. Hopefully, all of them don't, but that is disappointing.

I originally didn't understand why they put the charging cabinets in a parking space when they could have placed them at the other end where the mall has its transformer and standby generator. Now I see they were trying to bookend the spaces and I kind of like it.

-Randy

 

[israndy]

Found this just around the corner, I had never seen it before so it must be new. Sorry, whoever owns it:

-Randy

 

[jboy210]

Thanks for the pictures. I am surprised there are no pole protecting those cabinets. Someone is going to ram one of them. Probably a jealous Diesel Pickup owner.

 

[Pluto]

Thanks for the pictures. I am surprised there are no pole protecting those cabinets. Someone is going to ram one of them. Probably a jealous Diesel Pickup owner.

There are five bollards on one side of the cabinets alone and bases installed for another three on the supercharger stall side, so it looks like they're waiting to finish those for easy cabinet access.

 

[jboy210]

There are five bollards on one side of the cabinets alone and bases installed for another three on the supercharger stall side, so it looks like they're waiting to finish those for easy cabinet access.

Maybe.

But, from Randy's shot it does not look like there is room between the last stall for the bollards and still being able to open the cabinets for maintenance. But this might just be a camera perspective issue.

 

[mociaf9]

Thanks for the pictures. I am surprised there are no pole protecting those cabinets. Someone is going to ram one of them. Probably a jealous Diesel Pickup owner.

They're kind of hard to see in that picture, but there are actually going to be 3 more bollards on the side which currently looks unprotected. They haven't installed them yet so that they have easy access to the cabinets during the construction phase. If you look closely, you can just see the collars at the top of the holes that the bollards will slot into but they're hard to see in the shadow. A much clearer view can be found in one of @Randy Spencer 's pictures from earlier in the month. Once they are done with hooking everything up and all the electrical inspections have been passed so that they don't need to be opening up the cabinets any more, they'll install the bollards. You'll notice that the collars have that metal ring on the side. That's so they can install removable bollards to facilitate any future maintenance needs.

 

[IslandCityEV]

the future locations are centered on the city name.. not the geographic location.
(notice how it's centered over "Alameda"?)

Just dropped by today! So excited!

 

[jdber]

Do you think anyone has ever been so excited about a gas station going in? #teslajunkie

 

[IslandCityEV]

Do you think anyone has ever been so excited about a gas station going in? #teslajunkie

I know seriously....

 

[israndy]

They added the curb stops and painted the spaces! Wait, only two say EV Charging ONLY yet the signs on the space still has the 30 minutes ICE parking OK. I know one of those signs doesn't have the 30-minute reference from my previous photos.

Looks like they finished planting, surprised they look like they are going to leave it dirt otherwise. Next step is to remove the fence. I have seen other Superchargers waiting for inspection they put caution tape around the stations.

-Randy

 

[jboy210]

They're kind of hard to see in that picture, but there are actually going to be 3 more bollards on the side which currently looks unprotected. They haven't installed them yet so that they have easy access to the cabinets during the construction phase. If you look closely, you can just see the collars at the top of the holes that the bollards will slot into but they're hard to see in the shadow. A much clearer view can be found in one of @Randy Spencer 's pictures from earlier in the month. Once they are done with hooking everything up and all the electrical inspections have been passed so that they don't need to be opening up the cabinets any more, they'll install the bollards. You'll notice that the collars have that metal ring on the side. That's so they can install removable bollards to facilitate any future maintenance needs.

Thanks for the shots. Makes sense. We have a similar collar and lock holding the bollards for a fire escape path in my neighborhood.

 

[steves_mousse]

The contractor (middle) told me everything is done and she (far left), inspector from Tesla, is doing the final check now!!

 

[PLUS EV]

Stalls are numbered. So if the Tesla tech is there testing, they should open soon, like probably tonight, or NOW even.

 

[jdber]

It looks like the Tesla tech is testing each stall one by one on his car. 5 to go. Not sure what's left to do after that. I'm going to hang out here a while.

 

[israndy]

He is still there. He won't commit to 5 minutes or 50 minutes, just when he is done he lets Tesla know and they put it on the map, then its ready. The lights are already on, it looks VERY pretty. Probably gonna still have construction stuff past the transformer until later.

-Randy

 

[ecarfan]

If you guys would stop harassing the Tesla staff they might get their work done sooner...

 

[jdber]

If you guys would stop harassing the Tesla staff they might get their work done sooner...

We are letting them do their stuff. Not bothering them at all...

 

[jdber]

Seems like there is a small electrical issue that can't be resolved until tomorrow. Probably a quick fix and everything else is in order. So, if the electrical team can resolve it quickly, we should be up tomorrow, maybe in the morning.

 

[israndy]

Landscaper's finished, looks nice

The tech mentioned above said that the voltage was wrong coming off the transformer, just need to move the tap, but that is something only the power company can do. Like Jason said, hopefully, tomorrow and then it will be ready to go. They are still working, we watched them change out a plug on one of the stations. But the only time we spoke to them was when they told us that the chargers would not be ready tonight.

I asked them why the two spaces painted EV Charging Only ALSO have the 30 Min. General Parking signs on them.

The first 6 spaces say Tesla Vehicle Charging Only, the other six on the right also say 30 Minute General Parking, including the two, painted as above.

He had no answer

-Randy

 

[miimura]

The tech mentioned above said that the voltage was wrong coming off the transformer, just need to move the tap, but that is something only the power company can do. Like Jason said, hopefully, tomorrow and then it will be ready to go.

Hopefully it is that simple. Other sites like Sunnyvale have gone back into construction limbo while they went back and added the individual buck/boost transformers between the distribution cabinets and the Supercharger cabinets to correct the incoming voltage.

Also, you would think that if Tesla had a tighter voltage tolerance than the utility that it would be specified and the utility could choose the correct tap at the time the transformer was placed and connected. Voltage is not hard to measure.