Supercharger - Amarillo, Texas

[vinnie97]

The St George, UT location is off the interstate by about 3 or 4 miles, so 1 mile is not really pushing the limits speaking on the basis of distance.

 

[reddy]

I called the Holiday Inn Express, since they installed 3 HPWC and a J1772 last week. What is clear is that they don't understand the difference between a supercharger and a regular charger. They claimed to have 1 supercharger already installed.

I asked them if what they have today is the full extent of the project, and whether they were adding any more chargers. They tell me that everything is completed, and nothing more is planned than what we have today.

Thus, if Amarillo is getting a supercharger (and it still shows on 'Opening Soon') then it won't be at the Holiday Inn Express.

I will keep checking the building permits....

 

[timpierc]

My Dad sent this to me last week. It was in the local Amarillo paper. It's starting to look more likely that Amarillo will be passed over.

 

[Huxley]

A couple of weeks ago I stopped at the HIE in Amarillo when they were just finishing the HPWC stations. Because they weren't superchargers, I drove across the street to the Holiday Inn Medical Center West and asked at the desk. The desk person went to talk to the manager and returned saying their hotel is in talks with Tesla about a supercharger. Sometimes, information from hotels isn't accurate but that's what they said.

 

[Bet TSLA]

Been a while since anybody has reported on Amarillo. Anything new? Is there even a verified permit application with an address?

 

[reddy]

Nothing so far.

I check the permits daily. The June report skipped 4 permits last week; I could see 4 permits issued but they had no detail about the project they covered. So, I called the permit department and had them scan for Tesla and Black & Veatch and they didn't find anything.

Pretty disappointing so far, Amarillo has been on the opening soon list for almost a year.

Been a while since anybody has reported on Amarillo. Anything new? Is there even a verified permit application with an address?

 

[reddy]

Quick update - No activity on a Tesla supercharger permit was reported by the City of Amarillo. They aren't finding an application on file at this point. Amarillo remains on the "Opening Soon" map.

For any Tesla Motors people lurking here:

SOON (Adverb)

1. within a short period after this or that time, event,etc.:We shall know soon after he calls.


2.before long; in the near future; at an early date:Let's leave soon.

 

[redi]

Amarillo like Denton (Tesla "soon"):

"in the fullness of time"

"mañana" (gringos like me used to think this meant tomorrow, but in-country it is more of like the above)

Anyway, hoping for both sometime in the fullness of 2015.

 

[tamman34]

This SC in my opinion is not required that much, but I can be dead wrong. I guess it can help if your coming up from Midland, but here is still large gaps from South Texas to get here. From Shamrock to Tucumari, NM is no problem. I drove 70 mph the entire way, you should slow to 65 mph in Amarillo (i did not cause it was 1am). The last 20 miles you pump it up to 75 mph. I did 211.2 Miles, 67.7 kWh Total Energy, 321 wh/mi AVG Energy.

 

[Cottonwood]

This SC in my opinion is not required that much, but I can be dead wrong. I guess it can help if your coming up from Midland, but here is still large gaps from South Texas to get here. From Shamrock to Tucumari, NM is no problem. I drove 70 mph the entire way, you should slow to 65 mph in Amarillo (i did not cause it was 1am). The last 20 miles you pump it up to 75 mph. I did 211.2 Miles, 67.7 kWh Total Energy, 321 wh/mi AVG Energy.

To get that kind of charge with some buffer is an hour and a half at a supercharger. With Amarillo, each charge will only be 20-30 minutes. 2 charging stops at 25 minutes each are a lot better to me than a single charge of 90 minutes, not to mention bad wind or other weather...

 

[redi]

With Amarillo, each charge will only be 20-30 minutes. 2 charging stops at 25 minutes each are a lot better to me than a single charge of 90 minutes

~~20 minutes-and-go is exactly what you want for cross country travel. 90 minutes to squeeze a battery full defeats the purpose of a Supercharger.

 

[jerry33]

~~20 minutes-and-go is exactly what you want for cross country travel. 90 minutes to squeeze a battery full defeats the purpose of a Supercharger.

I just drove from DFW to Seattle and back, and more often than not the charge time was far less than 20 minutes (sometimes 5). Usually, it was +20% or more over the required range by the time the pit stop was over.

 

[vinnie97]

This SC in my opinion is not required that much, but I can be dead wrong. I guess it can help if your coming up from Midland, but here is still large gaps from South Texas to get here. From Shamrock to Tucumari, NM is no problem. I drove 70 mph the entire way, you should slow to 65 mph in Amarillo (i did not cause it was 1am). The last 20 miles you pump it up to 75 mph. I did 211.2 Miles, 67.7 kWh Total Energy, 321 wh/mi AVG Energy.

Regardless, Amarillo is certainly needed for Dallas traffic (along with at least one stop on 287). The detour to OKC is highly inefficient for those going westward from Dallas. Of course, east from Dallas is even more sparse.

 

[TexasEV]

This SC in my opinion is not required that much, but I can be dead wrong. I guess it can help if your coming up from Midland, but here is still large gaps from South Texas to get here. From Shamrock to Tucumari, NM is no problem. I drove 70 mph the entire way, you should slow to 65 mph in Amarillo (i did not cause it was 1am). The last 20 miles you pump it up to 75 mph. I did 211.2 Miles, 67.7 kWh Total Energy, 321 wh/mi AVG Energy.

I understand you're proud of that, but the red, bold font is really annoying. Especially when it's shown over and over again as people respond to you. Would you mind saving your exuberance for the accelerator pedal?

 

[snellenr]

Regardless, Amarillo is certainly needed for Dallas traffic (along with at least one stop on 287). The detour to OKC is highly inefficient for those going westward from Dallas. Of course, east from Dallas is even more sparse.

Hmmm... Google routing puts the difference between the two routes (Corsicana <-> Amarillo, direct vs OKC) at about an hour and a half (100 miles). I've always taken 287 myself in my ICE, and will again if the SC network supports it, but "highly" inefficient? Or is there a qualitative difference that tips the balance?

 

[reddy]

I just drove Amarillo to Austin, then on to Galveston this weekend.

Here are the problems:

The time difference for us was over 3 hours. Part of that was the fact that Weatherford OK is now unreliable and was dead on arrival. That forced us to use the 35kVA ChadeMO in OK which cost even more time.

If you are going Shamrock to Tucumcari, on a clear summer day, you will make it with a range charge BUT, not in the winter.

Amarillo is cold in the winter, which will cost you heat energy, but more importantly we have a strong prevailing northwest to southeast wind up to 35-40 mph some days ; often it is worse. It is also uphill. You can plan on calling for a tow around the TZ-NM line in that case.

There is a lot of traffic from Texas to Colorado all year, and Amarillo is the jumping off point for people in the high population areas of Texas. That is why Amarillo has hundreds of hotels and motels , and every restaurant franchise known to man.

I'd predict Amarillo will be a high usage SC since it is at the intersection of 2 Interstates, plus Hwy 287 from Dallas.

There really needs to be a SC on 287 to Dallas Fort Worth too. The ideal location would be Electra, TX because it is within winter uphill driving against the wind to Amarillo, plus is within distance of the entire DFW metroplex.

Plus with a name like Electra, how could Tesla resist?

 

[purplewalt]

Plus with a name like Electra, how could Tesla resist?

Now, IF Tesla Motors could just find a viable business partner/resource in that neck of the woods...

 

[rsampsonjr]

Shamrock-Tucumcari matters a lot on direction and wind. West bound I had to drive most of the way at 60mph into headwinds and it was 206.1 miles, 70.1kWh used for 340 Wh/mi. Headed east at 5 mph above the posted speed limits was 206.2 miles, 60.5kWh used for 294 Wh/mi. Something along 287 is needed as it shortens the drive, but also gives an optional route. Coming back from California I had to spend a night in Oklahoma City due to flooding closing the interstates. I would have taken 287 back had there been a supercharger. In hindsight I should have gone 287 and found an RV park to charge for a few hours.

 

[vinnie97]

Hmmm... Google routing puts the difference between the two routes (Corsicana <-> Amarillo, direct vs OKC) at about an hour and a half (100 miles). I've always taken 287 myself in my ICE, and will again if the SC network supports it, but "highly" inefficient? Or is there a qualitative difference that tips the balance?

Yes, to me (as only a hybrid owner thus far), a 100-mile detour is a highly inefficient route. YMMV.

 

[reddy]

Now, IF Tesla Motors could just find a viable business partner/resource in that neck of the woods...

There is a Sonic in Electra at a perfect location, highway 25 and U.S. 287, and they have some extra property right on site.

- - - Updated - - -

Shamrock-Tucumcari matters a lot on direction and wind. West bound I had to drive most of the way at 60mph into headwinds and it was 206.1 miles, 70.1kWh used for 340 Wh/mi. Headed east at 5 mph above the posted speed limits was 206.2 miles, 60.5kWh used for 294 Wh/mi

All of us know how incredibly hard it is to drive 60 mph when the speed limit is 75, and Ford Escorts are passing us at 80mph.

At the posted speed limit Sampson wouldn't have made Tucumcari, and as it is I'm sure there was some range anxiety there.