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Supercharger - Baker, CA - Expansion
- Thread starter MarcoRP
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- California supercharger
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The app says 45 stalls available, 250kw max. Perhaps they flipped the switch on 4 of the V3s for the weekend.
iamnid
Active Member
I was through there over Thanksgiving weekend. It DOES say 250kw max and 45 but none of the new V3s were open. The entire back half of the lot (with all the new V3s) was still taped off and non-operational. Both times I was through here over the weekend (going to LV and then returning to CA), the site was very busy. It needs those new stalls badly. On the way to LV I had to switch handles as the first one I plugged into was only outputting 45kw despite not sharing with the one next to it. I switched to the vacant one that was sharing with the slow one and maxed out at 77kw or thereabouts -- pretty disappointing. Lots of cars sitting at the site charging very slowly.
Mrbrock
Active Member
App is back to 40 and 150kw. I think someone has been doing some backend programming updating the sites where construction is in progress or soon to be and had some of that programming appear in the app. There were a couple other sites that showed expansion stalls as active or included in the total count be unavailable.
Mrbrock
Active Member
“Reliability upgrades”? Agree it sounds like they are bringing in more power to handle peak demand for these sites. Specifically mentioning EV charging ports tells you what is involved indirectly.
ElectricCyclist
Member
This is an upgrade to capacity in the area that will allow for more Tesla Superchargers to be energized.
fholbert
Active Member
Everyone should take the down time and do the walking tour of Baker.
What you do for the next 11 hours 57 minutes is up to you.
Mrbrock
Active Member
I understand this. I wouldn’t call it reliability upgrades. It would be capacity upgrades. Reliability is putting in more durable parts so they don’t break. creating something more reliable doesn’t make it perform better.
It’s really both. Upgrading small overhead conductor such as 6AWG Cu to 2 ACSR or bigger is usually done for reliability reasons as the small conductor can easily burn during faults. Larger conductor can take a lot more fault current and is less likely to burn up and cause a wire down situation. A secondary, but very important, benefit to these reliability upgrades is, of course, much more current carrying capacity on that section of feeder.
ElectricCyclist
Member
You guys are both right in defining the terms I am just making the statement that the limitation here at Baker on why the 56 stall expansion is not yet energized is a limitation in capacity of electricity in the Baker area. This upgrade goes back to the substation serving the area and why the outage required to put in the upgrade in service is required for such a large area, practically the entire town for the two time periods to complete the work.
Also this area is not a cold weather issue at all but that comment might not be related to the location in question.
Mrbrock
Active Member
Seems like they would have waited for the electrical to be in place before starting but I guess they don’t really care about equipment in place but not being used.
ElectricCyclist
Member
I have seen places where Tesla is waiting for the transformer for some time so I think they just go and install when they can. Once they get required permits and complete construction then they put pressure on the Utility to finish it up.
Mrbrock
Active Member
Yes, I totally understand that where the time constraint is based on a third party supplier. They would know the electrical supply wasn’t enough when they applied and that isn’t reliant upon a third party, it would be directly on the utility providing enough power. I guess there could be a third party somewhere down the line but a pad mount transformer is a lot different than new transmission equipment.
fholbert
Active Member
My wife and I did a day trip to Las Vegas today. Got a picture of Baker when it went by, you can see how small and remote it is. Middle of the desert on I-15. Can’t imagine living there.
The mobile app and tesla navigation is now showing 60 stalls available at 250kw max.
ElectricCyclist
Member
Interesting I think that means that atleast part of the expansion is now open but sounds like 20 stalls of the 56 stalls so this is a little deceptive saying 250 kW. Maybe Tesla should break it out to say 40 at 150 kW and 20 at 250 kW. This will be an appreciated additions for the Holidays travel this week and next.
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