Supercharger - Bangor, ME

[Tdreamer]

A plan for a new supercharger has has been found by MarcoRP at a new commercial development site with an address of 699 Broadway, Bangor, Maine.

The plan illustration shows an 8 stall "V4" supercharger configuration being proposed. This appears to have been raised at the September 6, 2022 Bangor Planning Board meeting for discussion. Here are a few illustrations presented at the meeting:

As Marco pointed out in his tweet, this illustrations shows a new generation of pre-fab supercharger unit with pedestals more centered in each parking spot, with charging cables originating from the center (potentially enabling universal charging for vehicles with charging ports in the vehicle right-rear for left front). Jury is still out on how well that would work obviously...

 

[Tdreamer]

Looks like the presented plan was approved by the planning board per the headline the Bangor Daily News article (behind a paywall)

@tes-s @corywright @Big Earl - this seems like it may qualify for a permit pin on supercharge.info.

View attachment 852925

Developer gets OK for shopping center with Starbucks on Broadway in Bangor

The board unanimously approved the application from Alrig USA to redevelop a parcel of land on the corner of School Street and Broadway by an entrance to the Broadway shopping center.

www.bangordailynews.com

 

[ItsNotAboutTheMoney]

Not too bad. 5 minutes walk, 0.3 miles from Moe's.
Off School St so the left back onto Broadway is at a light.

 

[Rick19-M3]

Put one at the Hannaford Shop & Save in Caribou and the state will be mostly covered.

 

[ArcticStation]

IInteresting. No mention of non-Tesla units. I wonder if these will also be CCS capable. And why Bangor with the Brewer Supercharger only a few minutes away? When we drive by Brewer on our way to Walmart, there MAY see one or two cars charging. For folks headed to Bar Harbor, the Ellsworth Supercharger is little more than 30 minutes away from Brewer. For folks headed north, we have been able to charge at the Medway/Millinocket Supercharger only 60 miles away for well over a year (yes, you CAN get there from here). IMHO Tesla has done a great job supporting Tesla owners in our part of Maine (at least IRT Supercharger availability). But Maine is a wasteland for CCS L3. Bangor has one L3 Chademo located at the Nissan dealership. A single, 50KW CCS unit is planned for Bangor later this year to be located at an Irving gas station near an interstate offramp and several hotels. True, Maine government plans to fund buildout of additional CCS L3 chargers along I95 and other major arteries in the future, but most installations will most likely be one, or possibly two 50KW units. The Broadway initiative is a great opportunity to meet immediate needs for CCS L3 in our area, as well as help satisfy future requirements for the entire EV community, both Tesla and CCS.

 

[kayak1]

Put one at the Hannaford Shop & Save in Caribou and the state will be mostly covered.

Mostly covered? Head up RT1 into Eastport, you will see that it's not covered. Not sure how one would do a canoe trip on the Allagash. Allagash Wilderness Waterway Conditions and Alerts: Water Activities: Bureau of Parks and Lands: Maine DACF

Please take a look at Plug share, you will see that Maine has some of the most significant gaps in DC fast charging compared to other states.

Maine has a long way to go to be mostly covered. That said, we have better coverage than the Tesla DC coverage of Newfoundland.

 

[Tdreamer]

IInteresting. No mention of non-Tesla units. I wonder if these will also be CCS capable. And why Bangor with the Brewer Supercharger only a few minutes away? When we drive by Brewer on our way to Walmart, there MAY see one or two cars charging. For folks headed to Bar Harbor, the Ellsworth Supercharger is little more than 30 minutes away from Brewer. For folks headed north, we have been able to charge at the Medway/Millinocket Supercharger only 60 miles away for well over a year (yes, you CAN get there from here). IMHO Tesla has done a great job supporting Tesla owners in our part of Maine (at least IRT Supercharger availability). But Maine is a wasteland for CCS L3. Bangor has one L3 Chademo located at the Nissan dealership. A single, 50KW CCS unit is planned for Bangor later this year to be located at an Irving gas station near an interstate offramp and several hotels. True, Maine government plans to fund buildout of additional CCS L3 chargers along I95 and other major arteries in the future, but most installations will most likely be one, or possibly two 50KW units. The Broadway initiative is a great opportunity to meet immediate needs for CCS L3 in our area, as well as help satisfy future requirements for the entire EV community, both Tesla and CCS.

I think the community assumption is that if these are indeed built with Supercharger V4 hardware then they should either include CCS capability, or be readily upgradable to include it. Since nobody has seen one yet, and Tesla has yet to formally announce it, this is all speculation at this point.

 

[B_E_V]

@Tdreamer posted to @mcf747 in this thread.

Oh... and as long as you're up that way - if you happen to be swinging through Bangor, ME and want to check to see what's happening at the proposed site there that would be great! Supposed to be part of a new Starbucks location being built at 685 Broadway in Bangor.

Since I rode down Broadway on July 6th, 2023, I'll give an update. I remembered from the September 2022 posts in this thread that the new site was fairly close to the Hannaford on Broadway. However, I did not remember/know it was supposed to be part of a new Starbucks location. I couldn't stop, since I was just a passenger in the car. However, I was hoping to catch a glimpse of the upcoming Supercharger site.

The only construction I saw near Hannaford matches. It was a building in the early stages of construction surrounded by a chain link fence, with a Starbucks sign. A foundation and concrete or masonry walls seemed to be under construction or perhaps finished. Definitely no roof on the building yet. The ground around the building was still very rough.

 

[ItsNotAboutTheMoney]

Views at the back of the lot, where the plan shows Superchargers would be installed.
As @B_E_V noted above it's still early in development. The back lot isn't even flat.

(Moe's had Redneck nachos, and I know my wife likes them, so I suggested we eat at Moe's , then I'd check out the development. In return I have to do a ghost walk with her when we go on vacation. I like Moe's but they don't have catfish as much as they used to, and it turned out they were out of smoked turkey as well.)

 

[Tdreamer]

Thanks for the photos. The gray conduit looks potentially related to supercharger work, along with what could be bollards in the foreground (rusting pipes). The site plan found was drawn to show pre-fab units - if the conduit is related it would probably be for the primary feeds unless the site was redesigned for a traditional supercharger install instead. Of course it could also all be for the electrical service for the Starbucks too.... Insufficient information to consider the supercharger under construction just yet.

 

[ItsNotAboutTheMoney]

A couple of new photos.

I don't know the progress in the building, but the lot is filled in and has asphalt. The front looks a bit more finished than the back.
The photos show the rear where the Superchargers were planned to be. Looks like there's space behind to put the modules, and space where a trailer is currently to put the transformer and distribution. (Also note the base for the light pole which is nicely placed between there the modules would go.

 

[Tdreamer]

Just looking at your second photo and noticed a bollard in the asphalt near where the superchargers will begin placement. Not sure why that's there.

Regardless, if there is anyone close to the site that might be willing to swing by every few weeks to see if the supercharger work has begun it would be appreciated. With the lot paved, it could happen any time now (and may have already begun since the previous update a few weeks ago). I'm not sure Google Street View updates often (current photos are from July '23 and show the construction of the site overall underway)

 

[B_E_V]

As of September 13th, 2023 the supercharger work had NOT started. If the chargers are going where shown on the first post of this thread, there was not any conduit run underground, nor even any trenching.

The building was still on temporary power, though multiple empty conduits from a power pole to the back of the building were in place. The chain-link fencing was gone. Curbing had been installed around the paving. There was even an irrigation box installed.

The bollard mentioned might be for lighting. There were a number of decorative street lights on the ground, but not yet installed.

I probably won't be in the area again for many months, so someone else will probably post the next update.

 

[ItsNotAboutTheMoney]

As of September 13th, 2023 the supercharger work had NOT started. If the chargers are going where shown on the first post of this thread, there was not any conduit run underground, nor even any trenching.

The building was still on temporary power, though multiple empty conduits from a power pole to the back of the building were in place. The chain-link fencing was gone. Curbing had been installed around the paving. There was even an irrigation box installed.

The bollard mentioned might be for lighting. There were a number of decorative street lights on the ground, but not yet installed.

I probably won't be in the area again for many months, so someone else will probably post the next update.

One of the light posts on the ground would go on the concrete bollard, but I think they were referring to whatever is sticking out of the asphalt.

 

[ArcticStation]

Drove by today. Work has started.

 

[Tdreamer]

Sure looks like it could be a transformer vault and primary trench. Anything else there that looked like preparation for the supercharger installation along the edge of the parking lot beyond the vault by chance?

Also curious - was the construction crew Coordinated Civil Management perhaps (hard to read the logo on the truck in the photo, but looks like it could be). If so, they've been associated with supercharger work in the region recently and that would likely confirm this was the supercharger work beginning.

 

[ArcticStation]

Here are a few more photos taken this evening:

The truck is from Coordinated Civil Management.

 

[Tdreamer]

Thanks for the updates. I think we can call this under construction!

 

[richardl007]

Lots of progress

 

[B_E_V]

Lots of progress

Prefabrication sure speeds things up!

I deduce prefab from the QR code sticker on the side of the concrete, and the gap between the concrete for the two sets of four chargers in the picture.