Supercharger - Barstow (EXPANDED, 5 stalls added, now 16 total)

[mrbry]

So how should it be done? Here is the answer: After the first car left, the 1A spot should NOT be used. Continue filling the spots to the right. Car 3 should have pulled into 1B. Car 4 into 2B. Then when I left 2A, both remaining cars would be at full charge power.

Thanks for the tip Mark! Very timely, I'll be heading to Vegas this weekend and it'll be my first time using the Barstow chargers.

 

[Lump]

Finally expanding...

I saw over on the Tesla forums an owner was chatting with the manger of Chili's & they are happy with the extra business the SC is bringing in so they have agreed to 4 more spaces to be completed hopefully by July, I assume they would update the older 90KW chargers with the latest 135's while they are at it.
Barstow Supercharger | Forums | Tesla Motors

 

[4SUPER9]

Finally expanding...

I saw over on the Tesla forums an owner was chatting with the manger of Chili's & they are happy with the extra business the SC is bringing in so they have agreed to 4 more spaces to be completed hopefully by July, I assume they would update the older 90KW chargers with the latest 135's while they are at it.
Barstow Supercharger | Forums | Tesla Motors

Great news! This, along with Primm in the near future, and Vegas is all that much easier. If only the slots were that easy.

 

[DrTaras]

Visited the Chili's each and every time I charge at Barstow. Cliche, I know, but win-win!

Finally expanding...

I saw over on the Tesla forums an owner was chatting with the manger of Chili's & they are happy with the extra business the SC is bringing in so they have agreed to 4 more spaces to be completed hopefully by July, I assume they would update the older 90KW chargers with the latest 135's while they are at it.
Barstow Supercharger | Forums | Tesla Motors

 

[rsquared99]

Stopped at Barstow on my way back to Surprise, AZ last Friday just before noon. All slots full and one car waiting. Got to my turn after about a half hour wait. I started out at the lower charging rate, as we last two cars that started charging were sharing "1" charger. I figured I needed about 240 miles to make it to Kingman (wind and hills), so it took about 50 minutes to gain that range. While I was charging, at least 3 and maybe at one time, 4 cars were in line to charge. Long holiday weekend and lots of traffic to Vegas I was told. The charging queue was mannerly, but I'd say the folks that were already charging when I first showed up were not closely monitoring their charge state as they kind of wandered back with their packages from the factory outlet shops. Of course there may not have been a queue when they started charging. It worked fine for me, but I stayed with my car during the charging session so I could go as soon as I finished getting my mileage. Anyway, I got to Kingman with about 18 miles left, and that was with some drafting behind some semis and a few miles driven at 55 over some of the last hills before Kingman.

 

[spentan]

Yeah they really need 8 spots here or at least 120/135kW upgrade so that people aren't stuck with slow charging.

 

[Cottonwood]

Stopped at Barstow on my way back to Surprise, AZ last Friday just before noon. All slots full and one car waiting. Got to my turn after about a half hour wait. I started out at the lower charging rate, as we last two cars that started charging were sharing "1" charger. I figured I needed about 240 miles to make it to Kingman (wind and hills), so it took about 50 minutes to gain that range. While I was charging, at least 3 and maybe at one time, 4 cars were in line to charge. Long holiday weekend and lots of traffic to Vegas I was told. The charging queue was mannerly, but I'd say the folks that were already charging when I first showed up were not closely monitoring their charge state as they kind of wandered back with their packages from the factory outlet shops. Of course there may not have been a queue when they started charging. It worked fine for me, but I stayed with my car during the charging session so I could go as soon as I finished getting my mileage. Anyway, I got to Kingman with about 18 miles left, and that was with some drafting behind some semis and a few miles driven at 55 over some of the last hills before Kingman.

See Capacity of Superchargers Using an Erlang-B Model - Page 2. Tesla really needs to upgrade Barstow to 8 stalls now.

 

[4SUPER9]

Yeah they really need 8 spots here or at least 120/135kW upgrade so that people aren't stuck with slow charging.

Upgraded kW is always nice. I am not confident that this alone would prevent people from taking an extra hour to shop. You and me, certainly. Others, not so much. Additional stalls are what are absolutely needed.

 

[johnnyS]

We were the only ones at Barstow Wednesday morning. In fact, since leaving California we have not seen a single Tesla. We have charged at Barstow, Kingman, Flaggstaff, Holbrook, Gallup, Blanding and Moab. When we pulled up to the superchargers in Blanding, there was a guy taking pictures of the superchargers parking. He and his whole family were so excited to get to see a Tesla. We are staying at the Best Western in Moab where the supercharger is located--it is nice to have a supercharger in your parking lot.

 

[Owner]

I was in Barstow Wednesday afternoon. Saw two different Teslas charging but no line.

At Kingman I talked to a couple that were eating at the Carl's Jr. They were watching those spots waiting to actually see a Tesla.

The owner of the little art gallery next door is looking at putting in a couch. I suggested that he create a little seating area and offer perhaps wi-fi, coffee and Odwalla juices.

We were the only ones at Barstow Wednesday morning. In fact, since leaving California we have not seen a single Tesla. We have charged at Barstow, Kingman, Flaggstaff, Holbrook, Gallup, Blanding and Moab. When we pulled up to the superchargers in Blanding, there was a guy taking pictures of the superchargers parking. He and his whole family were so excited to get to see a Tesla. We are staying at the Best Western in Moab where the supercharger is located--it is nice to have a supercharger in your parking lot.

 

[Caboom]

Any update regarding the Barstow Spc expansion? I heard that this would be done by July?

 

[David99]

charged there 4 times and never had to wait in line, but the charge power limited. The last time it was 60 kW even though my stall wasn't shared. The guy using the other charger mentioned the same. Good to hear they are upgrading this location.

 

[markb1]

I'll be through there Thursday and Monday. I'll try to remember to report back.

@David99: Do you remember what your SoC what when you were pulling 60 kW? Was that on a nearly-empty pack?

- - - Updated - - -

The last comment on PlugShare, from two days ago, is:

There are 4 charge stalls. The leftmost one is out of order.

 

[Caboom]

Thanks Mark - I'm a little nervous about driving up to Vegas in the Summer and blasting AC etc...and then having to wait in Barstow for hours because of limited capacity or wait times.

 

[callmesam]

Barstow is a disaster waiting to happen (assuming it hasn't happened already). I've arrived in Barstow twice (out of 8 arrivals) with all 4 stalls filled. On three occasions I've had to share a stall and received massively throttled charging. (60 miles of range/hour speed).

Glad to hear about the expansion, but the upgrade to 120 (or 135kWh) should have been changed on the existing spots.

Barstow is ALWAYS in the top five busiest/most kW delivered per the Hawthorne Supercharger Dashboard and July likely won't come soon enough.

/rant over

 

[David99]

@David99: Do you remember what your SoC what when you were pulling 60 kW? Was that on a nearly-empty pack?

Yes it was 9 miles below 0. I monitored the charge power all the way up to 200 miles (when I stopped). It never got any higher than 60 kW. A few days before I charged there and got 88 kW at a higher SoC. Not sure what was wrong that day.

 

[spentan]

Am planning my next trip to Vegas on Wednesday 30/July. Hope that Barstow will be upgraded by then.

I now have a 120kW capable P85, so would be happy to get the quicker charge for sure! Barstow is the only SpC that I really have had to wait at. San Juan Capistrano and Hawthorne have never been an issue

 

[markb1]

There were a couple guys there today poking around in the electric boxes (not the supercharger cabinets or adjacent, but one on the side of the building, and another on the edge of the parking lot). No idea if this was supercharger-related. Otherwise, there were absolutely no signs of any expansion.

It wasn't very busy at lunchtime today. There was one other car when I arrived, and a different car there when I left. I used the second stall from the left, and I was charging at 77 kW early on, according to the mobile app, but the power was fluctuating a lot. Note that I have a 60 kWh pack. 77 is higher than I remember getting at a 90 kW charger.

Also, I charged at the Las Vegas supercharger, today. 4 of the 6 stalls had Project 100 cars camping in them. I was fortunate that only one other non-Project 100 car was there.

 

[callmesam]

There were a couple guys there today poking around in the electric boxes (not the supercharger cabinets or adjacent, but one on the side of the building, and another on the edge of the parking lot). No idea if this was supercharger-related. Otherwise, there were absolutely no signs of any expansion.

It wasn't very busy at lunchtime today. There was one other car when I arrived, and a different car there when I left. I used the second stall from the left, and I was charging at 77 kW early on, according to the mobile app, but the power was fluctuating a lot. Note that I have a 60 kWh pack. 77 is higher than I remember getting at a 90 kW charger.

Also, I charged at the Las Vegas supercharger, today. 4 of the 6 stalls had Project 100 cars camping in them. I was fortunate that only one other non-Project 100 car was there.

What identified the cars as being Project 100?

 

[stevezzzz]

I just sent the following email to a couple of addresses I pulled off the go project100.com website:

Hello, you awesome, forward-looking Shiftians -


I don't know if you're aware of it, but next week marks the second annual Tesla Motors Club user conference, TMC Connect, in Monterey, CA, July 18-20 . There are a lot of Tesla Model S owners driving their cars cross-country to get there, and Las Vegas is a key link in the cross-country chain of Superchargers.


It's come to my attention that a number of Project 100 cars have been observed 'camping out' in Supercharger stalls, by transient Model S owners who stopped in Las Vegas needing a charge to continue on their journeys. I don't know how much you can do to mitigate this behavior over the next couple of weeks (I'm also not sure what 'camping out' actually means in this context; these are third party reports), but if you could just put the word out to your folks who have the cars to keep the Supercharger stalls free when not actively charging, things will go a lot smoother for the TMC Connect folks passing through.


I know of at least a dozen Model S owners caravanning together who are starting the morning of Wednesday, July 16 in Green River, Utah, and who will be passing through the Las Vegas Superchargers mid- to late-afternoon that day. There are many other owners not part of organized caravans who will be passing through starting on Tuesday the 15th and continuing through Friday the 18th, then starting homeward beginning on Sunday the 20th and continuing for some days after that.


We surely appreciate any help you can give us.


Thanks,
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