Supercharger - Batchawana Bay, ON

[PLUS EV]

This makes me wonder about the prospect for SuperCharging for semi trucks. Would truck stops have the electrical infrastructure to be able to simultaneously charge 20-30 trucks? I assume the power requirement for each semi SuperCharger would likely be 4-5X vs existing SuperChargers. Is this going to be a constraint?

It seems like it would be in Batchwana Bay! Probably less of an issue along US interstates, but I'm sure they would still have to troubleshoot some issues in places like the Mojave Desert. There are long stretches without gas stations there, and even keeping those gas stations up and running requires significant effort.

 

[ccudmore]

There are long stretches without gas stations there, and even keeping those gas stations up and running requires significant effort.

As you head north from Batchawana there's a sign at the side of the road that says "Last gas for 150km" (or some number like that). So it's pretty remote.

 

[PLUS EV]

As you head north from Batchawana there's a sign at the side of the road that says "Last gas for 150km" (or some number like that). So it's pretty remote.

Yes, I wasn't saying that the Mojave had a monopoly on gas station deserts. FWIW the longest gap along US interstates is I-70 in southern Utah between Salina and Green River. I believe it's a little over 100 miles, just like the gap between the superchargers!

 

[Bizquick]

As you head north from Batchawana there's a sign at the side of the road that says "Last gas for 150km" (or some number like that). So it's pretty remote.

As you head north from Batchawana there's a sign at the side of the road that says "Last gas for 150km" (or some number like that). So it's pretty remote.

 

[wayner]

I think there is also a similar stretch on Hwy 11 from Hearst to Longlac. It was around 200km between stations - at least it used to be ~30 years ago when I worked on the fibre optic line on that highway.

 

[PLUS EV]

I think there is also a similar stretch on Hwy 11 from Hearst to Longlac. It was around 200km between stations - at least it used to be ~30 years ago when I worked on the fibre optic line on that highway.

I believe Trans-Labrador holds the record, but a lot of it is gravel so you kind of know what you're getting into there.

 

[XHabjab]

As you head north from Batchawana there's a sign at the side of the road that says "Last gas for 150km" (or some number like that). So it's pretty remote.

If you ever drive the Alaskan Highway, just about every gas station has a sign like that.

 

[cpwl]

The Tesla Supercharger Canada Manager was at our Tesla Owners Club of Ontario meeting. He spoke of the difficulties in setting up remote, rural sites. He specifically mentioned Batchawana Bay......They really tried to get this operational, but there was NO chance of getting 3 phase power to the site. There was little chance of anything between The Soo and Wawa.

As a stop-gap, Tesla is looking at setting up the Batchawana Bay site with several destination chargers (80 amps 240 volt). Not perfect, but it may get the needy enough charge to get north or south to a supercharger.

Getting sufficient power for a legacy type Supercharger at remote rural sites is certainly a challenge but is a challenge that needs to be resolved as the network expands to lesser populated areas. Batchawana Bay is a good example of this. But we have seen an example of one solution in the Deep River SC discussion, page 6.

Supercharger - Deep River, ON

Now I'm not saying Tesla should buy and deploy these but Tesla could no doubt build their own higher power and larger capacity equivalent quite easily albeit probably in a 20ft container. If there is sufficient power to run two HPWC at 80 amps there is certainly sufficient power to charge a substantial battery bank (perhaps as much as 4 or 5 powerpacks). Perhaps inverter limitations would limit the chargers to the 72kw "Urban SC" size but even that would be far preferable to L2 charging that tops out at 20KW and then only for early dual charger equipped Model S and X Teslas. For Batchawana Bay in particular travelers wouldn't need a lot of charge to make it north to the SC in Wawa and even less when southbound to get to SSM so lower charge rates would not be overly delaying.

It would be interesting to know if this option has been considered by the Tesla SC team.

 

[Vawlkus]

Getting sufficient power for a legacy type Supercharger at remote rural sites is certainly a challenge but is a challenge that needs to be resolved as the network expands to lesser populated areas. Batchawana Bay is a good example of this. But we have seen an example of one solution in the Deep River SC discussion, page 6.

Supercharger - Deep River, ON

Now I'm not saying Tesla should buy and deploy these but Tesla could no doubt build their own higher power and larger capacity equivalent quite easily albeit probably in a 20ft container. If there is sufficient power to run two HPWC at 80 amps there is certainly sufficient power to charge a substantial battery bank (perhaps as much as 4 or 5 powerpacks). Perhaps inverter limitations would limit the chargers to the 72kw "Urban SC" size but even that would be far preferable to L2 charging that tops out at 20KW and then only for early dual charger equipped Model S and X Teslas. For Batchawana Bay in particular travelers wouldn't need a lot of charge to make it north to the SC in Wawa and even less when southbound to get to SSM so lower charge rates would not be overly delaying.

It would be interesting to know if this option has been considered by the Tesla SC team.

Tesla already has a couple of prototypes in this area. Most are based on/around a flatbed semi trailer. Last one I saw was a portable ‘skid’ with 4 V2 superchargers that would function as a plug in expansion for an existing SC location.

At a guess, a battery powered/supplemented Supercharger has to wait on the high power versions of the 4680’s (the ones earmarked for the CT and Semi). Then to, a solar deployment to make the station grid independent would make sense. Anyone want to start a thread in the main forum so we can compare numbers and see what kind of sizes, dimensions, weights, and power outputs we can theory-craft up?