Supercharger - Bothell, WA

[darknavi]

Haven't been there in a few months but it often has wait times in the app/car when I see it.

Side note: if I drove a company car 200 Mike's every day I'd definitely charge to 100% and try not to supercharge during the work day.

 

[blue y]

Looks like it’s been a while since anyone has commented on Bothell, but I was getting a roofing quote from a company today and the guy rolled up in a model 3. So of course I had to ask him about it. He does about 200 miles a day and the company got them when gas was pushing $6 a gallon.

He said Charging is sometimes a problem, in particular he said he had to wait 70 minutes once at Bothell to get a free stall because “half“ the stalls weren’t working and he only had 16 miles range left and felt he couldn’t make it to another charging site.

Has anyone had a similar experience lately at Bothell? Are they really that disfunctional here?

I told him to get PlugShare app, or come to my house next time.

It's a slow charger in probably the most dense tesla ownership location in the state between Kirkland/Bothell. Kirkland Supercharger will be online soon. Lynnwood has two SCs now including a brand new one. EA one exit up over at the Bothell Fred Meyer. EA over in Woodville less than 2 miles away.

I wouldn't say its a charging desert by any means but it will be nice when Kirkland comes online probably. 72kW is pretty slow anymore.

 

[Kuhz]

72kW is pretty slow anymore.

Speak for yourself

- old school S owners

 

[mister yub]

I’m here now - very busy, but at most 2 of 10 stalls are broken (based on what it said was available when I got here).

 

[Seattle Tom]

The Bothell Village Creek SC has been temporarily closed for several days now so I swung by on the hopes it might be in process of upgrade to V4 (to match the new Bothell V4 SC going in on Bothell Everett Highway). I have no idea if V4s would fit in such a snug configuration of that garage but I live 5 mins away and hope springs eternal.

Doesn’t seem to be an upgrade. The 72kw SCs are still on the wall with “Out of Order” signs and there are two large trucks blocking several spots near the transformer. Maybe a big electrical problem during the cold snap?

Anyway, I didn’t see any new SCs or indication a major install was going on…just major electrical work.

 

[Big Earl]

The Bothell Village Creek SC has been temporarily closed for several days now so I swung by on the hopes it might be in process of upgrade to V4 (to match the new Bothell V4 SC going in on Bothell Everett Highway). I have no idea if V4s would fit in such a snug configuration of that garage but I live 5 mins away and hope springs eternal.

Doesn’t seem to be an upgrade. The 72kw SCs are still on the wall with “Out of Order” signs and there are two large trucks blocking several spots near the transformer. Maybe a big electrical problem during the cold snap?

Anyway, I didn’t see any new SCs or indication a major install was going on…just major electrical work.

I was wondering about that. The closure pin has been there for a few days. I’ll update supercharge.info.

 

[drtimhill]

The Bothell Village Creek SC has been temporarily closed for several days now so I swung by on the hopes it might be in process of upgrade to V4 (to match the new Bothell V4 SC going in on Bothell Everett Highway). I have no idea if V4s would fit in such a snug configuration of that garage but I live 5 mins away and hope springs eternal.

Doesn’t seem to be an upgrade. The 72kw SCs are still on the wall with “Out of Order” signs and there are two large trucks blocking several spots near the transformer. Maybe a big electrical problem during the cold snap?

Anyway, I didn’t see any new SCs or indication a major install was going on…just major electrical work.

hmm where is the new SC (under construction I assume) located along Bothell Everett?

 

[Kuhz]

hmm where is the new SC (under construction I assume) located along Bothell Everett?

Supercharger - Bothell, WA - 201st PL SE (under construction Nov 2023, 12 V4 stalls)

Heres a new site, not Blackstone, interesting location. Address is for the Sound Credit Union at North Creek Shops.

teslamotorsclub.com

 

[Seattle Tom]

I was wondering about that. The closure pin has been there for a few days. I’ll update supercharge.info.

I was back in the area today when it was still light outside so pics from the car. Really wasn’t much to see in my opinion…and it was darn cold outside.

I don’t recall the interior set of multiple cabinets (my first pic) being there previously FWIW. but could just be my bad memory.

Only the big cabinet outside - far left of the pic where the two trucks are parked.

 

[Big Earl]

What are those two big Cat diesel generators doing there? Looks like there’s a problem with the main power supply at this location, and they’re running the buildings (but not the Superchargers) on diesel power.

 

[Seattle Tom]

What are those two big Cat diesel generators doing there? Looks like there’s a problem with the main power supply at this location, and they’re running the buildings (but not the Superchargers) on diesel power.

Yes, reasonable guess. Not sure my photos caught the wires snaking into the garage, but there were many.

 

[Mrbrock]

Yeah, looks like no power so using generators as backup. No reason to power chargers from diesel. Also, Urban V2 to V4 is not an easy upgrade. They’d have to demo everything and rerun electrical and probably need a new transformer as well.

 

[Seattle Tom]

Good details! That seems to rule an upgrade out.

Today on site was Veca Electric and Technologies with multiple trucks…but I didn’t see a single guy around who I could ask questions. Hopefully they repair what was broken and the site comes back online soon.

 

[Mrbrock]

Good details! That seems to rule an upgrade out.

Today on site was Veca Electric and Technologies with multiple trucks…but I didn’t see a single guy around who I could ask questions. Hopefully they repair what was broken and the site comes back online soon.

Emergency service transformer.

 

[blue y]

I drove by there last night and the generators were all purring away still. Generators were inspected yesterday according to that permit. 2 800A interconnected generators feeding 1600a service to building... I wonder how long the repairs will take, kinda crazy seeing the building powered that way.

 

[Mrbrock]

I drove by there last night and the generators were all purring away still. Generators were inspected yesterday according to that permit. 2 800A interconnected generators feeding 1600a service to building... I wonder how long the repairs will take, kinda crazy seeing the building powered that way.

Those 2x 800A generators are replacing 1x 1200A and 2x 1600A services. Hmmm...

 

[Mrbrock]

Looks like underground service has been fixed and they are running new feeders to the Tesla equipment. 4000A seems like a lot for 10 Urban SC. Wonder if they plan to upgrade now that the power available has been increased.

 

[blue y]

I think the real tell will be if it says anything about having 480v3ph available or if its just 208v. Pretty sure anything with v3 cabinets are all 480v3ph with a 600A breaker (430A continuous according to the label) per cabinet so you would typically see 1600A or 2000A @ 480v3ph site level for a 12 stall. Correct me if I'm wrong, it's not my wheelhouse, but I think the urban 72k SCs typically run off 208v3ph?

 

[Mrbrock]

I think the real tell will be if it says anything about having 480v3ph available or if its just 208v. Pretty sure anything with v3 cabinets are all 480v3ph with a 600A breaker (430A continuous according to the label) per cabinet so you would typically see 1600A or 2000A @ 480v3ph site level for a 12 stall. Correct me if I'm wrong, it's not my wheelhouse, but I think the urban 72k SCs typically run off 208v3ph?

Not sure on voltage but 10/2=5x150kw=750kw. A V3 cabinet maxes out around 400kw I believe (387kVA rough math). So you could replace 10 V2 with 8 V3 with roughly the same available power which would be around 1000A 480V 3P. 4000A would be 32 V3 unless some of that 4000A is for the rest of the development.

As far as 208V 3P, that is usually a step down from 480V 3P so the main power being run should be 480V 3P. It wold be very rare to have that large of a development on 208V 3P from the utility. You see some 208V 3P in rural areas from the utility but anything with major power requirements would require too much amperage at 208V 3P.

 

[Big Earl]

I think the real tell will be if it says anything about having 480v3ph available or if its just 208v. Pretty sure anything with v3 cabinets are all 480v3ph with a 600A breaker (430A continuous according to the label) per cabinet so you would typically see 1600A or 2000A @ 480v3ph site level for a 12 stall. Correct me if I'm wrong, it's not my wheelhouse, but I think the urban 72k SCs typically run off 208v3ph?

I've never come across a Tesla Supercharger that was powered by 120/208. On V2 and Urban sites, the individual chargers within each charging cabinet are each powered by one leg of 277 volts (actually 280ish because most V2 sites are boosted to just over 500 volts incoming AC. There are 12 chargers in four groups of three - each charger in a group is on a different phase. Trying to do that with 120-volt legs would reduce the output substantially since the chargers can only handle just over 40 amps each.