Supercharger - Carlsbad, CA (7710 El Camino Real, LIVE 27 Sep 2018, 26 urban stalls)

[Graffi]

Since you are coming south on I-5 through LA, just make San Clemente your last Supercharger stop. Charge up to as high as you wish to stay there, 90% up to 100%. It is only about 25 miles to Oceanside so you can discharge your Tesla quite far, and still have 25 miles left to get back to San Clemente. If you find yourself driving south to San Diego while here you can still avoid the San Diego Supercharger at Qualcomm if you wish and just use a Tesla HPWC (Destination charger) at various places around San Diego area. Check the car's navigation once you know where you will be staying for a while. They also have them in the parking garages close to the Tesla showroom at both UTC and Fashion Valley malls.

Do not worry too much, chances are that you will be able to drive all that you need and still have sufficient charge to get you back to San Clemente without having to charge up anywhere else.

And who knows, maybe Carlsbad Supercharger will be online by that time. It is two months away....

 

[Ed Trotter]

All of the above advice is good, excellent even. San Clemente is your go-to charging spot, of course. One thing you might want to do is bring along a 100-foot or so higher capacity 120-volt extension cord. I've had to use such before we had a nearby Supercharger while my driveway was being repaved and couldn't get to my garage HPWC. We were surprised that we managed two weeks with only that. In fact, we ended up with more charged miles than when we began. We got 4 mph of charge. So, 14 hours produced a net gain of 56 miles. It provides a margin. Just a thought.

 

[bmah]

It feels like some of the discussion above (while useful and helpful) should probably go somewhere other than the discussion of this one Supercharger.

Bruce.

 

[ecarfan]

Yes, we’re kind of getting off topic for this thread. That said, since this new Supercharger isn’t operational yet, I am not being to strict about it.

In any case, if someone wants advice about planning a long distance Tesla trip in California, they are welcome to start a thread in the main California forum. Otherwise, see From the moderator: guidelines for this sub-forum

 

[PHYLLIS]

All of the above advice is good, excellent even. San Clemente is your go-to charging spot, of course. One thing you might want to do is bring along a 100-foot or so higher capacity 120-volt extension cord. I've had to use such before we had a nearby Supercharger while my driveway was being repaved and couldn't get to my garage HPWC. We were surprised that we managed two weeks with only that. In fact, we ended up with more charged miles than when we began. We got 4 mph of charge. So, 14 hours produced a net gain of 56 miles. It provides a margin. Just a thought.

Thank you for your information about Carlsbad and sand Diego charging.

 

[Ryan_Webb]

A few pictures taken today around 1pm

 

[N13MS]

Thanks for the aerial update. Really curious what the area with the beams is for. Has anyone seen something similar at another Supercharger construction site?

 

[SDRick]

Drove by yesterday and couldn’t see anything compared to the ariel shots. So thanks for the “view”!

 

[Point 3]

Drove by yesterday and couldn’t see anything compared to the ariel shots. So thanks for the “view”!

Same here, Thanks!

 

[Chuq]

A few pictures taken today around 1pm

Excellent first post Welcome to the forum!

 

[Cosmacelf]

I still don’t know what the heck they are doing in that spot with the beams. It looks like they need to build a retaining wall for that slope on the left. And then the rest of the beams make an enclosure, probably without a roof. Presumably this is the spot where the 10 SC cabinets will go. I would have thought they would need to grade it flat inside instead of leaving a slope in there? Anyways, not a lot of visible progress since the last aerial picture.

 

[markb1]

It doesn’t look like any sort of retaining wall that I’ve ever seen. Or fence... unless they are building a raptor enclosure!

Also the beams are at seemingly random heights. And there are a bunch of extra beams lying on the ground, a couple of which are wrapped in rebar. It’s just so strange!

 

[Cosmacelf]

Well, the rebar wrapping could be the part of the beam below ground and that’s for the concrete. Seems like waaaay overkill though. I would have thought you could just pour concrete around the beams for proper anchoring. And some of those rebar wraps are really long. Surely the engineering couldn’t be so extreme as to require 10’ of buried rebar wrapped concrete?

The different beam heights could just be because they haven’t sent anything in concrete yet.

I am still guessing they will put some sort of horizontal slats between the beams to build the walls. But it’s going to look like crap unless there is more to it than that. Those corners are going to look hideous.

 

[4SUPER9]

This is clearly not a retaining wall. My guess is that the extensive foundation with I-beams are likely required due to the massive hill above it. If there is a rainstorm and mudslide, they want to make sure this structure does not budge one bit.

The different beam heights could just be because they haven’t sent anything in concrete yet.

I am still guessing they will put some sort of horizontal slats between the beams to build the walls. But it’s going to look like crap unless there is more to it than that. Those corners are going to look hideous.

As far as the varying beam heights with the what appears to be a sense of randomness about this project, my sense is that it is we that do not understand the steps of this process. Those are expensive beams and my bet is that they are not placed willy-nilly as it may look.

@Hokie12 and @Ryan Webb, thank you both very much for the drone shots. We would all be very much appreciative if you can stop by again for some more pics as the project progresses. With your help, perhaps we will understand what they are doing.

 

[Cosmacelf]

Yes, the beams are just resting in pits, they aren’t set yet, so presumably it’ll make more sense later.

Btw, I hope people realize that us commentators here are just spitballing and guessing. We don’t have the plans (which may change anyways due to a variety of external factors) and very possibly will be proved wrong in our analysis and critiques.

 

[markb1]

Just noticed this from one of the aerial shots above:

It looks like they extended the existing concrete retaining wall a little bit with more concrete, and fit an I-beam over the end. Seems like it should be a clue about what they're up to, but I still can't make sense of it.

 

[Cosmacelf]

Good catch. I remained confused as well.

 

[N13MS]

My vote is that is the beams will turn into anchors for two retaining walls, due to the grade. One would extend from the current wall (on the east side of the parking lot) and the lower set of beams will eventually curve around and down to the entrance of the parking lot. Whatever they’re doing, it’s a pretty significant investment. Tesla must’ve really wanted this spot.

 

[Cosmacelf]

Yes, there is a lot going on here, not your usual, plop something down in a parking lot SC.

I just went by there today and noticed that the lower retaining wall, the one by the lower parking lot where the two handicap stalls are, is in serious need to rebuilding/repair. It is a concrete block wall, but it is actually leaning over by 10 degrees or something. Maybe that’s why the builder draped the conduit over the wall, maybe it is going to be replaced or repaired at some point.

 

[Moonlight]

It is interesting, those beams are super heavy duty. I'm not sure you can tell in the photos, but the ditch between upright beams and the fence (the entrance) is very deep, my guess is around 12 feet.

Hmm, maybe they'll install a battery swap station. Or, maybe a Boring tunnel station. Just kidding, I know better, I'm just having fun.

Thanks for the drone shots!