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Supercharger - Casa Grande, AZ

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Great to see this site is under construction!!!!! It's great that you are so close to check it out regularly!! I able to drive down and check it out if you go out of town etc. but with your photos and ease at getting to Culvers, you are saving me a trip. Thank you!

Any trenching,? pedestal foundation forms in the parking area? I'm guessing trenching, conduit, set up, cement forms and rebar, pedestals set up....... Then an INSPECTION before they can proceed with cement, curing, cabinet placement/supercharger placement. INSPECTION. Equipment enclosure framing. INSPECTION. Connection(s)distributions cabinets to the pedestals. INSPECTION. Connection to the Utility transformer. INSPECTION. General site clean up striping etc. FINAL INSPECTION. LIVE!!!

I think constructing this site will move along very quickly and may set a record for being completed in short order if they can use the existing Utility transformer!

Let's hope so:biggrin:

Love the photos. They provide us a good look at the daily progress.
 
Any trenching,? pedestal foundation forms in the parking area? I'm guessing trenching, conduit, set up, cement forms and rebar, pedestals set up.......

I think constructing this site will move along very quickly and may set a record for being completed in short order if they can use the existing Utility transformer!

Let's hope so:biggrin:

Love the photos. They provide us a good look at the daily progress.

No sign of any stall area construction yet. That's where all of their equipment was parked, so I might have missed something. I'll swing by in the morning and see. I'll also take a closer look at the crates and see if I can tell what's there.
 
I think constructing this site will move along very quickly and may set a record for being completed in short order if they can use the existing Utility transformer!

I strongly doubt that they will be able to use an existing Utility Transformer. 3 Supercharger Cabinets feeding 6 Charging Stalls need about 3 x 135 kW / 90% or 450 kW AC in if all equipment is in use at its max. Because the power factor of the Supercharger Cabinets is greater than 0.95, that means 450 kVA of transformer capacity. Because of this Large power requirement, every Supercharger Site seems to have its own Utility Transformer. The only exception that I have seen is for some of the "Mobile," skid-mounted Superchargers.
 
Sunday Morning Update

As promised, I went back over this morning. The crew was not there, so I had a little better access to the area.

Cottonwood... I don't know much about utility transformers. At face value, I would agree with you... it does not look big enough. There is a large conduit run from below the transformer pad over to where the charger cabinets are. If the current transformer is not adequate, I see two alternatives.

  • Replace the existing transformer on the same pad. BTW the output of the existing transformer is 208V... no doubt three phase. It appears to be half transformer and half distribution cabinet.
  • If it is half distribution cabinet, they may be simply taking raw power over to the Supercharger pad and doing something with it over there. Some of you electrical guys chime in on this one. Because of all the businesses in the area, is it possible that the 'raw power' is already what the superchargers need without additional transformers?

Additional pictures taken this morning:

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This is the sidewalk area where the charging stalls will be located. It appears that they are just starting to dig this up. They have taken out about 6 feet so far.


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Here are the equipment crates that are on site so far. There is nothing behind them except trees (and the drive through lane).


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Here is a closer at the Tesla crate. If you look, it says '4 pk charge post'. There are two of these, so we either got 8 stalls delivered, or there are only three in each crate. There are no Supercharger crates or cabinets on the site yet.


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Standing back looking at the whole scene.


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Standing in the drive through lane, looking past the menu board at the charger cabinet area.

That's it for today. Stay tuned for further updates later in the week. :biggrin:
 
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Cottonwood... I don't know much about utility transformers. At face value, I would agree with you... it does not look big enough. There is a large conduit run from below the transformer pad over to where the charger cabinets are. If the current transformer is not adequate, I see two alternatives.

  • Replace the existing transformer on the same pad. BTW the output of the existing transformer is 208V... no doubt three phase. It appears to be half transformer and half distribution cabinet.
  • If it is half distribution cabinet, they may be simply taking raw power over to the Supercharger pad and doing something with it over there. Some of you electrical guys chime in on this one. Because of all the businesses in the area, is it possible that the 'raw power' is already what the superchargers need without additional transformers?

Thanks for all the pictures and scouting!!

Those large grey boxes on site are the Distribution Center for the Supercharger. They will be installed towards the back of what you call the "charger cabinet area" in your last picture.

Although Superchargers can run from 208V, 3-phase, this not desirable because it limits the output per Supercharger Cabinet to 90 kW. To get the full 135 kW DC out per Supercharger Cabinet, requires 480 Volt, 3-phase AC in.

What will probably happen is that they will dig a line from the existing transformer to where the new transformer will go, and share the input connection with that existing transformer. The output of a 480V, 3-phase, 500 kVA transformer at full capacity is 600 Amps per phase. At a typical medium Voltage input of 14.4 kV to these transformers, that is only 20 Amps per phase on the 14.4 kV side; it takes a lot of insulation, but not much copper for these medium Voltage connections.

Keep an eye out for trenching from the Equipment Enclosure (what you call the "charger cabinet area") to where a new transformer will go, and from that new transformer site to the existing transformer. The new transformer will most likely go next to, but outside of, the Supercharger Equipment Enclosure.

Keep the photos coming!
 
Mid week Update

I made an unplanned trip by Culvers today and there has been additional progress. It was unplanned, so I did not have my camera with me.

  • The 6 charging stalls are framed up, but not concreted in. Conduit in place, but no wire.
  • The enclosure area has been fully concreted.
  • There are three new large crates on site. These are the three Supercharger cabinets, still in wooden crates. Crates marked 'DC Fast Charger'

I'll get more pics this weekend.
 
Photos from this afternoon. The distribution cabinets and the superchargers will be on the pad by COB today. There will be a 300 Kv utility transformer at this site. Only six stalls but a small utility transformer all the same if all six stalls are occupied. The crew as been exceptional to work with as far as Culver's management was concerned. Culver's stated that they were the best crew ever associated with any construction at this store. The crew really understands how to keep the customers flowing through the drive thru and into the parking lot even as construction was underway. I stopped for a late afternoon snack too. The food at Culver's is delicious!! Note: the DC's and SC's will be surrounded by a dark red metal wall similar to the one in picture 4.

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Photos from this afternoon. The distribution cabinets and the superchargers will be on the pad by COB today. There will be a 300 Kv utility transformer at this site. Only six stalls but a small utility transformer all the same if all six stalls are occupied. The crew as been exceptional to work with as far as Culver's management was concerned. Culver's stated that they were the best crew ever associated with any construction at this store. The crew really understands how to keep the customers flowing through the drive thru and into the parking lot even as construction was underway. I stopped for a late afternoon snack too. The food at Culver's is delicious!! Note: the DC's and SC's will be surrounded by a dark red metal wall similar to the one in picture 4.

Thanks for the update! Great progress!

The Superchargers have a power factor greater than 0.95, so 300 kVA is almost equal to 300 kW AC power for the site.

Because the utilities operate under different rules, they can size the transformer for somewhere between typical and max load, and not worry about going over max every once in a while. As you implied, even though 3 Supercharger Cabinets could draw almost 3x150kW or 450 kW AC in if all 3 were at maximum power, that will not happen very often and takes a perfect storm of arriving Teslas.

If the local utility cooperates and no disasters happen, this site should be live within two weeks.
 
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Another Saturday Update

Stopped by the Casa Grande SC site again this morning, and more progress is readily evident.

  • Electrical distribution cabinets in place
  • Supercharger Cabinets in place (They are 135kw units if anyone is concerned)
  • Charging stalls are nearly complete except for the cable. Concrete is done.
  • Transformer pit had plywood over it (no doubt for safety) so I could not see anything different from what Tyl posted earlier.

As an aside, There apparently has been an incident at construction site where a non-construction person had crossed the caution tape and was stepping over open trenches. They must have fallen, but not hurt. However, that has prompted the construction co. to start getting more diligent (aggressive?) about keeping folks out of the actual construction area. 'Stand back and take all of the pictures you want, but stay out of the construction area' is the message. They are extremely polite, but are in the process of sending a formal letter to Tesla, asking for some sort of signs to be put up. They don't want to offend any Tesla owners or patrons of the host location, but Safety is Paramount. I will post a separate thread about this.

Now... for the Pictures... (I was standing on the sidewalk or in the street while taking these pictures (yes, I have a zoom lens))

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Cabinets in place.

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View of charging stalls and fresh concrete.

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From a bit further back.

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Another view of the cabinets.

I'll stop by again midweek and see what has progressed.
 
Quick update... I went by Culver's as it was getting dark this evening. The only change that I could see was that the concrete pad for the power transformer was done, and, lo and behold, the power transformer was already installed. Everything else looked the same in the semi-dark. Too dark for pictures, but I think most of us know what a transformer looks like.

I'll see if I can get pictures tomorrow.
 
I'll be driving by the site this weekend. I'll probably stop for my own curiosity but it looks like we have photos already coming in pretty regularly.

Glad to see this one go up, as a frequent driver between Phx and Tucson this will be a welcome addition to the SC family.
 
Casa Grande charger progress

Quick update... I went by Culver's as it was getting dark this evening. The only change that I could see was that the concrete pad for the power transformer was done, and, lo and behold, the power transformer was already installed. Everything else looked the same in the semi-dark. Too dark for pictures, but I think most of us know what a transformer looks like.

I'll see if I can get pictures tomorrow.

My wife and I made a trip from Tucson to check out the charger and take some photos. I got a couple then the camera quit so I didn't get the "good stuff". There was a worker there who was building a block cement wall that will seal the units that were installed before the power transformer. I am not sure what to call them. The brick wall hides the unit as well as the posts that protect them. Wiring to the units has yet to be installed.
 

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(Another) Saturday Morning Update

More progress being made. There were about 6 workers there this morning pulling all of the cables to hook everything up.

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Two for the price of one on this pic. In the foreground you can see the transformer installed to power the supercharger facility. In the background you can see the equipment enclosure. They are installing the enclosure Wooden sides, which match exactly the other enclosures at this site that were already there (Dumpsters and tool enclosure(?) behind the store). You can also see the concrete block sections of the wall reported by another poster.

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Charging stall open on the back. You can see the charging cable in place.

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A little more detail on the cable pulling in progress. To the right you can see a post that will eventually have the Tesla EV parking signs. I talked with the store owner earlier in the week, and 3 of the Stalls will be marked 'Tesla Charging Only', and the other three will be marked with the 30 minute limit signs (for all vehicles except charging Tesla's) that we have seen at other SC locations.

The job foreman was not on site, but from what he said before, and seeing the activity and state of construction, unless there are City inspection problems this one could be going in a week, which is in line with what I was told 2 weeks ago. Looking GOOD!!!