I agree. Driving from Tacoma to Portland and back is difficult. There needs to be another super charger in or around Vancouver, WA. It looks bad on the viability of the Tesla electric vehicles when I can’t drive around Vancouver and Portland because I have to save electrons to make sure I can make it back to Centralia for my trip home. I’ve had to resort to L2 Blink chargers to add just a few miles “just in case”.
I agree. Driving from Tacoma to Portland and back is difficult. There needs to be another super charger in or around Vancouver, WA. It looks bad on the viability of the Tesla electric vehicles when I can’t drive around Vancouver and Portland because I have to save electrons to make sure I can make it back to Centralia for my trip home. I’ve had to resort to L2 Blink chargers to add just a few miles “just in case”.
FWIW, Planned SC map shows two urban SCs in Portland for 2017, plus three more urban SCs around Portland and one presumably regular SC in Longview for 2018.
GHammer
What a long strange trip its been.
This is why I bought a CHAdeMO adapter. There are several reliable, convenient, Aerovironment stations on I-5 in WA between Superchargers.
The same for me on my trips from Portland to Seattle. With my previous MS60, I had to stop at some J1772 station for at least a few hours while visiting Seattle in order to make it back. Later on when the CHAdeMO adapter came out, I just stopped at Fife and used a Blink there for about 10 minutes. After about $3 in expensive electrons, I had enough to make it back to Centralia just fine. With my current MS75, I can do the round trip. But still need to charge very high up to give myself buffer. I'm looking forward to when they build a SC in Olympia. I can stop there going up and then Centralia going back. Plus there's only so many times I can stop and eat at McDonald's, Cousin's, or Denny's in Centralia.
wdolson
Well-Known Member
My first drive any distance was to Tacoma and back to Clark County (just north of Portland, "I can see Oregon from my house!"). We stopped in Centralia for a charge, but I probably could have made it home if I had driven slowly. As it was we wanted lunch anyway so I dropped my SO at the restaurant, parked the car at the supercharger and the car was done before we were.
I have often thought a good location for a supercharger would be around the Clark County Fairgrounds just north of the I-5/I-205 meet, or possibly as far north as Ridgefield. Longview is a bit too close to Centralia IMO, but it's good enough. Tesla may have picked Longview because they might be thinking about putting a delivery/service center there. I told someone at Tesla that Longview has a lot of car dealerships because it has the lowest sales tax in Western Washington. That's where my SO got her Subaru in 2012. They thought that was interesting, though I don't know if it went up the corporate ladder or not.
melindav
☰ 2018
curious if anyone has tested out if there is a charge rate (speed) difference between the original and new pedestals?
Or if the original ones were upgraded at all when the new went in? I've seen some posts on some of the other 2013ish Superchargers being upgraded to keep up with the new locations (maybe this previously happened at Centralia).
I am still a few months away from using any Supercharger, but with Portland:Seattle my most common road trip, Centralia will be where I am for most SCg I expect.
Or if the original ones were upgraded at all when the new went in? I've seen some posts on some of the other 2013ish Superchargers being upgraded to keep up with the new locations (maybe this previously happened at Centralia).
I am still a few months away from using any Supercharger, but with Portland:Seattle my most common road trip, Centralia will be where I am for most SCg I expect.
ecrsail
Member
Castle Rock would make more sense than Longview for St Helen visits (IMO), but either would be welcome from the perspective of visiting Mt St Helens from Portland.
I recently returned from a day trip to Johnston Ridge Observatory, leaving my hotel in the Pearl District in downtown Portland with my P90D X fully charged thanks to a destination charger. Despite driving at moderate (55-65 mph) freeway speeds on the way there, by the time I reached the Johnston Ridge parking lot, the onboard navigation was predicting I’d arrive at Centralia (currently the closest supercharger) with only 3% reserve. Since my ultimate destination for the day was Hood River and not the hotel in Portland, I opted to drive very slowly (~40 mph) down from the observatory and reached Centralia without incident, but boy did that take extra time.
For those contemplating the trip, I highly recommend a visit to Johnston Ridge Observatory. Plan to spend the day hiking around, dress for wind and varying temps, and hope you have relatively clear skies!
MikeBur
ManualPilot
The older stalls were upgraded at Centralia a while ago, though a quick browse through my TeslaFi logs for the SpC sessions can not determine any significant change in charge rates.. ie I couldn’t tell you when they were upgraded by the recorded data.
wdolson
Well-Known Member
I haven't been to Mt St Helens in my S 90D yet, but I've been to Parkdale, OR and back twice. That's only ~2000 ft, but we live about an hour from Hood River. We made it back home with over 100 miles range.
Having to limp north to Centralia is both out of the way if your going back south, and a bit far from Mt St Helens. I figure I could probably make the round trip from home to Mt St Helens and back, but a smaller battery car might be a bit tight. The supercharger at Longview should be good enough.
I think Tesla screwed up putting the Sandy supercharger as far away from I-84 as they did. I know it was put there to help people get to the ski area at Timberlane Lodge on Mt Hood (6000 ft), but if it had been closer to I-84 it would have helped people leaving Portland who were at low charge or passing through Portland.
mooner
Member
Driving from Seattle to Portland today - got really worried as the navigation was showing the entire Centralia supercharger as out of service. Fortunately arrived with all the newer stalls operational (freeway side). Looks like they are upgrading or replacing the charger / rectifier cabinets for the older side.
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mooner
Member
GTKAZ
Supporting Member
Man hope you’re right. Saw it was “reduced service” in the Model S nav. Picking up the Model 3 in Portland tomorrow so banking on using the Centralia supercharger
MikeBur
ManualPilot
Anyone know if these pedestals are being swapped out? As crazy as it might seem, I’m trying to pick up a couple...
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