Supercharger - Columbus, TX

[texag]

Had a little idle time while Supercharging in Columbus a few weeks ago, so I recreated the poster-child Supercharge picture found on the landing page of Supercharger | Tesla to reflect a newer Model S than when their photo was taken (~2012):

2016:

This location is still in decent shape, but could use a little TLC.

 

[Rockster]

Nice shot!

 

[brkaus]

Did they swap out the pedistals?

 

[L.Robinson]

I was there twice last week (first time on I10) and did not recognize it as being the location of that photo. I was the 4th charging the first time and moved once one of the other three left to get the higher charge rate. I did see that pedestal 3B has a worn connector to the point that the internal conductor(s) are exposed on their side. I also noticed that this place is in a flood plane. The hotel is elevated as are the transformers for the hotel and the Tesla gear and the Tesla charging equipment. Only the pedestals are 6+ feet lower than those platforms. So if it is flooding in the area check ahead if planning to use them.

 

[ThortsMD]

That tree branch also hangs out over the cars. I had a big side branch land on my roof while charging there.

 

[Speight]

Did they swap out the pedistals?

The site has the old pedestal design. Apparently, at some point post-pedestal-design-change and pre-S-refresh they must have "swapped out" the pedestals in the photo with Photoshop. I wonder if they digitally edited out the streetlamp also.

 

[KublaConn]

That tree branch also hangs out over the cars. I had a big side branch land on my roof while charging there.

Welcome to Texas! That's a pecan tree, our state tree, and it's a shade-intolerant species, meaning it will engage in "self-pruning", where it drops any branch that it deems isn't getting enough sunlight to be useful anymore. This feature makes pecan trees resilient and able to survive in the sometimes harsh & dry Texas climate, but it also means you don't want to plant one next to your driveway, or at least be very proactive in maintaining the tree if you do so.

 

[SW2Fiddler]

Fun fact: Columbus has conduit in place to add a future fourth SC cabinet and two more stalls.

 

[CA X90]

Stopped @ Columbus SC on 4/23/18 and they WERE operating even though Tesla mapping says they are not in operation and are closed. 100+ KW

 

[TexasEV]

Stopped @ Columbus SC on 4/23/18 and they WERE operating even though Tesla mapping says they are not in operation and are closed. 100+ KW

The one you happened to plug into was working. Others are not.

 

[thenaimis]

Is the Columbus SC being shut down? Seems I heard that mentioned on another thread, relating to leases expiring. And massive flooding.

 

[brkaus]

No one knows. Just speculation.

Columbus Moving?

Like most of TMC

 

[BerTX]

Stopped @ Columbus SC on 4/23/18 and they WERE operating even though Tesla mapping says they are not in operation and are closed. 100+ KW

I also used it yesterday and it was fine .I will use it again tomorrow on the way back from Houston to SA.

 

[PLUS EV]

The superchargers are elevated so flooding never caused it much of a problem. Same story at a couple other locations. Marathon, FL comes to mind.

That being said, when a supercharger location gets flooded, it is unusable until the floodwaters mostly subside. No one is going to drive their 100k car into multiple feet of water just to plug in even if the electrons are flowing.

 

[Chuq]

No one knows. Just speculation.

Columbus Moving?

Like most of TMC

is there a reason people think it is moving, and not just a second location to supplement the route?

 

[TexasEV]

is there a reason people think it is moving, and not just a second location to supplement the route?

It doesn’t need a second location to supplement the route, with Flatonia being 30 miles away and the other Austin-Houston route (US 290) getting a supercharger. The thought of 5 year lease expiring was entirely speculation on my part. Until there is a building permit for another location, actually all of this is just speculation based on a utility site survey. Often nothing ever comes of those. Nothing to get all worked up about on two threads.

 

[brkaus]

Someone on the Austin / San Antonio area group list reported that Columbus is restored to proper full functionality. They talked to a tech repairing it.

 

[wart]

Anyone still curious about Columbus? I'm charging here right now. Getting over 100 kW on 1B. It's the newer style pedestals now. Same old location.

 

[karki]

Three of the six chargers are broken here. One is only giving 30kw.

 

[brkaus]

Report it to Tesla?