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Supercharger - Concord, CA (LIVE 2 Mar 2018, 19 V2 stalls)

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#22
I was in the area and stopped by this afternoon to see if I could see any supercharger construction. I couldn't enter the Veranda Shopping Center proper because it's a construction site but I could see the corner near where the supercharger will be from the northeast corner of the Willows Shopping Center. I couldn't find anything indicative of supercharger construction, although if it's not to be along the outside edge I wouldn't be able to see it.
 
#23
Saturday 9/16--I did a drive by at 0900. This is a massive project spanning at least 2 city blocks adjacent to 680 and along Diamond Boulevard. Sign says it opens October 27. Not sure how this will happen given the state of progress I see (but I am not a construction expert and I guess with much overtime anything is possible [how fast does concrete cure]?]). Most of the future parking/hardscape is incomplete. Much dirt, only a few spots of paved surface. Looks like they are getting the electrical infrastructure in for the parking lots. I did see a road grader working on one parking area. But they have acres to pave, stripe, landscape, etc. Many of the buildings themselves look incomplete-essentially no exterior finishes. it is such a mess, clouds of dust and dirt. I don't see how any interior finishes (counters, tables, plumbing, cold cases, freezers, kitchen equipment, etc) can be delivered/installed yet (unless they drive on rutted dirt areas to unload into the buildings). And presumably one would want inside HVAC working with filtration to clear any incoming air of the dust kicked up by the many trucks and parking lot grading. I was only able to drive along the 3 sides of the perimeter--all fenced off and a fair number of workers there. I saw some workers bending rebar outside, maybe for walkways or other concrete work. I did not see any obvious location for the Superchargers (supposedly at the northeast corner of the existing Willows according to above threads), and did not see any shipping crates with Tesla logos. There are several large transformers scattered around, but I'm sure these buildings need a fair amount of power too (like Whole Foods-refrigeration).
 
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#24
ecarfan said:
Sigh. A new 20 stall Supercharger location and some people can only complain.
Click to expand...
If true, then let's keep those complaints coming! They can fuel our love and wonderment, and happy lives!
JSkrehot said:
Another movie theatre? The Concord Brenden is only like 2-3 miles away, and the Pleasant Hill Theatre is real close as well.
Click to expand...
It's an IMAX movie theater according to the article.

I love 3D IMAX movie theaters. Of course, I'm picky, but an IMAX movie theater (3D or not) is a darn good start to increasing probability that I'll meet my specifications on that screen. I've had many a wonderful movie watching at IMAX theaters. (I'm not partial to particular brands; the competition has another type that I find acceptable as well.)
EVCarGUy said:
Wow, 20 spots will barely service the locals. Expanding nearby Dublin had little effect on the lines due to the rich locals getting their free electricity.

I guess there are less rich folks in Concord compared to Dublin and surrounding San Ramon and Blackhawk.
Click to expand...
You've never had long trips on 680, 580? Along those corridors, I got caught in Chademo charging a lot because I couldn't reach Dublin from where I was, or I had to scramble to get to Fremont SC or Manteca SC or line up in Dublin. This Concord site will relieve Dublin and give a lot more journeys a better charging option along their path. In fact, I'd go so far as to say you've probably not done many trips on 580 & 680 in a Model S or Model X in that area if you think an additional SC in the area placed into Concord is bad.
 
Last edited:
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#25
JPP said:
[how fast does concrete cure]?]
Click to expand...
Typically? Or maximum?

Typically, 7 days is the industry benchmark for what they're trying to achieve as a balance of cost effectiveness. Sometimes, they have to go the full 28 days if they're pinching pennies and looking for maximum outcome (you see that on a lot of government jobs, like bridges). 3 days is pushing it, but you see it a lot.

Maximum? You can throw bags of chemical in it to speed it up. It can come mixed like that, or the foreman or lead can see how fast the laborers and masons are working and titrate the number of bags they add to speed it up to how fast their workers are working, and they can call out for them to labor faster. If they have a really good crew, they might be able to get usable strength in hours. There are some mixes that can be used within 20 minutes, but that is true breakneck speed, and I think literally impossible to arrange on any construction site I've ever conceived of in my lifetime; that would require some other-generation other-time hustle that we can't do today, with a sense of purpose we are completely without. But, realistically, if you want to pay the money (no one does), you could probably get it down to half a day, but that's super expensive and super never happens.

Deft planning? You can get it to a modicum of strength and modicum of speed within days, with proper curing agents and enclosures, and get it into service within a week, possibly half that time. That is super rare, but within the realm of paying more to get more done by today's standards; everyone knows how to do it, but basically no one will, unless you engineer it from the beginning of the project and specify it in the bids, and even then, you'd have to twist some arms. Basically no one does it, but it is possible. There are news stories about this or that emergency freeway repair that did it in that timeframe, within 24 hours, or even within 5 hours or something. This harkens back to the "maximum" discussion I had above, since you slip and accidentally add one bag too much speedup chemical, and you're cracking slave whips on your labor, so you need to be ready at the hip for that. Doesn't really happen.

A lot of times people cheat by a few days and just shrug and say "if it falls down prematurely, so be it". You see that a lot. That is one way to speed things up, but generally speaking, I frown on that and would never recommend it as a planning stick. It does happen often with the way time, materials and labor get pushed, though.

So pick your poison!

The technical answer to your question is centuries; concrete takes centuries to cure. It keeps curing. But, there's a sort of log scale of how much strength it gets over time. Also, once it loses the initial hydration, it sort of caps its eventual strength; that is the crux of most of my discussion. If you can keep that moisture in place and not disturb it for as long as possible, you're golden.

While discussing concrete: most people specify grey because it's a few % cheaper. But it's 1,000 times more depressing than white. Pay the extra few % for white at the architecture planning stage, color match the surroundings for a white concrete motif, and go ahead and use white concrete. It is emotionally much healthier.
 
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#26
The planning review was marked as approved on September 22nd. The engineering and building reviews were marked as in progress on 9/22, so perhaps they were on hold until planning was complete. At least they are making progress, but it's not looking too good for having the superchargers online for the shopping center's planned opening on October 27th.
 
#29
Ulmo said:
Typically? Or maximum?

Typically, 7 days is the industry benchmark for what they're trying to achieve as a balance of cost effectiveness. Sometimes, they have to go the full 28 days if they're pinching pennies and looking for maximum outcome (you see that on a lot of government jobs, like bridges). 3 days is pushing it, but you see it a lot.

Maximum? You can throw bags of chemical in it to speed it up. It can come mixed like that, or the foreman or lead can see how fast the laborers and masons are working and titrate the number of bags they add to speed it up to how fast their workers are working, and they can call out for them to labor faster. If they have a really good crew, they might be able to get usable strength in hours. There are some mixes that can be used within 20 minutes, but that is true breakneck speed, and I think literally impossible to arrange on any construction site I've ever conceived of in my lifetime; that would require some other-generation other-time hustle that we can't do today, with a sense of purpose we are completely without. But, realistically, if you want to pay the money (no one does), you could probably get it down to half a day, but that's super expensive and super never happens.

Deft planning? You can get it to a modicum of strength and modicum of speed within days, with proper curing agents and enclosures, and get it into service within a week, possibly half that time. That is super rare, but within the realm of paying more to get more done by today's standards; everyone knows how to do it, but basically no one will, unless you engineer it from the beginning of the project and specify it in the bids, and even then, you'd have to twist some arms. Basically no one does it, but it is possible. There are news stories about this or that emergency freeway repair that did it in that timeframe, within 24 hours, or even within 5 hours or something. This harkens back to the "maximum" discussion I had above, since you slip and accidentally add one bag too much speedup chemical, and you're cracking slave whips on your labor, so you need to be ready at the hip for that. Doesn't really happen.

A lot of times people cheat by a few days and just shrug and say "if it falls down prematurely, so be it". You see that a lot. That is one way to speed things up, but generally speaking, I frown on that and would never recommend it as a planning stick. It does happen often with the way time, materials and labor get pushed, though.

So pick your poison!

The technical answer to your question is centuries; concrete takes centuries to cure. It keeps curing. But, there's a sort of log scale of how much strength it gets over time. Also, once it loses the initial hydration, it sort of caps its eventual strength; that is the crux of most of my discussion. If you can keep that moisture in place and not disturb it for as long as possible, you're golden.

While discussing concrete: most people specify grey because it's a few % cheaper. But it's 1,000 times more depressing than white. Pay the extra few % for white at the architecture planning stage, color match the surroundings for a white concrete motif, and go ahead and use white concrete. It is emotionally much healthier.
Click to expand...

Lmao!!! This has to be the best reply ever! Something I would do. Go in to waaaaay too much detail when all they wanted was “a few days to a month depending on budget” love it. I tip my hat to you sir.
 
#30
You sir, have "the knack"

It's ok. I feel your pain...

Ulmo said:
Typically? Or maximum?

Typically, 7 days is the industry benchmark for what they're trying to achieve as a balance of cost effectiveness. Sometimes, they have to go the full 28 days if they're pinching pennies and looking for maximum outcome (you see that on a lot of government jobs, like bridges). 3 days is pushing it, but you see it a lot.

Maximum? You can throw bags of chemical in it to speed it up. It can come mixed like that, or the foreman or lead can see how fast the laborers and masons are working and titrate the number of bags they add to speed it up to how fast their workers are working, and they can call out for them to labor faster. If they have a really good crew, they might be able to get usable strength in hours. There are some mixes that can be used within 20 minutes, but that is true breakneck speed, and I think literally impossible to arrange on any construction site I've ever conceived of in my lifetime; that would require some other-generation other-time hustle that we can't do today, with a sense of purpose we are completely without. But, realistically, if you want to pay the money (no one does), you could probably get it down to half a day, but that's super expensive and super never happens.

Deft planning? You can get it to a modicum of strength and modicum of speed within days, with proper curing agents and enclosures, and get it into service within a week, possibly half that time. That is super rare, but within the realm of paying more to get more done by today's standards; everyone knows how to do it, but basically no one will, unless you engineer it from the beginning of the project and specify it in the bids, and even then, you'd have to twist some arms. Basically no one does it, but it is possible. There are news stories about this or that emergency freeway repair that did it in that timeframe, within 24 hours, or even within 5 hours or something. This harkens back to the "maximum" discussion I had above, since you slip and accidentally add one bag too much speedup chemical, and you're cracking slave whips on your labor, so you need to be ready at the hip for that. Doesn't really happen.

A lot of times people cheat by a few days and just shrug and say "if it falls down prematurely, so be it". You see that a lot. That is one way to speed things up, but generally speaking, I frown on that and would never recommend it as a planning stick. It does happen often with the way time, materials and labor get pushed, though.

So pick your poison!

The technical answer to your question is centuries; concrete takes centuries to cure. It keeps curing. But, there's a sort of log scale of how much strength it gets over time. Also, once it loses the initial hydration, it sort of caps its eventual strength; that is the crux of most of my discussion. If you can keep that moisture in place and not disturb it for as long as possible, you're golden.

While discussing concrete: most people specify grey because it's a few % cheaper. But it's 1,000 times more depressing than white. Pay the extra few % for white at the architecture planning stage, color match the surroundings for a white concrete motif, and go ahead and use white concrete. It is emotionally much healthier.
Click to expand...
 
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#33
HillCountryFun said:
Would love to see a pic!
Click to expand...

As you wish! I stopped by today and construction has indeed begun. Although the supercharger won't be ready by the shopping center's originally scheduled opening date of October 27th, the rest of the shopping center won't be ready either as there is alot of work to do. Note the massive (~8 feet tall and wide) transformer next to the supercharger site. It and many other transformers have been in place for a while - hopefully it is the one for the supercharger. I wasn't able to see a kVA rating for it.

20171015_111605.jpg
20171015_111807.jpg
20171015_111816.jpg
20171015_111823.jpg
20171015_111850.jpg
 
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#35
ecarfan said:
Nice work! I'll take a photo of a trench in the ground as confirmation of "construction started" and change the thread title. ;)

But it looks like this site won't open for awhile due to the surrounding construction; what do you think?
Click to expand...

Here's another photo toward the central part of the shopping center. I'm sure they want to be open for the Christmas shopping season, but they don't look anywhere close to opening.

20171015_112251.jpg
 
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#36
Ulmo said:
Typically? Or maximum?

Typically, 7 days is the industry benchmark for what they're trying to achieve as a balance of cost effectiveness. Sometimes, they have to go the full 28 days if they're pinching pennies and looking for maximum outcome (you see that on a lot of government jobs, like bridges). 3 days is pushing it, but you see it a lot.

Maximum? You can throw bags of chemical in it to speed it up. It can come mixed like that, or the foreman or lead can see how fast the laborers and masons are working and titrate the number of bags they add to speed it up to how fast their workers are working, and they can call out for them to labor faster. If they have a really good crew, they might be able to get usable strength in hours. There are some mixes that can be used within 20 minutes, but that is true breakneck speed, and I think literally impossible to arrange on any construction site I've ever conceived of in my lifetime; that would require some other-generation other-time hustle that we can't do today, with a sense of purpose we are completely without. But, realistically, if you want to pay the money (no one does), you could probably get it down to half a day, but that's super expensive and super never happens.

Deft planning? You can get it to a modicum of strength and modicum of speed within days, with proper curing agents and enclosures, and get it into service within a week, possibly half that time. That is super rare, but within the realm of paying more to get more done by today's standards; everyone knows how to do it, but basically no one will, unless you engineer it from the beginning of the project and specify it in the bids, and even then, you'd have to twist some arms. Basically no one does it, but it is possible. There are news stories about this or that emergency freeway repair that did it in that timeframe, within 24 hours, or even within 5 hours or something. This harkens back to the "maximum" discussion I had above, since you slip and accidentally add one bag too much speedup chemical, and you're cracking slave whips on your labor, so you need to be ready at the hip for that. Doesn't really happen.

A lot of times people cheat by a few days and just shrug and say "if it falls down prematurely, so be it". You see that a lot. That is one way to speed things up, but generally speaking, I frown on that and would never recommend it as a planning stick. It does happen often with the way time, materials and labor get pushed, though.

So pick your poison!

The technical answer to your question is centuries; concrete takes centuries to cure. It keeps curing. But, there's a sort of log scale of how much strength it gets over time. Also, once it loses the initial hydration, it sort of caps its eventual strength; that is the crux of most of my discussion. If you can keep that moisture in place and not disturb it for as long as possible, you're golden.

While discussing concrete: most people specify grey because it's a few % cheaper. But it's 1,000 times more depressing than white. Pay the extra few % for white at the architecture planning stage, color match the surroundings for a white concrete motif, and go ahead and use white concrete. It is emotionally much healthier.
Click to expand...

I didn't know what curing was. Now I know more than I ever wanted to know. Very riveting. Great job.
 
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