Supercharger - Cupertino, CA (LIVE 28 Mar 2018, 10 V2 stalls)

[bmah]

Wow Bruce, 30 different Superchargers is impressive! It seems that this Cupertino SC is busier than Sunnyvale and Mt. View i.e. fewer open slots.

Thanks but thirty isn't that many! The top person on the "Superchargers Visited" leaderboard broke 500 recently.

To keep things on topic, I see that nobody posted any "lots of Teslas charging" pictures yet, so here's one from last weekend. Note that to get to a stall (if you find one free) you need to block traffic in both directions through the garage to back in (as this black Model X is doing). When I showed up there were 3-4 open stalls but I had to pass up the first ones (traveling back to front in this picture) to get enough spacing from the car behind me. Finally wound up in the last open stall, second from the near end in this picture (the silver, pre-refresh Model S is mine).

Bruce.

 

[ExecCat1]

Yes it is a traffic jam disaster as we've all anticipated. There is no convenient place to queue up. In fact, 3 people drove in and immediately left because it was full. If the BBQ was not removed then maybe they would have incentive to stay awhile?!

Moreover, the charging/ parking stalls are narrow and with not much room in the traffic lane it makes it tricky to back in, especially for those who are not particularly skilled in backing up. I was freaking out yesterday because the person who was trying to get into the slot next to me missed her first attempt by a mile (empty parking spot on the other side of her) then on her 5th attempt almost hit me!

 

[Ulmo]

Yes it is a traffic jam disaster as we've all anticipated. There is no convenient place to queue up. In fact, 3 people drove in and immediately left because it was full. If the BBQ was not removed then maybe they would have incentive to stay awhile?!

Moreover, the charging/ parking stalls are narrow and with not much room in the traffic lane it makes it tricky to back in, especially for those who are not particularly skilled in backing up. I was freaking out yesterday because the person who was trying to get into the slot next to me missed her first attempt by a mile (empty parking spot on the other side of her) then on her 5th attempt almost hit me!

That would be an excellent place to hone self-parking abilities of the Teslas.

 

[bmah]

...on her 5th attempt almost hit me!

5th?!?

Bruce.

 

[e-FTW]

The top person on the "Superchargers Visited" leaderboard broke 500 recently.

 

[EVie'sDad]

That would be an excellent place to hone self-parking abilities of the Teslas.

And don't even think of using Summons, unless you are willing to incur costs of vehicle(s) or supercharger stall or cabling damage!

But the Lazy Dog is a fine experience if you have the time...just remember to be considerate and move your Tesla once it is done supercharging (I had to go out and move it just before our meals arrived, but it is a relatively short walk, so no worries).

 

[Bet TSLA]

I stopped by the Cupertino supercharger to check it out today. What a disaster!

When I arrived about 4:15 I joined a line of Teslas strung out to the far side of the chargers (see picture). Necessarily they were blocking the people parked there. All ten stalls were full of course. The first car left at 4:20 and one of the cars in line did the maneuver to get in, temporarily blocking traffic in both directions (but it wasn't busy so that wasn't really an issue).

The next left at 4:29. By that time a couple more Teslas had pulled in behind me, which took a complicated U-turn sort of maneuver, which was executed badly by most so they stuck out into the narrow remaining space for a while. At that point I got out of my car and went to the back of the line to ask the person why they were there since they weren't in a Tesla. "I'm waiting to get out." I explained that this wasn't the way to accomplish that and that they should go around. They did.

Then the next left at at 4:32, which put me at the head of the line. Then the parking structure patrol lady came by on her Segway. She told people they couldn't be double parked like that and that we all had to find parking places or drive around. I explained to her that it couldn't work that way but she was adamant, so I just left.

A bit later I encountered a couple of security guys and asked them about the parking structure situation. They claimed that Tesla had no operational responsibility or control there, that it was all on the venue. They claimed that it was new and they were working it out. However they were very defensive and uninterested in comments, explanations, or descriptions of what people charging might need. They just told me I would be better off coming back after 7PM.

For sure, it's as bad or worse than people here expected. I predict continued disaster. As a local, I will check it out and charge there once late at night some time. I'll also call Tesla and tell them what's happening, but I expect nothing from them. They've acted completely helpless when I've reported Supercharger issues before. Pretty much "Thank you for your concern."

 

[dailo]

With the apartments right next door, it’s pretty convienient for the folks who live there to charge up.

 

[PLUS EV]

I was at this location from about 4:30-6pm on a weekday and didn't think it was all that bad. It was never full when I was there but was near full when I left. I'm sure on other days it does get full around that time, but the rest of the garage didn't seem that insanely crowded so as to be untenable. The amenities in the area are decent, at least in terms of food and beverage, but the day I was there 3 or 4 of the restaurants were shut down for some Apple corporate event lol. I'm not even making that up.

 

[Ulmo]

On the way home, passed by this convenient location.

Full:


Waiting space across from chargers:


Finish box around conduit requires some gap filling to prevent rodents and insects going inside:


Most the owners coming and leaving are young.

 

[Zeromus-X]

There was a parking attendant wearing a Tesla hat yesterday around 1 PM when I went here to charge and grab lunch (the hotel I'm staying at hasn't had available chargers any time I've looked). Unfortunately it isn't valet service, he had a cone and was blocking off a few parking spaces across from the chargers to have people park and wait in 'line'. Unfortunately he only had one cone, so over time any space that opened basically got ICEd. By the time I left he only had two spaces left for Teslas.

It was about a 20 minute wait to charge yesterday even with that going on.

Today, no attendant around 3 PM and about a 10 minute wait.

 

[Zeromus-X]

Oh, and no Edit button so I'll just add this here - while charging, I ate at Panino Giusto yesterday and it was so good I went back today to do the exact same thing. The food is served very fast and isn't a large serving, perfect if you need 20-30 minutes of charger time. One of the best restaurants I've eaten at near a Supercharger anywhere, easily.

No affiliation, just recommending it based on the emotions I had when eating it for the past two days.

 

[PLUS EV]

Oh, and no Edit button so I'll just add this here - while charging, I ate at Panino Giusto yesterday and it was so good I went back today to do the exact same thing. The food is served very fast and isn't a large serving, perfect if you need 20-30 minutes of charger time. One of the best restaurants I've eaten at near a Supercharger anywhere, easily.

No affiliation, just recommending it based on the emotions I had when eating it for the past two days.

I liked that place too. I lived in Italy a long time ago so I like to consider my opinion informed

 

[SMAlset]

We had dinner with friends there a few months back and found it very tasty. Got there early so food came out pretty fast. Otherwise I imagine the wait might be like waiting to charge your Tesla at the SC near there! No doubt the SC location will have it’s full to capacity times but I’m sure during off hours it’s not a problem. Location wise “in general” not a bad one. Kind of like Mountain View before surrounding SCs opened up relieving some of the charging pressure there. 10 spaces for the growing Tesla fleet in Silicon Valley isn’t much but at the moment better than having to drive further out of your way if you’re already in the area.

There are other parking garage SCs out there with similar flow patterns and just think it will take this garage a bit to figure out how to manage the cars waiting to charge and those exiting.

 

[chibi_kurochan]

We had dinner with friends there a few months back and found it very tasty. Got there early so food came out pretty fast. Otherwise I imagine the wait might be like waiting to charge your Tesla at the SC near there! No doubt the SC location will have it’s full to capacity times but I’m sure during off hours it’s not a problem. Location wise “in general” not a bad one. Kind of like Mountain View before surrounding SCs opened up relieving some of the charging pressure there. 10 spaces for the growing Tesla fleet in Silicon Valley isn’t much but at the moment better than having to drive further out of your way if you’re already in the area.

There are other parking garage SCs out there with similar flow patterns and just think it will take this garage a bit to figure out how to manage the cars waiting to charge and those exiting.

Was just there this Saturday and it was a mess. It was empty when I came in and almost dinner time when I left (multiple cars just lining up blocking traffic) they either need to get Valet just like San Mateo or designate a proper waiting spots.

 

[Nente]

They need at least 16 hargers at this location. Anytime a supercharger is located in a mixed use shopping complex with high density apartments, there will be a huge demand. It is a huge mistake to have only 10 stations. Today, Sunday at 5:30 pm, there are 6 cars waiting and 2 other just pulled up and left .

And what's up with the row of non Tesla chargers on the first floor that is virtually always empty. Tesla should petition the City to put 6-10 more down there .

 

[chillaban]

And what's up with the row of non Tesla chargers on the first floor that is virtually always empty. Tesla should petition the City to put 6-10 more down there .

I remember looking up the fees for those once and it would probably be cheaper to pay someone to generate electricity using an exercise bike....

 

[savi]

This charger is now terrible. It’s inundated with idiots lining up on the wrong side and blocking traffic.

 

[chibi_kurochan]

This charger is now terrible. It’s inundated with idiots lining up on the wrong side and blocking traffic.

What is the right or wrong side?

It's a bad location to begin with with no way to properly line up and wait. Either need valet or dedicate entire floor just for Urban chargers. Either way it's blocking traffic.

 

[chillaban]

Yeah I frequent this garage and I'm not sure I understood there to be a right or wrong side, other than the side that people are currently waiting on. Not to mention the parking spots across from the charger stalls — people seem to stage there too.