Supercharger - Dedham, MA

[mitch672]

stopped by today, around 4PM (Daylight), not much more progress, but they have painted the underside of the roof matte black, along with the new ductwork that was installed.. the rear of the building has a lot of paved space, looks like a good spot to take some delivery pressure off Watertown. I walked the entire property and took a lot of shots. Next to last photo shows the chain link fence removed to the back of the building, plus some red marks on the pavement (could be marking's by "dig safe" marking existing natural gas line, for upcomming supercharger work). utility pole also shown with HV lines at the top, which is right on the property line. looks ideal to put a transformer next to for a SuperCharger.

existing 3 phase service to building, probably 120/208

my guess for where SuperChargers will be placed:

leftover from the "oil age", former outdoor waste oil storage area:

nothing to do with Dedham site, but nearby COSTCO gas station, installed November 2014, no wonder COSTCO has been removing EVSE's:

 

[EdA]

Opening in a month?

Any updates?

I heard the site will be opening in a month...

 

[mitch672]

I'll stop by on Sunday and take some pictures, if their is any visible progress.

 

[3mp_kwh]

Was by last night. Entrance taped off, with lots of the old asphalt dug up. It didn't look like typical supercharger trenching, or spaces. Just the lot. No ability to drive on and see hardware delivery. Some red paint has gone up on the walls. The good news is progress, and for the most part steady work going on at this site.

 

[MezzaLuna]

Does anyone know the outcome of last week's Planning Board meeting? It was on the agenda as "Tesla, 840 Providence Highway, SITE- 12-14-1985: Site plan for new automobile dealership". Any guesses about next steps and timing? Thanks.

 

[AudubonB]

Dealership! Way cool! Pass the popcorn....

 

[3mp_kwh]

Still looks like they're testing missiles:
-~20 - 40 yards of dug up asphalt gone
-Lots of front lot curbing shaped, raised and installed around the perimeter of what was dug up (Landscaping?).
-Significant trenching, from the pole, up the Bed&Bath side, and then a 4' X 5' deep trench direct to the garage door. The dirt piles have replaced the asphalt.
-The only pole, away from Rt 1 and directly above, looks stressed/bent toward the structure. I wonder if all electrical is about to go underground?
-Backhoe and bobcat on site, plus 4 storage containers
-A few hundred feet of ~6" cast conduit, piled in back

Despite language with the town, about being a small company that can't put on the Ritz, the infrastructure work looks quite involved. No drive-ons, so there could be supercharging hardware, etc, in the nite-lit garage. It was mentioned they want to locate SCs near the front, but I think we'll know more about whether this is just Service Center work, or Super Chargers once conduit is laid and cement gets poured. Facing it, the back and right of the building look mostly intact. Red paint in garage area, and it looks like they've temporarily mocked over the red paint in front.

 

[mitch672]

stopped by just now, spoke with a worker for a minute or two, I took pictures from the Bed Bath and Beyond parking lot (the parking lot is all torn up). New 2000AMP electrical service now being installed, pad mount transformer going next to old pole (which will be removed). SuperCharger cabinet going fairly close to other side of pole, they are trenching from the building to the SuperCharger pad, so likely switchgear being installed inside building (indoor cabinets are less expensive than outdoor anyway)


looking at trench toward route 1

towards old utility pole, the area that is dirt is where I believe the SuperCharger stall will be located, along the property line. right above the new Utility HV feeds pipes seen in picture

towards building overhead door

closeup of multiple conduits entering below overhead door

new curbing & light pole supports in parking lot entrance

 

[Cottonwood]

stopped by just now, spoke with a worker for a minute or two, I took pictures from the Bed Bath and Beyond parking lot (the parking lot is all torn up). New 2000AMP electrical service now being installed, pad mount transformer going next to old pole (which will be removed). SuperCharger cabinet going fairly close to other side of pole, they are trenching from the building to the SuperCharger pad, so likely switchgear being installed inside building (indoor cabinets are less expensive than outdoor anyway)

Thanks for the pictures!

2,000 Amp service sounds pretty big for a Service Center plus Supercharger Site. That is 1,663 kVA (kW) of power at 480 Volt, 3-phase, or enough to run 11 Supercharger Cabinets and 22 Supercharger Stalls. The basic Distribution Center Cabinet (AKA Switch Gear) has bus bars rated for up to 2,000 Amps, but no site yet has been set up at current that high. That may be where the 2,000 Amp number came from. In addition there is confusion with the main breaker. For example, the main breaker at the Supercharger in Grand Rapids, MI is rated at 1,600 Amps, but can be set to several lower current levels; it was set to 800 Amps there, confusing the Inspector.

 

[mitch672]

They running 6 sets of 4" pipes from the transformer to the building switchgear, so it could actually be the 1600 or 2000 AMP service. I also think they may have the 8 public stalls on route 1, and probably a dual set inside the service center to charge up their inventory cars, so could be 5 SC cabinets (10 SC's), plus the power to run the building HVAC, lights, lifts, 14-50's by each lift to test customers units etc,, maybe a few HPWC's inside as well (though not many, since so many SuperChargers will be nearby)

 

[Cottonwood]

They running 6 sets of 4" pipes from the transformer to the building switchgear, so it could actually be the 1600 or 2000 AMP service. I also think they may have the 8 public stalls on route 1, and probably a dual set inside the service center to charge up their inventory cars, so could be 5 SC cabinets (10 SC's), plus the power to run the building HVAC, lights, lifts, 14-50's by each lift to test customers units etc,, maybe a few HPWC's inside as well (though not many, since so many SuperChargers will be nearby)

5 sets of 4" conduit is standard from the transformer to the Distribution Center. Let's add up the loads you suggest.

1. 750 kW — 10 Stalls, 5 Supercharger Cabinets at 150 kW each.
2. 070 kW — 7 14-50 outlets.
3. 140 kW — 7 HPWC's at 80 Amps each.
4. 100 kW — Rough Guess for rest of building; this is probably high.

That is a total of 1,060 kW which needs about 1,300 Amps. I would still be very surprised to see 2,000 Amp service; 1,200 or 1,600 Amps, maybe...

Remember that the main breaker and the breakers feeding the Supercharger Cabinets in the Distribution Center are rated for 100% continuous load, and do not need the 125% capacity bulk up that conventional breakers need for a continuous load.

 

[Cottonwood]

I stand corrected!!! :redface:

I heard from other sources that it really is 2,000 Amp service! That's 1,663 kW or 1.663 MegaWatts for the Service Center and Superchargers!! Power to the Teslas!!!

 

[mitch672]

I stand corrected!!! :redface:

I heard from other sources that it really is 2,000 Amp service! That's 1,663 kW or 1.663 MegaWatts for the Service Center and Superchargers!! Power to the Teslas!!!

It wasn't just a "worker" who walked over to speak with me for a few minutes, it was the supervisor, he thought I was from "National Grid", lol.

I asked about the size of the service, "2000 AMPS, pad going over here" (pointing to intersection of pipes from building and the HV feeders from the street), I asked about the SuperCharger, he pointed next to the pole and the 4" conduits coming out of the building to the right of the 6 you see in the picture, they where trenching a 2nd trench for those. I'm fairly certain he had a complete picture of the electrical work that was going on ;-)

BTW, 2000Amp service likely because Tesla has a 10 year lease on the property, they might decide to put more SuperChargers on the other side of the building someday, who knows, maybe after the Model 3 comes out.. It's a lot less to do the service once than in 4-5 years, do it over.

 

[MassModel3]

It wasn't just a "worker" who walked over to speak with me for a few minutes, it was the supervisor, he thought I was from "National Grid", lol.

So now, although some of us might stop by to take pictures of the new site from time to time, you're officially the guy who walks up to the supervisor to get official information on site progress. :biggrin:

 

[mitch672]

So now, although some of us might stop by to take pictures of the new site from time to time, you're officially the guy who walks up to the supervisor to get official information on site progress. :biggrin:

no, I'm not going to bother them again.. Every time they stop to speak with a "looky lou", it slows them down.
We have enough info for now.. Might drive by on the weekend during the day to take updated pictures, if no one is working at the site.

P.S. I was in the Bed, Bath and Beyond/Massage Envy parking lot, he walked over to me, I was just taking a few shots with the iPhone

 

[3mp_kwh]

That's 1,663 kW or 1.663 MegaWatts for the Service Center and Superchargers!! Power to the Teslas!!!

The bill? There are many assumptions, but for a monthly bill, that taps 1MW of demand, and around 65,000 kwh a month (1-2 supercharging 24/7), it looks like it could be $10k-17k (Summer/Winter). They're stuck in a TOU plan, at >200kw load, and the off-peak rate is only $.0075/kwh lower.


https://www.nationalgridus.com/masselectric/non_html/MA_Commercial_Table.pdf


National Grid - Time-of-Use (G-3)


I'm not sure they're Nat Grid. That's from someone else mentioning it in the thread.

 

[MassModel3]

Well, as this is a first in the nation center of its type (sales/service/superchargers), perhaps it will also be the first to have that really large flat rooftop covered with solar panels...?? :frown:

 

[RAW84]

The bill? There are many assumptions, but for a monthly bill, that taps 1MW of demand, and around 65,000 kwh a month (1-2 supercharging 24/7), it looks like it could be $10k-17k (Summer/Winter). They're stuck in a TOU plan, at >200kw load, and the off-peak rate is only $.0075/kwh lower.


https://www.nationalgridus.com/masselectric/non_html/MA_Commercial_Table.pdf


National Grid - Time-of-Use (G-3)


I'm not sure they're Nat Grid. That's from someone else mentioning it in the thread.

Dedham is serviced by Eversource

 

[Robert.Boston]

Well, as this is a first in the nation center of its type (sales/service/superchargers), perhaps it will also be the first to have that really large flat rooftop covered with solar panels...?? :frown:

FWIW, the Salt Lake City facility was built to be an integrated sales/service/supercharger center. The "sales" piece got nixed at the last minute because of a state law. To the best of my knowledge, there aren't solar panels on that building.

 

[MezzaLuna]

I'm tracking this one pretty closely, with dimming hopes of actually being able to use it the last weekend of July for a trip from Philadelphia. At what point does supercharge.info change the status from "Permit" to "Construction"? Has the permit actually been granted yet? It sounds like construction is happening... This must be one of the longest "Permit" statuses in the system -- 166 days!?