Supercharger - East Palo Alto, CA - 1700 East Bayshore Road (LIVE 9 Apr 2024, 20 V3 stalls)

[Guacahummus]

Marco found a permit for a 20-stall Supercharger at the East Palo Alto Ikea located at 1700 E Bayshore Rd right across the street from the other East Palo Alto Urban Supercharger site. I wasn't able to pinpoint where the permit resides, maybe someone else can shed some light.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1601666045428629504

 

[DoItDiff]

Under construction. Right at the ground-level drive-in entrance, so it will be highly visible.

 

[Nosna]

Under construction. Right at the ground-level drive-in entrance, so it will be highly visible.

View attachment 944837View attachment 944838

Oh wow - I saw the fenced off area when I was there maybe 3 weeks ago. Didn't realize they were putting in SCs there. If you've been to this Ikea and are familiar with this area of the parking lot I can potentially foresee some really really bad traffic/backups if the stalls are full and there are cars waiting as there is only one way in and out of that little section. It's basically a cul-de-sac of that goes in/out from the main road in that lot. Hopefully I am wrong though.

 

[tivoboy]

Oh wow - I saw the fenced off area when I was there maybe 3 weeks ago. Didn't realize they were putting in SCs there. If you've been to this Ikea and are familiar with this area of the parking lot I can potentially foresee some really really bad traffic/backups if the stalls are full and there are cars waiting as there is only one way in and out of that little section. It's basically a cul-de-sac of that goes in/out from the main road in that lot. Hopefully I am wrong though.

Well, technically there is an entrance, exit on the south side of the complex 101 side, that leads back to E Bayshore Dr.. maybe the parking lot complex and direct ppl there, vs. the one O’Conner entrance which most lemmings tend to migrate to. One has to do a U-Turn on E Bayshore to back heading north/west and back to University on-ramp if one wants to be on that highway. I’m just surprised they didn’t simply add to the area of that is at the Taco Bell area, in the HD/TB parking lot, where there are 3-4 entrance and exit options.

 

[Nosna]

Well, technically there is an entrance, exit on the south side of the complex 101 side, that leads back to E Bayshore Dr.. maybe the parking lot complex and direct ppl there, vs. the one O’Conner entrance which most lemmings tend to migrate to. One has to do a U-Turn on E Bayshore to back heading north/west and back to University on-ramp if one wants to be on that highway. I’m just surprised they didn’t simply add to the area of that is at the Taco Bell area, in the HD/TB parking lot, where there are 3-4 entrance and exit options.

That was the first thing that crossed my mind too. There is so much unused real estate in that parking lot it would have made sense to just add more SCs there.

 

[tivoboy]

That was the first thing that crossed my mind too. There is so much unused real estate in that parking lot it would have made sense to just add more SCs there.

Frankly, if they could have just upgraded the EXISTING 70 kWh site to 250 kWh chargers - and maybe added 10 more, they could have cut the overall cycle time in at least half.

 

[Big Earl]

Frankly, if they could have just upgraded the EXISTING 70 kWh site to 250 kWh chargers - and maybe added 10 more, they could have cut the overall cycle time in at least half.

kW

 

[wwu123]

Well, technically there is an entrance, exit on the south side of the complex 101 side, that leads back to E Bayshore Dr.. maybe the parking lot complex and direct ppl there, vs. the one O’Conner entrance which most lemmings tend to migrate to. One has to do a U-Turn on E Bayshore to back heading north/west and back to University on-ramp if one wants to be on that highway. I’m just surprised they didn’t simply add to the area of that is at the Taco Bell area, in the HD/TB parking lot, where there are 3-4 entrance and exit options.

I think you're talking about the entrance/exit to the entire ground-level structure, where there's often a 18-wheeler big rig parked along that little access road. I do exit from there when I visit. But I think @Nosna is referring to the little subsection of the parking structure where the superchargers are going in - I think I saw the fenced-in area a few weeks ago, and it's an area that is surrounded on three sides by the main entry drive, leaving just one narrow lane to enter/exit that area.

The concern is that if more than one or two cars are waiting, they will block any cars finishing up from leaving the supercharger area, creating immediate gridlock. Unless they restripe things to either enlarge the opening turn-in, or restripe a second way in/out of the area between the concrete columns, both of which are doable.

 

[tivoboy]

I think you're talking about the entrance/exit to the entire ground-level structure, where there's often a 18-wheeler big rig parked along that little access road. I do exit from there when I visit. But I think @Nosna is referring to the little subsection of the parking structure where the superchargers are going in - I think I saw the fenced-in area a few weeks ago, and it's an area that is surrounded on three sides by the main entry drive, leaving just one narrow lane to enter/exit that area.

The concern is that if more than one or two cars are waiting, they will block any cars finishing up from leaving the supercharger area, creating immediate gridlock. Unless they restripe things to either enlarge the opening turn-in, or restripe a second way in/out of the area between the concrete columns, both of which are doable.

Ah, I see what you mean.. have you been to the Palo Alto Bryant street SC before? There are I think 19-20 SC all on one floor (three floors up mind you) in a garage that is often quite full, all down a single one way in typical parking garage alley. When we had power issues a few months back it was one complete unholy mess.

 

[DoItDiff]

If the transformer is going to be adjacent to Tesla's white cabinets, it'll be to the south, i.e., towards the freeway. Fortunately there's an empty parking spot ready for it.

 

[DoItDiff]

I marvel at these parking-structure installations, with the masses of perfectly shaped and positioned conduits.

I share others' concerns about traffic flow when this site is open and busy. And I think it's difficult to complete any shopping visit at Ikea within a 15- or 20-minute charge time.

 

[DoItDiff]

Construction fencing is down, and the pedestals/posts are covered. No sign of a utility transformer, but there's a generous space next to the white Tesla cabinets, protected by bollards.

But by 4 pm on a Saturday, almost every Tesla-charging-only slot was ICEd.

 

[DoItDiff]

I learned last night that Ikea locks up this parking structure at night, so these Superchargers will not be accessible outside of store hours. Same limitation as for the Urban Superchargers under Whole Foods in Los Altos. But this Ikea is right next to the freeway (US 101), so the lack of 24x7 access will be unfortunate. There are Urban Superchargers across the street from Ikea, so there a (slower) back-up if someone needed a charge.

Still no sign of transformer installation. How long will it take? Lost Hills has been waiting a year.

 

[DoItDiff]

Still no signs of transformer installation.

 

[jboy210]

I was just at 70kW urban chargers across the street from Ikea and think Tesla made a mistake. I thought the urban chargers were for retail installations like at Ikea where people will shop for 30 minutes or more while charging. Seems like they need to move these urban chargers to IKEA and upgrade the ones in the parking lot across the street next to McDs and near Starbucks to 250 kW. That would better match the use cases.

 

[austin_85]

I just realized they built one inside IKEA parking and here is the picture I took today.

 

[tivoboy]

Still doesn’t show active sadly.

 

[DoItDiff]

Still no sign of a transformer that would get connected to Tesla’s switchgear. The wait continues.

 

[DoItDiff]

Progress! A contractor working for PG&E is trenching and installing conduits near the Tesla switchgear.

 

[DoItDiff]

Trenching is completed and the transformer pad is installed! All ready for that big green PG&E transformer.



Previously I posted "no transformer yet" pictures from next to the Tesla switchgear (in the background in this picture), inside the parking structure, expecting the transformer would be next to those white cabinets, which is a typical arrangement. I realize now that PG&E may not want their equipment installed inside a parking structure that gets locked at night, blocking access. Or perhaps limited vertical distance for a crane would make it a no-go. A few miles away there are Tesla Urban Superchargers in the underground parking for Whole Foods Market. That parking is also locked at night, and the corresponding transformer is also installed outside the lockable boundary.