Unfortunately they’re STILL waiting on the utility hookup.
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Supercharger - Elverson, PA - Peter J. Camiel Service Plaza
- Thread starter alexzz123
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DarkNightP3D
Member
Superchargers don’t contribute any profit to the company. They’re lucky to break even. The cost is amortized over the number of cars sold. There’s no doubt some of these price increases they’re doing are going to fund expanding the supercharger network.
I don’t buy into the argument of not making money on supercharging. Why? Because in the average 8 stall location, I could expect tesla to be paying close to $750k for this install in 2019.
They make their own lightweight stalls (no screens/interactions). Most stations are installed on partner properties, like Sheetz or the turnpike. These installations don’t require new parking lots, pavement, environmental permits for run off, etc. they cost about $100-175k to install an 8 position station. Industrial electricity costs a few cents cheaper on average per KWh than you are used to at home. I’d say it is likely Tesla pays less than 10c per kWh and is selling it to you for 28c. 18c per kWh profit. While the station closest to your home may be mostly free, know that most stalls in CA are fully utilized daily and this more than offsets it.
You can make assumptions as you wish, but Tesla likely looks at an ROI in less than 2 years per station. Very possible in under a year even…
They make their own lightweight stalls (no screens/interactions). Most stations are installed on partner properties, like Sheetz or the turnpike. These installations don’t require new parking lots, pavement, environmental permits for run off, etc. they cost about $100-175k to install an 8 position station. Industrial electricity costs a few cents cheaper on average per KWh than you are used to at home. I’d say it is likely Tesla pays less than 10c per kWh and is selling it to you for 28c. 18c per kWh profit. While the station closest to your home may be mostly free, know that most stalls in CA are fully utilized daily and this more than offsets it.
You can make assumptions as you wish, but Tesla likely looks at an ROI in less than 2 years per station. Very possible in under a year even…
Are you familiar with demand charges? At my work, we pay $9 per kW peak demand, measured monthly, on top of the price per kWh. If a Supercharger’s peak demand is 1 MW, even for a brief period of time once during the month, that would add $9,000 to the power bill regardless of how many kWh were delivered. This can negatively affect the economics of charging stations, particularly ones that see brief high peaks but low overall utilization.
Yes I am, but this is a business’s choice to get on this rate, often offset but lower rates on off peak hours. They often also have backup generators available to switch to during these times.
One of my previous customers has 3 diesel generators that backup a fully automated grocery warehouse, producing 6MW of power. During peak summer months, grid operators would tell them to get off the grid or face these large costs. It was their operational decision to choose the lower plan in order to save money 363 out of 365 days a year or so.
No choice around here. All large commercial power plans have demand charges. I doubt very much that Tesla has a choice in the matter at most of their locations.
Contacted the Turnpike Commission again. After telling me it will be ready the week of October 11th, they now have no idea when it will be ready.
Ugh...
Ugh...
Lithium Future
Member
What in the world is going on with this Supercharger location? The actual Superchargers have been in place and idle for around 8 months now. This Supercharger location is arguably one of the most needed / strategically located in Pennsylvania.
Lithium Future
Member
I called and received a response from Donald Steele, The Special Projects Engineering Manager for the PA Turnpike Commission. He left me a very nice voicemail. He was surprised to hear that the Peter J. Camiel Supercharger was not operational and confirmed the delay is with the electric company / provider. He said that all of the Turnpike Supercharger installs were managed by Tesla, so the Turnpike Commission didn't have much of a hand in the dealings. He is going to reach out to Tesla to make sure they are aware and see if they have any additional information on the delay.
Craig_in_PA
Member
We have a meter but no juice running through it.
SabrToothSqrl
Active Member
Did the pole get fixed? Also do you have a closeup I am wondering what the electric company is.
Lithium Future
Member
juliusa
Active Member
Could be a circuit capacity issue and/or the utility feed to the service center location. The location is in the middle of nowhere, and they only put in a 500kW transformer for an 8-stall V3. Don't they usually put in a bigger transformer, or is that typical for PPL? I seem to remember seeing 750kW transformers for 8 stall V3s.
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