Supercharger - Fort Stockton, Texas

[TaoJones]

Thank you TaoJones.

You’re most welcome. Consider your golden spike duly reserved! Will also make a note to keep some handy for non-Tesla owners as well (those managers you’ve noted, for example).

This is also an, um, golden opportunity for the Fort Stockton Chamber of Commerce to engage Tesla routinely. Not to mention SpaceX. The silence from that Chamber is in such stark contrast to, for example, the Custer, South Dakota (population 1,300) Chamber which has, over the past 4 years, created, maintained, and grown an absolutely excellent relationship with Tesla, in part on behalf of, and in partnership with the now host property in Custer (Lynn’s Dakotamart).

Fort Stockton and surrounding communities may be awash in the Permian Basin boom at present, but still. The future is electric and solar and Fort Stockton has a unique opportunity to leverage that as *the* Golden Spike location for the first and only safest year-round transcontinental route. This could be celebrated annually for years to come. Hey, it could happen. Every Chamber loves recurring events.

 

[PLUS EV]

I dunno. Another plausible outcome would be some routes just wouldn't be served by truck. Rail would take the fright... You could get caught in a catch 22 where J&L waits for Hunter to pony up the $$$ and Hunter is waiting for R&L... Maybe truck stops would have been established by trucking companies... I dunno... as far as I know that's not what happened... market forces drove truck stops.

IMO this is the erroneous assumption that other OEMs like Porsche and Jaguar are making. They're expecting market forces to drive infrastructure and the currently appears very unlikely to occur. I can see a scenario where EVs are just used for relatively short-distance trips and if you're a road warrior you either take the ICE or own a Tesla.

Every market driven charging network has been a disaster... look at blink. I expect the same outcome from Electrify America. Tesla is motivated to ensure their network is maintained... what motivation would Electrify America have to fix a broken charger? There's not much profit in charing cars...

You keep arguing as though I disagree with you but we are talking about totally different subjects. No strawmen please!

 

[TaoJones]

Well, with the opening today of the Matehuala (SLP) SC, it is now easier* to get from the US to Acapulco than it is to get through West Texas (and specifically through For(got)t(en) Stockton.

* In all seriousness, it is probably wise to not make this trip yet unless you have a car insurance policy that will cover both travel in Mexico *and* US shop rate in excess of $50/hour in case repairs are needed. And if you find such a policy, puh-leeeeease let me know. Thanks.

 

[jbcarioca]

Well, with the opening today of the Matehuala (SLP) SC, it is now easier* to get from the US to Acapulco than it is to get through West Texas (and specifically through For(got)t(en) Stockton.

* In all seriousness, it is probably wise to not make this trip yet unless you have a car insurance policy that will cover both travel in Mexico *and* US shop rate in excess of $50/hour in case repairs are needed. And if you find such a policy, puh-leeeeease let me know. Thanks.

FWIW, Tesla warranties are now valid in Mexico (despite the exclusion written in older, pre-Mexico Store, policies). I asked specifically when I was planning a Monterrey trip a few months ago.

 

[thesky13]

Great legwork as always. And encouraging news about the district manager. Sweet location, if it ever happens. And it just makes sense - every Tesla owner who stops at the Flying J is likely to at least consider a cup of coffee. As well, they've now got salads and fresh fruit 24/7 at surprisingly fair prices for those who just want to grab and go.

Absolutely agreed that Tesla by any measure continues to fail Communications 101. Fortunately in Fort Stockton (which continues to exist in part because of its location), there are at least the 3 sites you've visited. One day, however, one of them will have CCS chargers *twitch*, and at this rate, those will be in before an SC goes live.

Hopefully, the new Supercharger Team fellow assigned this area (based in Houston, versus the last guy who was based in Scottsdale) was not one of the ones recently laid off. Just to muddy the waters even further.

Frankly, Tesla should pay *you* at this point to continue to serve as an ad hoc liaison with managers on the ground.

Is there no one at Tesla whom we can contact to express our desperation/frustration about the Fort Stockton situation? Sometimes the "squeeky wheel" strategy can escalate things, influence a company to re-prioritize things based on customer feedback.

 

[TaoJones]

FWIW, Tesla warranties are now valid in Mexico (despite the exclusion written in older, pre-Mexico Store, policies). I asked specifically when I was planning a Monterrey trip a few months ago.

That’s great news and was the other hurdle. Thanks for confirming! Once I can nail down good insurance, at minimum it’s off to Baja with both frequency and enthusiasm before heading east.

 

[tmoz]

That’s great news and was the other hurdle. Thanks for confirming! Once I can nail down good insurance, at minimum it’s off to Baja with both frequency and enthusiasm before heading east.

I would find a location on Tesla's website that states that in writing. What if the Tesla person who verbally said you are covered was mistaken?

 

[jbcarioca]

I would find a location on Tesla's website that states that in writing. What if the Tesla person who verbally said you are covered was mistaken?

It was sent by email, not telephone. I have since deleted the message but I'm sure anybody who needs to confirm can also get it in writing.

 

[charliepmayer]

Checked again yesterday: FJ still has utility flag markers only, nothing at WalMart.

 

[charliepmayer]

Just spoke with the City of Fort Stockton Water Department. According to Carlos Lopez, Water Department Supervisor, the "One-Call" utility locate information here (One Call Concepts Ticket List ) is not accurate. All locates were completed but not posted as such in the "One-Call" service.

It gets much worse:
I spoke with the Texas-New Mexico Power Company construction supervisor in Fort Stockton. TNMP has engineered the electrical facilities for a Supercharger at the Flying J, Best Western, Hampton, FJ, and one other site. A TNMP rep in Fort Stockton looked over the Walmart site and made a recommendation to the TNMP engineer on how to provide service to that site. A bill for construction was submitted to Tesla in all (?) of these cases but Tesla refused to pay the associated costs so nothing was ever built. My contact says he is sick of hearing about Tesla in Fort Stockton. TNMP has spent thousands on site surveys and engineering, only to have Tesla balk at paying the bill. The Flying J site will require extensive pole and transformer work that Tesla is apparently unwilling to pay, so don't hold your breath on that one.

The ball is firmly in Tesla's court. We'll see what happens.

I requested a call-back from the TNMP engineer in Pecos. We'll see what she tells us.

 

[tmoz]

Just spoke with the City of Fort Stockton Water Department. According to Carlos Lopez, Water Department Supervisor, the "One-Call" utility locate information here (One Call Concepts Ticket List ) is not accurate. All locates were completed but not posted as such in the "One-Call" service.

It gets much worse:
I spoke with the Texas-New Mexico Power Company construction supervisor in Fort Stockton. TNMP has engineered the electrical facilities for a Supercharger at the Flying J, Best Western, Hampton, FJ, and one other site. A TNMP rep in Fort Stockton looked over the Walmart site and made a recommendation to the TNMP engineer on how to provide service to that site. A bill for construction was submitted to Tesla in all (?) of these cases but Tesla refused to pay the associated costs so nothing was ever built. My contact says he is sick of hearing about Tesla in Fort Stockton. TNMP has spent thousands on site surveys and engineering, only to have Tesla balk at paying the bill. The Flying J site will require extensive pole and transformer work that Tesla is apparently unwilling to pay, so don't hold your breath on that one.

The ball is firmly in Tesla's court. We'll see what happens.

I requested a call-back from the TNMP engineer in Pecos. We'll see what she tells us.

Maybe we need to be knocking on Tesla's door as a higher priority?
What do you think?

 

[jbcarioca]

I strongly dislike the information but , as always, appreciate your diligence.

On the face of it we probably should plan on the Fort Stockton RV Park 14-50 for the foreseeable future.

 

[nwdiver]

The ball is firmly in Tesla's court. We'll see what happens.

I requested a call-back from the TNMP engineer in Pecos. We'll see what she tells us.

Not sure about that being 'firmly in Tesla's court'. Looks like TNMP isn't a contractor it's the local utility and a subsidiary of PNM. I wouldn't doubt that they're trying to gouge Tesla...

Someone needs to request 500kVA service for a 'hotel'... then cancel the hotel and build the supercharger...

 

[charliepmayer]

nwdiver: Indeed, TNMP is the local electric utility provider - but they do not provide free engineering, poles, lines, or transformers for a project like this. The local TNMP construction foreman made it perfectly clear when he said (I don't remember his exact words) that Tesla would not get a free buildout - especially after (he says) stiffing them for the past site surveys and engineering.

 

[charliepmayer]

tmoz: yep

Does anybody know anything about the Executive Escalation process?

 

[nwdiver]

Hard to tell... is this the first supercharger in their service area? It wouldn't surprise me if TNMP is being unreasonable; I've never had to deal with PNM but I've read about some of their shenanigans in NM from the rate case docs. They seem to be on par with SPS and SPS is absolutely terrible...

Since Pecos is also TNMP I'm guessing it's not looking good for that SC either.....

Time for Elon to start a shell company called 'Not-Tesla' then he request service to 'Not A Supercharger'

 

[MP3Mike]

Maybe Tesla should make this their first 100% off-grid Supercharger site.

 

[charliepmayer]

MP3Mike: Great idea: we certainly have the sunshine: there is a huge solar facility on 67 between Fort Stockton and Alpine, likewise on I-10 between FS and Balmorhea.

 

[charliepmayer]

If this were treated in the same manner as Tesla Energy treated South Australia and Puerto Rice we would be up and running by next week.

 

[charliepmayer]

How many Power Walls does it take to feed a bank of two Superchargers (just for starters).
How many solar panels does it take to feed those Power Walls?
Is 1/2 an acre enough? TBD Benson, Fort Stockton, TX 79735, US