Supercharger - Hawthorne, CA - Tesla Design Center (CLOSED TO PUBLIC 19 Jul 2021, 8 V2 + 2 V3 stalls)

[callmesam]

Sam, I am not surprised you don't see a problem, you have charged at Hawthorne at least 50 times & you live in Santa Monica thats less then 15 miles away, locals & Limos sounds wonderful.

Glad you agree :tongue:!

Although not sure what your point is exactly . . .

Since I've rarely needed to wait and others have rarely needed to wait, not sure where is there any harm?

I have a 60 and single charger.

When I have to commute to San Diego and then turn around and drive to Vegas the following day, I'll stop at Hawthorne on the way home as there aren't enough hours to get the required charge.

When SJC opened, it cut down on my Hawthorne stops.

Now, once Rancho Cucamonga opens, that will cut down on my Hawthorne stops.

When Inyokern and Lone Pine open, I'll be able to reach Mammoth.

I paid $2000 for access and want to get my money's worth.:wink:

I've driven 38,000 miles in the last year, including a trip to DC and returned in 9 days using Superchargers only. It's the best marketing available to Tesla Motors and it gets the most visceral reaction from strangers I've picked up off the street to give rides. The acceleration is #2.

#1 is free road trips for life. It's old hat for some owners, but this is the biggest selling point in my experience.

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For those more familiar with the area, does this plan look like they will still use the solar canopy for at least a few of the chargers? Or does it look like that will be removed?

The existing solar canopy will cover the original spots. The "waiting" spots will have 5 Superchargers. A solar canopy could cover those additional spots.

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Wow, this is disappointing. It's a very bad design. There is not enough room for all those cars in there, it's going to be very cramped. PLUS, the little narrow "inlet" for ingress and egress is so tight, already, that it causes all sorts of problems for drivers not familiar with how bad it is. Drivers leaving the charger area are often not mindful of how extremely tight that little lane is, and they make big sweeping turns and find themselves right in front of an incoming car. Likewise, incoming cars are not mindful of the big sweeping turns the cars leaving make...

What a design mess. It's disappointing that Tesla's being so sloppy. It's like they've outsourced this very important design work to some firm responsible for the debacles we see in shopping mall and grocery parking lot configurations.

Argh. C'mon Tesla! *Think*! You're getting sloppy!

With boots on the ground, it seems to me that drivers can charge at the HPWC while a spot opens up at the Supercharger. Yes the ingress and egress from the 11 Supercharger mini-lot is tight now, but it also often has random TM guest parking there. The spots aren't lined and you tend to only get four cars parked where 5 Superchargers will be now.

And then there are the 8 temporary chargers that will (likely) be removed. If this expansion doesn't create enough room, then they are already wired for the temps and those can be installed quickly and easily.

Also, since SpaceX and TM (as well as dozens of additional companies) have thousands of workers that are forced onto shuttles and distant parking lots, this is a configuration that nicely maximizes the space.

 

[AZbba]

Seems pretty good. There were already 6 on the side by the building, so that part won't be getting any tighter. Fitting 5 on the other side might be a bit of a stretch. Hopefully there is clear visiblity of all stalls so drivers don't have to pull into the 13 area only to find out all spots are full. A LED map at the entrance (bottom right area of diagram) with red/green stalls to show if it is full or not would be cool, so people can just park and wait in the first area. Although this won't really be necessary until it starts to fill up.

It looks like the 2 on the right side will be handicapped preference spots due to the extra spacing. There is already one at barstow so it's not a new concept. Although perhaps placing them in the area people will see first when entering the location isn't the best idea as they will likely be taken first, sign or no.

Also, if you look how it is laid out, there will be exactly 13 non supercharger spots (8 with HPWC) and 5 just parking. I'd bet they're running all the condiut to have everything ready to add 13 more superchargers without breaking any concrete when the need arises for a nice even total of 26. I guess no reason to add all of that charging hardware right now if it's not needed (13 will be sufficient probably until the X launch).

Lastly I'd hope they will add a bit more space to the waiting room inside, maybe a couple more couches. And it would be nice if it could be designed in a way that 24 hour access was possible.

 

[apacheguy]

Huh, there's a limo service that runs through there and there's no mention of battery swap? Odd.

 

[callmesam]

 

[Tyl]

...........for total number of superchargers.. keep an eye on Gilroy CA. Gilroy is plumbed for a total of 10 superchargers which could translate into 20 supercharging pedestals! Now that is comparable to a gas station with 20 or so gas pumps!!! I'll have to do a full count of gas pumps at Tejon Ranch sometime. There are several gas stations there each with about 10 pumps, of which gas cars can pump from either side so twenty guzzlers filling simultaneously.....YIKES! that's about 60 guzzlers filling, if all gas pumps were full. sooooo I guess once I see a supercharging station/area with 60 supercharging pedestals we will really have an opportunity to reduce CO2 emissions!! YES!!! it's gonna happen!!! ........SOON:crying:

 

[callmesam]

Looks like the bollards are installed. No sign of the HPWCs yet. Getting close.

 

[markb1]

I hope they get rid of those stupid pebbles that always litter the lot.

 

[callmesam]

I hope they get rid of those stupid pebbles that always litter the lot.

Last time they upgraded the parking area, they attempted to use some sort of glue to hold the pebbles together. Never really worked. The gaps in the pavement do allow you to find the sweet spot so you don't run past the charge port and Supercharger nozzle.

 

[Cottonwood]

Last time they upgraded the parking area, they attempted to use some sort of glue to hold the pebbles together. Never really worked. The gaps in the pavement do allow you to find the sweet spot so you don't run past the charge port and Supercharger nozzle.

Finding the sweet spot was very important with those short cables on the original pedestals. The new pedestals have more than twice the cable length and are much less critical in terms of where you park.

Here is a picture of the old and new cable designs at Folsom last March. Notice how the old cable on the left starts at the bottom and just folds over to the car. The new style on the right, starts at the top, and has more than twice as much length to reach the car.

 

[markb1]

Last time they upgraded the parking area, they attempted to use some sort of glue to hold the pebbles together. Never really worked. The gaps in the pavement do allow you to find the sweet spot so you don't run past the charge port and Supercharger nozzle.

Indeed. But I think they can find a better material for this.

 

[Cosmacelf]

Yeah, it is interesting seeing the evolution of these Superchargers. The original ones even had a cover that would attempt to open and close around the cable area. That never worked properly. The newer design with the cable attachment at top, with the open air gap through the pedestal is so much nicer. And the lighted Tesla logo on top is pretty cool!

 

[callmesam]

Finding the sweet spot was very important with those short cables on the original pedestals. The new pedestals have more than twice the cable length and are much less critical in terms of where you park.

Here is a picture of the old and new cable designs at Folsom last March. Notice how the old cable on the left starts at the bottom and just folds over to the car. The new style on the right, starts at the top, and has more than twice as much length to reach the car.

Even with the longer cable, in places like San Juan Capistrano, it's easy to back in a bit off center and not be able to plug in. I've seen newbies have to take several approaches before they line everything up.

I do agree, that the newer longer cords make things much, much easier.

 

[purplewalt]

Indeed. But I think they can find a better material for this.

If you look at the pics from the original layout, there was a lot grass and plugged grass concrete (actually strong enough to support firetrucks) throughout the area.
Maybe the drought in California caused the grass to die, and someone had second thoughts -- so the grass was removed, a lot of the open-web paving was removed.

And in order to still have a way for the occasional rainwater to drain, they installed the gravel (a modified semi-eco solution).
Not as pretty as the grass, no mowing, no watering, yet still some maintenance required (occasional sweeping with a broom).

 

[callmesam]

If you look at the pics from the original layout, there was a lot grass and plugged grass concrete (actually strong enough to support firetrucks) throughout the area.
Maybe the drought in California caused the grass to die, and someone had second thoughts -- so the grass was removed, a lot of the open-web paving was removed.

And in order to still have a way for the occasional rainwater to drain, they installed the gravel (a modified semi-eco solution).
Not as pretty as the grass, no mowing, no watering, yet still some maintenance required (occasional sweeping with a broom).

They have a lot of grass around the fountain, so I don't think this was a water saving rationale.

The grass never grew well and the floating concrete slabs are easy to remove or change.

 

[gg_got_a_tesla]

The pebbles not only litter but can get into the grooves of tires. They are a bit of a menace.

 

[Lump]

 

[4SUPER9]

So it seems that the limo companies are indeed hogging the chargers. Well, I guess they are entitled. The problem is that private owners usually charge at home/destinations, and use SC's for travel. The limo guys likely never charge outside of a SC, giving less access for private owners to the SC. My hope is that they use the new HPWCs that are being installed there. That, and Culver City may help unload.

 

[apacheguy]

So it seems that the limo companies are indeed hogging the chargers. Well, I guess they are entitled.

A battery swap station would be a perfect solution IMO for the taxis/limos.

 

[David99]

Some progress...

 

[Tyl]

Great pictures! Your pictures bring it to life. Thanks for posting!

I see more of the bi-directional battery packs. Great! I sure hope they expand the solar canopy. The battery packs quell the concerns of off peak solar generation and later energy usage during peak hours.
Battery storage packs are the best solution. I hope Tesla's battery storage packs become available for residential customers here in AZ soon. I'd love to be able to increase the size of my residential array and store the energy for later use. Especially when I'm cranking my air condition units in the summer!!