Supercharger hopes and dreams

[richkae]

This is my list of Supercharger dream locations in the NW that would really make the Tesla as versatile as any gas car.
They come from most of the roadtrips I can imagine taking in the future.
Some of them are a little esoteric - I tried to order them in descending importance, although #6&7 increase in importance when I get the new Roadster.

1. Chelan/Wenatchee, Wa
2. Bremerton, Wa
3. Cranbrook BC
4. Seaside/Astoria, OR
5. Osoyoos, BC
6. Ridge Motorsports Park ( Shelton, Wa )
7. Pacific Raceways ( Kent, Wa )
8. somewhere near Crater Lake, Or
9. Fort MacLeod, AB
10. Port Angeles, Wa

I know there will be a long wait for some of these, but considering how many Teslas are in our area, Washington should have more than 5 superchargers.

 

[ReddyLeaf]

A couple of thoughts.

1: Not enough traffic or crossing highways. Probably better for destination charging, especially with those Chademos every 50 miles on Highway 2.
2: Good location, as more MS get purchased this might just happen.
3: I submitted Cranbrook to the Supercharger email last week, so let's see what that does. It might be a bit of stretch in winter, so and additional SC in Castlegar/Nelson might be needed. I was looking at it from the perspective of connecting Coeur d'Alene to Banff (one SC to connect two main lines).
4: Good location, certainly a lot of traffic on 26 from PDX.
5: Osoyoos is a good location, but unfortunately the 2016 map show something farther north, probably Kelowna which would be pretty close Kamaloops.
6/7: Hmmm, I see a racing theme here. Well, eventually something on 101 would be nice for those heading north, perhaps Skokomish (hey, we've got the Wildhorse Casino outside of Pendleton)?
8: Yes, but where? Intersection of 138 and 97? Not much there. At the lake? Perhaps destination charging would be better. Bend shows as a future SC, so adding one on 97 makes sense to get to Mt Shasta.
9: That's on the future map, or Lethbridge.
10: Another good location, probably when the PNW has MS numbers like Silicon Valley.

You might also add Lewiston ID (lots of crossroads but probably little MS traffic) and Newport OR (again, maybe better for destination charging since there are those Chademos every 50 miles)

 

[dasRad]

Osoyoos, being at the cross roads of Hwy 3 and Hwy 97, is a good location, long term. Problem is that you can't get there from the existing supercharger network without building 2 more superchargers. The Kelowna supercharger (125km north of Osoyoos) will link nicely with Kamloops (190 to 200 km depending on route - not close, particularly in winter) and Revelstoke (200 km). Tesla is also planning a supercharger in Merritt, BC, which will eliminate range concerns for all Tesla vehicles travelling between Hope and Kamloops (or Kelowna).

To get to Osoyoos from the south (and the existing I90 supercharger route) requires a supercharger somewhere along the Okanagan/Columbia rivers. Wenatchee or Chelan make sense if Osoyoos exists.

With a supercharger in the Kelowna area, it would be possible to get to Ritzville/Ellensburg if Tesla were to place a supercharger in the Brewster area. A Brewster area supercharger would also connect to Burlington, WA via the North Cascade highway in the summer with an 85 kW battery. Won't work in the winter - because that road is closed in the winter!

I expect that Cranbrook will happen at some point, again because it is at a major cross roads. It's a bit far from Golden (250km) in the winter time, so another supercharger in Radium would be appropriate. A Radium supercharger would also connect directly to Canmore. Getting from Osoyoos to Cranbrook would be a challenge with only one supercharger (in, say, Nelson) - it's a bit hilly.

My impression is that Telsa is currently concentrating on long routes with superchargers spaced around 200 km. When that's done I expect that they will backfill to a 100 km spaced network.