Note from photo. I had to quick take that shot because there was no parking available. It maybe an unfortunate spot. Also, from Denver I wasn’t too far below 80%. Especially if you trip-charge closer to 100% which I do when driving up I70 for the day. Still, could be helpful rescue to get back across Denver after a high consumption day.
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Supercharger - Idaho Springs, CO
- Thread starter gnavi
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- colorado supercharger
Jeff Hudson
Lovin the Tesla Life
Agreed and Tesla could have easily doubled the size of this Supercharger because of Denver Tesla owners taking day trips into the mountains. Eight stalls all but guarantees this Supercharger location will be slammed most daylight hours. At least this will be a V3 Supercharger which means the throughput should be impressive. By the way does anybody have any thoughts about traffic management for those waiting their turn?
I'll probably be out that way tomorrow, see if I can get an updated picture. Idaho Springs is a fun place, it'll be nice to be able to charge there if they're aren't always ICE'd.
sdoorex
Member
I think 8 spots in Idaho Springs is plenty, especially if they add a Winter Park location and expand Silverthorne or add another location in Frisco.
Jeff Hudson
Lovin the Tesla Life
I do too with the present amount of Tesla EV's on the road. However I think we can agree the density of Tesla's in any given area will probably double within the next two years.
These pictures were taken 1/1/2020. As I mentioned yesterday, we didn't notice any major differences from two weeks ago.
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I agree 8 should be enough especially with v3. I think Silverthorne will be less crowded when Idaho springs comes online. If you have enough charge to make it to the tunnel you can make it to Idaho springs.
Rather than expanding Silverthorne I’d like to see something in the vail valley. Ideally Avon/Edwards. With the colds and the elevation changes having more supercharger stations are better than more stalls at a single station.
When going snowboarding I’d frequently stop at Silverthorne for more coffee and some electrons in the morning since it’s wait there or wait in the resort parking lot for lifts to open. Being able to get some charge when skiing Beaver Creek would be nice. I know about the L2 in Vail parking structures. I can’t remember the last time I went to Vail but that’s just personal preference on mountains.
Rather than expanding Silverthorne I’d like to see something in the vail valley. Ideally Avon/Edwards. With the colds and the elevation changes having more supercharger stations are better than more stalls at a single station.
When going snowboarding I’d frequently stop at Silverthorne for more coffee and some electrons in the morning since it’s wait there or wait in the resort parking lot for lifts to open. Being able to get some charge when skiing Beaver Creek would be nice. I know about the L2 in Vail parking structures. I can’t remember the last time I went to Vail but that’s just personal preference on mountains.
Jeff Hudson
Lovin the Tesla Life
I apologize in advance for the following but I just have to get these thoughts off my mind and into the community so here goes.
I agree with you and Tesla's sizing decision here in Idaho Springs. Although this is subjective I also agree that more locations are more useful than larger locations. This discussion has served to help my mind somewhat catch up with the new EV reality of public charging infrastructure. Before, I thought simple and relatively cheap L2 charging would be good enough to "fill in the gaps" but now that the EV future has arrived (for real) I realize the EV fleet desperately needs more locations of L3 DC Fast Charging. L1 and L2 charging iare fine for the home and incidental businesses. And yes I understand an L2 charging site is a small fraction of the cost of an L3 site. I think my understanding of EV charging may be a little ahead of the average EV owner, no negativity or disparagement intended, it's just that I have a lot of time to devote to the EV story and Tesla's story specifically. Still, I prefer to think within the larger scenario of the entire EV charging infrastructure.
With regard to the larger picture the US government needs to officially define both a L2 and a L3 DC Fast Charging specification with the common charging plugs and charging infrastructure communication. In my opinion this single lingering problem is delaying the successful mass adoption of EV's in the US. I googled a bit this morning and found this 40 CFR § 80.22 - Controls and prohibitions. which describes the dispensing device with regard to gasoline. I'll note this is not exactly what I was expecting to find but is a starting point for my fellow EV enthusiasts to begin investigating what needs to happen in order for this national charging standard to be defined. I would like to believe Tesla has an internal group that is working with regulators to achieve a charging standard but I have not read about it and I read a lot. I see this as a double edged sword for Tesla in a way because Tesla's Supercharger network differentiates them from the rest of the US EV industry. Tesla might regard this particular and unique crown jewel as more valuable to the business of selling Tesla vehicles (at least for an initial period of time) than helping their competitors succeed building EV's. If this was the case then I would state I think this thinking is shortsighted. At this point in time I hope this is not the case. I hope Tesla believes their continuous buildout of the Supercharger network is sufficient to their continual success. However I think the time has arrived for a robust national US charging standard to be defined. I have no doubt Tesla will at that time begin retrofitting a second charging cable to every installed US Supercharger, like they are doing in the EU, and also alter Tesla vehicle charging ports to comply.
So why did I go on this charging rant? I believe as I'm sure you do that the entire US EV community at large needs the most robust national charging network our leaders can legislate and regulate and the sooner these standards are defined and embodied in law the better the outcome for the electrification of our transportation infrastructure. It should go without saying that when this takes place Tesla's will be able to use the non Tesla L3 charging infrastructure. I'll go out on a limb here and state I do not think Tesla will cease their buildout of the Supercharger network with the advent of a national EV specification because the charging service benefit to Tesla owners will help to further Tesla's success story. It depends on how widely successful Tesla becomes but for what it is worth I think sometime before 2030 this charging infrastructure portion of Tesla can become a dependable and lucrative revenue generator for the company.
I look forward to any and all comments on these EV charging infrastructure thoughts I have expressed.
Bet TSLA
Active Member
Wrong thread. There are many appropriate ones.
ColoradoEV
Member
Goodness I cannot wait for this charger to get completed. Came home tonight from our family in Omaha. Fully charged up in Brush for my SR+, made it to Silverthorne with around 15% but only because I drove mostly 70 from Brush to just past Denver. Saturday night during ski season meant we were second in a line at Silverthorne. Idaho Springs would have definitely given us what we needed to get home in Glenwood and I wouldn’t have had to charge so much at Brush.
ColoradoEV
Member
Returning from our trip, yes they were. However, several MX drivers, no fault of their own due to the snow covered lot, double parked in the dark so one or two stalls were unused yet unreachable. I helped a couple cars move over a few inches on either side of each other to make space for those waiting in the line to actually get a charger.
It was our first leg leaving CO that two stalls at Silverthorne were not working, but someone from the Denver Tesla Club mentioned it could have been because the temps were -15 F and that could have affected their ability to add charge. What I was experiencing was a 10/15 minute session then an alert saying the car could not charge and the "T" on the car turned red instead of green. Unplugged, plug again, it'd charge for another couple minutes then have the same error message. Not sure what that indicates, whether its an issue with my own car or if it was an issue with the stall itself. But I did see others struggle with the same thing when I moved over a stall.
Was it the two stalls closest to the Starbucks? If so, they were doing exactly the same thing back in the third week of November. When I was there, there was also a tow truck blocking three more stalls. It was a mess.
ColoradoEV
Member
Yes, it was! Moved over to the middle stall and had no issues. I’ve learned to just wait for the stalls furthest from the Starbucks to have a consistent charging experience.
ColoradoEV
Member
Has anyone found any updates? I have a trip to Kansas City coming up in a month from Glenwood. It’d be great to give Idaho Springs a try if it’s open by then.
@ColoradoEV Nah, I was up there over the weekend, looks exactly like MorrisonHiker's Jan 2nd post, I don't think a single thing has changed 
. It wasn't even worth taking pictures
. It wasn't even worth taking picturesUpdate: I was out for a late night walk, and there is action in the lot. It is completely roped off, a number of large pallets have been delivered, and electricians trailers are present. I'm going back in the morning to take pictures.
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