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Supercharger - Issaquah, WA (LIVE Oct 2018, 8 Urban stalls)
- Thread starter geoc
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- Northwest Supercharging USA
1pm today... down to 20% SoC and needed to charge to make it to Centralia and then back to PDX. All spots filled and a “line” of six or so waiting in the normal spots across from the chargers. 
I politely asked the next open slot driver if I could jump in since I really needed the charge. He politely declined, which is ok with me. That’s the true downside of these densely populated chargers. Urge for locals to top off vs charging at home. Like I said, I was ok with the decline. Infrastructure growing pains.
Drove to Lynwood with 9% left. About five open spots when I arrived. The chargers are sooooo much better located vs the cluster-F at Issaquah, where they are smack dab in the middle of the normal Freddy’s lot.
I politely asked the next open slot driver if I could jump in since I really needed the charge. He politely declined, which is ok with me. That’s the true downside of these densely populated chargers. Urge for locals to top off vs charging at home. Like I said, I was ok with the decline. Infrastructure growing pains.
Drove to Lynwood with 9% left. About five open spots when I arrived. The chargers are sooooo much better located vs the cluster-F at Issaquah, where they are smack dab in the middle of the normal Freddy’s lot.
Are there really locals out there topping off because it is free? For me it isn't worth the effort to walk across the parking lot to save $2 worth of electricity. I actually think this charger is busy do to people wanting to skip Ellensburg, it is the closest charger to downtown Seattle, proximity to the freeway, and possibly people who do not have a way to charge at home.1pm today... down to 20% SoC and needed to charge to make it to Centralia and then back to PDX. All spots filled and a “line” of six or so waiting in the normal spots across from the chargers.
I politely asked the next open slot driver if I could jump in since I really needed the charge. He politely declined, which is ok with me. That’s the true downside of these densely populated chargers. Urge for locals to top off vs charging at home. Like I said, I was ok with the decline. Infrastructure growing pains.
Drove to Lynwood with 9% left. About five open spots when I arrived. The chargers are sooooo much better located vs the cluster-F at Issaquah, where they are smack dab in the middle of the normal Freddy’s lot.
Even if the first guy in line lets you charge, you're still cutting in front of the other 5 people in line, so that's never going to work. Your options are to wait in line or go to another charger, which you did.1pm today... down to 20% SoC and needed to charge to make it to Centralia and then back to PDX. All spots filled and a “line” of six or so waiting in the normal spots across from the chargers.
I politely asked the next open slot driver if I could jump in since I really needed the charge. He politely declined, which is ok with me. That’s the true downside of these densely populated chargers. Urge for locals to top off vs charging at home. Like I said, I was ok with the decline. Infrastructure growing pains.
Drove to Lynwood with 9% left. About five open spots when I arrived. The chargers are sooooo much better located vs the cluster-F at Issaquah, where they are smack dab in the middle of the normal Freddy’s lot.
TreborThickweb
Member
I live just a few miles from the Issaquah Supercharger and agree it’s not worth using it since I have a perfectly usable L2 at home, the 10 cents per kWh is preferable to the increased wear and tear from repeated supercharging. I’m not opposed to using superchargers having used them over 350 times on road trips. But to keep the transition to EVs harmonious among users I’ll avoid this one with exception of possible power outages at my home.
im.thatoneguy
Member
Lots of Seattle residents like me without home charging. If Issaquah or Lynwood weren't so far from my apartment I would use them for 'daily' charging (once ever week or two).
Kermee
It's Not Easy Being Green
I think we can all agree this location was completely undersized.
That’s why I said I was ok with being turned down. However, there is no way to have a true line at this location. Since the chargers spanned two aisles, the people waiting on one side can’t just race over to the other and claim they were there first. It seems people were parking directly in front of an occupied slot to “claim” it (vs one two away etc.)
I also recognize that apt/condo dwellers do need this location, but I’d think they’d plan to charge during true off peak hours to have any sort of predictability in availability. No way I have the patience to run out during the day to try and charge only to see a line 5 deep and have to come back later.
Ditto. I’ve used the Washington Square (here in Portland) chargers twice, once when coming back from a road trip and there were plenty of open spots. Tesla is very strict about idle fees here so I’ll bet a lot of new owners are going to be surprised this holiday season, thinking they can get prime parking spots (since it’s underground and steps to entrances) and just leaving their cars plugged in. My buddy got hit with some eye-opening fees.
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Kermee
It's Not Easy Being Green
All 8 stalls were being used Sunday around 4pm. I waited in "line", about 5-6 of us, for about 30 minutes before giving up.
Most charging up were Model S and X's, I'm sure with Free Unlimited Supercharging so... I decided not to wait for them to hit 100% charge.
Most charging up were Model S and X's, I'm sure with Free Unlimited Supercharging so... I decided not to wait for them to hit 100% charge.
Kermee
It's Not Easy Being Green
Wouldn’t assume that. Besides sounds like you didn’t need the charge if you gave up
You're right. I was being more facetious with that comment than anything.
I ended up making it with 3% left. On-board Nav said I'd make it with 10% but I knew I was cutting it close so thought a charge of 10-15 minutes or so would be enough. Last hour of the drive, I completely turned off the HVAC and butt-warmer. I should have planned better, obviously.
Arrived at 12:35 pm today, all full. Drove around to the opposite side and saw one Telsa pull out on the side I had just checked. Went back around and plugged in. Quick trip to Home Depot to the mens room. Grabbed some batteries for my smoke detectors. All stalls still full but no cars waiting. Unplugged and left at 1 pm.
#LifeHack - If all of the bathroom stalls are full, try using the ones in the plumbing aisle. I've never had to wait there.
Unlike the superharger, I never seen the stalls full in HD
Mobster
Member
So far every visit to Fred Meyer I see the superchargers full and people waiting ready to pounce. (many visits....most in the middle of a weekday). I don't need to charge there however I like to take notice of how many chargers are at locations I happen to pass and the usage - - - probably most of us do that one way or another. On sunny days (yeah we have some) I have struck up conversations with other owners (after I park in a regular stall) who are charging and I find (unscientific survey) many of the folk are in fact, condo dwellers from the hills that do not have chargers at home. Mountain people who come down and visit the flatlanders. As Kermee said this location is really "undersized"! Having just a few stalls seems silly. The posts on this forum topic are informative and I thank the other OP's for writing about their experiences and their views on "waiting in line" etiquette. I cannot imagine being on a road trip down to just a few % SOC and arriving here to see lines of cars on both sides with no defined "queue". Not that I would expect one, however, Tesla/Fred Meyer COULD generate some revenues by selling "front of the line" passes like Disneyland used to do. (Still?) The cRaZy(er) part of me has wondered if there are cameras aimed here with the intent of Tesla/Fred Meyer to conduct a social science human behavior study mixing Tesla owners who are a cross section of condo mountain people, a few flatlander condo people, a weary traveler or two running on empty, and the occasional known-to-be-ruthless shoppers all brought together jockeying for a supercharger . I picture their experiment design meeting where they start out by proposing TWO superchargers, but then realizing that was too obvious (throw two bones to a pack of hungry dogs?) then deciding on 8. And now, NSA personnel sitting in the front of a wall of monitors, in an access controlled room, at an undisclosed location, dressed in all black. (the people AND the location). bwaaaaahaha
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