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Supercharger - Meridian, MS
- Thread starter ItsNotAboutTheMoney
- Start date
You may already know this, but a common way to find out what regarding supercharger construction is about to happen in the Birmingham area is to check the city and county construction permit offices in the area during the week. Different offices have different rules about when they will make public aspects of permitting (inquiring about, applying for, granting), but the civil servants in them are often helpful in providing information. Unless there is a consolidated city-county government, there will be more than one office. And the site may be in a small city next to the big one (Pearl next to Jackson, MS, is an example). The office numbers can be located on city and county government websites. One item of information makes this tricky: apparently the way many of the offices pull up permit status is by street address. If that turns out to be the case, explain what Tesla and superchargers are. Because they are unusual the civil servant may have heard something at the water cooler. Check back in a few days. He or she may have checked around in the meantime. And leave your number in case they hear anything.
Yes, that is generally how we first learn of Superchargers. That someone has discovered a permit has been issued for construction.
Would be sweet and simple but for the keywords. "Tesla" and "Supercharger" are rarely spelled out on the public information. Tesla doesn't always use the same contractor as has been used for nearby sites.
Do you have recommendations as to search keywords which have worked elsewhere?
I have looked under several different city council websites and permit sites. I've done lots of reading with no results. I'm in Memphis and still waiting on a Memphis, Tupelo, and Birmingham supercharger. I travel to Florida all the time and hoping more come available.
I don't do computer searches except to obtain permit office telephone numbers for a particular city or county (parish in Louisiana). I call the offices and talk to the civil servants there. I explain what superchargers are and what Tesla is and who I am (an owner interested in the build out because of travel or because I live in the area and know one is planned). Often the individual has heard through the office grapevine if he or she didn't personally handle the contact from Tesla or a subcontractor. The key is the uniqueness of superchargers. It is not a run of the mill construction. I would call Tupelo permits and the relevant county permit office. I would call Memphis and Shelby County permit offices. I would call Birmingham, Bessemer and the appropriate Alabama counties. Get a map out and figure out what jurisdiction is likely by looking where the major highways, especially interstate highways, intersect. I missed Pearl because I didn't get a map out and look. I was speaking with Jackson, Hinds County, Clinton, Vicksburg-Warren County. Should have looked on a map. Once I did (after the site was announced) it was obvious. Good luck. The Birmingham area site is of interest to me as are sites in Mississippi above and below Jackson. Also Memphis. Just haven't had the time to call them all yet. Have checked Hattiesburg, MS, but not in a while (unfortunately there are several jurisdictions which might provide the permit there all of which are near the intersedtion, so its not one phone call).
@johngratcliff:
Sounds like you've got this down to a science!. If it will help. I think the best place for a supercharger would be near where 459 crosses I-65. On the map it looks like Hoover/Shelby County and possibly the southern part of Jefferson County. Anything north of that excludes a lot of traffic from I-20 who try to by pass downtown as they head to and from Atlanta. From my limited perspective I would say the Valleydale exit off 65 would be perfect (Hoover/Shelby.)
Sounds like you've got this down to a science!. If it will help. I think the best place for a supercharger would be near where 459 crosses I-65. On the map it looks like Hoover/Shelby County and possibly the southern part of Jefferson County. Anything north of that excludes a lot of traffic from I-20 who try to by pass downtown as they head to and from Atlanta. From my limited perspective I would say the Valleydale exit off 65 would be perfect (Hoover/Shelby.)
randall_s:
hope you're still enjoying the MS!! Assume you went via Mobile to get to Destin.
What many of us are waiting for is construction to start in your city. The SC is really needed in Meridian on I20 to make the distance of Jackson to Birmingham without a level 2 charge somewhere on the way and since I'm an Auburn grad I'd prefer not to stop in Tuscaloosa.
hope you're still enjoying the MS!! Assume you went via Mobile to get to Destin.
What many of us are waiting for is construction to start in your city. The SC is really needed in Meridian on I20 to make the distance of Jackson to Birmingham without a level 2 charge somewhere on the way and since I'm an Auburn grad I'd prefer not to stop in Tuscaloosa.
Excited that a SC will be available soon! Unfortunately for me, it may be too late. I was trying to plan a trip from my wife's family in Greenville to my uncle's place in Atlanta in late June. Even if the Meridian SC were installed, it's probably too far. If I could get to Birmingham, I could hopefully use the Chademo at the Nissan dealer.
Anyone have any ideas? Anyone have a home charger a fellow Model S owner might use to tide us over?
Jerry
I have used the 14/50 at Chunky River campground. Nice couple run it. They have 2 outlets, have snaks and bathrooms and are open long hours. He is a local history buff and will talk your ear off if you let him. I add about an hour charge to get me from Jackson to Montgomery AL. I think that drive is as easy as trying to go through Birmingham. Then I turn north to get to Greenville SC.
As a Birmingham resident, recently made a trip to Nashville, back to Franklin, TN, then to Muscle Shoals, then to Mooresville (an amazing small town of 50 or so with a great history-Garfield once preached there), then to Huntsville, and then back to Birmingham. I used the supercharger in Nashville (Brentwood) and everywhere else found lots of options to charge, including several j1772's in Huntsville. The convention center in Florence has a dozen 110's. If you're waiting for charging options, you needn't wait. Just sayin'
When I go there I have to travel from the Atlanta area through Bham and also back and forth on the US72 corridor between Florence and Huntsville. I often make several trips on US72 a day so waiting around for random J plugs and hit-and-miss chademo stations at nissan dealerships just won't cut it... I've already studied the feasibility. Without reliable fast charging I can't manage it.
Have you checked the city and county permitting offices in the Birmingham area? Just call and ask if a permit has been issued for a Tesla supercharging station. Explain what that is. It is so unusual that the civil servant may have heard about it even if he or she didn't handle the permit. Offices vary quite a bit in how much information they will give out (as a result of office policy in some cases no doubt). Even though one location is now a week or so under construction, we were never able to get confirmed that a permit was issued although we did have a location. In another case we knew before a permit had even been applied for that inquiries had been made by Tesla. It helps to get out a map and try to determine what permitting authority is most likely in an area by noting where major highways, especially interstate highways, intersect.
gnelson
Member
I just drove down I-65. I used a range charge in Franklin,TN. I stopped at the Nissan dealer in Decatur, AL. They let me use their CHAdeMO. The dealer was so gracious. The charger was adding 133 mi/hr, but it was limited to 80% charge. That left me with enough range to make it to the destination chargers at the Hilton Garden Inn east of Montgomery where I spent the night. Alternatively I could have made it to an RV park just south of Montgomery to get enough range to make it to the SC in Greenville, AL. I skipped the SC in Greenville because I had enough range at the hotel in Montgomery to make it to the Mobile SC.
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