Supercharger - Napa, CA - Factory Stores Drive (LIVE 16 Nov 2019, 20 V2 stalls)

[Mrbrock]

Anyone know which charger is down or why the total number of chargers is being misrepresented at this station? Map says X of 19 available and doesn’t list 1 down for maintenance or whatever. Haven’t been by in a while but see it from 29 all the time and haven’t noticed anything taped off to indicate out of order.

 

[tivoboy]

Probably the wrong thread, but how hard would it be to get a. RED GREEN light indicator for which SC unit is out? Or maybe just update the in nav information so one doesn’t unnecessarily plug into the SC unit that is out and then have to move again etc.. I know, it sounds trivial and probably limited use but Ive sadly hit the dead unit more than once on road trips.

 

[Mrbrock]

Probably the wrong thread, but how hard would it be to get a. RED GREEN light indicator for which SC unit is out? Or maybe just update the in nav information so one doesn’t unnecessarily plug into the SC unit that is out and then have to move again etc.. I know, it sounds trivial and probably limited use but Ive sadly hit the dead unit more than once on road trips.

The main light is already red so how about just no light. Easy to tell in the dark but maybe hard in daylight.

I’ll try to swing by later today to check it out.

 

[tivoboy]

The main light is already red so how about just no light. Easy to tell in the dark but maybe hard in daylight.

I’ll try to swing by later today to check it out.

That could work, but if you mean the light at the top of the SC, the TESLA sign on each SC I could imagine that that BULB might just go out sometimes as bulbs do, and could false indicate SC failure. But it’s a good thought regardless.

 

[Mrbrock]

So, stopped by Wednesday afternoon and couldn’t really tell which site was out. However, when I got there the map showed 19 of 19 available but there was one car plugged in at 1A. Even if it was done charging it should still show up as being used right? So 1 should show as being used? Wonder if that is the problem spot. After some shopping there were 2 more cars plugged in and the map showed 17 of 19 available.

On the EA front, they installed the cabinets with a boneheaded layout. There are two cabinets on each side of four stalls facing inward. In goldengate’s first picture, he is standing on a road within the parking lot so those two cabinets each service one spot and each cabinet has two cables. 3 of the cabinets have 2 ccs chargers and 1 has 1 ccs and 1 chademo. So unless future cars will have two ccs ports to enable 300kw charging, the second cable at at least two of the cabinets will be unusable. Fences are down there are just plastic wrapping on the cables still. I didn’t check the area where the cabinets are for the transformer but looks to be almost ready.

 

[Mrbrock]

You can see behind the cabinets is a road. No way 4 spots can use all 4 available cables.

 

[mociaf9]

You can see behind the cabinets is a road. No way 4 spots can use all 4 available cables.

The EA chargers can only deliver electricity to 1 car at a time. So it wouldn't matter if 4 cars could plug in at once, only 2 would be able to charge regardless.

 

[Mrbrock]

The EA chargers can only deliver electricity to 1 car at a time. So it wouldn't matter if 4 cars could plug in at once, only 2 would be able to charge regardless.

So why have two handles per cabinet when both handles are CCS? 3 of the 4 cabinets are this way. 2x 150kw CCS. The other cabinet is 1 and 1 which makes way more sense.

 

[goldengate]

One small reason why Tesla stock keeps zooming up and the rest of the EV manufacturers are so way behind.
Up valley (Calistoga / St. Helena) really needs a SC. Hope we see something up there soon.
In the meantime, this Napa location is great and never seems to be full. Easy on / easy off 29.

 

[mociaf9]

So why have two handles per cabinet when both handles are CCS? 3 of the 4 cabinets are this way. 2x 150kw CCS. The other cabinet is 1 and 1 which makes way more sense.

Official answer: So they can use shorter cables--which are slightly cheaper and require less maintenance--and not have to worry about serving different makes of car that put the CCS charging port in different locations, i.e. regardless of which end or which side the charging port is on the car, one of the two cables will reach.

My personal opinion: The official answer is EA's fig leaf for their policy of overly disadvantaging cars that use CHAdeMO instead of CCS like the VAG (VW) cars do. It gives them something to respond with to questions of why their stations only have 1 CHAdeMO capable charger.

 

[miimura]

Another answer: the CCS cables are relatively fragile so having a redundant cable makes it more likely that you can successfully charge on a given charger.

 

[Mrbrock]

The cables are at most 24” apart on the cabinet. More cable and more connector hardware than using 1 longer cable. More expensive to fix. That rationale doesn’t fly.

If they don’t want to worry about lower numbers of chademo then why not make every cabinet have one of each? No worries about what works and what doesn’t.

Still seems stupid to me unless they are using the number of cables/connectors in marketing to make it seem like they have more capacity.

 

[Mrbrock]

Saw a Tesla Energy van there today for over an hour. Didn’t see any messages for stalls out of order on the nav so must have been routine maintenance? Maybe stopping by after checking on the Sonoma build?

 

[Mrbrock]

Just saw the article linked below so maybe I’ll have to swing back by and see if they are installing a Powerpack along with the Electrify America chargers. Would be interesting to have a Powerpack at a supercharger site but connected to another charging system.

Tesla Powerpacks batteries deployed at ~60 Electrify America charging stations, more are coming - Electrek

Saw the EA equipment gates opened a couple days ago and some service being done. I glanced a large Tesla logo inside so maybe there is a Powerpack in there (behind the Sletchers store by the signal on the street). If I have some time some morning I might see if I can get a picture of that. It’s too bad they don’t put one in on the Tesla side.

 

[Mrbrock]

Saw the EA equipment gates opened a couple days ago and some service being done. I glanced a large Tesla logo inside so maybe there is a Powerpack in there (behind the Sletchers store by the signal on the street). If I have some time some morning I might see if I can get a picture of that. It’s too bad they don’t put one in on the Tesla side.

Haven’t had a chance to look inside but it’s an 8ft locked gate. However, this permit fits the timing of Tesla engery being there. Looks like 2 power packs for EA.

Also of note, Tesla find us shows a Q1 2022 opening of a(nother) supercharger in Napa. That would either mean 3 or an expansion/upgrade of one of the current two.

 

[goldengate]

Let's hope the third is farther up valley (St. Helena would be great).....huge gap on the map north of this one!

 

[Mrbrock]

Let's hope the third is farther up valley (St. Helena would be great).....huge gap on the map north of this one!

If you haven’t already, check my new post about the permit for one at Target in Bel Air Plaza. Its farther north, but not much. The only place they could put one in St Helena is the safeway parking lot in terms of space and likely infrastructure. However as discussed before, there isn‘t a need for one. Tourists can charge in Napa on the way up valley. There are destination chargers aplenty to keep you topped up while sipping. The “need“ for one upvalley would be somewhere on the other end that you can’t get to without another stop. Lake County? Sorry.

Just curious, but why do think we need one up valley? (Can’t remember if this was discussed elsewhere)

 

[roblab]

If you haven’t already, check my new post about the permit for one at Target in Bel Air Plaza. Its farther north, but not much. The only place they could put one in St Helena is the safeway parking lot in terms of space and likely infrastructure. However as discussed before, there isn‘t a need for one. Tourists can charge in Napa on the way up valley. There are destination chargers aplenty to keep you topped up while sipping. The “need“ for one upvalley would be somewhere on the other end that you can’t get to without another stop. Lake County? Sorry.

Just curious, but why do think we need one up valley? (Can’t remember if this was discussed elsewhere)

Only reason I can think of is to service drivers that live in St. Helena who somehow can't plug in at their homes. It's only 30 miles to Napa, so any tourists can easily charge there and drive all over the valley, hit several of the 200 wineries (never been to one) and make it back to Napa even if they can't use the destination chargers many of the wineries have installed.

Really, we don't need any superchargers up valley. They'd just be used by locals who are too cheap (this in Napa Valley!) to install their own chargers at home. Even the locals who refuse to install their own chargers can use the destination chargers we have. There are even destination chargers behind the pizzeria if you forgot to charge on your way up valley. And I'd hate to see chargers at Safeway. This valley is only 30 miles long. How can you run out of charge???

 

[Mrbrock]

Only reason I can think of is to service drivers that live in St. Helena who somehow can't plug in at their homes. It's only 30 miles to Napa, so any tourists can easily charge there and drive all over the valley, hit several of the 200 wineries (never been to one) and make it back to Napa even if they can't use the destination chargers many of the wineries have installed.

Really, we don't need any superchargers up valley. They'd just be used by locals who are too cheap (this in Napa Valley!) to install their own chargers at home. Even the locals who refuse to install their own chargers can use the destination chargers we have. There are even destination chargers behind the pizzeria if you forgot to charge on your way up valley. And I'd hate to see chargers at Safeway. This valley is only 30 miles long. How can you run out of charge???

Exactly my thoughts. The two people who have mentioned wanting one up valley live in San Rafael and Sonoma so I am just curious where they want to go that they feel they need a up valley supercharger. Other than wanting to be fully charged at all times I don’t see the need for one. No one stops in Calistoga on the way from Santa Rosa to lake county needing a quick charge. It’s just not a popular route for people with Teslas. Or anyone for that matter. And it’s only about 10% of my SR+ battery from Napa to St Helena So you should have 100-150 mile minimum you can travel before needing another charge.

 

[Mrbrock]

Looks like it’s closed for an hour or so to repaint lines for parking spaces.