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Supercharger - Needles, CA (4 V2 stalls)
- Thread starter memcd
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- California Supercharging USA
Take a picture! make sure they are not the Wire thieves in that area!
Charging here and getting the highest charging power I’ve ever seen at the battery level shown in the photo. And it has been maintained for several minutes now.
And here is a photo of the surveillance equipment Tesla installed.
This is definitely one of the worst supercharger locations.
I recently stayed the night at the Red Roof near this supercharger (shitty motel. definitely not recommending it, but it was all that was available in town and Needles was the only decent option that fit my schedule). Anyways, I didn't really *need* the charge, but wanted to top off a few miles just to be safe. I drove by on my way into town at 3-4am and 3 stalls were ICEd by a semi (see post #51 in this thread as it was exactly like that) and the other stall was ICEd by some SUV. I maybe could have jockeyed behind that stall and plugged in that way, but I decided I'd just check back in when I woke up as I'd be coming by for coffee anyway (yes, it's sad but there's really no better coffee option in Needles than a gas station lol).
So I come back at 1pm and another semi is parked in the exact same manner. This time, no SUV in the remaining stall, so I squeeze in next to the semi and plug in. The stall was slower than normal, but I only needed a few miles so it wasn't that big a deal. Would have been really annoying if I needed a full charge though and was stuck using that stall because of the ICEhole trucker though.
I recently stayed the night at the Red Roof near this supercharger (shitty motel. definitely not recommending it, but it was all that was available in town and Needles was the only decent option that fit my schedule). Anyways, I didn't really *need* the charge, but wanted to top off a few miles just to be safe. I drove by on my way into town at 3-4am and 3 stalls were ICEd by a semi (see post #51 in this thread as it was exactly like that) and the other stall was ICEd by some SUV. I maybe could have jockeyed behind that stall and plugged in that way, but I decided I'd just check back in when I woke up as I'd be coming by for coffee anyway (yes, it's sad but there's really no better coffee option in Needles than a gas station lol).
So I come back at 1pm and another semi is parked in the exact same manner. This time, no SUV in the remaining stall, so I squeeze in next to the semi and plug in. The stall was slower than normal, but I only needed a few miles so it wasn't that big a deal. Would have been really annoying if I needed a full charge though and was stuck using that stall because of the ICEhole trucker though.
On an unrelated note, when I got to town in the wee hours, there was a cop with apparently nothing better to do than zip back and forth around town (well exceeding the speed limit). He literally passed me 4x in the 10 minutes or so I was driving around. I went to supercharger, then hotel, then back by the supercharger and eventually across town to the other exit to the Jack in the Box as it was the only thing open. As I pull out of the Jack in the Box, he pulls me over. I fully expected it as it seemed like he had been casing me the whole time.
As he approached the car he said he noticed I didn't have a license plate (I'm driving a new Model S with a temporary tag in the back window) and until just then he didn't see the temporary tag. I asked if it was displayed properly or if I should move it to a different spot and he said "No, it's in the best spot it could be. I just didn't see it." Then he asked for my license and registration. To this, I modestly objected with "Wait a minute, why am I being pulled over?" This seemed to anger him and he responded with "I just told you, you don't have a license plate and I didn't see the temporary tag. Now just show me your license and registration so I can be sure it isn't stolen." I considered pointing out that he has seen it now and I committed no infraction, but I generally try not to pick fights with law enforcement. So I show him my license and registration and he goes back to his car and runs my ID and then comes back and sends me on my way saying something like "If your car was stolen, I'm sure you'd want me to be doing this check!"
Anyways, I'm fairly certain this was an illegal stop as what he did basically amounts to pulling over random cars and asking for "papers" with no traffic infraction, no probable cause, not even mere suspicion. I took his defensiveness as a sort of back-handed acknowledgement that he was, at the very least, operating in a legal grey area. There's not a whole lot you can do to remedy that type of behavior, but all in all I definitely had a poor experience in Needles. If you can at all avoid it, I would recommend giving this town and this supercharger a pass and just moving on to Kingman (or Barstow).
As he approached the car he said he noticed I didn't have a license plate (I'm driving a new Model S with a temporary tag in the back window) and until just then he didn't see the temporary tag. I asked if it was displayed properly or if I should move it to a different spot and he said "No, it's in the best spot it could be. I just didn't see it." Then he asked for my license and registration. To this, I modestly objected with "Wait a minute, why am I being pulled over?" This seemed to anger him and he responded with "I just told you, you don't have a license plate and I didn't see the temporary tag. Now just show me your license and registration so I can be sure it isn't stolen." I considered pointing out that he has seen it now and I committed no infraction, but I generally try not to pick fights with law enforcement. So I show him my license and registration and he goes back to his car and runs my ID and then comes back and sends me on my way saying something like "If your car was stolen, I'm sure you'd want me to be doing this check!"
Anyways, I'm fairly certain this was an illegal stop as what he did basically amounts to pulling over random cars and asking for "papers" with no traffic infraction, no probable cause, not even mere suspicion. I took his defensiveness as a sort of back-handed acknowledgement that he was, at the very least, operating in a legal grey area. There's not a whole lot you can do to remedy that type of behavior, but all in all I definitely had a poor experience in Needles. If you can at all avoid it, I would recommend giving this town and this supercharger a pass and just moving on to Kingman (or Barstow).
Needles is a sad town. Any policeman living there can't be his first choice where to work. The city must have to scrape the bottom of the bucket to find a policeman willing to work there. When I do this route I waste extra time in Barstow or Kingman just to avoid Needles. Last summer I was there in June, 123 degrees!
This is the closest supercharger when towing jet ski to Laughlin or Lake Havasu, not particularly close to either place, so it is vital to folks like me, have to get a full charge before heading to either place due to the very limited charging there. I wish there were more than four chargers and that they are not attached to Dairy Queen
Please stay away during the next couple of weeks. What we don't need is someone spending 2 hours trying to get a "full charge" with such limited options.
It never takes “2 hours” to get a 100% charge at a Supercharger, it’s less than an hour.
And if someone needs a full charge on a trip they have every right to spend the time at a Supercharger to get a full charge.
DeepBlueMN
2019 AWD Model 3
Stopped at Needles to charge on Wed 2/26/20. Worked fine, and nothing ICE'd, but it is kind of a dumpy SuperCharger. Only 4 stalls, and one is double duty as general parking and handicapped. And the stalls are wedged along side the gas station building and between the cabinet fencing, with semi's constantly passing right by the front of your car.
Pluto
is a Planet
Kimbal Musk actually told a story about him and Elon that included this location decades ago on the Third Row Podcast (at 44m 38s):
Ed Hart
Member
Dumpy???
I think it was in 2015. We were driving back from the east. We took a full charge in Kingman, AZ and set sail for Barstow in our MS85. My wife was driving, and we set the cruise to 55 mph, fearing we would be close. Trucks of every descriptions passes us at 80+. To my surprise, about 30 minutes after we left Kingman, a red blip popped onto the screen at Needles. I could not find anything about it on the web, so we continued at 55, but planned an exist at Needles. To our surprise, there was this absolutely beautiful, previously unused set of Superchargers at the Shell station. We charged up - with fans screaming in the heat - and headed off to Barstow at 80 mph!
So.....it did not look dumpy to us!!
Just charged here for first time on trip to Laughlin ..I have visited close to 100+ superchargers and IMO it’s a little dumpy ..granted Laughlin doesn’t have any good charging ..i needed this stop ..super slow in 120 heat..and of course two out of three spots ICEd 
Last time I was at the Needles Supercharger the weather was 123 degrees!
DeepBlueMN
2019 AWD Model 3
Yes, dumpy.
I am certainly a fan of having as many SuperChargers as possible, especially when driving across the country and one is really needed, as it was for me that day since there isn’t one in Lake Havasu City (yes, all SuperChargers are “beautiful” when you really need one!)
But, of the 40 or so SuperCharger locations I have been to, this one definitely ranks near the bottom. I can think of a half dozen reasons why I hope I don’t need to stop at this SC location in the future.
