Rob Holloway
Member
Obviously. However, there are people on this forum with way more experience than me. On a previous post I was asked to provide more images so that the poster could more accurately respond.
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Supercharger - Novato, CA (LIVE 28 Mar 2020, 20 V2 stalls)
- Thread starter mociaf9
- Start date
Blu Zap
Grinning member
Rob Holloway
Member
PG&E were actually very quick in bringing both my solar systems and Powerwall on line, but I guess this is different. Do the pictures show anyone that this is all we are waiting for? I'm not even a novice in SUC design 
Sorry for all the questions - do we know if Tesla are quick making it appear on our in car dashboards, once it is on line?
I live in Novato and am out there every few days. My son actually works right next door to the super charger. I will report if we see anything happening.
Sorry for all the questions - do we know if Tesla are quick making it appear on our in car dashboards, once it is on line?
I live in Novato and am out there every few days. My son actually works right next door to the super charger. I will report if we see anything happening.
NetBear
Member
Because of the way they're stacked, it looks like such a high density installation. I did a double take when I drove past on the access road.
Rob, thanks for the pictures. Tesla's supercharger construction scheduling/process appears to be stochastic, so predictions like ETAs are basically impossible. What we can say is what is still definitely remaining to be done:I was there 2 days ago and took these photos. Can anyone tell us what the ETA might be as Tesla View attachment 485569 View attachment 485570 View attachment 485571 View attachment 485572 has no idea
- Install Supercharger cabinets.
- Wiring between autotransformers (small white boxes) and the supercharger cabinets, as well as between the cabinets and the pedestals.
- Install pedestrian lamp posts.
- Final electrical and/or building inspections.
- Tesla testing and commissioning of the site.
And what presumably still needs to be done, though we can't tell for sure from the pictures posted so far:
- Other site wiring (e.g. between switchgear and autotransformers)
- Install utility tranformer. (PG&E)
- Connect to main electrical grid. (PG&E)
The big thing to watch out for from the Tesla side is to see when the ten supercharger cabinets get installed. They will go in the area of the equipment pad showing all the stubs of conduit coming up. You can see the spot in this picture:
Your photos threw me for a moment: had not seen a pedestal arrangement like that before! Then realized that the charging stalls are back-to-back. I anticipate some confusion as to which cable to reach for. I realize that one cable is closer to the charge port than the cable of the adjacent pedestal, but it seems possible that the cables from two pedestals will both be able to reach the charge port of your car...
israndy
Supercharger Hunter
Back to back is becoming popular. When I first saw it at East Palo Alto the guys beside me were traded positions, each using the others cable. It's easy to do as the cable can actually look like it should be hung up on the other Urban Superchargers hanger as it's right there next to where the cord comes out. If they start the day hung correctly and both end up in use it's easy to put your cable back wrong and if the other guy doesn't fix it when he leaves it can go all day with the wrong charger being used.
Probably easier with the non-Urban chargers, but it plagues the Volta chargers. Once they get switched, it can take all day until one isn't being used so that they can be switched back. Plus, no one hangs those cords up anyway. I think I was the only one and now that I've gone Chademo who's gonna fix the J1772 cords.
Probably easier with the non-Urban chargers, but it plagues the Volta chargers. Once they get switched, it can take all day until one isn't being used so that they can be switched back. Plus, no one hangs those cords up anyway. I think I was the only one and now that I've gone Chademo who's gonna fix the J1772 cords.
dandrewk
Active Member
Latest from Novato. Looks like not a lot has been done recently.
goldengate
Member
They are stalled waiting for PG&E to bring in a much larger line... underground. That's what they told me when I was there a couple weeks ago. Above photo looks pretty much the same as it was then to me but maybe I'm missing something.
Blu Zap
Grinning member
dandrewk
Active Member
This location doesn’t show on Tesla’s Supercharger map yet, so no ETA. It may be awhile...
Marin City still shows ETA 2019. We shall see.
Marin City still shows ETA 2019. We shall see.
goldengate
Member
My experience with that Supercharger map is it is not updated very frequently (I think 1-2 times a year?) hence using these forums to find out what's really going on with the network. Given the traffic disruption I saw at Novato when they were trying to run the conduit, I am guessing they will wait until after the holiday shopping season is over to close the road and run the conduit. This is only a guess on my part based on the monumental gridlock I saw throughout the shopping center when they tried to do it a couple weeks ago. I have seriously never seen anything like it, even when sporting events & concerts get out.
dandrewk
Active Member
Progress! I pulled by the spot today and saw a MaxGen truck there with a couple of guys working on the stations. You can also see that they have installed the cabinets. It looks like a lot of work has been done since Dec. 12. I asked the guys about an ETA, and they said "January", but didn't seem too sure. Apparently PG&E is still laying about five miles of underground cables to reach the spot.
woodisgood
Optimustic Pessimist
Ha! I was stuck in that! It was nasty. I didn’t realize it was for the Supercharger, thought it was weather-related power problems.
israndy
Supercharger Hunter
Geez, really, there isn't enough power already delivered to the mall to add Supercharging? I bet they charge Tesla for the trenching and the development in the area will benefit from the extra power capabilities. That area has seen a LOT of development in the years I have been going there.
dandrewk
Active Member
It’s not the amount of power, it’s the bandwidth. It takes a large pipeline and massive transformers to move that much power on demand. Even if these are 72 kW stations, there’s 20 of them. That’s a lot of juice!
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Blu Zap
Grinning member
Got by today for our Costco visit. 12/21/19.
Juice was not at the SuC. No transformer, thanks PG&E. But hey, it looks great and ready to go... except for that kW thing. ;-)
Juice was not at the SuC. No transformer, thanks PG&E. But hey, it looks great and ready to go... except for that kW thing. ;-)
Rob Holloway
Member
Blu Zap
Grinning member
Still waiting for that big fat transformer from PG&E. Otherwise, it is all good to go. Even parked there last Saturday to see how far of a walk to Costco. All good!
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