Supercharger - Ontario, OR

[PLUS EV]

This. For all the people who've been wanting Burns, OR, Tesla has to do Ontario, OR first to cut the gap.

While we are rosterbating, we might as well submit Rome, John Day, and possibly Madras and/or McDermitt to round out the Eastern Oregon holes.

I do agree that work in Ontario is a good sign for Burns though. It's subtle, but given that there are very few possible places to put a supercharger between Bend and Ontario (with Burns being by far the most obvious spot), the building of the Ontario supercharger makes it possible to complete this route with just one Burns supercharger. Burns will perfectly split the 260 mile gap, and given how rural this area is, Tesla will most likely be content with two ~130 mile gaps. Without building Ontario, it would be a 184 mile gap between Burns and the existing Boise supercharger, which is clearly unacceptable. Cutting down the current 124 mile gap between Boise and Baker City on an interstate route is just a bonus.

 

[ItsNotAboutTheMoney]

Ontario, OR

Along Primary Interstates: I-84W
Along US Numbered Highways (<=5mi): US-30, US-95
Along Auxiliary Interstates: None

I-84

From: Baker City, OR - 73.4 miles
To: Boise, ID - 52.2 miles
Diversion: 1.2 miles
From: Pendleton, OR - 162 miles
To: Twin Falls, ID - 177.9 miles

From: Winnemucca, NV (US-95) - 259 miles
From: Bend, OR (US-20, OR-201, I-84) - 264.2 miles
(From: Burns, OR (US-20, OR-201, I-84) - ~132.8 miles)

Will help improve density along I-84, with better skips from Pendleton, OR and to Twin Falls, ID.

Will allow a reasonable connection to be made to Bend, OR via Burns, OR.

Is also on US-95, 259 miles from Winnemucca, NV.

 

[Pricee2]

Another plus is that the Boise SC can be skipped under most circumstances.

 

[Rocky_H]

Whoa, I just came across this. NOW we've got a thread to get into this! *cracks knuckles*

BURNS, BURNS, BURNS!

Yeah, I'm feelin it.

Awesome news! Oregon has some of the bIggest holes in coverage in the country. Seems like once Tesla starts adding sc in an area they do several so hopefully more to come in Oregon.

I do take some good from this, that it possibly shows that they are putting some notice and interest in the general vicinity, although still in the wrong spot.

This. For all the people who've been wanting Burns, OR, Tesla has to do Ontario, OR first to cut the gap.

Um, not really. It's a 6 hour drive, and this is less than one hour in from one end of it. It's a miss. It's like if someone's front lawn was entirely drying out and dying, and someone gets out a hose and starts watering the sidewalk. Um, sure, you're getting some water onto that little strip of grass on the edge that borders the sidewalk, and it's slightly better than nothing, but you're doing it wrong, and you need to put that water into the middle of the yard, not the sidewalk. Ontario does not really help this route much and is about 95% just for redundancy on I-84.

Without building Ontario, it would be a 184 mile gap between Burns and the existing Boise supercharger, which is clearly unacceptable.

Very acceptable. Ontario could have waited a couple of years later after Burns as a just kind of "nice to have".

I just put in a suggestion on Electrify America's page a couple days ago for Burns to see if they would do it.

 

[3'sterly]

Interesting that this doesn’t show up on the One Call at all... this gives me hope that Tesla is starting to focus some energy in Oregon.

very curious if we see a Hood River and Boardman showing up soon...

Edit: Could you repost the steps you used to find this?

Sure.
I went to the Oregon building permits database, clicked ‘Search’, clicked ‘Building Permits’, went down to ‘Project Name’, typed in ‘Tesla’ and then went and hit ‘Search’.
All projects that included Tesla in the name were then listed.
The one that was a ‘Commercial Electrical’ was Candy.
I agree that it’s already into the construction phase. The page before RocketMan88’s post lists 4 actions under inspections, the last one is a;
‘std_Inspection_Summary_pr_20200212_120032.pdf‘

So, who’s going to take a look already?

 

[Rocky_H]

So, who’s going to take a look already?

Alrighty, I can head over there Saturday.

 

[ItsNotAboutTheMoney]

Um, not really. It's a 6 hour drive, and this is less than one hour in from one end of it. It's a miss. It's like if someone's front lawn was entirely drying out and dying, and someone gets out a hose and starts watering the sidewalk. Um, sure, you're getting some water onto that little strip of grass on the edge that borders the sidewalk, and it's slightly better than nothing, but you're doing it wrong, and you need to put that water into the middle of the yard, not the sidewalk. Ontario does not really help this route much and is about 95% just for redundancy on I-84.

...
Very acceptable. Ontario could have waited a couple of years later after Burns as a just kind of "nice to have".

As PLUS EV wrote in his reply to me, Burns, OR to Boise, ID would be 184 miles. That's too big a gap.

Not only is 184 miles difficult in shorter-range Teslas in cold weather, but it's clearly suboptimal for charging time for many Teslas.

The 133 mile gaps Bend, OR to Burns, OR to Ontario, OR will be reasonable, mostly allowing people to charge in the sweet spot instead of having to go to higher capacity.

 

[Rocky_H]

As PLUS EV wrote in his reply to me, Burns, OR to Boise, ID would be 184 miles. That's too big a gap.

Not only is 184 miles difficult in shorter-range Teslas in cold weather, but it's clearly suboptimal for charging time for many Teslas.

Yes, I saw that--fully disagree. Reducing it from 184 is like the cherry on top of a sundae. It's a nice extra, but we're getting the cherry without the sundae right now.

 

[im.thatoneguy]

Yes, I saw that--fully disagree. Reducing it from 184 is like the cherry on top of a sundae. It's a nice extra, but we're getting the cherry without the sundae right now.

Arguably as I pointed out for LR M3s, 60mph isn't an unreasonable speed limit to make it at least *possible* for many cars now. 50mph wasn't really reasonable before.

 

[RocketMan88]

the problem with Bend to Burns and Burns to Boise is that not only can it be cold out here, but it is a very hilly drive both legs.... which decimates range... esp if you are already hauling a car full of stuff or have cargo box. Burns is obv a much bigger win for Bend-ites than Ontario but I do agree that they are both needed to be able to reliably make the trip in more scenarios.

 

[PLUS EV]

Whoa, I just came across this. NOW we've got a thread to get into this! *cracks knuckles*

Yeah, I'm feelin it.

I do take some good from this, that it possibly shows that they are putting some notice and interest in the general vicinity, although still in the wrong spot.

Um, not really. It's a 6 hour drive, and this is less than one hour in from one end of it. It's a miss. It's like if someone's front lawn was entirely drying out and dying, and someone gets out a hose and starts watering the sidewalk. Um, sure, you're getting some water onto that little strip of grass on the edge that borders the sidewalk, and it's slightly better than nothing, but you're doing it wrong, and you need to put that water into the middle of the yard, not the sidewalk. Ontario does not really help this route much and is about 95% just for redundancy on I-84.

Very acceptable. Ontario could have waited a couple of years later after Burns as a just kind of "nice to have".

I just put in a suggestion on Electrify America's page a couple days ago for Burns to see if they would do it.

You are wrong about this. This isn't how Tesla thinks with their supercharger build out. This is a very significant build if you are hoping for a Burns supercharger. They would never build Burns and leave a 184 mile gap for years.

 

[RocketMan88]

for anyone going to check it out, there is some more specific location info on the permit application

 

[Rocky_H]

You are wrong about this. This isn't how Tesla thinks with their supercharger build out. This is a very significant build if you are hoping for a Burns supercharger. They would never build Burns and leave a 184 mile gap for years.

OK, we are going round and round because we are talking about two different things. You say I am "wrong", and then "correct" by explaining what Tesla does. I know what Tesla does; I have no illusions about that, and I wasn't talking about what Tesla does, so I wasn't wrong. I have seen it--they build redundant locations instead of connecting the routes. I agree.

And I keep responding that the method they are doing is bad. It is doing the thing that doesn't work first, putting off the thing that does work. It would be better to do the thing that does work first, and then the thing that makes it a little bit better later. I guess I will never understand why you think a 262 mile gap is better or more useful than a 184 mile gap.

 

[Rocky_H]

for anyone going to check it out, there is some more specific location info on the permit application

Wow! Thank you for that. I went over there to Ontario, and with an address that is on one of those big shared parking lot shopping areas, it's hard to narrow down where this would be. There is a Wal-Mart on the east side and a shopping complex on the west side, and I walked all around both of them for a while and hadn't spotted anything that looked like it, so I went back to my car, and then looked up this thread again to see if anything else had been posted, so I was very glad to see this extra detail. I went back over to that area between the Papa Murphy's and Jolts Juice, and I found it. It's out in the middle, and there's not much there, so I guess that's why I didn't spot it at first.

That's all that's there right now--some dug up dirt and that white equipment box that looks new and shiny. I walked around it, and there didn't seem to be a label showing what it is.

 

[RocketMan88]

So it looks like we're officially under construction then, albeit early construction. Thanks a ton for checking it out

 

[RocketMan88]

would be interesting to see how far construction has progressed here or not since Rocky photo'd it it. Thanks again @Rocky_H

 

[Rocky_H]

would be interesting to see how far construction has progressed here or not since Rocky photo'd it it. Thanks again @Rocky_H

Well you are in Bend. How about checking out the spot behind the Chamber of Commerce in Burns since no one has gotten to take a look there yet? I have stuff going on Saturday and Sunday and can't go.

 

[RocketMan88]

Well you are in Bend. How about checking out the spot behind the Chamber of Commerce in Burns since no one has gotten to take a look there yet? I have stuff going on Saturday and Sunday and can't go.

I've charged there several times, I doubt they would put the supercharger back there, its really a bad location. Have you heard that is where they are going to put it?

 

[Rocky_H]

I've charged there several times, I doubt they would put the supercharger back there, its really a bad location. Have you heard that is where they are going to put it?

Not just "heard". The building permit literally says that's where it is being installed:

"Car Charging Station, located behind the Chamber building - 3 phase 480V"

Here's the thread comment with the direct link to the electrical building permit.
New Oregon Superchargers (2018)

But the permit does not actually say "Tesla" or "Supercharger". So it's some kind of DC fast charging station, and we are still trying to get information as to exactly what kind or brand. I did call and leave a message at the Harney County Chamber of Commerce a couple hours ago asking if they could just call me back with a little update there of whether there is live construction already and what they can see of it.

 

[RocketMan88]

the current tesla charger there is super old, only one of its kind I've seen (not a wall or supercharger, some one-off thing Tesla did years ago). It is about 10% faster than a normal wall charger, gets about 40mph with a dual charger. Perhaps someone is putting a Chademo back there too? if so that would be huge. Even a Chademo + ontario supercharger combined would cut several hours off the the charging time in Burns. Also for anyone else considering checking out the Burns site, be careful two of the times I've been there there have been break-in issues. It's in a non-lit alley and people tend to get a false sense of security from the police building across the street. But its not actually functional, the "police station" you can see from the charger is actually just an abandoned building.