Supercharger - Palo Alto, CA - Bryant Street (LIVE 3 Sep 2022, 19 V3 stalls)

[mociaf9]

Permit #: 21BLD-01418
Applied: 2021-06-10
Status: In Plan Check

Description: INSTALLATION OF (19) TESLA SUPERCHARGERS AND (1) POWER FLEX LEVEL 2 CHARGERS. INSTALL ASSOCIATED EQUIPMENT: (5) SUPERCHARGER CABINETS, (1) SWITCHGEAR AND (1) TRANSITION CABINET

Address: 445 Bryant St, Palo Alto, CA 94301

GPS: 37.446507, -122.162028

@Chuq @MarcoRP @corywright

 

[miimura]

what? One Powerflex Level 2 charger makes no sense. Did they forget a zero? Our neighborhood school has 18 Powerflex load balanced L2 charging stations.

 

[mociaf9]

what? One Powerflex Level 2 charger makes no sense. Did they forget a zero? Our neighborhood school has 18 Powerflex load balanced L2 charging stations.

Yeah, I thought that was weird too. The whole point of Powerflex is to load balance multiple stations. But then I checked Plugshare and it turns out that there are already a number of existing Powerflex stations in the garage. The pictures show ChargePoint hardware but the most recent check-in says, "No longer Chargepoint, it is PowerFlex. Same rates." So, I assume they just went with matching hardware.

 

[MarcoRP]

Will be on the 3rd floor

 

[tivoboy]

Ugh!

 

[2TNE]

Does anyone else see the title of this and read it as Bulwer-Lytton of "It was a dark and stormy night" infamy?

 

[bmah]

Does anyone else see the title of this and read it as Bulwer-Lytton of "It was a dark and stormy night" infamy?

Well I do now. Thanks a lot.

Bruce.

 

[Russell]

what? One Powerflex Level 2 charger makes no sense. Did they forget a zero? Our neighborhood school has 18 Powerflex load balanced L2 charging stations.

But are they free?

 

[FlatSix911]

Permit #: 21BLD-01418
Applied: 2021-06-10
Status: In Plan Check
Description: INSTALLATION OF (19) TESLA SUPERCHARGERS AND (1) POWER FLEX LEVEL 2 CHARGERS. INSTALL ASSOCIATED EQUIPMENT: (5) SUPERCHARGER CABINETS, (1) SWITCHGEAR AND (1) TRANSITION CABINET
Address: 445 Bryant St, Palo Alto, CA 94301
GPS: 37.446507, -122.162028 @Chuq @MarcoRP @corywright

Nice find.

 

[Evee]

Any updates here?

 

[miimura]

Any updates here?

It looks like the permit has not been issued yet.

 

[Mrbrock]

With this still delayed and under review, any chance Tesla is looking at other sites? And have they used Core States Construction in the past?

3966 Middlefield Road. Permit issued 9/9/21 for a $300k L3 charger site and bike racks. The 19 stall Bryant location has a $500k value. I found a 4 spot EA in San Mateo valued at $100k so it’s likely 12 spots. Definitely leaning towards Tesla as the size seems too big for EA. Also under fees, the there is L3 fee for 1 of something and an L3 fee for 3 of something. Fits with Tesla switchgear. 1 main box and 3 cabinets? Bike racks as part of the permit is a first I think.

Accela Citizen Access

https://aca-prod.accela.com/PALOALTO/Report/ShowReport.aspx?Module=Building&reportType=PRINT_PERMIT_REPORT&reportID=4664&agencyCode=PALOALTO

 

[mociaf9]

With this still delayed and under review, any chance Tesla is looking at other sites? And have they used Core States Construction in the past?

Tesla may be looking for additional sites in and around Palo Alto, but they certainly haven't dropped the Bryant Garage location. The most recent time they submitted updated plans for review on their building permit application was just last week, on 2021-09-22. Besides, it's really not that unusual for a supercharger to take 6-8 months to get from initial building permit application to permit approval and issuance.

I don't recognize Core States Construction as a "known" company that they've used before, but Tesla has built a lot of superchargers and I haven't checked the contractors on every location.

The 3966 Middlefield Rd. location you're referencing is for a 4-stall Electrify America station with pre-construction of the infrastructure needed for a 2-stall expansion in the future. If you search by the street address for the project (and be sure to mark the "Search All Records" box) you'll see the planning record which gives a fuller description of the project that makes it clear it isn't for a supercharger. The planning record also has a viewable set of the project plans in the attachments tab which confirms it as an EA station.

 

[Mrbrock]

Tesla may be looking for additional sites in and around Palo Alto, but they certainly haven't dropped the Bryant Garage location. The most recent time they submitted updated plans for review on their building permit application was just last week, on 2021-09-22. Besides, it's really not that unusual for a supercharger to take 6-8 months to get from initial building permit application to permit approval and issuance.

I don't recognize Core States Construction as a "known" company that they've used before, but Tesla has built a lot of superchargers and I haven't checked the contractors on every location.

The 3966 Middlefield Rd. location you're referencing is for a 4-stall Electrify America station with pre-construction of the infrastructure needed for a 2-stall expansion in the future. If you search by the street address for the project (and be sure to mark the "Search All Records" box) you'll see the planning record which gives a fuller description of the project that makes it clear it isn't for a supercharger. The planning record also has a viewable set of the project plans in the attachments tab which confirms it as an EA station.

Learn something new all the time. Have never checked the search all records box. Interesting that this site isn’t on the coming soon map for EA. And I thought the value was too high for 4 spot EA but it does list battery storage as part of the plan so that explains that.

 

[mociaf9]

Learn something new all the time. Have never checked the search all records box. Interesting that this site isn’t on the coming soon map for EA. And I thought the value was too high for 4 spot EA but it does list battery storage as part of the plan so that explains that.

Checking the "search all records" box just means that you'll get results from Planning records as well as Building records. You can do the searches separately, but if you're going to be searching by address or parcel number using the check box saves a bit of time. Of course, sometimes you get other types of records, too, like complaints and zoning violations. For commercial properties, where there might be a lot of those, that can really clutter up the results. So, it's not always the best choice.

 

[Mrbrock]

Looks like this has passed all planning reviews and is almost ready to be issued. Few small paperwork things to do.

 

[MarcoRP]

Permit Issued

Tesla has completed a pre-construction meeting, although I don't know if any ground work has started.

 

[Zorg]

So, 9 months to approve a SC permit. No wonder we can't get sugar done in CA.

 

[mociaf9]

So, 9 months to approve a SC permit. No wonder we can't get sugar done in CA.

This is a much more complex installation than normal as it's a retrofit into a prior existing, multi-level garage structure. You shouldn't take this installation as representative of "normal" operations for most supercharger permitting.

 

[SFBuffs]

Looks like the construction is coming along nicely now.