Supercharger - Panama City Beach, FL

[Cgoral42]

Yesterday, I met this woman who apparently turned out to be the CEO of the company that owns the Busy Bee franchise, and we were talking about Panama City Beach. She told me that they were opening a Busy Bee location in Panama City Beach close to the Pier Park mall. Busy Bee currently has 12 Superchargers at their Live Oak location, so I asked if they were going to install Superchargers at the PCB location, and she said yes!! I’m super excited about this because my family has a condo there, and charging has been problematic on our trips there. We are headed there this weekend as a matter of fact, so I’ll report back on what I see on the ground there. She indicated that the Busy Bee would open next week, but it was going to be a couple more weeks before the Superchargers were up and running. They apparently experienced some delays in permitting due to COVID-19.

The address is 14100 Panama City Beach Parkway, Panama City Beach, Florida 32413.

Local news story from a Google search:
Busy Bee construction underway in PCB

 

[mociaf9]

Nice one! I found the permit application for this site. It's still in plan reviews (not yet issued), so it's unlikely for the supercharger to be up and running in just a few weeks. But hopefully it won't take too long.

Panama City Beach permitting portal--
permit #: 202001151

Description: Tesla to Install Electric Vehicle Charging Station

@Chuq @MarcoRP

 

[MarcoRP]

Well, this is nice. It’s a bit odd though that the permit valuation for the charging stations is just 28000. Isn’t the building value usually 5x more elevated? Added

 

[ItsNotAboutTheMoney]

Well, this is nice. It’s a bit odd though that the permit valuation for the charging stations is just 28000. Isn’t the building value usually 5x more elevated? Added

Well, Tesla's modus operandi now seems to be splitting up the construction into multiple phases, so this might be for the groundwork, not the electrical.

Or maybe they missed off a 0.

Anyway, this is good news. It'd be another Supercharger serving a US Numbered Highway. I know still Tesla needs to resolve The Arkansas Problem and hasn't yet completed the Interstate coverage, but it's good to have them working beyond the Interstates to improve the ability of people to drive the routes they want to drive. That approach can keep them ahead of the competition.

 

[mociaf9]

Well, this is nice. It’s a bit odd though that the permit valuation for the charging stations is just 28000. Isn’t the building value usually 5x more elevated? Added

Yeah, that caught my eye as well. I agree that it's much lower than what is usually found for most supercharger applications. But different jurisdictions do construction valuation in different ways or only covering certain parts of a project, so occasionally getting what looks like an outlier value isn't shocking.

 

[1speed]

This is great news. I've been to one of the Busy Bee superchargers in Florida, and its the best one I've ever been to.

 

[smartypnz]

This is actually a very good fit for Tesla!!!

 

[M3BlueGeorgia]

This Supercharger location is a big deal to Metro Atlanta Tesla owners, since this stretch of the Florida Panhandle is a popular beach destination.

 

[ItsNotAboutTheMoney]

Panama City Beach, FL

Along Primary Interstates: None
Along US Numbered Highways (<=5mi): US-98
Along Auxiliary Interstates: None

US-98

From: Mobile, AL - 161.9 miles
To: Lakeland, FL - 370.6 miles
Diversion: 0.8 miles
From: Hattiesburg, MS - 256.7 miles
To: FL-A1A at Palm Beach, FL - 565.4 miles

To: DeFuniak Springs, FL (US-98,FL-79,FL-20,US-331,US-90) - 50.1 miles
To: Tallahassee, FL (US-98,FL-79,FL-388,l,FL-20,FL-12,I-10,FL-61) - 118.2 miles
To: Auburn, AL (US-98,FL-79/AL-167,US-231,AL-271,I-85) - 219.7 miles
To: Atlanta, GA (US-98,FL-79,FL-388,FL-77,I-10,US-231,US-431,US-80,I-185,I-85) - 310.2 miles
To: Decatur (SC), GA (US-98,FL-79,FL-388,FL-77,I-10,US-231,US-431,US-80,I-185,I-85,I-285,US-78) - 321 miles
To: Lithonia, GA (US-98,FL-79,FL-388,FL-77,I-10,US-231,US-431,US-80,I-185,I-85,I-285,I-20) - 315 miles
To: Macon, GA (US-98,FL-79,FL-388,FL-77,I-10,US-231,US-431,AL-52/GA-62,US-27,US-82,GA-32,GA-300,I-75,US-80) - 297.8 miles
To: Oxford, AL (US-98,FL-79/AL-167,US-231,AL-21,I-20) - 277.1 miles
To: Clearwater, FL (US-98,FL-79,FL-388,l,FL-20,FL-267,US-98,FL-589,FL-60,FL-611,l,US-19) - 358.7 miles
To: Tampa - West Swann Ave, FL (US-98,FL-79,FL-388,l,FL-20,FL-267,US-98,FL-589,FL-60,FL-611,I-275) - 350.2 miles
To: Pinellas Park, FL (US-98,FL-79,FL-388,l,FL-20,FL-267,US-98,FL-589,I-275,FL-694) - 357.6 miles

Hooray for US Numbered Highways.

 

[Cgoral42]

Also wanted to note that the same lady who told me about the Panama City Beach site also mentioned that they were putting in superchargers at the Busy Bee in St. Augustine which will be located at I-95 and CR-207. This one doesn’t seem to be as critical since it would be located within approximately 10 miles from the current St. Augustine supercharger and relatively close to the Palm Coast location under construction now, though my preference is to stop at the Busy Bee instead. I’m not sure that there is any permitting at the St. Augustine location yet. Probably more to come later on this one.

 

[ChrisC]

Also wanted to note that the same lady who told me about the Panama City Beach site also mentioned that they were putting in superchargers at the Busy Bee in St. Augustine....

MarcoRP has now created a separate thread for that one:
Supercharger - St. Augustine, FL (Busy Bee SR-207)

 

[Cgoral42]

Well, the Busy Bee looks really nice but not quite ready for an opening this week (the store and gas pumps). It should be soon though. Couldn’t see any construction for the superchargers just yet.

 

[Denny_Camp]

Just drove the parking lot (in my M3!) and no construction on Superchargers has started. Frankly, there is not a lot of parking space available at this location. Nothing like the space available at the Live Oak Busy Bee. That location is an awesome stop!

 

[Denny_Camp]

By the way, any information on the KW rating of the chargers to be installed?

 

[Cgoral]

Nice one! I found the permit application for this site. It's still in plan reviews (not yet issued), so it's unlikely for the supercharger to be up and running in just a few weeks. But hopefully it won't take too long.

Panama City Beach permitting portal--
permit #: 202001151

Description: Tesla to Install Electric Vehicle Charging Station

View attachment 543821

@Chuq @MarcoRP

Thanks, mociaf9. Based on your info, I went in to check on this permit, and it looks like they have paid the permit fee. The permit looks like it has now been issued.

Progressing one step at a time.

 

[Cgoral]

So, here's a question to the group. I found a sign permit for Tesla signage at this location (permit # 202001150). The status of the permit indicates that the permit has been voided. From just looking at the site when I was there during Memorial Day weekend, it seems like there won't be a large amount of parking spaces for non-Tesla customers, so I'm assuming that this means that there will not be dedicated Tesla parking at the supercharger because they may have to have a certain number of parking spaces for the overall site.

Is that how you all interpret this or am I missing something?

 

[mociaf9]

You're reading too much into it. There are lots of reasons why it might have been voided. You may be right that there won't be any dedicated charging stalls and all will be dual use, but whether this is the case or not, the stalls will still have some sort of sign and that signage will likely still need to be permitted. I would expect there to be a reapplication at some point in the future unless the building department determined that the type/size of signs they are using don't require separate permitting.

 

[Larry Chanin]

So, here's a question to the group. I found a sign permit for Tesla signage at this location (permit # 202001150). The status of the permit indicates that the permit has been voided. From just looking at the site when I was there during Memorial Day weekend, it seems like there won't be a large amount of parking spaces for non-Tesla customers, so I'm assuming that this means that there will not be dedicated Tesla parking at the supercharger because they may have to have a certain number of parking spaces for the overall site.

Is that how you all interpret this or am I missing something?

When you get a chance, how about taking some photos of the parking situation so we can get a better idea of your concern.

By the way, the Tesla Charging Station permit has advanced from Plan Review to Issued.

Thanks for the recon.

Larry

 

[rdcisneros3]

Anyone know what the time frame is from permit issue to go live? I'm guessing my hopes for a 2 week turnaround are not realistic.

 

[Larry Chanin]

Anyone know what the time frame is from permit issue to go live? I'm guessing my hopes for a 2 week turnaround are not realistic.

In the worst cases, it can be over a year.

In this case, we don't even know when the permit was issued. We know that it was applied for on April 29, 2020, and we know as of June 15th that it was issued. However, we don't have an exact date as to when it was issued.

Larry