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Supercharger - Petaluma, CA (EXPANDED Jun 2018, now 20 V2 stalls)
- Thread starter P85David
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- California Supercharging USA
Chuq
Active Member
I it was easier than I anticipated to pull into the stall so I can charge without unhitching. Yes I was blocking one stall but the supercharger kwas not busy at all, and I didn’t stick out into the parking lot Lane.
I hope that when people do block chargers like that, that they stick around to move in case the chargers actually do fill up (and yes even expanded Petaluma can get full on the weekends)
Agreed. I was there the entire time and would have moved in a minute if the number of available chargers had dramatically decreased. As it was, there were always more than 10 chargers available while I was there charging.
One of the joys of towing a trailer with a Tesla is that while charging you can relax in the trailer and have a snack.
It's worth noting that in these layouts, one with a trailer can park facing the wrong way on the "leftmost" stall (that is, for those pulling in the proper way), and still charge. This way, no chargers are blocked. The leftmost chargers are wide open and someone can pull through as normal to charge. This only works if that lane is not blocked by the equipment shed or a wall.
We've done this in at least two locations, but I cannot remember which ones.
We've done this in at least two locations, but I cannot remember which ones.
Blu Zap
Grinning member
Okay, we are up to 20 stalls. But that's no reason to take up three charging spots and leave your vehicle unattended!! Saturday, September 1st around 3:00 pm Fortunately this owner left before the Petaluma Supercharger filled up. Stupid is as stupid does.
I see that car blocking two stalls, not three. But I wouldn’t be so hard on that owner, who may have never used a Supercharger with pull through stalls (they are in the minority) and probably didn’t realize was doing it wrong. I doubt that a Tesla owner would deliberately block others from charging. They just made a mistake.
Pulling in to the stall in the wrong direction is the culprit here. (Three stalls because he's sitting in one, overlapping another, and taking the charge cable from a third.) Having big "one way" arrows painted in the lanes would help a lot.
Blu Zap
Grinning member
Ya, we see it all. Thanks @evp for explaining 3 vs.2. It is easy for new owners to not have it figured out. As a matter of fact I talked to a new Model 3 owner today who pulled into the spot next to me, pairing with the charger I was on. Easy fix and the owner was glad to hear about it. But it points out that I don't think Tesla is educating new owners on how SuperChargers work. I bring this situation up because I have seen an owner park this way before the Petaluma SuC was expanded. He was in the car. When I asked him about it, he said he didn't want the sun in his eyes. At least he was still in the car. It was a conscious decision to use 3 spots. But would he have moved if things backed up?
Clearly Tesla can do more in owner training and signage. But if you pull in and every other car is facing the opposite way, one may think twice.
cpa
Active Member
Fan, you are more sanguine about the human condition than I. (Perhaps it is my upbringing and my accountant's skepticism about people's actions.)
Perhaps it is because we live 150 feet from an elementary school, and the mothers often park blocking part of our driveway (a good third of it) or they park IN our driveway to save another 100 feet of walking their children to school. Every time when I politely ask them to move their cars, I get excuse after excuse after excuse. When we had different landscaping by the curb (there are no sidewalks in our neighborhood) the parents would let their kids trample the bushes and plants that were growing a good foot from the curb.There are two other Teslas visible in the picture; it is unknown how many others are out of the frame. It is not too difficult for a new driver who has never Supercharged before or used pull-through stalls before to imitate the other drivers who have already plugged in. Moreover, common sense says to look at your parking job to see if you are within the lines, regardless of the situation. (In some jurisdictions, the meter maids can cite for taking up more than one spot.)
My cynical view is that the driver was (a) either in a hurry and did not wish to fiddle around with a proper parking job; (b) used that time-worn excuse that "I was only going to be plugged in for 10 minutes;" or (c) is just a turd.
In my view, there are a lot more people with purely selfish and thoughtless behaviors than in years' past. I can forgive carelessness and ignorance; I cannot forgive selfishness and thoughtlessness.
Merrill
Merrill
Yes. Safari Condo Alto, made in Quebec. The Petaluma Supercharger laytout is great for those towing short trailers; when there are multiple stalls available you can charge without unhitching and you don’t stick out into the parking lot lanes. I’ve done it twice now; I stay in the trailer while charging and monitor the number of open stalls so if it gets busy I can move.
israndy
Supercharger Hunter
So is this the charger that allows charging at the higher speed?
Tesla begins to unlock V2 Supercharger's 145 kW charge rate in new software roll out
I saw it posted elsewhere, surprised no one is talking about it on this thread if I have the right charger
-Randy
Tesla begins to unlock V2 Supercharger's 145 kW charge rate in new software roll out
I saw it posted elsewhere, surprised no one is talking about it on this thread if I have the right charger
-Randy
Interesting. I am not far from this Supercharger, but I haven't gotten an update on my S yet. If I had, I'd try it out today.
Randy, my understanding is that the firmware update allows the cars to charge faster at V2 Superchargers (non-Urban).
It’s not the Supercharger, its the firmware update. That Teslerati article offers a report from a Tesla owner who, after the firmware update, got the faster speed at Petaluma, but if they had gone to the Napa Supercharger they would have seen the same faster speed, as far as I know.
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