Supercharger - Portland, OR

[MarcoRP]

New Supercharger coming to Portland in the Fox Tower parking garage (805 SW Broadway). Both permits are currently under review so this site probably won’t be ready for Tesla’s Q1 projected date.

Quoted from one of the permits:
“Install (8) [Tesla] Supercharger stalls in the Fox Tower parking garage, (4) in the first phase and (4) in phase II”

 

[GHammer]

Cool, that's where we park when we go to shows downtown (back when we went to shows).

 

[Araman0]

Very very cool. Looking forward to stopping here on the way to California instead of one of the suburban locations and getting a chance to walk around downtown.

 

[N8DGR8]

Very very cool. Looking forward to stopping here on the way to California instead of one of the suburban locations and getting a chance to walk around downtown.

I prefer the downtown locations too. I'm happy to pay for parking if there is a ton of stuff todo. How is downtown Portland these days? We haven't been in a while. Looking forward to going back.

 

[GoBeavs]

This is a huge disappointment for me. Living in the city and owning a condo where I cannot install a charger, I’ve been waiting for a Portland Supercharger since 2018 (“coming Q4 of 2018” at the time). I can charge at work but it’s not the same as charging at home. Was hoping for a charger in Portland that I could use in emergency situations...not something I have to pay $6 just to get into

 

[PLUS EV]

This is a huge disappointment for me. Living in the city and owning a condo where I cannot install a charger, I’ve been waiting for a Portland Supercharger since 2018 (“coming Q4 of 2018” at the time). I can charge at work but it’s not the same as charging at home. Was hoping for a charger in Portland that I could use in emergency situations...not something I have to pay $6 just to get into

If you don't want to pay, you have Tigard, Hillsboro and two in Vancouver. It isn't realistic to expect a FREE supercharger in downtown Portland.

 

[Araman0]

Plus according to Tesla's "coming soon" maps it looks like Portland proper will get one in the NE too. These tend to be at neighborhood grocery store parking lots that are free, so relief will eventually arrive.

 

[GoBeavs]

If you don't want to pay, you have Tigard, Hillsboro and two in Vancouver. It isn't realistic to expect a FREE supercharger in downtown Portlame.

After doing more research I agree with you now. It looks like downtown Seattle and downtown San Francisco are the same setups.

$6 isn’t much, so it’s still nice to have an option. And you’re right, the Portland-Metro area expansion has been great with Tigard and Hillsboro.

 

[PLUS EV]

After doing more research I agree with you now. It looks like downtown Seattle and downtown San Francisco are the same setups.

$6 isn’t much, so it’s still nice to have an option. And you’re right, the Portland-Metro area expansion has been great with Tigard and Hillsboro.

Like Araman0 says, you might eventually get "lucky" with a FREE neighborhood supercharger, but there's no guarantee it will be near where you live. A free supercharger in NE Portland probably isn't very useful if you live in SW, for example. We just had our first free one open in Seattle in Ballard, which actually is convenient for me as I live a mile or two away and frequently drive into Ballard, but it was a long time coming for sure.

FREE superchargers in Tesla-dense areas are also a kind of "be careful what you wish for" scenario as the ones that do exist are often crowded with long wait times during the afternoon and evenings. Issaquah is a good example of this in the Seattle area. I'd personally rather pay 6 bucks than have to queue up or charge at 6am or whatever. One thing is for certain, the superchargers in pay parking garages have never ever been full lol.

 

[LaTez]

This is a great downtown location. Within a few blocks, there are a bunch of excellent restaurants at all price levels, Elephant's Deli, Oregon Symphony, Portland Art Museum, Oregon Historical Society, Pioneer Courthouse Square (Portland's living room), An Apple store, the Saturday farmer's market, the Multnomah County Library, Rich's cigars and magazines, and last but not least, an excellent yoga venue - Jewel Yoga ;-). You will want slooow charging so you have time to enjoy the area.

 

[floatplane]

Plus according to Tesla's "coming soon" maps it looks like Portland proper will get one in the NE too. These tend to be at neighborhood grocery store parking lots that are free, so relief will eventually arrive.

Is that the same NE Portland "coming soon" that has been listed there for years? I thought the Vancouver Mall one was suspected of being the "NE Portland" site.

Speaking of Vancouver, you can add the Vancouver BC ones to the list of downtown chargers where you need to pay to park AND they are 72kW Urban superchargers only. So you can expect the same for downtown Portland I think.

 

[acarney]

I prefer the downtown locations too. I'm happy to pay for parking if there is a ton of stuff todo. How is downtown Portland these days? We haven't been in a while. Looking forward to going back.

If it's not on fire, probably pretty nice

I hope this location is 24 hours, or at least has a very late closing time...

 

[agegamon]

If you don't want to pay, you have Tigard, Hillsboro and two in Vancouver. It isn't realistic to expect a FREE supercharger in downtown Portland.

The problem for me is that if I drive downtown and paying to park, I'm staying for a while to justify it. Otherwise, I'll take the Max across the river.

However, the main reason I visit superchargers is to charge quickly and leave. I'm not going to also pay $6 just to sit and charge for a while, even at an urban charger. If I'm downtown for three or four hours, I'd be slaughtered by idle fees.

But hey, at least it's something. After ages of having just the one lonely supercharger in Tigard, any progress is good progress.

 

[acarney]

The problem for me is that if I drive downtown and paying to park, I'm staying for a while to justify it. Otherwise, I'll take the Max across the river.

However, the main reason I visit superchargers is to charge quickly and leave. I'm not going to also pay $6 just to sit and charge for a while, even at an urban charger. If I'm downtown for three or four hours, I'd be slaughtered by idle fees.

But hey, at least it's something. After ages of having just the one lonely supercharger in Tigard, any progress is good progress.

I really think all urban locations should have a bunch of destination chargers. I would pay to park if I could be downtown somewhere for a few hours walking around or catching movie and dinner. For long range cars three hours should be good for 30kWh at 208 and almost 35kWh if they had 240v. 40% recharged during dinner and an IMAX movie isn’t too bad even if you’re paying for parking.

 

[acarney]

Hmmm is this new?

https://feedback.tesla.com/jfe/form/SV_6Wf6qLD5Wp6jrAW

Host a Supercharger | Tesla

Apply to host a Tesla Supercharger site.

www.tesla.com

To me that might indicate that Tesla is specifically focusing on those locations in the second link for siting superchargers (one being Portland). If this is the case, we might actually see some roll out of superchargers in the Portland and surrounding area.

 

[agegamon]

I really think all urban locations should have a bunch of destination chargers. I would pay to park if I could be downtown somewhere for a few hours walking around or catching movie and dinner. For long range cars three hours should be good for 30kWh at 208 and almost 35kWh if they had 240v. 40% recharged during dinner and an IMAX movie isn’t too bad even if you’re paying for parking.

I agree completely. I'd pay to charge at destination charging in addition to paying for parking if I could leave my car there for a few hours. Basically every other EV charging network makes you pay a flat fee or subscription (or an increased price/kWh) for charging, but their chargers are usually ~5kW so it's not a great return unless you have a short range vehicle.

Superchargers in parking garages are an... "interesting" decision. Not bad, but different. Maybe in the future, if there was a combination of self parking and human charging station attendant, you could drop your car off, get it charged, then have it go park itself and wait for you when you're done, without racking up idles. I could get behind that.

 

[acarney]

I agree completely. I'd pay to charge at destination charging in addition to paying for parking if I could leave my car there for a few hours. Basically every other EV charging network makes you pay a flat fee or subscription (or an increased price/kWh) for charging, but their chargers are usually ~5kW so it's not a great return unless you have a short range vehicle.

Superchargers in parking garages are an... "interesting" decision. Not bad, but different. Maybe in the future, if there was a combination of self parking and human charging station attendant, you could drop your car off, get it charged, then have it go park itself and wait for you when you're done, without racking up idles. I could get behind that.

I think superchargers in garages is more of a fact that there isn’t enough parking. Finding an area that will give up 8 to 20 spaces usually requires something the size of a garage, and almost all downtown garages are pay garages.

 

[Long Ranger]

To me that might indicate that Tesla is specifically focusing on those locations in the second link for siting superchargers (one being Portland). If this is the case, we might actually see some roll out of superchargers in the Portland and surrounding area.

Yes, and if you click on that Portland link, it lays out a very specific timeline for a Portland application:
Process & Timeline

May 7	Application Submission Deadline
May 12	Shortlist Award
May 17-21	Kick-Off Meetings
May 24-June 25	Agreement Review
June 25	Location Selection
July 30	Agreement Execution Deadline

 

[PMSchneider86]

I am moving to a building a block away, I will try to keep the forum updated with the progress.

 

[Portland Blue]

Comments on the comments.
1. Yeah! Waiting for this for a long time!
2. Yes, this is a great location. Multiple restaurants, shopping, bars.... Smack dab in the center of it all
3. Agree, don't want to pay for it. Side note- we are the consumers and can influence policy. Surprised how folks often rush to side with Tesla instead of average Tesla consumer. Not a big deal to pay, but realize we all have influence to shape how WE would like the system to be. Don't be resigned to what you would expect a big corporation to do
4. Portland is fine. Beautiful this past week. IMO, very overblown when there was "unrest"... Geez, I lived minutes away and never heard a peep. Come visit Portland and enjoy tax free goods.
5. You can find free places to put superchargers in pleasant places in Portland (e.g. grocery stores that are close in), but they would not be as entertainment/dining dense. It is a great location for those wanting to see downtown Portland.
6. For those who noted that the Tesla website has stated that this was coming in 2018 Q1? Tesla has been changing that website since they posted that 2017 would be when they would have 5 Superchargers in the Portland city (NW, NE, SW, SE and downtown). We all love Tesla, but they really need to be more true to their word. It's not like they don't have revenue to work with, right?