Supercharger - Reston, VA - Sunset Hills Dr

[Big Earl]

Does anyone understand what the delay is?

These chargers have been ready but wrapped in white plastic for several months. You can see them from the W&OD and it looks like everything is there for a functioning Supercharger site. (There is a rumor that bureaucrats at Fairfax County are slow walking permits for EV chargers.)

There is no utility transformer, as shown in the pictures above. There is a national backorder on utility transformers, so it can take weeks or months to get that final piece in place.

 

[paulkva]

Does anyone understand what the delay is?

These chargers have been ready but wrapped in white plastic for several months. You can see them from the W&OD and it looks like everything is there for a functioning Supercharger site. (There is a rumor that bureaucrats at Fairfax County are slow walking permits for EV chargers.)

I'd take issue with "several months" -- the stalls first appeared in mid-May, and there has been visible progress as recently as the end of last month / beginning of this month. Fairfax is not often fast, but I doubt they're intentionally delaying anything. I expect @Big Earl's explanation is the most plausible, that the contractor and utility company are just waiting for the transformer to arrive. Inspections could take days or weeks after the transformer is installed and testing is complete, and at that point we could start blaming Fairfax.

 

[paulkva]

I see a series of red markings along the connector trail between the parking lot and the W&OD trail. Not sure if that means further excavation is coming. I also noticed that the little white flags in the ground say “Dominion - Proposed cable route” which I somehow hadn’t noticed before. But overall not much new to report here. Still no transformer yet.

 

[Reddy Kilowatt]

Does anyone understand what the delay is?

These chargers have been ready but wrapped in white plastic for several months. You can see them from the W&OD and it looks like everything is there for a functioning Supercharger site. (There is a rumor that bureaucrats at Fairfax County are slow walking permits for EV chargers.)

Yes the permitting offices cause delays, but that was before they started construction.

However once done, now you have the Dominion VA bureaucrats holding up the works. Until the designs are completed and the checks in the bank. They won't do anything. One person at Tesla forget to do something and they will be waiting a long time. Dominion is probably just gearing up there subcontractors at this point. They will have to directionally bore a conduit from the trail over to the transformer base.

 

[paulkva]

Still no transformer yet, but digging for the power line has begun on both sides of the parking lot…


The earliest I’ll be able to get another look at this site is in about 10-14 days, for whatever that’s worth.

 

[vdiv]

We have signs, all stalls are for Tesla charging.
Also a DitchWitch.

 

[paulkva]

Digging appears to be complete, and there are giant wires sticking out where the transformer will be. We’re getting close!

 

[Reddy Kilowatt]

Digging appears to be complete, and there are giant wires sticking out where the transformer will be. We’re getting close!

View attachment 962233 View attachment 962234 View attachment 962236

I agree, it shouldn’t be long now.

 

[paulkva]

No substantive changes as of yesterday afternoon… other than the grass between the stalls and the garage is overgrown.

 

[paulkva]

Nothing new or photo-worthy as of right now (8/20 almost 4pm).

 

[paulkva]

Still nothing new. Side note: Dominion appears to be in the middle of a much larger project along the power lines that parallel the W&OD trail in Reston. There’s decking like this at several points along the trail:

(Photo taken along the connector between the W&OD trail and the supercharger.)

I’m guessing that project is unrelated to the supercharger, but I suppose there’s a chance they’re waiting for one project to complete before continuing the other.

 

[paulkva]

Still no transformer and no further progress (that I can see). But they’re cutting the grass…

I wonder if it’ll be done before it gets too cold to bike.

 

[Bogee]

Still no transformer and no further progress (that I can see). But they’re cutting the grass…
View attachment 970492
I wonder if it’ll be done before it gets too cold to bike.

The transform was put in today.

 

[vdiv]

We have a 1500kVA transformer and a meter, not energized yet. The ponchos are still on. Sorry for the raw photos.

 

[vdiv]

We have power at the transformer/meter and the ponchos are off from the power cabinets, but are still on the stalls. The power cabinets are pad-locked.

 

[vdiv]

Don’t know what to tell you guys, no change as of tonight.

 

[vdiv]

The ponchos for the three power cabinets that were thrown on the ground are gone. The stalls are still covered.

 

[Reddy Kilowatt]

The ponchos for the three power cabinets that were thrown on the ground are gone. The stalls are still covered.

Hopefully, the techs are one site tuning the site for turn on. Any progress since Friday? I would say its a good sign.

 

[vdiv]

No change as of tonight. The stalls are still covered, and the overhead lights are still off.

 

[paulkva]

Not that I’d expect much since last night, but still no change.
Edit: I can hear the transformer humming slightly, which I don’t remember (one way or the other) from previous visits.