Welcome to Tesla Motors Club
Discuss Tesla's Model S, Model 3, Model X, Model Y, Cybertruck, Roadster and More.
Register

Supercharger - Hollister, CA (Casa De Fruta, LIVE 12 Mar 2018, 20 stalls)

This site may earn commission on affiliate links.
Seems like a strange location with Gilroy and Gustine so close on this east/west road.
I go nowhere near Gilroy on my customary routes, however pass right by Casa de SuperCharger nearly every single time. I would pay good money to avoid Gilroy if I could even when I do go past it, but since I usually don't, you suggesting that I go to it as an often one hour trip out of my way (half an hour in the middle of the night if I don't fall asleep driving) is rather insulting.

This is my route: Aptos, Watsonville, 129 or San Juan Rd, 156 (or similar), San Luis Reservoir. Also, I sometimes do this: Moss Landing or Marina (but often not near Seaside SC or Monterey SC), San Juan Bautista (156), San Luis Reservoir. For various reasons (floods, traffic, where I'm at, etc.) I'll take various closeby routes around those routes. But very rarely will I use 152 proper from Watsonville to Gilory for obvious reasons. That means at the closest point I'm about 14 miles away from Gilroy SuperCharger, and most of that area is extremely heavily trafficked, so I can end up in high traffic delays of up to an hour just by taking that bypass. That SC has almost no amenities, is often clogged, is stinky, uncomfortable, and lonely. I avoided it back when I had my Model S, and only twice did I have to make the detour over there.

Santa Nella (Gustine) SuperCharger
was my go-to ever since they opened it, and I would take the 5 minute walk with brisk cold often stinky wind past a seedy looking hotel through some unlit bushes with hobos past two shadowy truck parking lots and very close to a dumpster at some low-market fast food drive through that was usually closed, and then go to Loves, a truck stop place with showers, chips, and jerky. The drive through Santa Nella would take anywhere from 5 to 20 minutes one-way, and plus that again going back. The good side of this place is that if you leave over the freeway and take a left where In&Out is, that road will bypass Highway Robbery The Bathrooms (aka Los Banos), and one can then cut back to 152 after getting past Los Banos. Otherwise, I get straight on I-5 and hurry south from there, going where ever I want, or I take the other road down to 152 and launch West. This location seems better for those already going to (or coming from) all the way up by Windmill Hill via 580 (or, for heaven's sake, the Stockton-Manteca-Tracy triangle area (yuck)), or further (Sac, etc.).

Very rarely I take a more coastal route, in which case, I have to consider stopping in North Salinas (at Across-The-Street-From-Northridge Shopping Center Salinas SuperCharger on North Main Street) which is commonly a 15 minute drive out of my way each way (similar problem to Gilroy SC but not nearly as bad), or the Chademo at Nob Hill in Salinas. Back when I had my Model S 60D, leaving from Nob Hill Chademo I'd barely make it to Atascadero SC. Sometimes I'd cut over to I-5 and reach the first SuperCharger on I-5 ever built (I forget its name offhand), which is quite a nice drive (with I-5 being a letdown).

As you can see, Casa de SuperCharger will be the only on-route SuperCharger for me on most of my routes South, by a wide margin. I happen not to like the Casa De Strip, but it's a minor complaint considering it has amenities far outstripping Gilroy SC and probably often better than Santa Nella (Gustine) SC by a wide margin.

Another benefit of Casa de SuperCharger is that often there is an accident on the 152 climb from there to peak, often caused by a broken down truck or some other idiot who decided to text, and that road gets closed cold for two hours (with no viable detours available). Instead of waiting with the environmental systems running in dangerous stop and go traffic with no parking, you can pull over to Casa de and be charging. To successfully do this, you have to use traffic map or otherwise notice the traffic stop (dried used blood red on Google Maps) before you get to the Casa de Offramp. Historical note: when my father was alive, 152 was one lane each direction with no division between the sides. Casa De was an annoyance since they wanted you to slow down and pull over for something. The bypass made that area a lot less money, but now there's so much more bloody traffic, they probably have almost as much visitors. There used to be way more stores and places there than there are now. We never stopped there since it wasn't our kind of place.
 
  • Like
Reactions: McManX
This may be a stretch, but on top of that some existing locations may also be earmarking some of their practical EV charging space for the VW network, which could also limit tesla expansion opportunities.

But any way you spin it, something like Casa are Fruta it good for users as it gives us more trip planning options and more passing-charge-time options.
As I stated in Post #7 of this thread, Recargo has planned to install DCFC units at Casa de Fruta and the Petro station at the bottom of the grade on the other side of the reservoir. So, there is more than VW competing for good sites. Luckily these rural sites are not so constrained for land.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Ulmo
Went by the Casa De Supercharger this Friday, and i was happy to see PGE doing their part! Looks like all the lamp posts are installed, and hopefully all that's left is final Tesla signoff. Hopefully this goes live this week!

20180125_143640.jpg
20180125_143748.jpg
20180125_143558.jpg
 
  • Informative
  • Like
Reactions: MarcoRP and McManX
Went by the Casa De Supercharger this Friday, and i was happy to see PGE doing their part! Looks like all the lamp posts are installed, and hopefully all that's left is final Tesla signoff. Hopefully this goes live this week!

I wonder why some of the posts are located on the side and not on the back of the charging spots?
- Is it for cars with a trailer, so they don't need to disconnect the trailer? (see the charger on the left)
- Be compatible with not-Tesla vehicles with plug on the right side? (see the charger on the right)

20180125_143558-jpg.276599
 
I noticed also the head on first combination. But in this particular case, the location is Urmond, Limburg, Netherlands
and I was a little surprised because this is not easy for a snow prowler truck to remove the snow in winter.

fullsizerender-4-e1475507132865.jpg
 
Ive seen zero evidence that tesla builds towing compatible superchargers. They’re all configured such that when a car is properly located in the proper stall, the trailer would block a throughway or another stall.
At this new Supercharger location there is a lot of room for charging with the trailer still hitched. Of course one can always unhitch if necessary.
 
  • Funny
Reactions: bxr140
There are two pull in stalls at this new location. I can see no reason why those stalls could not have been made back in. But they are not. Tesla deliberately made them pull in, one at each end of the site. I can see no other plausible reason why Tesla would make them pull in other than to allow for charging without unhitching, given that the paved area is much larger than normal and the site can be entered from either end.

No one outside Tesla knows for sure why those two stalls are pull in. But it wasn’t done arbitrarily. Tesla does things for a reason.
 
No one outside Tesla knows for sure why those two stalls are pull in. But it wasn’t done arbitrarily. Tesla does things for a reason.

I get that people want these to be trailer stalls. I get that people use them as trailer stalls. But...those factors don't close the logic on intent from tesla, to say nothing of the other more straightforward factors which are even more incompatible with that theoretical intent. Regardless, there are no facts or even suppositions that support the hopes and dreams that Tesla builds trailer compatible stalls.

Thus, to answer the original question and in the interest of not spreading falsities, it is back in vs pull in. Nothing more.

If I were to hypotehticalate on why we see mixed back in/pull in sites, I'd surmise there's a Tesla preference for side-loading pedestals, which can be superseded by the site owners' preference and/or [more likely] local code, and likely also with a dash of driver convenience in the decision matrix too (Gilroy 5A-6B and Harris 1A-2B, for instance). That's mostly consistent with the sites that I've seen, where stalls next to islands or lot corners contain a side loader where feasible.
 
I've seen this with many of the newer supercharger installations.
Seems reasonable to me to conclude that they're listening to the feedback from Model X owners with trailers,
and including some pull in stalls to accommodate these drivers.
This would make sense if it was possible to make advance reservation for a particular charging stall
or if there was a sign recommending that the pull in stalls should be reserved for cars with a trailer.

In the case of a busy supercharging center, I wonder where the waiting line should be formed?
Having the choice of pulling in or backing in seems to complicate the way you would position your car when waiting in-line. It seems much simpler to have all the cars parked in the same direction.

Tesla builds another giant 50-Supercharger station in China
9456h5w00byz1-e1510854240680.jpg


tesla-supercharger-station-Norway-20-stall.jpg


Note: On the very right parking slot, there is a double slot marked as 'Bus' which could be used to park a car with a trailer.
maxresdefault.jpg


 
  • Like
Reactions: Bet TSLA and bxr140