Supercharger - San Ramon, CA (expanded to 16 V2 stalls)

[bmah]

Transformers are going in. Just asked the guy doing the wiring and he said 16 are going in. Assuming that's accurate what I don't know is urban or not, though I'm assuming urban because of location.

This afternoon?!? Feel sorry for that guy, it's like 100F there.

Actually I think those are the charging cabinets (in your picture there are 5 of them with space for 3 more for a total of 8, which is consistent with 16 pedestals/stalls). The transformer would be a really huge box.

Bruce.

 

[Hazelwood]

Yeah yoday, just now poor guys. Yes, you're right cabinets not transformers.

This afternoon?!? Feel sorry for that guy, it's like 100F there.

Actually I think those are the charging cabinets (in your picture there are 5 of them with space for 3 more for a total of 8, which is consistent with 16 pedestals/stalls). The transformer would be a really huge box.

Bruce.

 

[Darksoldier360]

Yeah yoday, just now poor guys. Yes, you're right cabinets not transformers.

Also these are likely standard type pedistals. Not urban based on the placement of the footing blocks.

 

[miimura]

Also these are likely standard type pedistals. Not urban based on the placement of the footing blocks.

Agree. The pedestal footings shown in the pictures are definitely for the traditional Superchargers, not the Urban ones.

 

[TacC]

Stopped by on Thursday and the pace seemed to have slowed down a bit. Still only five cabinets up and I didn't notice any work beyond what @Hazelwood showed.

 

[TacC]

Still a ways away from completion. Looks like 10 stalls parallel to the street (top of the photo) and 6 up against the building (bottom left of photo). Similar to San Mateo except that the cabinets will be in the middle replacing the stalls under the trees.

 

[Darksoldier360]

 

[Darksoldier360]

Still a ways away from completion. Looks like 10 stalls parallel to the street (top of the photo) and 6 up against the building (bottom left of photo). Similar to San Mateo except that the cabinets will be in the middle replacing the stalls under the trees.

I doubt there will be any up against the building. It looks like stalls by the street and more where the cabinets will be, but there is no trenching/conduit over to the building (in fact you can still drive/park there). Perhaps in a future expansion. 5 SC cabinets set. Trench/pads for 3 more. They are setting the large gray switchgear cabinets today. (Saturday)

 

[TacC]

I doubt there will be any up against the building. It looks like stalls by the street and more where the cabinets will be, but there is no trenching/conduit over to the building (in fact you can still drive/park there). Perhaps in a future expansion. 5 SC cabinets set. Trench/pads for 3 more. They are setting the large gray switchgear cabinets today. (Saturday)

I could definitely be wrong about the stalls against the building.

There is a trench from the building to the cabinets, though. It was filled in with dirt yesterday. Perhaps they paved it today.

That run could be to get power to the cabinets and not for stalls against the building.

 

[Darksoldier360]

Posts for transformer are in. Seems to be work on the side by target as well, but not sure it's more stalls or just curb and gutter work.

 

[Darksoldier360]

Went by and took more pictures today. Some progress. The superchargers are in for the first 10 stalls. Looks like the rest have conduit but no chargers or pedestals. Seems like they had equipment for 10 stalls... Transformer area has posts around it, waiting for PG&E. There is a bunch of concrete work against the target with two much smaller conduits. I'm guessing these will be standard Chargepoint setups. (Conduit is too small for superchargers, and Tesla typically installs them at targets along with superchargers). In general looks like some cleanup/paving and a PG&E transformer, plus the rest of the equipment and the site will be done.

 

[ianwild]

Bunch of PG&E vans there today and much buzz about the work site. Didn’t take any pictures but I got a feeling they aren’t many weeks away. This will be a fantastic supercharger location with the nice stroll around the lake and opposite and many good eating and shopping options.

 

[Jerry Ham]

Went by yesterday (Sunday 7/29). Nothing going on. Some construction equipment parked there. Still only 10 pedestals in evidence. I didn't see any "Tesla" crates around containing more.

 

[bmah]

Went by yesterday (Sunday 7/29). Nothing going on. Some construction equipment parked there. Still only 10 pedestals in evidence. I didn't see any "Tesla" crates around containing more.

So either they have to wait for more equipment to arrive, or they're only going to build out 10 charging spaces at the start.

In the first of those two pictures...what are the short white boxes to the right of the Supercharger cabinets? (Scrolling back, I see them in some of the earlier pictures as well.)

Bruce.

 

[miimura]

So either they have to wait for more equipment to arrive, or they're only going to build out 10 charging spaces at the start.

In the first of those two pictures...what are the short white boxes to the right of the Supercharger cabinets? (Scrolling back, I see them in some of the earlier pictures as well.)

Bruce.

The short white boxes are buck/boost transformers so that Tesla can feed the Supercharger cabinets with the ideal voltage even if the utility voltage is a little high or low coming out of the main utility transformer. Sunnyvale was held up because these had to be added to the completed site after the utility transformer was placed.

 

[bmah]

The short white boxes are buck/boost transformers so that Tesla can feed the Supercharger cabinets with the ideal voltage even if the utility voltage is a little high or low coming out of the main utility transformer. Sunnyvale was held up because these had to be added to the completed site after the utility transformer was placed.

Thanks! Now I remember the discussion in the Sunnyvale thread. For some reason, I thought those buck/boost transformers would be physically larger than they are.

Bruce.

 

[miimura]

Thanks! Now I remember the discussion in the Sunnyvale thread. For some reason, I thought those buck/boost transformers would be physically larger than they are.

Bruce.

They are surprisingly small. Actually their size is proportional to the magnitude of the voltage change. So, making a 2-10% change to the voltage results in a pretty small unit even though they are rated for ~160kVA.

 

[Ferndz]

I saw the chargers setup

 

[Ferndz]

 

[Darksoldier360]

OK, so went by today. Took a bunch of pictures. Site is close to done except the PG&E transformer, striping, landscaping/wall, and the charge point stations. Paving, etc. is complete. Fences are gone. Weird part is they clearly were going to do 16 stalls. Earlier pictures and the pavement show they put in conduit for it, then for some reason they cut the conduit below the pavement and paved over it. Only two reasons: They decided 10 stalls for now (fits the narrative that they are cutting back on spending/having a shortage of equipment) or they decided to pave it and dig it up later (doubtful), maybe a capacity PG&E issue till city center is complete next door? I suspect they will dig it up when an expansion is warranted/they have the cash, and they just cut back the site size for now to avoid the extra spend. Missing Chargepoints are a bit weird though... Anyone else ever hear of them going full conduit and then paving over it? Seems strange. There is two more paved over spots under the trackhoe and storage container i think for 6 total.