Supercharger - Santa Cruz, CA - Soquel Avenue (LIVE 16 Jul 2020, 16 V3 stalls)

[dgatwood]

Let's hope Tesla picks a better place than that. Prettymuch anyplace inside Santa Cruz urban areas is pretty awful. Maybe they could select a location without as much crime. I propose considering Pasatiempo, somewhere within sight of active people being able to see it. Since I've never gone inside, it's hard to tell what that place is like.

That part of SC isn't *that* bad. But there's basically nothing to do unless you're a CostCo member. There are a couple of bars, and that's about it. Locations closer to downtown would be much better, but much harder to come by, because there's basically no parking in downtown Santa Cruz.

IMO, they'd be better off building one in Scotts Valley on either side of Mount Hermon Rd. near Nob Hill Foods, where there's ample parking, plus well over a dozen restaurants within easy walking distance (Starbucks, Peet's, Jamba Juice, Erik's DeliCafe, Thai Heart, Bruno's BBQ, Tony & Alba's Pizza, Taco Bell, Burger King, Subway, Otoro Sushi, Round Table Pizza, Kaosook Thai Cuisine, and several others slightly farther out). It's a better location in every possible way.

But they didn't ask me.

 

[Robert831]

That part of SC isn't *that* bad. But there's basically nothing to do unless you're a CostCo member. There are a couple of bars, and that's about it. Locations closer to downtown would be much better, but much harder to come by, because there's basically no parking in downtown Santa Cruz.

IMO, they'd be better off building one in Scotts Valley on either side of Mount Hermon Rd. near Nob Hill Foods, where there's ample parking, plus well over a dozen restaurants within easy walking distance (Starbucks, Peet's, Jamba Juice, Erik's DeliCafe, Thai Heart, Bruno's BBQ, Tony & Alba's Pizza, Taco Bell, Burger King, Subway, Otoro Sushi, Round Table Pizza, Kaosook Thai Cuisine, and several others slightly farther out). It's a better location in every possible way.

But they didn't ask me.

I agree that would be an excellent area! And it would help to serve San Lorenzo Valley, which is suspiciously lacking in public L2 chargers despite the heavy traffic on HWY 9 and the large number of EVs around there.

I think it would also make sense to add a supercharger in Boulder Creek and one near Pescadero. I'm sure in time eventually they will.

 

[dgatwood]

Well, that permit is still pending review after 7.5 months, so unless that wasn't their permit application, it looks like the Santa Cruz supercharger got strangled by red tape. You'd think with all the environmental activism in Santa Cruz, they'd practically be wetting themselves over the idea of encouraging electric car ownership by getting a supercharger up and running, and that the permitting would be expedited accordingly. Guess not.

Here's hoping Tesla is working on a backup plan... like Scotts Valley.

 

[Robert831]

I just did a permit search for 2018. I didn't see anything that looked like a supercharger. But I did see a couple of powerwalls. Looks like the list ends at E-0193 right now.

Now I'm getting nervous because my car is due in a couple of months! I'm looking to rent a house, and I'm making sure I can at least do L1 charging at home.

I had a thought that Tesla seems to like putting the superchargers in hotel parking lots. So maybe it will be at a hotel on the over-crowded Ocean St.

A Watsonville supercharger showed up on Tesla's map (in gray). We're guessing they'll put it in the Target parking lot. Though, Tesla seems to like hotel parking lots, so maybe it will be at the Holiday Inn Express.

 

[Robert831]

Here's a possibility. Permit E18-0215. New construction of a Hampton Inn at 2424 Mission St. (aka HWY 1). Will they put superchargers in the parking lot? Would that be a separate permit?
eTRAKiT

 

[dgatwood]

Here's a possibility. Permit E18-0215. New construction of a Hampton Inn at 2424 Mission St. (aka HWY 1). Will they put superchargers in the parking lot? Would that be a separate permit?
eTRAKiT

The permit says that they are demolishing the hotel, so it probably isn’t going to be a Supercharger.

 

[Robert831]

The permit says that they are demolishing the hotel, so it probably isn’t going to be a Supercharger.

The permit has a note: "Demolish Existing Hotel (To be pulled on separate permit)"

Here's a news article from a year ago stating that an old hotel is being demolished, and a new one being put in its place:
Santa Cruz approves new Mission Street hotel, incites community concerns

All I'm suggesting is that the new hotel could potentially have a supercharger in the parking lot, as is done sometimes with other superchargers.

 

[Cheburashka]

Probably not.

 

[dgatwood]

Probably not.

And even if it did, it wouldn’t be completed in 2017^H^H^H^H2018^H^H^H^H2019.

 

[redwood1962]

And even if it did, it wouldn’t be completed in 2017^H^H^H^H2018^H^H^H^H2019.

 

[redwood1962]

I’m betting on the Capitola Mall.

 

[dgatwood]

I’m betting on the Capitola Mall.

I hope not. That's five miles and half an hour south of Santa Cruz in traffic.

 

[Michael_SFBA]

I’m betting on the Capitola Mall.

I agree, that's a likely place for it since the two companies have an agreement for doing that.

But I also wish it would be on the West side of town, since traffic is so often horrible to get to the mall.

 

[sumpty]

Hi, I was recently at the Tesla Seaside Service Center In Dec 2018 and my advisor said there was going to be superchargers at Target store in Capitola. Does not look like any construction going on (Jan 1,2019) but that’s what he told me !

 

[PLUS EV]

Hi, I was recently at the Tesla Seaside Service Center In Dec 2018 and my advisor said there was going to be superchargers at Target store in Capitola. Does not look like any construction going on (Jan 1,2019) but that’s what he told me !

"Target opening 2019"

 

[dgatwood]

Given that when I ordered my car, it was scheduled to open by the end of 2017, and here we are in 2019 with no evidence of even early planning, I'm starting to think that the only way we're ever getting a supercharger on that side of the hill is if we build a CHAdeMO station ourselves and hard-wire a Tesla adapter to it.

Either way, I hope Tesla isn't evil enough to put a supercharger in Capitola and call that Santa Cruz. There are several days per year when a trip to the Cupertino supercharger would be faster, and there is rarely a commute period (outside of the holiday break) when a trip to the Los Gatos supercharger wouldn't be faster, despite being 22 miles each way at only 50 MPH on one of the worst major highways in California. If the goal is to serve Santa Cruz, Capitola is a completely useless location, and Target would be doubly so.

Unfortunately, the only good spot in all of Santa Cruz proper would be one of the city lots near the downtown, or maybe the Safeway lot. Pretty much every other business in Santa Cruz either has too small a parking lot or doesn't have any food within a reasonable walking distance. Maybe that's why Tesla hasn't bothered to do anything down there yet, despite it being an area that badly needs a supercharger.

But if you look beyond the actual city limits, K-Mart in Scotts Valley would be an okay location for serving Santa Cruz, despite being a few miles away. Of course, if their parent company doesn't act pretty soon, Tesla may be able to buy it cheaply in a couple of weeks. :-/

Practically speaking, given the mind-bogglingly bad traffic situation (for all of CA-1 from Watsonville all the way up through Santa Cruz as far as Natural Bridges), I think the area would be best served by two full superchargers plus at least three small urban superchargers. Put a full supercharger at Nob Hill Foods in Scotts Valley, plus a smaller setup (say 4–6 stalls) at Safeway (the one out by UCSC), Cabrillo College, and Target. Then put a full supercharger at Harbor Freight in Watsonville, and you've basically taken care of the whole area.

Even better, on a good day, you can fill up in Scotts Valley, and when you start running on fumes eight hours later as you get to Watsonville, you can fill up again.

 

[Ulmo]

If every Nob Hill in the county had one (Scotts Valley, Capitola, Watsonville), that would be pretty good; the only trips that would miss are those coming down Hwy 1 from the Half Moon Bay direction and arriving at Santa Cruz, going no further. Unfortunately, parking is tight in Watsonville, and I think likely tight in Scotts Valley as well. The Scotts Valley location is far from the freeway.

If in Aptos, the two shopping areas would be those off "State Park Drive" and "Rio Del Mar Blvd". Either would be nice; the one by Rio Del Mar Blvd seems nicer. I don't like the Cabrillo College idea because there's no parking available during school days and there's nothing to do there.

Pasatiempo is a great location but nothing to do there. It might be the only good candidate in Santa Cruz. I don't like ANY of the other locations I can think of in Santa Cruz because they have too many vagrants (everywhere) or too much murder (River Street).

If looking for overlooks, there's some decent hills around Santa Cruz county with good views; each is different to get to, but would offer an alternative to the eating and bathroom style of stop.

 

[Cheburashka]

Seems like no movement at all..

 

[Robert831]

I could imagine a 40-stall supercharger on Ocean St. getting some good use. There must be a good reason for putting all those gas stations there. There are also plenty of motels there too, which is often where superchargers get located. Is Tesla listening to any of this?

 

[dgatwood]

I could imagine a 40-stall supercharger on Ocean St. getting some good use. There must be a good reason for putting all those gas stations there. There are also plenty of motels there too, which is often where superchargers get located. Is Tesla listening to any of this?

Oh, it would get great use. But what roach hotel are you going to bulldoze to make room for it?