Supercharger - Santa Rosa, CA (LIVE 20 Nov 2019, 20 V3 stalls)

[Troy916]

By the way, the pedestals are NOT labeled 'A' and 'B' as one typically sees at V2 sites.

Are the pedestals labelled at all right now? The numbers and letters are usually done once Tesla tests the site.

 

[Etzy]

Are the pedestals labelled at all right now? The numbers and letters are usually done once Tesla tests the site.

There are no numbers or letters currently on any of the 20 pedestals. That, of course, could change after testing - we shall see.

 

[miimura]

OK, so I visited again - Sunday, nobody around and gate still wide open. I unzipped a couple of bags and checked all sides of the 5 bagged cabinets - nothing. I found the following on the 4 battery pack cabinets:

And then I found the following on the single large cabinet with the "TESLA" logo on the top:

I don't see any combination of volts and amps that would get me to 250 kWs. But I really have no idea what I'm looking at. Someday after this site has been completed, somebody can post a picture of their screen while charging and we will know. By the way, the pedestals are NOT labeled 'A' and 'B' as one typically sees at V2 sites.

These are the PowerPack batteries and the Inverter for the PowerPacks. Max input/output is 350kW. There are 4 PowerPacks, so that makes 720kWh of energy. That means that this is a "2 hour" system. Basically, it is for peak shaving to reduce utility demand charges. When the site gets busy, it will discharge the batteries to reduce the max kW that the site draws during any given month. A significant part of the utility bill is $/kW peak during the month. The energy charge in $/kWh is relatively low.

While in theory this site could draw 5MW, it will never get close to that.

 

[Watts_Up]

I am no expert when it comes to electricity, but 350A times 500V is 175,000W and I thought V3 was 250,000W.
Can somebody explain this to me?

I am not too much of an expert either but I am wondering about the three phases high voltage power lines going to a transformer.

- Does the transformer used by a Supercharger have also three output lines?

If so, does the above mention of "350 A" and "500 V" should be for each phase?

Then the combined power would 3 times (or may be 'root power' of 3, because of the phase ?)

So I could be 175,000 x 3 = 525 kW

(or 175,000 x (3^) = 303 kW)

Note: Sorry about this candide question if I'm wrong.

 

[miimura]

I am not too much of an expert either but I am wondering about the three phases high voltage power lines going to a transformer.

- Does the transformer used by a Supercharger have also three output lines?

If so, does the above mention of "350 A" and "500 V" should be for each phase?

Then the combined power would 3 times (or may be 'root power' of 3, because of the phase ?)

So I could be 175,000 x 3 = 525 kW

(or 175,000 x (3^) = 303 kW)

Note: Sorry about this candide question if I'm wrong.

The electrical service used by Superchargers is 480V 3-phase in a Wye "Y" configuration. This means that there are 3 phase wires, a Neutral wire, and a ground. The 3 phase wires, L1, L2, L3, have 480VAC between each other and 277VAC to the Neutral wire. The Neutral is grounded at one location. This service is provided by a utility transformer which is usually reducing the voltage from "Medium Distribution Voltage" like 22kV.

When you are talking about the current, you need to be clear whether you are talking about the power being delivered before or after the Supercharger Cabinet. 3-phase AC power enters the cabinet and DC power is delivered to the pedestal for connection to the vehicle. As you can see from the V2 label posted up-thread, the Supercharger V2 cabinet takes in 192A per phase. Therefore, the nominal input power is 192A x 3 x 277V = 159552 VA. With nearly unity power factor and 90% conversion efficiency to DC, the maximum output from that nominal input would be about 143.5kW DC. At about 400VDC pack voltage, this is about 358A. So, the labeling for the V2 Superchargers indicates that it can run more or less at rated output continuously.

The labeling we have seen so far on the V3 pedestals indicates that the V3 equipment cannot run at maximum output continuously. This should not be a surprise since the charging curves show that the vehicles cannot accept maximum power for more than 5 or 10 minutes. I would expect that the V3 pedestals have thorough temperature monitoring and will throttle the power if any part is reaching the prescribed temperature limit.

In order for a Tesla vehicle to reach 250kW, the current will be very high. For example, let's assume that the pack is nearly empty. The Supercharger will be pushing about 350VDC into the pack. 250,000W / 350V = 714.3A This is what I mean by continuous versus transient. The rating is 350A at 100% duty cycle. Those few minutes of high power at high amperage will heat up the cables and it will depend on the cooling system in the pedestal to bring it back down before the next empty car comes along and wants to charge at full speed.

 

[bmah]

This article is about other EV charging, but the Santa Rosa Supercharger gets a couple of mentions:

20 new Tesla chargers among hundreds of new stations coming to Sonoma, Mendocino counties

Bruce.

 

[AlasCon]

Thanks Bruce, very informative article. Looks like a couple more weeks for Santa Rosa. So nice to get these going!

 

[Ampster]

Today, Saturday 8/31/19 I stopped by. Construction fence is gone but they are not labeled or operational yet.

 

[Etzy]

Today, Saturday 8/31/19 I stopped by. Construction fence is gone but they are not labeled or operational yet.

@Ampster - thanks for the update. Next time you stop by, look for the PG&E transformer that will be on the concrete pad behind the green wooden fence. The pad is about 8' square and, the last time I looked, there was no transformer. PG&E transformers are typically big green metal boxes and this one is going to be very big given the size of this site. Until that transformer is installed, there will be no juice to the pedestals, but once it's there, all that is left is final testing before the site goes live.

As far as labeling the pedestals, if this is a V3 site as expected, there will be no reason to label the stalls 'A' and 'B' since they will not be shared as they are with V2 sites. I suppose some label would be helpful when reporting a charging issue so you can tell Tesla Service which pedestal is not working properly, but it will no longer matter which stall you use when you pull up to charge.

 

[Chuq]

There are no numbers or letters currently on any of the 20 pedestals. That, of course, could change after testing - we shall see.

Some of the Trans-Canada Highway sites offer a clue. No pedestals yet, but they are 6 stalls being fed from 2 cabinets, and the conduit caps are labelled “1A, 1B, 1C, spare, 2A, 2B, 2C, spare”

 

[IronQQQ]

This article is about other EV charging, but the Santa Rosa Supercharger gets a couple of mentions:

20 new Tesla chargers among hundreds of new stations coming to Sonoma, Mendocino counties

Bruce.

A relative sent me that too. What I got out of that is live on about 2 weeks for that V3 and more charging in San Diego which is lacking.

Can't wait to go up there.

 

[JGerardin]

Went by yesterday and the site looks complete except for the transformer. So now it's up to PG&E. You can see where the transformer will be placed and how it will hook into the system
I have posted the information that is on the inside of each charging tower. Rather than numbering each unit it looks like each one will have a "Post" number

unit indicated its V3 and the charging cable is thinner than the older units.

 

[Merrill]

Any new info on this supercharger.

 

[KathyApplebaum]

Any new info on this supercharger.

When a SC gets to the "now it's up to PG&E" state, it could be a while. Be patient.

 

[Merrill]

When a SC gets to the "now it's up to PG&E" state, it could be a while. Be patient.

Why does it not take long for them to increase your bill.

 

[Blucenturion]

Why does it not take long for them to increase your bill.

Three weeks to get on the EV-1 plan, though. Foot dragging when economically expedient. End Rant.

 

[Etzy]

Dropped by at noon today (9-11). No activity. No transformer. :-(

They did finally close and lock the gate so you have to get close and peer in to see that the concrete pad is still empty.

Waiting...

 

[southwo9]

I stopped by today and still no juice flowing. I didn't take the time to peak into the gate, so not sure if the transformer is there or not (assume not).

 

[bozo]

Confirmed today on Electrek by supercharger.info that it will be a V3 250kW!!!!!! YAY!!!

 

[bozo]

Supercharger.info also showed under construction a 20 stall SC at Napa Premium Outlet mall to go along with the one at the bottom of the Napa valley and another one with 20 stalls in Novato!
With Rohnert Park and Petaluma I think we are now well covered.