Supercharger Speculation: Large New One Coming to Central California along 101?

[SMAlset]

I agree... have been lobbying for King City for quite some time... and still think we will see one there.

I would think wherever the big one is supposedly going to be they will want a good deal on the land.

 

[toggie]

How do we define big these days? Paso at 28 stalls is pretty big! When combined with the 12 at Pismo, that is 40 more (v3) stalls! Better to have them more spread out than at one giant location anyway, IMO.

 

[bxr140]

Better to have them more spread out than at one giant location anyway, IMO.

Its a bit of a balance for sure, but from the Tesla side its more the opposite.

In the gas station model, there are neighborhood stations with a handful of pumps, local stations in an around the population centers with many more pumps, and regional stations on the popular routes (highways, interstates, etc.) with a ton of pumps. The neighborhood stations are kinda being phased out by the local stations more as a function of operational costs than user demand.

For the EV model the demand for neighborhood and local stations is proportionally less than gas because many people can/do charge at home. Combine that with the relatively fixed overhead of setting up a charging site (not to mention finding a suitable, low-ICEing site in general) it makes more sense to consolidate the same number of plugs in fewer locations.

For the user its depends, but outside of local supercharging its mostly better for fewer, larger stations. For instance, even beyond pairing, more plugs means more throughput and more averaged sessions, so a statistically less likely chance of having to wait (or a shorter wait) if its crowded.

 

[toggie]

Its a bit of a balance for sure, but from the Tesla side its more the opposite.

In the gas station model, there are neighborhood stations with a handful of pumps, local stations in an around the population centers with many more pumps, and regional stations on the popular routes (highways, interstates, etc.) with a ton of pumps. The neighborhood stations are kinda being phased out by the local stations more as a function of operational costs than user demand.

For the EV model the demand for neighborhood and local stations is proportionally less than gas because many people can/do charge at home. Combine that with the relatively fixed overhead of setting up a charging site (not to mention finding a suitable, low-ICEing site in general) it makes more sense to consolidate the same number of plugs in fewer locations.

For the user its depends, but outside of local supercharging its mostly better for fewer, larger stations. For instance, even beyond pairing, more plugs means more throughput and more averaged sessions, so a statistically less likely chance of having to wait (or a shorter wait) if its crowded.

I think that makes sense along a more rural route like I-5, but in this case, I'd rather the stalls be split between Pismo and Paso, so SF folks visiting Paso, and LA folks visiting Pismo Beach don't have to overshoot, or risk not making it back.