Supercharger - Surrey, BC

[Canuck]

Looks like an excellent location, food nearby, indoors (ish), a bit far from the highway, but near everything. Now I actually REALLY want this location.

That's a nightmare area to get in/out -- at the bottom of the cliff unless you use Marine Drive with a speed limit of 30km/hr! -- then there's minimal other parking, lots of residents/guests needing parking because of the crammed residential strata (condo) buildings with not enough guest parking -- then in summer the beach is packed and the restaurants need to make a year's worth of revenue in two months, which is why it's a restaurant's graveyard. That's the reason that parking building is being built in the first place and then Teslas have to get in and out to charge? Please no! But White Rock council, and Tesla, are two parties I don't have much faith in not making that stupid decision. I can see White Rock needing to draw in tourists to try to save those businesses and offering Tesla a sweet deal -- then Tesla taking it. Hopefully not.

 

[Corsair]

My wife's comments when I told her SS/White Rock superchargers are coming....

I don't discount the Pink Palace now purchased by Hilton. It closed down around August and is currently undergoing massive renovations which could also technically mean the parking. The parking was certainly overdue for a revamp. However, there is not much currently in the surrounding area for food/beverages within walking distance. I would assume the hotel will have some coffee shop attachment and restaurant(s). It also makes sense as it so accessible to the border and highway. Time will tell...
Pacific Inn Resort closed for major renovation into DoubleTree by Hilton

It is strategically close to Hwy 99. Would make sense from that perspective. However aside from the nursing home, there’s nothing there.

Ricky’s is 2 blocks up but can you imagine Tesla owners running back fighting heartburn just to avoid idling fees ?

 

[Vancity-Tes1a]

So, for now, we can assume 3-4 good possible locations.

1.) Grandview Corners

2.) Semiahmoo Mall

3.) Parkade down by White Rock

4.) Something of the 99 or King George?

Anyone else got some locations to add to this list?

 

[alexbai94]

So I am in a loaner LR RWD Model 3 while I wait for my P3D to arrive from Seattle...

I went to the Surrey Guildford Supercharger yesterday with approximately 55-60% charge. I was constantly only charging at 23 kWH however. Was I doing something wrong? Or is there something I need to set? I was getting no where near 72 kWH...

 

[PLUS EV]

So I am in a loaner LR RWD Model 3 while I wait for my P3D to arrive from Seattle...

I went to the Surrey Guildford Supercharger yesterday with approximately 55-60% charge. I was constantly only charging at 23 kWH however. Was I doing something wrong? Or is there something I need to set? I was getting no where near 72 kWH...

That sounds low, but if the battery is cold (i.e. cool air temp and you had not been driving for 50+ kilometres prior to plugging in) it isn't that crazy. The charge rate is always lower when you are over 50% SOC. But still, you should have been more in the 40-50kW range. I've noticed that with the urban superchargers, if you're over 50% when you plug in, you really get a lower charge rate. Whereas if you had plugged in at <50% and worked your way up there, it would begin to taper after 50%, but you'd be at a higher charge rate than just plugging in at that SOC. This phenomenon is not nearly as bad with the classic superchargers.

 

[alexbai94]

Hey, thanks for the reply. I'm still very new to all of this, so thank you for dumbing it down a little bit. Yes, I had gotten off work and drove approximately 20 minutes to get to the supercharger location. Perhaps that isn't enough time to get up to ideal battery temperature. Weather wasn't cold nor warm, just some wind chill. So I guess the best part of superchargers and their quick convenience is when you have a really low battery percentage to get the peak charging rates. Got it. Best bang for buck.

 

[PLUS EV]

Hey, thanks for the reply. I'm still very new to all of this, so thank you for dumbing it down a little bit. Yes, I had gotten off work and drove approximately 20 minutes to get to the supercharger location. Perhaps that isn't enough time to get up to ideal battery temperature. Weather wasn't cold nor warm, just some wind chill. So I guess the best part of superchargers and their quick convenience is when you have a really low battery percentage to get the peak charging rates. Got it. Best bang for buck.

Once you get used to it, you will rarely want to go to a supercharger to top off when you have >50% of your battery left anyway.

And if you were parked outside, anything below about 15C seems to be cold enough to affect the battery in this way. Driving 20 minutes on the highway at 100+kph probably would have warmed it up enough, but 20 minutes sitting in traffic at stop lights, probably not.

 

[f-stop]

visited this Supercharger today for the first time, on my way back from a drive to Chilliwack and back. 7/12 stalls full when I arrived around noon, on a Friday. Also my first time to try one of these 72kW urban Superchargers. Arrived at 41% SOC, was getting 68~71kW at the start of the session. Charged from 41% to 94% in ~52min.

btw - I didn't realize it beforehand but the food court in Guildford Town Centre is waaayy on the other side of the mall, an unexpected long walk from the Supercharger location. Might want to keep that in mind to avoid idle fees, in case you don't need much charge to reach full

 

[Corsair]

visited this Supercharger today for the first time, on my way back from a drive to Chilliwack and back. 7/12 stalls full when I arrived around noon, on a Friday. Also my first time to try one of these 72kW urban Superchargers. Arrived at 41% SOC, was getting 68~71kW at the start of the session. Charged from 41% to 94% in ~52min.

btw - I didn't realize it beforehand but the food court in Guildford Town Centre is waaayy on the other side of the mall, an unexpected long walk from the Supercharger location. Might want to keep that in mind to avoid idle fees, in case you don't need much charge to reach full

An option would be to walk up the hill behind the superchargers, diagonally across the road, head towards Saba Thai if you fancy Thai food. I usually hit up that place or Mek's Delight (Malaysian restaurant) while I charge. Less than 5 minutes to your car.

 

[f-stop]

An option would be to walk up the hill behind the superchargers, diagonally across the road, head towards Saba Thai if you fancy Thai food. I usually hit up that place or Mek's Delight (Malaysian restaurant) while I charge. Less than 5 minutes to your car.

wish I knew that beforehand, I like both of those kinds of food - sounds infinitely better than the food court. will keep in mind for next time. thx for the tip.

 

[MarcoRP]

“Stall 6A isn’t working on our car!”
“Why not?”
“I can’t plug my car in.”
“What car do you have?”
“A Nissan LEAF...”
Photo from PlugShare

 

[Morristhecat]

Seem to be setting up for a circus or something at this sc. Currently access is partially blocked off, but owners are weaving their way in to the chargers, around the heavy trucks and traillers. Hoping it won't be blocked off any more when this circus opens up.

 

[Corsair]

Anyone else little bit unnerved by the sight of learner drivers using the lot practicing their parking skills across from the charging stalls ?

 

[samcvan]

An option would be to walk up the hill behind the superchargers, diagonally across the road, head towards Saba Thai if you fancy Thai food. I usually hit up that place or Mek's Delight (Malaysian restaurant) while I charge. Less than 5 minutes to your car.

 

[samcvan]

This supercharger station is the most utilized one in GVA. The one in Downtown (pacific center) is totally unutilized... It feels to me Tesla wasted precious resources installing 22 stalls there (I went there last Saturday and only saw one model 3 there).

Vancouver, Burnaby, Richmond, Coquitlam desperately need their own. I chatted with a few owners at this Surrey SC and some of them came all the way from Burnaby/Delta/Coquitlam to charge... more and more people live in condos in GVA which means home charging solutions are nearly impossible / impractical for these people.

I'm the first tesla owner in my condo and my strata denied my requests twice to install a charger at my stall, citing technical difficulties.

 

[iMoe]

Agreed.

Per chance were you involved with the strata to determine how technically difficult it was or did the starta just advise you of such? It usually helps to be involved in order to clarify some misconceptions.

 

[samcvan]

Yes. The second time I was there and I showed them some info I gathered online and from Tesla's website. The general feeling was they didn't feel it was urgent / important to have the infrastructure upgraded for this purpose, as we had zero EV in the condo at the time (I requested twice before I purchased my tesla). The technical difficulty part had to do with figuring out how to charge me for electricity.

My condo is pretty new (built in 2013) so just imagine how much more difficult it will be for those live in older condos.

However, after that second meeting they agreed to look into it. They hired an engineer / electrician to come onsite to figure out how difficult / how much it would be to upgrade whatever is necessary to make it happen. They got a quote I believe. We are going to vote (whether to proceed) on this issue in the Annual General Meeting coming up in Nov.

I just feel Tesla should be more involved with condos / management companies, or maybe they should set up a consulting division specifically for working with strata management companies. They can have a couple members from the marketing division to come to condo meetings to make a presentation. There are so many new / old condos in Vancouver now... I believe once they have condo charging figured out, the demand will rise significantly. Super chargers are so few here in GVA. And they just wasted 22 stalls at that downtown location...

 

[Araman0]

Why are the 22 superchargers downtown “wasted”? Seems like the highest proportion of condo dwellers would live within a few miles of that one.

Anecdotally we supercharged there on a recent trip from Seattle while we explored the downtown on a weekend. Price to park wasn’t too bad, and it was right where we wanted to explore.

 

[samcvan]

Wasted because this location is super under utilized. Check the app and youll know. We have so many other cities in GVA in need of their own superchargers and there were already 8 underutilized sc in downtown. And now 30 in total.

 

[darxsys]

Why are the 22 superchargers downtown “wasted”? Seems like the highest proportion of condo dwellers would live within a few miles of that one.

Anecdotally we supercharged there on a recent trip from Seattle while we explored the downtown on a weekend. Price to park wasn’t too bad, and it was right where we wanted to explore.

It’s wasted. Richmond or Burnaby would have been better locations. I supercharge at this one all the time since I drive to Vancouver very often, but I only do it because it’s the only alternative. And I never saw more than 3 cars there. Which works well for me in a way, since idle fees never kick in .