I agree and understand, but if you live in the central ca valley, it's difficult to recommend to anyone buying a lower range tesla if they regularly travel south through this area. This is a critical location for a supercharger to make buying a Tesla versus an ice vehicle and the conversion from ice to battery in this area very difficult. It's happening but slowly because of price and inconvenience. The Fresno supercharger has been used and abused for quite a while, because there was no where else to charge. On a holiday weekend, they had to pull in a couple of Mobile superchargers. Thinking of Mobile superchargers they can implement this service in remote high traveled areas when close and waiting to turn on newly constructed superchargers. This would help in Tesla's goal of increasing the change to sustainable energy and anyone living in ca central valley any assistance would help
-
Want to remove ads? Register an account and login to see fewer ads, and become a Supporting Member to remove almost all ads.
Supercharger - Traver, CA (LIVE 18 Nov 2020, 16 V3 stalls)
- Thread starter ucmndd
- Start date
-
- Tags
- California supercharger
Pluto
is a Planet
As someone else from the area (albeit further north) I agree and considering Tesla is putting 4 superchargers around Fresno and 4 in the northern San Joaquin Valley (2 now complete), I think Tesla is on the same page. They’re even putting in a store and service center here in Stockton (originally we had to drive to Dublin, and Fremont before that).
So yeah, Tesla is now taking the Central Valley more seriously probably because of the Cybertruck and it should resolve most of the concerns with buying a Tesla here.
I understand what you’re saying, but as a resident of the Fresno area with a low-range Tesla (2016 S75 that now has a rated 100% range of 220 miles) I think you’re overstating the anxiety or problem here. Fresno to Tejon Ranch is absolutely no problem even in my very low-range by modern standards car and I’ve made the trip South on 99 countless times without a second thought.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m very much excited for this charger because it will undoubtedly shorten my travel time, particularly on the way home where right now my only real option is a close to 100% range charge at Tejon Ranch or a detour on I-5 - but the situation is far from dire.
Agree that expansion in Fresno has been sorely needed for a while - and is now underway - although as a resident I rarely use the local supercharger.
I probably did overstate the anxiety issue, I tried to avoid the tejon ranch for a while, but stretching to Santa Clarita took some creative driving I'm max 240, 245 ish and love the oversized frunk, but close to 210 max going to Santa Clarita, I have a 240 at home with solar, but I'm a cheap asian with a free always better mindset, unless the inconvenience is worse. But I think additional fresno and 99 Bakersfield was earmarked 2 years ago
If you’re coming from further north such as Merced, Modesto, or Turlock where I live, this is a critical charger. My car can make it down to Tejon Ranch from Turlock but I’d have to go the speed limit and start at 95% or so to arrive with 8-10% on my P3D+. Even then, the times I travel it’s usually near full or half full which means I’ll be splitting power which means it’s a waste of time to crank it to 80 or 90 percent. Fresno is the same situation where it’s always more than half full so at best you’ll be splitting power or at worst you’ll be waiting in line. Besides when I’m heading to either LA or Vegas or Arizona Fresno is too soon to stop as my SoC will still be high where as Traver will be far down enough where I won’t taper too bad.
I know I can always take the 5 but it’s a drag having to drive across the county on a 2 lane highway with stops and towns to get to the 5 when the 99 goes right through my town. Also when going to Vegas or northern Arizona coming down the 5 is the long way around where as the 99 is the direct route to the 58 and then east. Tejon is out of the question on a Vegas or northern Arizona trip so Traver is the ideal charge before Mojave.
Honestly they need one in the city of Bakersfield proper but that’s another completely separate topic.
There's a "Coming Soon" marker in Bakersfield on the tesla.com/findus website, but we all know how accurate that is. Bakersfield would fill a good sized gap between Traver and Tejon Ranch to the south and Traver and Mojave to the south east.
Pluto
is a Planet
You’re lucky, I used to live in one of those small towns (long before I got a Tesla) and I had to use those two lane highways to get anywhere interesting! I-5 was only useful for long distance travel—we had to drive 30+ minutes for the doctor, dentist, Costco, other department stores, etc.
But realistically the problem you describe applies to much of the United States where the supercharging network enables long distance driving, but it may require a detour or some inconvenience. The good news is this typically only applies to the starting and ending legs but the bad news is every trip has a start and an end. The new Traver supercharger represents Tesla plugging one of those holes. And I also agree that Bakersfield proper would’ve been a useful location.
That's why I'm trying to say a lot Tesla owners will jump for joy when this sucker opens. The rest Tesla is working to fill in, but critical areas should take priority and then fill in the rest. I've been at Tejon with lines or super slow charging rate on.5 they have bakersfield and button willow, and then harris ranch and kettleman, 99 fresno and Tejon ranch which is a bottleneck for 5 and 99 and if there is trouble on 5 going North or south forget about it.
Doug Martoccia
Member
I'll definitely be jumping for joy! The longest driving diversions and most nail biting moments I've had would have been eliminated if Traver had been open earlier. This makes the LA-to-Fresno and LA-to-National Parks trips so much easier.
Drove by tonightin a non-Tesla, the charger was not lit up that I could tell.
Could it be a lack of internet? If the power is there and the electrical system has passed inspection, Tesla should have turned it on already. I went to a place 4 miles west of here yesterday and to get internet they have to pay $200 a month. It is wireless. Rural areas don't have the same access to internet that people in the city take for granted. Just a thought. I can't wait till this site goes live. It will save about 20-30 miles each trip to this area.
I doubt it. Internet for businesses is a whole different animal than residential customers dealing with at best a duopoly or at worst satellite. If there is cellular in the area chances are there is fiber nearby because most cell sites near major freeways like the 99 are likely to be running fiber for backhaul. With that being said there are companies more than willing to run fiber from a major fiber link into a small town and companies like Tesla would be able to afford this.
At a worst case scenario that it would be outrageously expensive even for Tesla to do this, they can always pay AT&T for internet over cellular: being that Tesla is a large customer of AT&T’s I’m sure they can get extremely competitive rates.
Doug Martoccia
Member
Opening this one up doesn't appear to be a priority to Tesla at least it's been built, I think by Thanksgiving weekend. They like us to think they're doing us favors rather then building a cohesive integrated charging network unless they feel like they're being challenged. Unlucky for people that travel this route often.
You might not be aware that there are a number of factors in Supercharger construction that are outside Tesla's control, and the whole process is pretty opaque to us on the outside, so it's difficult to tell why a given Supercharger installation is taking longer than it should (rarely has anyone ever complained about a Supercharger going on-line SOONER than they thought it should), or when it will eventually be completed.
Bruce.
cpa
Active Member
Indeed, Bruce. With that said, I might add that Tesla must send out a technician to do all the end-stage voodoo before it is open to the public. Tesla may be waiting upon the 56-stall installation off Interstate 5 to be completed to send out a couple of folks to sign off on both of them. Progress at that location is proceeding apace by all accounts. I feel that Tesla strives to get this opened by Turkey Day.
It seems to me that Tesla has started to economize many of its divisions to save money on labor and other expenses. One way to save a few bucks in the Supercharger department would be to verify Superchargers as functional by bunching those that are in close proximity to each other, thereby avoiding multiple trips from afar to flip the switch at locations 80 miles apart.
Similar threads
