Supercharger - Tumwater, WA
- Thread starter Araman0
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- supercharger washington
Yeah I'm calling BS on the whole "Tesla built it bigger than they said they would" argument.
I'm pretty sure I mentioned this back in the early pages of this thread, but fwiw I noticed some hostility from the employees on the issue of the supercharger using up too much of the parking spaces even while this supercharger was under construction.
This site was doomed to fail from the beginning, just like most of us who posted early in this thread suspected. The supercharger does its job driving traffic to a business, but the business didn't have the infrastructure to support the additional traffic.
The last time I was there charging there was someone right at the corner spot there who showed up in their truck, had a cigarette, spent a little bit on their phone, then left. I bet there's some marginal use like that but it's not obvious because it's not parking in one of the Tesla spots. On top of that, SC spots end up as empty spots sometimes, which is even more obvious if you've got a full parking lot. Then if someone parks in one of the SC spots you have someone in a Tesla potentially complaining that they can't charge. It's all pointing toward 'get rid of these troublesome Tesla folks' because that's the easiest path.
Big Earl
bnkwupt
I can second the people watching part, based on my one time there.
I feel the same way. I would much rather go into a Target than the truck stop. When I’ve been charging at Tumwater, I usually see one or two Tesla owners come out of there with food/drink but maybe it’s not the level of business they expected.
ladysbff
Member
This location opened during COVID, I've probably charged here 3 times, and each time stayed in the car. No way I would go inside unless absolutely necessary as it was a clusterf*** every time I was there this summer. Also I'm not trying to get punched for wearing a mask. So I can imagine business from Tesla owners not being great.
wdolson
Well-Known Member
I haven't run into anyone west of the Cascades north of Grants Pass that is that hostile to a mask wearer. Even in the CA central valley where people were pretty lax about masks most people just ignored me with my mask.
I have charged here a few times at the end of trips to California. Inside the building there was lots of airflow and everyone was social distancing more than the minimum. The bathrooms were clean and they sell a variety of food choices from healthy to junk. Nobody paid any attention to my mask, everyone was trying to be safe.
DSolie
Member
I just charged there today. I went inside too (gasp). I've always liked that location. The store is busy, yes, but has tons of food, drinks and the restrooms are clean.
Charged here around midnight. Tried two different stalls, one on each cabinet, and both of them worked GREAT. Didn't ask around but I didn't get any impression that the supercharger or Tesla owners are unwelcome here.
eprosenx
Active Member
This was just posted in the Portland Tesla club Facebook group.
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I'm very curious to learn how Tesla "violated their agreement." What exactly did they think they were getting with a supercharger?
The Tumwater one is *really* convenient to access, literally feet from the ramps, but close to nothing except the truck stop. It's kind of an oddity that way. It's a handy stop if you want super quick access but with Lacey and Centralia there it's not exactly critical. They still have an Olympia location listed 'coming soon' so maybe they'll just accelerate whatever other location they have cooking and move the equipment there.
Even weirder: it shows as in-service on the app this morning, with 4/8 stations available. Earlier it showed 3/8. I haven't driven over to find out if that's real or a false report.
I wonder if the site owner is just screwing with the supercharger (powering it off and on randomly) in the hopes to drive Tesla owners away from this location if they think it's unreliable or showing as out of service often... though I wonder if the owner even knows about the live status of superchargers.
They might just be trying to have it off during busy days/times and hoping that word gets around with Tesla owners so they stop showing up. I'm really really curious if this location gets shut down full time and the superchargers moved, or worse, just removed and not relocated to a new site.
I kind of hope this doesn't discourage Tesla from sites like this. While it isn't great that it's smaller and tight, I love the fact that it's literally right off the highway. There are often times I just want a drink and a quick restroom break, 7 or 8 minutes in and out from off ramp to on ramp.... but of course I would plug in, depending on SOC that could still be like an extra ~19kWh added back (50 to 70 miles!)
