GHammer
Dark Star
The in-car nav clearly says "parking fees apply"
There is no mention of pay parking on the Tesla charger website for the Whistler location but I'm at Whistler now and it is most definitely pay parking.
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Foxhound199
Member
Weird that the in-car and the website don't show the same info. It's actually a pretty steep price difference, and will probably be the deciding factor if I use this or chargepoint on my trip.
f-stop
Active Member
there are other Superchargers elsewhere located in pay parking lots, e.g. the ones at the Whistler Fairmont, Toronto's Eaton Centre, or Ottawa Rideau Centre (all Cadillac Fairview properties) - the Tesla webpage does not mention pay parking on any of those.
btw re: pay-by-plate parking lots - I have no idea how Impark enforces compliance at this lot or any of their others, but I do know that some parking lots use licence plate recognition, whether by mobile cameras on patrol vehicles or by stationary cameras e.g. at entrance. (Who's gonna be the first to test it out?...)
btw re: pay-by-plate parking lots - I have no idea how Impark enforces compliance at this lot or any of their others, but I do know that some parking lots use licence plate recognition, whether by mobile cameras on patrol vehicles or by stationary cameras e.g. at entrance. (Who's gonna be the first to test it out?...)
I wouldn't say that "the charging is complimentary, this situation" because the charging is not complimentary unless you're an early buyer with unlimited charging. More recent buyers have a cap, and Model 3 buyers pay for all Supercharger charging. That's the case here. These aren't like the destination chargers that you'll find at some downtown hotels, or at Oakridge for example. Other destination chargers (which are not "Superchargers") that you find at malls and hotels often are free, for customers of those businesses (e.g. shopping at that mall, staying at that hotel).
I just spoke with someone in the West 4th Tesla store who said "it's a paid lot, so you have to pay for parking." When I pointed out that three other businesses in that lot provide free parking for their customers (Modo, Zip and the carwash), and that it seemed surprising that Impark or Cadillac Fairview would give over that much space to Tesla, making it unavailable to other drivers, and provide all the capital investment of putting in those chargers (if indeed they paid for it), in exchange for regular parking fees (rather than some kind of long-term rent from Tesla), he hesitated. When I said that it also seemed unreasonable that Tesla would pay the hundreds of thousands of dollars to install the chargers without a lease on the space (assuming Tesla picked up that expense), he hesitated some more. When I asked him to go on record saying you should pay for parking, he hesitated further and said a manager would call me back. In other words, he was assuming and didn't know for sure.
Meanwhile, there's no signage near the chargers either way. If indeed Tesla paid to put in those chargers but didn't get a yearly lease for, let's say, 16 parking spots (about the amount of space they're taking up) then that would have to be a poor deal. If the building is paying for this, as with destination chargers, then Tesla's Supercharger rates shouldn't apply. It shouldn't be the worst of both worlds.
Checked the long-term parking rates in that lot. It's $3,000 / year ($250/month) for a reserved spot.
Let' say they're taking up the the space for 16 spots (eight places to pull up to superchargers, plus room for the chargers themselves). That's $48,000 per year. That could probably be volume discounted to at most $36,000 CAD / year. Or about half the price of a single Model 3 with extended battery and AWD, and a small fraction of what Telsa would have paid for the chargers, installation, etc.
If parking rates really apply, I'd be astonished ... unless CF really did pay to put those in, and not Tesla.
Let' say they're taking up the the space for 16 spots (eight places to pull up to superchargers, plus room for the chargers themselves). That's $48,000 per year. That could probably be volume discounted to at most $36,000 CAD / year. Or about half the price of a single Model 3 with extended battery and AWD, and a small fraction of what Telsa would have paid for the chargers, installation, etc.
If parking rates really apply, I'd be astonished ... unless CF really did pay to put those in, and not Tesla.
GHammer
Dark Star
You are really overthinking this.
It's in a pay for, public lot, like several other urban superchargers.
The car's navigation system, which is programmed by Tesla say's parking fees apply.
End of story.
P.S. Tesla store employees are often less informed than long time owners
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f-stop
Active Member
Earlier I mentioned 3 other Cadillac Fairview properties (Whistler, downtown Toronto - Eaton Ctr, and downtown Ottawa - Rideau Ctr) that all have paid parking and Tesla Superchargers therein. I think there may be others, too. Not so unimaginable that Superchargers at a CF property in downtown Vancouver might be same.
A year or so ago Cadillac Fairview announced some EV charging initiative, to install L2 FLO charging stations in many of their properties across the country. There was nothing specifically mentioned about Tesla at the time, but maybe with all these recent Superchargers on CF properties it's just another sign that the company is serious about supporting EVs.
Foxhound199
Member
It's just that the price starts getting a bit steep if you're a model 3 owner. You could charge for just over an hour and wind up paying a total of around $35.
Well, spoke with a manager at Tesla and, alas, you DO have to pay for parking while parked at the Superchargers in that lot. Charging is not complimentary though (a couple of people have commented that it is.) These are Tesla superchargers, not Tesla destination chargers, so if your car pays for Supercharger use (eg Model 3) you'll pay for that here, plus the parking fee. Sigh. I've recommended that they put up some signage so people don't get ticketed.
All of this was fairly obvious to everyone but you and now you know. Therefore no need for signage!
GHammer
Dark Star
Really? I wonder where I've heard all that already?
BTW, Nice location, I was there on Friday. Food court and retail on the ground floor right across the street from Canada Place.
Visited this urban charger a couple of days ago and it was great. Not too busy, good location next to Canada place. I didn't find the parking fees to be that outrageous for evening/night ($9 for 6pm-6am) esp. when going out to dinner in the area where street parking could cost more
Wow, tough crowd. It's not as obvious as one might think. There are three other companies in that lot with reserved spots (i.e. "you can't park here unless you're doing business with us"): Modo, Zip, and a car detailing service. You do NOT pay for parking when using any of those spots. So, there's plenty of precedent for exceptions.
Meanwhile the Tesla supercharger locations cannot be used by anyone else; it's not like they're regular parking spots that happen to have a supercharger next to them, but hey, feel free to park your Volvo there. They're reserved for Tesla charging use (even Tesla customers can't park there when they're not charging) much like the above spots are reserved for those other companies. That might lead one to conclude that, like Zip, Modo and the car wash, Tesla had taken long-term (tenant) leases on the space that was being reserved solely for Tesla customers.
Turns out they didn't. I still find that odd, but the personal attacks are uncalled for.
Meanwhile the Tesla supercharger locations cannot be used by anyone else; it's not like they're regular parking spots that happen to have a supercharger next to them, but hey, feel free to park your Volvo there. They're reserved for Tesla charging use (even Tesla customers can't park there when they're not charging) much like the above spots are reserved for those other companies. That might lead one to conclude that, like Zip, Modo and the car wash, Tesla had taken long-term (tenant) leases on the space that was being reserved solely for Tesla customers.
Turns out they didn't. I still find that odd, but the personal attacks are uncalled for.
beeeerock
Active Member
I have to say that I agree that the idea of paying for the parking is really not a logical way to deal with this. The average charge won't take long enough for the driver to have enough time to go do anything and will likely stick with the car. Therefore, the car isn't really parked any more than the car filling up at the gas station is parked. They're both fuelling.
I know there are arguments that would include the value of the stall space to the parkade owner, but I still think Tesla needs to sort out how to cover that in their installation agreement. The cost of the space should be included in the charging fees or in some way covered transparently by Tesla. A driver should be able to arrive at any supercharger and know that they're going to pay based on electricity cost... so the one in the parkade would cost the same as the one a few miles away next to the highway.
I know there are arguments that would include the value of the stall space to the parkade owner, but I still think Tesla needs to sort out how to cover that in their installation agreement. The cost of the space should be included in the charging fees or in some way covered transparently by Tesla. A driver should be able to arrive at any supercharger and know that they're going to pay based on electricity cost... so the one in the parkade would cost the same as the one a few miles away next to the highway.
I agree that ideally I would want superchargers to not be in paid parking lots, but I think that's very hard to do in busy cities with dense downtown cores. Especially when the real estate is so expensive in Vancouver... I think if you just need a quick top up you could probably get away with just plugging in for 20 mins without paying. But if you do want to walk around Canada place and make an evening out of it, you can just pay for parking and move the car to another stall in the lot when charging is complete.
cmt489
Member
Had reason to use this charger today and didn't mind paying for the hour of parking. What I did mind, however, is that Tesla seems to have forgotten that they made the X (which we fondly refer to as the pregnant hippo for its maneuverability in tight areas) when they designed this charger! Tight parkade and even tighter turns to get into the SC itself. I ended up using the empty parking stalls in front and backing in. I was just glad that no one was parked down there so I had this option.
I used this supercharger a couple days ago and wasn't at all fond of the design. Even in a Model S it was difficult to get in and out and the parkade itself has some rather tight corners. Also, they could really use some signage. Even with the Nav prompting me that the chargers were on P3, it wasn't immediately obvious how one gets to P3.
MonkeyBC
Member
I agree with the last two comments. It's quite a maze to find your way down to P3 and the chargers. AND turning into the spots is a bit of a challenge. I certainly appreciate that they are here and available to our visitors however getting into the spots takes a little time. Be careful how you open your driver side doors, the metal infrastructure can clip the bottom of your door.
Foxhound199
Member
Yeah, I went in my 3 and felt that getting in there was too tight for comfort. Can't imagine what it's like in an X. Also, returned to find a family with a Model S debating over whether using the charger meant they needed to pay for parking, so I stand by my assessment that this fact is clear as mud.
dmd2005
Active Member
Visited this location today and glad they placed foam insulation on the overhead pipes. My trunk lid almost touches the overhead pipes when fully opened and I bet an X’s trunk would bump one of those pipes when fully open.
Spots are tight but it’s Downtown Vancouver and they are comparable to any other parking spot in terms of size and it’s much easier to back into the stalls.
Spots are tight but it’s Downtown Vancouver and they are comparable to any other parking spot in terms of size and it’s much easier to back into the stalls.
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