Supercharger - Vancouver, WA - NE Vancouver Mall Drive

[Guvnah]

Also, forget to mention that the parking lot area for 1pm on Saturday was barely half occupied.

Arriving after the mall closes would mean a 5-minute walk over to a nearby 7-11 if one needs a bathroom break. I believe that is the closest pit stop by foot. Or maybe just head into the movie theater?

 

[floatplane]

Must have just missed you lol.

“Blackstone” on the door of the vehicle. Acarney mentioned them in the first post.

There are blue markings on the ground on both sides of the intersection.

The small utility/transformer box in the shrubs is clearly not big enough for a supercharger site. Probably provides power (and maybe metering?) for the light poles and sprinkler system in that area of the parking lot.

 

[scott1954wa]

8 pedestal bases installed so far today.

 

[MarcoRP]

8 pedestal bases installed so far today.

What’s with people in this thread? WE NEED PHOTOS!!!

 

[PLUS EV]

Tumwater and Forks just got pedestals too so I suspect they might be activated around the same time.

 

[ptronus31]

What’s with people in this thread? WE NEED PHOTOS!!!

I'll be going by there tomorrow afternoon and get some pics.

 

[ptronus31]

As promised. Construction has definitely started!

 

[iwannam3]

Looks like angled parking spots by the angle of the charger bases rather that straight in.

 

[Guvnah]

I wonder if this SC will be urban or V3? I think I’m leaning V3...

 

[acarney]

I wonder if this SC will be urban or V3? I think I’m leaning V3...

Wish mall locations always had a mix of superchargers and destination chargers. Would be nice for V3 for quick travel needs, and destination for people catching a movie or general shopping and dinner kind of stuff.

 

[JamesBond]

Can we conclude from the photos of the pedestal bases that it will not be an urban SC site? Most of the urban SCs I know of are in a covered area, whereas this SC is clearly outdoors, near the Macys store.

Also, as a "local", there are a lot of eateries that are outside the mall on the north side, including a decent Mexican restaurant, a unique Russian bakery & convenience store, etc.

 

[acarney]

Can we conclude from the photos of the pedestal bases that it will not be an urban SC site? Most of the urban SCs I know of are in a covered area, whereas this SC is clearly outdoors, near the Macys store.

Also, as a "local", there are a lot of eateries that are outside the mall on the north side, including a decent Mexican restaurant, a unique Russian bakery & convenience store, etc.

Pretty sure the Issaquah supercharger is just in the middle of a Fred Meyer parking lot, so covered vs not isn't any indication. The only thing I'm going off of is that there are 8 stalls, it seems like lately the 8 stall Washington construction have all turned out to be V3 stations....

 

[mociaf9]

Can we conclude from the photos of the pedestal bases that it will not be an urban SC site?

Yes. The bases for urban (72 kW) superchargers look different enough to be readily distinguishable if one has decent pictures and knows what to look for. The oval bases seen in the recently posted pictures of this site are strictly for traditional V2 (150 kW) or V3 superchargers.

 

[floatplane]

Looking at the photo of the area with tarmac removed and nearest the camera, I assume this will be for the utility transformer plus the SC cabinets. The end of this dug-up area is cut at an angle opposite that of the previously existing angle-parking and the concrete SC pedestal bases also appear to be at an angle too. So you will enter from the south (as marked by the arrow) and then pass just beyond the space you want to use and back in. I've not seen a SC use that kind of arrangement before. I guess this works.

I have used angle-parking for an L2 charger before at Bellevue Mall and because of the too-short cables (and the expectation that J-1772 charger sockets are near the front of an EV) I had to back in making an awkward 135 degree turn and end up facing the "wrong way" for traffic flow.

 

[scott1954wa]

Looks like besides the 8 supercharger spots, they are also installing 8 level 2 (wall chargers). This makes sense since if you are going to see a movie, you don't want to take up a supercharger spot.

 

[iwannam3]

Will the level 2 be metered? Are any level 2s metered anywhere?

 

[acarney]

Will the level 2 be metered? Are any level 2s metered anywhere?

As far as I know, none of the Tesla destination chargers are metered, even when they're included at a supercharger site. (I only have experience at the downtown Seattle supercharger, but those certainly aren't)

That is FANTASTIC. Those level 2's are perfect for a half day shopping at the mall or ice cream and movie or something. I'm so glad Tesla is doing that, it was a very smart move!

 

[Guvnah]

Looking at the photo of the area with tarmac removed and nearest the camera, I assume this will be for the utility transformer plus the SC cabinets. The end of this dug-up area is cut at an angle opposite that of the previously existing angle-parking and the concrete SC pedestal bases also appear to be at an angle too. So you will enter from the south (as marked by the arrow) and then pass just beyond the space you want to use and back in. I've not seen a SC use that kind of arrangement before. I guess this works.

I have used angle-parking for an L2 charger before at Bellevue Mall and because of the too-short cables (and the expectation that J-1772 charger sockets are near the front of an EV) I had to back in making an awkward 135 degree turn and end up facing the "wrong way" for traffic flow.

When I drove by I approached from the north and turned in off the main drag around the mall. This runs you down the lane with the angled parking allowing for the perfect easy pull in. This will not be an issue if you turn down the right lane. Don't approach from the south. The north end of the lane is open!

 

[mociaf9]

Will the level 2 be metered? Are any level 2s metered anywhere?

We don't yet know about this site, but sometimes Tesla installs ChargePoint L2 units at supercharger sites and some of those are metered. This happens pretty regularly at superchargers hosted by Target stores. The decisions regarding how many (if any), what type, and pay or not for L2 stations installed alongside superchargers seem to all be made by the hosting business. Tesla will put in whatever they want.

 

[DanL3]

Volta chargers about 2 rows over are free for 2 hours.