Supercharger - Woodburn, OR

[PhilBa]

Moderator note: The first 15 pages of this thread are a combination of three different threads regarding the Woodburn, OR Supercharger.

Have any of you Portland Teslonians been down that way? Any sightings of suspicious activity?

 

[Lyon]

I haven't yet. I am also wondering if they might put it closer to Salem given the distances from the closest stations to the north and south.

 

[Frankc]

On my way back from TESLIVE this morning I decided to take a quick detour from the Airport to Corvallis.... At the Woodburn exit (mp 271), in the southeast corner of the Outlet Mall, I saw a trencher and horizontal boring machine. Upon closer inspection the pavement is market with notation regarding the utility easment, with 10 (or so) marked locations on the pavement. One other clue: look at the advertisement on the Giant Ad Board.

Thoughts?

 

[SCW-Greg]

Handy overhead power could be the basis for a new form of wireless supercharging!

But it would be the perfect location, hotels, tons of shopping... and Centralia to Woodburn is about 120 miles.

 

[ChrisPDX]

There are a couple of Blink chargers there, so that's what the ad is about. However, that does look like the start of a SC installation! 10 spots sounds right too considering Centralia. At this rate we can be going down to California in just a few months. I can't wait!

 

[Puyallup Bill]

As I see it, Frankc's report along with an earlier report from the sub-contractor, clinches it. How sweet for me. A perfect 175 miles from my home, allowing me to skip Centralia and Portland when heading south.

 

[TurboFroggy]

Great find! Who is closest to Woodburn who can keep us updated with progress?

 

[AndyM]

Woodburn SuperChargers Found !?

I live less than 20 miles away, and I may be the closest forum member to this site. I will post regular updates, as now I have a GREAT reason to drive a few miles every few days. When I get back from TESLIVE, of course.

Great job scouting, Frank!!

 

[deonb]

Fantastic!

Now we just need Reading, CA and with an overnight stop in Medford, 85's can do the entire West Coast using Superchargers only. I'm driving Seattle to San Francisco the day both of those come online!

 

[Thumper]

Good spotting Frank. Now we need to find the southern Oregon site and keep and eye on it too.

 

[PhilBa]

Looking at the Fall 2013 setting on the map on the supercharger page, there are 4 Oregon locations. The Woodburn one has been known for some time. The southern one looks like Medford and there is one in between, could be Cottage Grove (Roseburg is a bit too close to Medford, IMO). If ADK is doing those as well, they should be getting good at it. 4 weeks from first site markings to completion seems about the norm. They did Centralia and Burlington in parallel so perhaps they are doing another I5 SC at the same time.

I'm still puzzling over the "Stayton" location. Seems dumb.

By the way, Ellensburg appears in the Fall 2013 group as well.

 

[ckessel]

The southern one looks like Medford

I really hope it's Ashland and not Medford. Medford is not...a nice place.

I have some real horror stories from my kid having football games down there, behavior that makes it pretty clear Medford is still pissed off about things like, oh, having integrated schools. Just scary stuff, police and teachers having to protect visiting teams from hostile parents. It's not a place I'd want to spend any time in.

 

[PhilBa]

I really hope it's Ashland and not Medford. Medford is not...a nice place.

I have some real horror stories from my kid having football games down there, behavior that makes it pretty clear Medford is still pissed off about things like, oh, having integrated schools. Just scary stuff, police and teachers having to protect visiting teams from hostile parents. It's not a place I'd want to spend any time in.

From a distance of almost 500 miles, the difference between Medford and Ashland seems small. However, the several times I've stopped in Medford did not leave me with a good impression (kind of run down). That said, I'd prefer Ashland but the reality is they will site it close to restaurants and shopping. Maybe the Shops at Exit 24.

 

[ORWA]

My question is the Fall 2013 SC site southeast of Woodburn. My initial guess was Detroit lake heading through the Cascades to Central Oregon but there isn't much that I know about for shopping/eating. Anyone else have a guess for that location?

 

[MikeC]

Fantastic!

Now we just need Reading, CA and with an overnight stop in Medford, 85's can do the entire West Coast using Superchargers only. I'm driving Seattle to San Francisco the day both of those come online!

I'll be passing by you heading north!

 

[Frankc]

Anyone going by the Woodburn Factory Outlets this weekend? I'd like to see confirmation that work is progressing, and more indication that this is indeed the SuperCharger site.

 

[dirkhh]

Anyone going by the Woodburn Factory Outlets this weekend? I'd like to see confirmation that work is progressing, and more indication that this is indeed the SuperCharger site.

Went there Friday and didn't see much progress. Seems to early to tell - but the location looks about right.
It's about 25 miles from here so shouldn't be hard to check by every once in a while (but I'm going the other direction next week to check out the Centralia one, first)

 

[v12 to 12v]

From the looks of those photos I would guess that you'll be up and running within a month. It was exactly 2 months from permit issuance to power up in Centralia. Groundbreaking was significantly delayed there and there was multiple re-inspections including UL approval hoops to jump through. If you have the same contractor, they might have this whole routine down pat by now.

 

[dirkhh]

From the looks of those photos I would guess that you'll be up and running within a month. It was exactly 2 months from permit issuance to power up in Centralia. Groundbreaking was significantly delayed there and there was multiple re-inspections including UL approval hoops to jump through. If you have the same contractor, they might have this whole routine down pat by now.

I would love that. Heading on a road trip to Bend in exactly a month and having the Supercharger in Woodburn would make things a lot easier (I wouldn't need to make sure I'm max charged before leaving on the way back...)

 

[ORWA]

Here is what I received from the General Manager at the Woodburn Outlet mall:

Sorry, that's PGE working on underground lines for impending road construction.

Anyone believe her? She had the smiley face at the end of the email. I can't imagine what kind of road work they would be doing.