Superchargers in cities? - Las Vegas Supercharger

[moollar]

I'm genuinely curious and hoping someone could shed some light on this subject. With the opening of the Las Vegas Supercharger, has Tesla's strategy for Superchargers changed? The Tesla Supercharger page on the Tesla website still explicitly says that Superchargers are for road trips ("ROAD TRIPS MADE EASY", "Tesla Superchargers allow Model S owners to travel for free between cities along well-traveled highways in North America and Europe"). So why has a Supercharger location opened up in Las Vegas (i.e. actually in a city)?

The only thing I can think of is that it's located in fairly close proximity to the Las Vegas Freeway. Anyone have any insight on this? Is Tesla starting to roll out any other Superchargers in cities? Seems like the Superchargers will be held up by local freeloaders if this is the case, making it difficult for the people who actually need them to use them (i.e. people who are actually travelling long distances).

 

[tdiggity]

If you map it, it's not on the strip or near the casinos so that will keep people from parking for too long.

 

[dennis]

A glance at the Supercharge dashboard in Hawthorne that is posted periodically in the Supercharging thread shows the challenge of locating superchargers in urban areas: the most used superchargers are Fremont, Gilroy and Hawthorne, all located in (sub)urban areas.

 

[gaswalla]

it seems like Tesla actually is at the point where using the urban chargers is viewed as a good thing: more positive word of mouth more frequently to local folks that will likely buy a car themselves. For example: another supercharger is coming to LA (likely downtown LA), San Diego proper, and one is running in Chicago.

 

[Chipper]

There is also one planned for downtown Atlanta too. But it is kind of understandable since cities are located at the confluence of major highways. In order to accommodate both N/S and E/W travel you need to place the SpC near the intersections.

 

[KJD]

Seems like the Superchargers will be held up by local freeloaders if this is the case, making it difficult for the people who actually need them to use them (i.e. people who are actually traveling long distances).

You are correct. This will be a huge problem in the not so distant future.

 

[republic]

You are correct. This will be a huge problem in the not so distant future.

Definitely. Over half the American population doesn't own a house with a garage; public charging is the only option for most apartment and condo residents. Indeed, Tesla customers have been heavily biased toward house owners thus far. Until Level 3 charging infrastructure becomes more widespread, many urban MS owners will have no choice but the hog their local SCs (which I will be forced to do until the CHAdeMO adapter arrives).

 

[Cottonwood]

You are correct. This will be a huge problem in the not so distant future.

It's not a problem, if Tesla puts in enough capacity, both through more stalls at each Supercharger and more Superchargers in the area. For the former look at the 10 stalls at Gilroy with conduits already set to grow to 20 stalls, and for the latter, look at LA with a second downtown site on the coming soon list and sites under in the permit process in Oxnard and almost done in San Juan Capistrano.

 

[airj1012]

The potential large issue will be when the Model E comes along. Will it also have access to the Superchargers? How many Tesla vehicles will be on the road in 2018. Maybe we've just seen the beginning of the Supercharger roll out.

 

[republic]

Imagine a future with DC fast charging everywhere, with hundreds of stalls in every city, SC/CHAdeMO/SAE in front of every grocery store and pharmacy. That's certainly plausible, albeit in the relatively distant future.

 

[Darmok]

The Las Vegas supercharger is in range from the Barstow supercharger to the southwest, and about 120 miles from the proposed St. George supercharger to the northeast (right in the sweet spot for distance). It therefore makes sense as a location for travel from Southern California or Arizona into Utah and beyond on I-15. It was put there instead of Primm on the CA/NV border, though the Primm dot is back on the map, see other threads about that. We have been told locally that Tesla views Las Vegas as a major destination city, especially for S owners in Tesla's core market of So. Cal., and that Tesla wants to provide fast charging capabilities for those travelers. It's also in the same building where the Project 100 charging hub will be, with its own private supercharging capabilities. So it serves dual purposes of destination charging for the many people who drive to Las Vegas and road trip charging for those passing through on their way north on I-15. So far I have only seen more than one car there on weekends, and it has yet to get full when I have been by.

 

[jkliu47]

With the recent downturn in Downtown Las Vegas Project,

Report: Zappos CEO's Las Vegas Dreamland Is Imploding

will access to Las Vegas' Superchargers continue unimpeded?

And what will happen to the Shift urban transportation project (with 100 Tesla's)?

SHIFT by Project 100