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Tesla DC charging network

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Nissan maybe the first mover, but it has 't moved yet.
Here I Tennessee Nissan has boldly moved. Every dealer has at least 2 level two chargers. For well over 100 public chargers. They are working with Cracker Barrel for smothered 30 chargers and a dozen high-speed level 3 chargers. I am finding dozens of level 2 chargers in hotels, parking lots and community centers. But I have yet to see a single Tesla charger.
 
They are working with Cracker Barrel for smothered 30 chargers and a dozen high-speed level 3 chargers.

I do believe Nissan is working on level 3, in fact I had trust in that earlier than others. However I also have trust in Tesla's plans, who said they will make more specific announcements in the Jan/Feb 2012 timeframe, as anything they have shown so far makes a lot of sense to me, in fact to me it displays the same sense of excellence and technical leadership as everything else from Tesla. On my tiny scale, I'd like to encourage and support Tesla in making progress in this direction, which I see as the most direct feasible path to showing the world that electric cars are capable of being the technology of the future, together with solar etc., which for me is the important part. This is what I think will facilitate change, the rest will happen more or less automatically.
 
I'm a big fan of this news! The Boston/DC corridor is the most densely populated band of the country, so this expansion has a high benefit:cost ratio. It also provides a core from which to build outward. It's instructive to look at how the railroads were built out in the 1880s, with the initial build focused on the northeast corridor, with strong westward links to Chicago, Charlotte, etc. Although demographics have shifted some, playing from a strong core in the northeast makes sense.

Now, Tesla, please build a bit further to the north, adding SuperChargers at the I-95 Kennebunk rest stop and on I-95 near Augusta. This will open up the tourist-heavy regions of Maine to the Tesla, an area that is currently a wasteland of EV recharging. (Tesla owners welcome to charge at my place in South Bristol, Maine, from May to October.)
 
There was a report on the TM boards that a rep. at the Washington DC event said Tesla was going to install high speed DC chargers between DC and Boston as well as in California. If true, I think it would be a brilliant move!

i heard the same thing at the DC event this weekend. I think he specifically said they were targeting areas in and around DC, NY and Boston (which makes a lot of sense on the face of it). I also lobbied for VA and NC as that's the direction we tend to drive when we visit relatives. *grin*
 
i heard the same thing at the DC event this weekend. I think he specifically said they were targeting areas in and around DC, NY and Boston (which makes a lot of sense on the face of it). I also lobbied for VA and NC as that's the direction we tend to drive when we visit relatives. *grin*

+1 :smile: my parents are just south of Charlotte and I would LOVE to drive my Model S down there some time.
 
On the new options page it says supercharger access is Not Available for the 40kWh battery! Even for the 60 it is "TBD".

If you want to take the car on any significant roadtrip you really need to have the 85. I think by handicapping the 40 they are saying "you might as well buy a Leaf".
 
I'm sure this has to do with the charging speed in relation to the battery size and the number of battery cells. In relation to the 85 kWh pack, the Supercharger's 90 kW are only as much as 25 kW would be for the Leaf's 24 kWh battery, so it means less strain for the battery.
 
On the new options page it says supercharger access is Not Available for the 40kWh battery! Even for the 60 it is "TBD".

If you want to take the car on any significant roadtrip you really need to have the 85. I think by handicapping the 40 they are saying "you might as well buy a Leaf".
Disappointed with this. This makes Infiniti EV much more attractive - what with the support for CHAdeMO which should be available in good numbers in 2 years.

Nissan also needs you to buy the SL if you want QC - but that is only $3K extra.
 
I'm sure this has to do with the charging speed in relation to the battery size and the number of battery cells. In relation to the 85 kWh pack, the Supercharger's 90 kW are only as much as 25 kW would be for the Leaf's 24 kWh battery, so it means less strain for the battery.
That's the main reason. But they could choose to run the charger half speed (45kW) to have lower impact, and it'll still be very close to matching the CHAdeMO speed (50kW). But it does mean that the car will be taking up the space for longer to charge the same amount of miles, unless they build two cables so two 40kWh cars can share the charger.

Assuming there isn't much hardware differences, I think Tesla can work out giving Supercharger access to 40kWh packs (even at a slower speed). Even if it means charging a bit extra, I'm sure people want the option.
 
That's the main reason. But they could choose to run the charger half speed (45kW) to have lower impact, and it'll still be very close to matching the CHAdeMO speed (50kW). But it does mean that the car will be taking up the space for longer to charge the same amount of miles, unless they build two cables so two 40kWh cars can share the charger.

Assuming there isn't much hardware differences, I think Tesla can work out giving Supercharger access to 40kWh packs (even at a slower speed). Even if it means charging a bit extra, I'm sure people want the option.

Yes, that and, as mentioned in the other thread, it would require more Superchargers closer together which might be much more difficult (aside from that the experience won't be as good). It does seem somewhat "natural" that long range and supercharging go together.

One more reason to hope for battery prices to come down in the future. And that selling/buying 85 kWh packs will really help make that happen.
 
Assuming there isn't much hardware differences, I think Tesla can work out giving Supercharger access to 40kWh packs (even at a slower speed). Even if it means charging a bit extra, I'm sure people want the option.
Right - Quick Change should be about the rate of charging, rather than "miles/hour". So, if the battery can take 2C, that would apply to all capacities and the 40kWh pack would be 80% charged in 30 minutes giving some 100 miles while 85kWh pack would give some 200 miles in the same time.

The supercharger would probably need the ability to pump in different amounts of power depending on the pack SOC - so pumping 40kW for the lower capacity pack shouldn't be difficult.
 
..... It does seem somewhat "natural" that long range and supercharging go together.

Japan's experience with ChadeMo suggests that DC fast charging is a "natural" for short range cars, like the 16 kWh i. Tesla is planning to use fast charge for taking 300 mile cars on road trips. Japan is using fast charge to drive around town with 60 mile cars. I would really love to have fast charge (and chargers where I work, shop, and eat) for my 35 mile car.

So in the end Tesla is right, but so are Mitsubishi and Nissan.

GSP
 
So in the end Tesla is right, but so are Mitsubishi and Nissan.

Yes, a different set of options and trade-offs dealing with the same problem(s). I do hope that Mitsubishi and Nissan will be able to build a fast charging network also in the US.

I'd think that Tesla spent a lot of time thinking about the options available to them, before making this decision. After all, this goes to the heart of the matter.
 
On the new options page it says supercharger access is Not Available for the 40kWh battery! Even for the 60 it is "TBD".

If you want to take the car on any significant roadtrip you really need to have the 85. I think by handicapping the 40 they are saying "you might as well buy a Leaf".

I suspect the lower capacity pack would have trouble surviving a 90kW charge rate. Can the charger be made more inexpensively if it only has to deal with the high capacity pack?
 
I'm a big fan of this news! The Boston/DC corridor is the most densely populated band of the country, so this expansion has a high benefit:cost ratio. It also provides a core from which to build outward. It's instructive to look at how the railroads were built out in the 1880s, with the initial build focused on the northeast corridor, with strong westward links to Chicago, Charlotte, etc. Although demographics have shifted some, playing from a strong core in the northeast makes sense.

Now, Tesla, please build a bit further to the north, adding SuperChargers at the I-95 Kennebunk rest stop and on I-95 near Augusta. This will open up the tourist-heavy regions of Maine to the Tesla, an area that is currently a wasteland of EV recharging. (Tesla owners welcome to charge at my place in South Bristol, Maine, from May to October.)

Another wasteland is upstate NY (west of the Hudson), which is even short on 50 amp campgrounds. DC to Boston is all very well as a corridor to build out from, but there *are* public charging points and there *are* alternatives to driving if you're staying entirely within the, uh, Amtrak Northeast Corridor. The "building out" to the north, south, and west of it needs to be done ASAP. NY to Chicago, folks, NY to Chicago....
 
Another wasteland is upstate NY (west of the Hudson), which is even short on 50 amp campgrounds. DC to Boston is all very well as a corridor to build out from, but there *are* public charging points and there *are* alternatives to driving if you're staying entirely within the, uh, Amtrak Northeast Corridor. The "building out" to the north, south, and west of it needs to be done ASAP. NY to Chicago, folks, NY to Chicago....

Yeah, I'm trying to plan a trip next spring down to Suffern, NY (southeast corner) from Ottawa, Ontario. The route does look like a charging wasteland. I have a friend in Binghamton who has offered a charge, but I'm not certain I can get that far. Anyone know of charging options in upstate NY?
 
Yeah, I'm trying to plan a trip next spring down to Suffern, NY (southeast corner) from Ottawa, Ontario. The route does look like a charging wasteland. I have a friend in Binghamton who has offered a charge, but I'm not certain I can get that far. Anyone know of charging options in upstate NY?

There existed, at one time, one Roadster owner in Buffalo, who mentioned his existence on the Tesla forum IIRC. Find him.

Research found me exactly one 50 amp campground outside Syracuse -- to the east. I'm not sure you can make it that far either. (There's another one near Binghamton, but you're set in Binghamton.)

Pretty much a wasteland. If those don't work out, there are a fair number of 30 amp campgrounds, and that's it.