Tesla Megacharger Location thread

[RubberToe]

So now there is a working copy of the semi out on the road. I'm presuming that given it's much faster fast charge rate, that it will only be able to use the new Megacharger Elon referenced in his presentation. The design of the Megacharger has to work with the semi, so presumably they have built at least one Megacharger, probably in the vicinity of where the truck was developed.

Anyone care to speculate where they might install the first of these in the wild to support semi testing out in the real world? I would also be curious to see the specs for the Megacharger and the interface to the vehicle, though Tesla may be keeping that secret for competitive reasons. The presentation showed the semi pulled up next to what looked like a larger version of the normal Supercharger.

RT

 

[DOCAL]

My guess would be that they install them in 2 types of places.
1. At existing truck stops as some sort of partnership, since they have the parking spaces / lanes to handle things that size.
2. At cargo company's depots/hubs.

Since Walmart has ordered some, it would make sense to me that trucks would charge whilst loading at their own distribution centers.

 

[wws]

My guess is the Gigafactory and the Fremont manufacturing plant. It is about 250 miles. So in theory it should be possible to haul battery packs down to Fremont on a single charge. Same with the return trip. Be a great way to shake down any issues before delivering them to customers.

 

[cpa]

I saw on FB that J B Hunt has committed to purchasing some Tesla semis. The article did not indicate how many, though.

The question that I have concerns owner-operators--I have a few clients like this. I presume that the only way to charge a Tesla semi would be to use their megacharger setup? There is no provision for L2 charging at 80A? Before you jump all over me about the size of the batteries and the time to charge on L2, most owner-operators are idle at home for 48-72 hours before hitting the road again. Eighty amps at 208V yields 16.6kW, more at 240V. A 40-hour charge would dump over 600kWh into the battery, certainly enough juice to reach a megacharger en route.

 

[trils0n]

Other trip Tesla might do internally, besides Gigafactory1 -> Fremont, would be Lathrop -> Fremont. So the trip would be much shorter, and probably only need charging at one of the sites, probably Fremont?

Or between Fremont and a nearby delivery center/hub if they are going to test delivering their own cars. Perhaps situated where they could plug it in while unloading vehicles. That would give them time for a decent charge.

 

[gaswalla]

seems like the original Superchargers (Gilroy, Harris Ranch, Tejon Ranch, Hawthorne, Barstow) would provide at least a framework to work from: Bay Area (Fremont?), midway between SF/LA (Kettleman City?), LA (?), midway between LA/LV (Baker?)

 

[SMAlset]

I'd guess the truckstop right next to Kettleman City. Already a nice lounge next door for them to use! That would be my guess for the first location.

Google Maps has the distance from Tesla Fremont, CA to Tesla Sparks, NV to be about 260 miles. So they could make it easily with no stops and just charge at Tesla at either end. So thinking the I-5 route would make the most sense to start off with since it's so heavily trafficked with trucks anyway. Certainly catch the eye of a lot of truckers out there too (good way to promote it and talk to truckers stopped there for a break). Also I-5 could be used to get to Hawthorne, CA.

 

[cdub]

In the presentation he said that megachargers would be at loading and drop off points.

 

[Tiger]

How much solar panel area could you fit on the roof of a semi with full trailer?

 

[RubberToe]

Someone caught a quick video of the charging port...

 

[BerTX]

Someone caught a quick video of the charging port...

Thanks for this. My mind was wondering if they COULD plug into multiple Supercharger ports to charge a Semi. I was envisioning a truck pulled in sideways like MXs with trailers sometimes do in sparsely used SCs, but plugged into multiple stalls. I guess there is so much variation in SC configuration between parking lots, and then the whole shared (A/B) stalls being different random configurations in different places, that this wouldn't be reasonable. Maybe in a pinch they will do this?

Maybe Walmart will work out a deal to put SCs at their stores, and "trickle charge" the semis they seem to always have parked in their lots?

 

[miimura]

I have to wonder if Tesla will provide an on-board charger at all for AC charging. The J3068 standard looks pretty good and can support 132kW charging on 277Y480V 3-phase commercial power through an IEC Type-2 connector. Higher voltages are also supported with the same 160A max current. These connectors are currently used at up to 63A in Europe.

J3068 - 3 Phase A/C Charging for North America

 

[Darmie]

Much smarter people than me will figure this out but at glance, I would consider who is purchasing trucks. Determine with potential owners where their routes require the boost of power and support customers as the fleet grows. I also think Walmart is the perfect company to benefit from a full electric fleet. At each distribution center, most trucks arriving is from vendors further than 500 miles away. Most retail stores well within 200 miles. Truck drives from hub to store, so therefore charging network can be at each distribution center. as trucks are being loaded, they could benefit from level 2 charging, depending how long they stay parked. What an amazing game changer. and yes, no more DEF! Just like no more roaming nor long distance phone calls.

 

[mblakele]

In the presentation he said that megachargers would be at loading and drop off points.

I suspect this is right, and megachargers will be at logistics centers. Few, if any, will be in public places.

Logistics centers are basically warehouses and loading docks, so there's plenty of rooftop area for solar at utility-scale, or pretty close. Nearby land is often relatively cheap, if they need even more area for panels. There's room for battery storage at scale, too. Now you have a complete story for sustainable transportation of commercial goods, with a promising ROI story too.

All that can be inside the Tesla ecosystem, priced attractively as a package: semis, panels, batteries, and the megachargers themselves.

If the ROI works out, this could mean the end of tuck stops as we know them, and independent trucking too. Independent truckers could be reluctant to invest in Tesla semis, and might have trouble charging if they do. Big truck stop chains might invest in megachargers themselves, but truck stops don't have all that warehouse roof area to cover with solar panels. So they'd be more dependent on the grid. Meanwhile the market for traditional services would be shrinking, which would hurt their ability to invest in utility-scale solar for themselves.

Of course that's all highly speculative, and could take years to play out — if it happens at all.

 

[dhanson865]

I saw on FB that J B Hunt has committed to purchasing some Tesla semis. The article did not indicate how many, though.

The question that I have concerns owner-operators--I have a few clients like this. I presume that the only way to charge a Tesla semi would be to use their megacharger setup? There is no provision for L2 charging at 80A? Before you jump all over me about the size of the batteries and the time to charge on L2, most owner-operators are idle at home for 48-72 hours before hitting the road again. Eighty amps at 208V yields 16.6kW, more at 240V. A 40-hour charge would dump over 600kWh into the battery, certainly enough juice to reach a megacharger en route.

I'm sure there will be a UMC for charging at home or emergency use. I'd also expect the same style adapter from UMC to Semi to work on HPWC to Semi or for Tesla to offer a Semi end on the HPWC and UMC.

Just because it is slow doesn't mean it isn't cheap or effective. Drive on sunlight he said...

 

[SMAlset]

I can still see a few strategically placed along major truck routes in populated truck stop areas. 30 minutes of charge like Elon was describing in his presentation would get the long-haulers back on the road quickly enough. And let's not forget that some of these routes are in mountainous areas and also face windforce and high temps that should eat into range even for semis. I've followed the path of a few of my UPS trucks waiting for delivery of packages and the trucks go through to some interesting places.

 

[Tiger]

The Solar Semi Range Extender

 

[wws]

My guess is the Gigafactory and the Fremont manufacturing plant. It is about 250 miles. So in theory it should be possible to haul battery packs down to Fremont on a single charge. Same with the return trip. Be a great way to shake down any issues before delivering them to customers.

I finally got around to reading the Quarterly Report. (http://ir.tesla.com/common/download...B919F&filename=TSLA_Update_Letter_2017-4Q.pdf) In it, they note "...Tesla will be the first Semi customer. We plan to use the Tesla Semi for our own logistics by transporting Model 3 components from Gigafactory 1 to Fremont...

 

[israndy]

There is no provision for L2 charging at 80A? ... A 40-hour charge would dump over 600kWh into the battery, certainly enough juice to reach a megacharger en route.

I would think that it comes with the adapter cables that have been seen used to hook up ProtoSemis to several SuperChargers. Initially, there are not going to be many places you can go if you are relying on MegaChargers. If I buy one to tow my 5th Wheel around the country it will be a drag just being able to go up and down Hwy 5. If you have a few 80 amp HPWCs at home you could plug them into the adapter cable and charge your Semi at home. If you had a big enough breaker box on your place...

Actually, we know the Semi uses Model 3 motors, wonder if it uses Model 3 chargers and each leg would only be 48 amps

-Randy

 

[miimura]

People that have seen the Semi prototypes at Supercharger stations said that they had a long adapter cable that plugged into the Semi on one end and 4 Supercharger stalls on the other. Since we have seen that there are 4 pairs of large contacts in the Semi charge port and there are 4 motors, I would assume that there are 4 independent high voltage and motor systems running in parallel. That would address the "no breakdown" claim that Elon made. That's what n+1 redundancy does for you.