Tesla Supercharger Golden Spike

[wycolo]

At the original Golden Spike ceremony trains came from California and the Rockies/High Plains meeting at Promontory UT. At that time Omaha/Council Bluffs was not yet bridged for railroad use. That came a few years later. There were other cross country discontinuities too.

Cheyenne SC is *required* for 85kwh MS travel, Cranberry SC might be necessary only for 60kwh cars.
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[artsci]

Thinking about the USofA in such Atlantic-Pacific terms is soooooo 19th century.

And I'm not being facetious, even if I have my own axe to grind here.


I'll countenance a Golden Spike when and only when Tesla opens a SpC route enabling one to drive from Key West FL to Fairbanks AK. THAT​ is the 21st century equivalent of your discussion.

Patience, patience. It can't all be done at once, but eventually that will happen. We Tesla owners are so much an instant gratification crowd It's all for me:tongue:

 

[SebastianR]

Patience, patience. It can't all be done at once, but eventually that will happen. We Tesla owners are so much an instant gratification crowd It's all for me:tongue:

+1 agree - if you look at the map today and compare where we were last year this time - I must say it is going at an amazing speed. Especially if you compare what used to be possible with the Roadster and what is now possible with the Model S.

 

[GSP]

Thinking about the USofA in such Atlantic-Pacific terms is soooooo 19th century.

And I'm not being facetious, even if I have my own axe to grind here.


I'll countenance a Golden Spike when and only when Tesla opens a SpC route enabling one to drive from Key West FL to Fairbanks AK. THAT​ is the 21st century equivalent of your discussion.

When Tesla finishes just one more supercharger in Cheyenne, Model S owners will be able to drive from Key West to Vancouver for free, and take a ferry to Alaska. No hassle recharging for the entire trip. That is good enough for me. I would think a ferry would be vastly superior to driving from Vancouver to Alaska anyway, with much less wear and tear on car and occupants.

GSP

 

[mikevbf]

Ok, which journalist will be the first to drive over 80 mph between chargers, only half "fill" up, drive in circles, etc and then claim the super chargers are not ready for prime time? I believe Tesla will wait to celebrate their golden spike when all the "coming soon" super chargers are in place making such a stunt comical.

 

[ItsNotAboutTheMoney]

When Tesla finishes just one more supercharger in Cheyenne, Model S owners will be able to drive from Key West to Vancouver for free, and take a ferry to Alaska. No hassle recharging for the entire trip. That is good enough for me. I would think a ferry would be vastly superior to driving from Vancouver to Alaska anyway, with much less wear and tear on car and occupants.

GSP

Winter, yes, summer no. We went on a cruise-tour this summer that took us through the Yukon on bus and train and I can imagine how pleasant it would be in a comfortable, smooth, quiet car.

 

[GlennAlanBerry]

It is amazing how fast the super charger network is actually being built, especially with all the bureaucracy they have deal with from local governments, property owners, utilities, etc.. Just think about when Tesla only had a handful of super chargers in California and on the east coast. I am happy to see the naysayers and skeptics being proven wrong, as objection after objection are being overcome. It will be a huge competitive advantage for Tesla to have the SC network fully built out by the time the Model E goes on sale.

 

[AudubonB]

GSP - Having made the drive several dozen times over the decades, in every month of the year OTHER THAN June, July or August, and having used the ferry four times, I understand very well the benefits and disadvantages of both options. I do well understand that for some persons, the ferry - which has its own set of drawbacks (one but only one of which is that it is exceedingly expensive) - is the better alternative. Regardless, for most travelers, and particularly for the kind of person who is keen to drive around Alaska, the route through western and northwestern Canada is one of the World's Great Auto Journeys, and really, really should be on the Short List of those peoples' bucket lists.

As I've written elsewhere, we will be running that route in our Model S later this spring - probably the first week of May - and will be either blogging it or otherwise regularly posting of it on a dedicated thread here. There are long stretches of that route for which our only option will be to recharge at RV Parks, and even with that, we might have to 110V it once or even twice....ugh.

 

[Robert.Boston]

When Tesla finishes just one more supercharger in Cheyenne, Model S owners will be able to drive from Key West to Vancouver for free, and take a ferry to Alaska. No hassle recharging for the entire trip. That is good enough for me.

This -- at present, the only real gaps in the system are at Kingman AZ and Cheyenne WY. The Cranberry Twp SC can be bypassed: it's only 175 miles from Macedonia OH to Somerset PA (admittedly, into the Appalachians, but also with the prevailing wind at your back). Hagerstown MD will also be a welcome add: it's 241 miles from Somerset PA to Newark DE, but if Elon is going to DC, it's only 174 miles from Somerset to the Tesla DC store.

By contrast, it's 309 miles from Silverthorne CO to Lusk WY, so Cheyenne is necessary. Likewise, the gap from Bairstow CA to Flagstaff AZ is much too far.

My guess is that Cheyenne will be the last; pictures from Kingman make it clear that it's very close to operational.

 

[DriverOne]

Golden spike - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Very cool, thanks.

I will celebrate when east-west is joined. I will celebrate more when Texas is brought into the Tesla Union

 

[JakeP]

I will celebrate when east-west is joined. I will celebrate more when Texas is brought into the Tesla Union

They don't call it the Lone Star State for nothin'!

 

[stevezzzz]

This -- at present, the only real gaps in the system are at Kingman AZ and Cheyenne WY. The Cranberry Twp SC can be bypassed: it's only 175 miles from Macedonia OH to Somerset PA (admittedly, into the Appalachians, but also with the prevailing wind at your back). Hagerstown MD will also be a welcome add: it's 241 miles from Somerset PA to Newark DE, but if Elon is going to DC, it's only 174 miles from Somerset to the Tesla DC store.

By contrast, it's 309 miles from Silverthorne CO to Lusk WY, so Cheyenne is necessary. Likewise, the gap from Bairstow CA to Flagstaff AZ is much too far.

My guess is that Cheyenne will be the last; pictures from Kingman make it clear that it's very close to operational.

Cheyenne went live earlier today! We're getting up a group of MS owners to meet there tomorrow for lunch.

Cheyenne, WY Supercharger - Page 9

 

[SebastianR]

Cheyenne went live earlier today! We're getting up a group of MS owners to meet there tomorrow for lunch.

Cheyenne, WY Supercharger - Page 9

That's super great - hope Tesla exploits this for publicity a little. This is really amazing if you think back where the network was one year ago...

 

[Sgt Barone]

That's super great - hope Tesla exploits this for publicity a little. This is really amazing if you think back where the network was one year ago...

Heck, even six months ago!

 

[dratifk]

I'm Still stuck in Upstate NY can't leave my city. My Volt has ability to go anywhere but my P85 is landlocked in Rochester, NY. I hope I can drive to NYC and NJ by end of year.

 

[emupilot]

I'm Still stuck in Upstate NY can't leave my city. My Volt has ability to go anywhere but my P85 is landlocked in Rochester, NY. I hope I can drive to NYC and NJ by end of year.

Construction of the Albany supercharger will begin soon - if you can make it there (~220 miles), you will be connected to the network in 1-2 months.

 

[JakeP]

Draftik, did you see the response Tesla sent to me about me suggestions for Erie, Binghamton and I-86 near Salamanca or Olean (or Bath, to connect I-390), as well as Grove City PA near where I-80 crosses I-79? They said all of these places were on their radar. Combine this with the rumor that Tesla is planning for 400 SpC sites, and I start to get very optimistic about coverage.

 

[100thMonkey]

Southern Wyoming would make sense.

I think it makes the most sense as well. On one hand I see people's point that not waiting till all the super chargers are in may be a recipe for Brodering, but this is likely the peak of the excitement, and since it was one of the last stations to go in to make the crossing possible, it makes sense to make it where the spike goes, I think it should even be memorialized somehow at the station! Tesla could simply have a golden spike event and simultaneously shed light on the fact that it is now possible with an 85 kW S to traverse North America via the fastest charging stations on the planet as well as emphasize how many more spots they are putting in place to make such a crossing more convenient from many parts of the country. To wait for all the stations to be in would be better in some ways for a press release but likely miss the early adopter interest crest. It's just tricky, I've seen waves of enthusiasm come and go here with the charging network for Leafs and Tesla's in the Northwest and just think it would be a shame to miss building on the palpable enthusiasm we are now seeing. obviously as an enthusiast I am excited to see this happen sooner than later.

 

[dratifk]

Draftik, did you see the response Tesla sent to me about me suggestions for Erie, Binghamton and I-86 near Salamanca or Olean (or Bath, to connect I-390), as well as Grove City PA near where I-80 crosses I-79? They said all of these places were on their radar. Combine this with the rumor that Tesla is planning for 400 SpC sites, and I start to get very optimistic about coverage.

Yes I saw that. I think those locations will be ideal. For me the best Location is Syracuse and Binghampton and possibly East Stroudsburg in PA or somewhere on 80. I have family in Central NJ and once I get to them the Melno Park Mall NJ Location is only 15 mins away. I'm not sure Binghamton is a location for sure . I havn't supercharged my car once. Can't wait to drive to Raleigh, NC as we have family there too. Only thing is convincing the wife sin ce our 2014 Honda Odyssey is so comfortable for long trips.

- - - Updated - - -

Construction of the Albany supercharger will begin soon - if you can make it there (~220 miles), you will be connected to the network in 1-2 months.

220 Miles is pushing it with the way I drive with my Laser Interceptor and BEl Sti-R Radar. I need Syracuse for sure also after Albany is there anything else planned for NY thruway?

 

[stevezzzz]

That's super great - hope Tesla exploits this for publicity a little. This is really amazing if you think back where the network was one year ago...

I sent the Supercharger team my congratulations on their achievement and suggested that they'd be missing a great opportunity not to put on some kind of celebratory 'golden spike' event. This is their response:


Hi Steve,
Congratulations! Great to hear you are already utilizing the Supercharger network. Thank you for the suggestions! We are definitely exploring ways to celebrate this achievement. Stay tuned for upcoming exciting announements!


Thanks,
Tesla Supercharger Team