Tesla Supercharger network

[stephenpace]

There is now a YouTube link to the SuperCharger event:

Tesla Motors Supercharger Event - YouTube

 

[Robert.Boston]

The obelisk is cool, and a nice sign... it hints of a SpaceX rocket.

I'm going to think of the Teslobelisk as a finger upturned in the general direction of Big Oil.

 

[Darmok]

Anyone know where, precisely, the Barstow Supercharger station is, or any other the others for that matter?

 

[Cottonwood]

The current word from Tesla technicians is that SuperCharging has no effect on battery degradation as long as you charge in standard mode. It will charge up to ~80% in 45 minutes then it will slow the charge rate to protect the battery.

That obviously can be wrong, which is why I'd like to see it in writing from an authoritative source. But the current buzz is that there are no technical issues beyond what I stated.

Note that max regen mode is 60kW in the car now. That is 2/3 of the stated 90kW. I will bet that the car will work hard to keep the batteries cool as well. Given all of this, there is a good chance that careful, 90kW, Supercharger charging will have little effect on battery life.

 

[jcstp]

 

[Todd Burch]

If the local ordinances allow it, they will build the Teslobelisk (liking the name...)

I was told that in cities or areas that prohibit building the Teslobelisk, the hardware will be placed in the non-descript boxes.

All I can say is: What city in their right mind would prefer an ugly, non-descript box when they could have that beautiful beacon of the future standing proud over their city?

 

[kevincwelch]

Yeah but for $10k I get free charging for life, and I get an extra ~70-80 miles on a single charge. I don't have to pay another 10k for the next 50,000 miles. Which for me will only take about 2.5 years.

I've done some thinking about this in the last 12 hours or so.

My original thought was to pay the extra to get the 85 kWh battery and the free supercharging. But, then I examined it from another perspective. As it is, I have taken a road trip once in 4 years of living in the Chicago area. The distance of this trip was about 100 miles each way, so I guess this isn't what most would call a road trip. In 4-5 years, Tesla will stud the nation with these superchargers -- and I think this is fantastic, btw -- but I don't see myself in a position to really use them but once or possibly twice in a year.

My hope is that the fee to enable supercharging for the 60 kWh model is relatively inexpensive or Tesla could come up with some sort of Tesla credit card that would bill the driver per charge. If I'm on a road trip and I need to charge up once, Tesla can bill me $20, $30, $40 for all I care -- it would still be less than what I pay to fill the tank with gas every 250 miles. (I would prefer it be $5 per charge, but beggars can't be choosers. . ..)

So, I don't think I will be upgrading to the 85 kWh model to get free supercharging -- not at this point, anyway.

 

[dsm363]

These will also not be placed in a large city center of places that likely have strict zoning laws but rather smaller towns or rest areas.

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So, I don't think I will be upgrading to the 85 kWh model to get free supercharging -- not at this point, anyway.

That makes perfect sense. If you don't see yourself using the supercharger more than once a year and the 60 kWh range covers all of your other driving then paying for the Supercharging would be the way to go. Even if it's $20 as you said that beats the $10k extra range that you won't use for free Supercharging.

 

[Todd Burch]

I've done some thinking about this in the last 12 hours or so.

My original thought was to pay the extra to get the 85 kWh battery and the free supercharging. But, then I examined it from another perspective. As it is, I have taken a road trip once in 4 years of living in the Chicago area. The distance of this trip was about 100 miles each way, so I guess this isn't what most would call a road trip. In 4-5 years, Tesla will stud the nation with these superchargers -- and I think this is fantastic, btw -- but I don't see myself in a position to really use them but once or possibly twice in a year.
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So, I don't think I will be upgrading to the 85 kWh model to get free supercharging -- not at this point, anyway.

Kevin, how much long distance driving did you *not* do because of the price of gas, environmental impact, or other factor like that? I know that personally I'll be much more willing to go for a long drive knowing that it's free and *truly* zero emissions! But I agree that unless you take good advantage of it, the upgrade may not be financially worth it.

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By the way:

So we have verified that Tesla can identify your car when you plug in? If that's the case, then per-use charging for the 60 kWh owners should be fairly easy...if you've used the system, you just get a bill e-mailed to you...or tie it directly to a charge card! No card or financial transaction needed...the car itself provides the identification for the transaction!

 

[JRod0802]

So, what the limit on 'Free' charging? There is always a limit.

Can I buy a Model S as a Taxi and continually hit my local cities supercharger 3x a day, every day? I'm sure there is/will be fine print somewhere on how many charges per day/week per location, etc.

If the SC is along my work commute, can I stop 2x/week and 'fill up'? This just added a remarkable amount of value if so.:biggrin:

If that happens, Tesla might say something like "Free for personal use, small fee for business use" or something.

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Does Tesla have plans to license out (or even "open-source") this technology for others to erect their own Supercharger stations throughout the country? As long as these 3rd party businesses are allowed to charge money for those using their Superchargers, then I see it as a win-win. The Tesla consumer will have more options and more places to charge their car, and if others outside of Tesla see it as a viable business opportunity then they will build them and potentially make some money.

Tesla's own Superchargers can remain free for life, and the independent Superchargers can be used at a cost determined by the business that installed it. It'll help the infrastructure expand more rapidly and provide more capacity. As more Teslas hit the road, the last thing you want is to saturate the Superchargers. Imagine pulling up to one and seeing that you're 4th in line behind those already charging. So much for a half an hour wait!

From what I can tell, Tesla likes to control the customer experience as much as possible. I doubt they'd let 3rd parties into this.

 

[wycolo]

> I think Folsom is kind of an odd choice for the bay area to Tahoe corridor. Much rather they put it along I80 than 50. [StephRob]

50 gets you up to Tahoe and over the hill to Carson City with then an easy sideways move to I-80 across Nevada. These stations are for cars and not trucks so proper to chose more car-friendly routes.

Going cross the USA it might similarly be helpful to encourage St.Joe > Hannibal, MO > Springfield, IL as a priority choice. US36 is now 4 lane divided all the way across MO(nice!).

Or Danville, IL > Celina, OH bypassing Indianapolis by use of 2 lanes across rural IN. No traffic, very relaxing.

Erie, PA > Albany, NY use I-76 & I-81. Light traffic, no big mountains, and excellent pavement (finally).

Avoiding major cities takes some planning as the Interstate roads signs purposely route you into the heavily congested downtown areas, precisely those areas you want to avoid to achieve a restful long distance trip. Route planning, not just what the mapcos dish out either.
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[vfx]

...

As for the "some" will have solar arrays ... my guess is that Texas and California desert will, but Portland and Seattle may not. I cannot see the benefit with 60-90 sunny days as compared to our 225-270 sunny days. But, this is opinion.

There may well be other factors. Site placement (shading), local zoning, Size (# of plug-in spaces) of Supercharger site.

 

[aviators99]

I've listened to the part about free for 85kwh several times, and I'm a bit confused. Essentially, he says:

- They will be offering this to Model S owners for free, for those who have supercharger hardware

Then he clarifies by saying something like,

"That means for those who have 85kwh packs, or those who have the 60kwh packs, for an incremental charge"

To me that sounds like he is saying that the 60kwh owners have to pay an incremental charge for the supercharger hardware, not that they need to pay an incremental charge to use the supercharger network. I realize that this changed a couple of months ago, but could he still be referring to the old pricing structure? Based on some of the things he said before and after this, I believe he meant to say that it's free for all who have the supercharging hardware.

 

[sp4rk]

I've done some thinking about this in the last 12 hours or so.

As it is, I have taken a road trip once in 4 years of living in the Chicago area. The distance of this trip was about 100 miles each way, so I guess this isn't what most would call a road trip. In 4-5 years, Tesla will stud the nation with these superchargers -- and I think this is fantastic, btw -- but I don't see myself in a position to really use them but once or possibly twice in a year.

I agree with you. I would take, maybe one trip a year ... to Door County? They would need a facility in Milwaukee or Green Bay.

 

[strider]

> I think Folsom is kind of an odd choice for the bay area to Tahoe corridor. Much rather they put it along I80 than 50. [StephRob]

50 gets you up to Tahoe and over the hill to Carson City with then an easy sideways move to I-80 across Nevada. These stations are for cars and not trucks so proper to chose more car-friendly routes.

Yes but the people are going to Tahoe (and this location won't work very well for those going to North Lake), not all the way over to Carson. I wish they had put it in West Sacramento at the 80/50 split.

 

[TEG]

Yes but the people are going to Tahoe (and this location won't work very well for those going to North Lake), not all the way over to Carson. I wish they had put it in West Sacramento at the 80/50 split.

Agreed. I tend to ski in north Lake Tahoe, so having it on the road to south lake isn't ideal. (But I don't have a Model S, so it doesn't matter to me right now.)
Also, the occasional drive to Nevada usually has me going to Reno, not south Lake Tahoe, so again, hwy 80 would have seemed more useful.
Doing it at the split would have covered both choices.

 

[Todd Burch]

I've listened to the part about free for 85kwh several times, and I'm a bit confused. Essentially, he says:

- They will be offering this to Model S owners for free, for those who have supercharger hardware

Then he clarifies by saying something like,

"That means for those who have 85kwh packs, or those who have the 60kwh packs, for an incremental charge"

To me that sounds like he is saying that the 60kwh owners have to pay an incremental charge for the supercharger hardware, not that they need to pay an incremental charge to use the supercharger network. I realize that this changed a couple of months ago, but could he still be referring to the old pricing structure? Based on some of the things he said before and after this, I believe he meant to say that it's free for all who have the supercharging hardware.

I think he's referring to the additional charge (we don't know what it is yet, but it's supposed to be small) to enable the 60kWh batteries (through software unlocking) to use the supercharger site. Once you've paid for that (an option with your car) then you'd have free supercharging for life.

 

[Robert.Boston]

I think he's referring to the additional charge (we don't know what it is yet, but it's supposed to be small) to enable the 60kWh batteries (through software unlocking) to use the supercharger site. Once you've paid for that (an option with your car) then you'd have free supercharging for life.

That's how I heard it, too.

 

[FalconNinetyD]

Somebody said that about people living in Barstow and Folsom etc. Buy an S and have free gas for life in town.

But you'd have to live in Barstow or Folsom, which isn't quite worth the free fuel!

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I'm honestly a bit surprised they didn't try to also make money from us on top of it already being self sufficiently profitable. I guess they do get it in the form of the cost of SC hardware in the cars, but they could have made it $5 a charge and people still would have been happy.

Even if 100,000 people used them a year, the value of the PR of "free driving on sunshine" is worth way more than half a million dollars...

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This is great news. An extensive supercharger system will be a game-changer for EVs. However, there are no stations in, or east of, or north of Spokane on the two-year map, and on the long-term map there's one in Spokane, but none east or north. IOW I could drive to Seattle (which I could do in the Roadster if I wanted to stop at the one HPC on the way for a couple of hours) but in the direction I actually drive, there's nothing. Guess I'll be driving the Prius on my summer hiking trips for the long term.

Daniel, a few of your recent posts have made me think you're starting to think about getting an S...

 

[wycolo]

> I wish they had put it in West Sacramento at the 80/50 split. [ strider]

But that is 'downtown, center city' - Judge rules 'violation'!!
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