Tesla Supercharger network

[ggr]

Remember that there are capacity issues as well. I pulled into the Hawthorne Supercharger 1.5 years ago when there were many fewer Model S's around and 6 stalls at Hawthorne. I filled the last stall. In talking to the other folks there, the closest that any of them came to being local was someone with an office a few miles away that had to do a road trip with little notice and stopped by for a quick top up (that was not abuse in my book).

That was a normal week day afternoon, 1.5 years ago. Not only do I not mind Tesla putting in the extra Superchargers to handle capacity, I applaud it. If there are a few local folks who abuse the Superchargers (for some reason, it seems to be worst with Orange County retirees who think there time is worth less than $10/hr), then Tesla will handle it.

If 15-20% of North American Superchargers go to California, it is good for all of us. Avoiding queues at Superchargers will help Tesla succeed with good PR, and Tesla's success is good for all of us that want to keep using our current and future Teslas!

Besides, 80-85% to the rest of the country is not too bad...

I used Hawthorne a fair bit about the same time, and often found 2-3 local limo drivers using up to half the supercharger stalls.

 

[dgpcolorado]

Just as easily with or without these SCs?

The suggestion was that Supercharger stations were unnecessary in LA and Orange Counties because they are metro areas. My take is that crossing that area without Supercharger stations in those counties would be difficult. The entire Southern California coast is so heavily urbanized that long distance travel, something that happens a lot there, is not practical without Supercharger stations located in the urban area because of the distances required.

I'll point out that even the San Juan Capistrano Supercharger station is located in Orange County. Eliminate that one, because it is in an urbanized area, and someone going from San Diego to the first Supercharger station north of Los Angeles County, Tejon Ranch, would need to go 200 miles and cross a 4000 foot pass.

For some to suggest that no Superchargers should be placed along that route because it is entirely urbanized and, therefore, the stations would be subject to use by locals, is impractical. Especially given the tens of thousands of Teslas in California and the long distance travel that is routine there.

This may not make much sense from the perspective of Tasmania, but the presence of Supercharger stations in the Southern California urban sprawl makes sense to me. And I haven't lived there for more than thirty years, so I don't have a dog in this fight.

 

[Chuq]

The suggestion was that Supercharger stations were unnecessary in LA and Orange Counties because they are metro areas. My take is that crossing that area without Supercharger stations in those counties would be difficult. The entire Southern California coast is so heavily urbanized that long distance travel, something that happens a lot there, is not practical without Supercharger stations located in the urban area because of the distances required.

I'll point out that even the San Juan Capistrano Supercharger station is located in Orange County. Eliminate that one, because it is in an urbanized area, and someone going from San Diego to the first Supercharger station north of Los Angeles County, Tejon Ranch, would need to go 200 miles and cross a 4000 foot pass.

For some to suggest that no Superchargers shouldn't be placed along that route because it is entirely urbanized and, therefore, the stations would be subject to use by locals, is impractical. Especially given the tens of thousands of Teslas in California and the long distance travel that is routine there.

This may not make much sense from the perspective of Tasmania, but the presence of Supercharger stations in the Southern California urban sprawl makes sense to me. And I haven't lived there for more than thirty years, so I don't have a dog in this fight.

I don't think that they should be 100% excluded from urban areas; but focused on locations which enable long distance travel. Burbank to San Juan Capistrano is 72 miles. Not a problem for anyone crossing north to south, or anyone leaving in those directions.

IMO this would be the easiest way to keep local supercharging under control yet still keep it free for everyone - still permit anyone to use them at any time, just make it more convenient to not do so.

I agree that Tasmania and Los Angeles are vastly different! Which is why I question the benefit of three Superchargers within an 8 mile radius outside LAX, while one single SC in Tasmania would cover 80% of the state (or combined with destination chargers, close to 99%).

 

[wdolson]

California accounts for about 30-40% of all EV sales in the US. Having 14% of all Superchargers in California shows that Tesla does not favor the state. If anything the demand here is higher than the number of Superchargers serve. Tesla has built many Superchargers in places that have very little traffic just to create a connected network. I think they are doing a great job of balancing demand in certain areas and also providing a network in places where there is almost no demand just to have a continuous network.

According to this, California accounts for 45% of Model S sales.

http://insideevs.com/california-lea...s-sales-but-which-other-states-are-in-top-10/

 

[Denarius]

Price, UT Supercharger is now online.
Supercharger - Price UT - Page 4

 

[Cottonwood]

Price, UT Supercharger is now online.
Supercharger - Price UT - Page 4

I consider this another important "Gap" filler. It makes the San Francisco Bay to the East Coast via I-80 and I-70 route complete.

Another Bronze Spike for the Tesla Supercharger Network!

 

[ecarfan]

@Cottonwood, which SC was the "golden spike"? [emoji6]

 

[AEdennis]

@Cottonwood, which SC was the "golden spike"? [emoji6]

I would guess Columbia, MO.

 

[Doug Martoccia]

I live within just a few miles of three Superchargers in the LA area that I have never used since I purchased my Model S in May 2013. However, I feel it's essential that these sites exist because they relieve congestion at other sites that must be used for transit up and down the coast. (like SJC which is frequently crowded) Even with the significant concentration of SCs in LA, I cannot make a reasonable trip to Riverside without a 30-60 min detour. There are still not enough SCs in LA and Tesla will need to continue to build them at a rapid pace to keep up with SC demand.

I personally don't understand why a local would want to regularly use a Supercharger and don't see any long-term issues with "urban" SCs. So much more convenient to charge at home.

Rather than complain on this forum about Tesla's Southern California SC strategy, which is undoubtably successful given the number of cars sold here, just send Tesla a thoughtful email to "sell" them on a single proposed SC site that would be of benefit to owners in your area of the country.

 

[TexasEV]

Rather than complain on this forum about Tesla's Southern California SC strategy, which is undoubtably successful given the number of cars sold here, just send Tesla a thoughtful email to "sell" them on a single proposed SC site that would be of benefit to owners in your area of the country.

We've done that, and everyone gets the same boilerplate response about how they determine sites using "precise energy modeling", whatever that is. What energy modeling says cars can go 215 miles on I-10 between Columbus, TX and Lake Charles, LA, with speed limit 75 mph much of the way? This includes traveling across the entire Houston metro area, the county with the 4th highest population in the country.

 

[hill]

I live within just a few miles of three Superchargers in the LA area that I have never used since I purchased my Model S in May 2013. However, I feel it's essential that these sites exist because they relieve congestion at other sites that must be used for transit up and down the coast. (like SJC which is frequently crowded)..... snip......

Finally - a voice if reason.
I would even go so far as to say that the crowding issue is exactly why the CHAdeMO adapter is such a handy tool
.

 

[Kevin Harney]

I live within just a few miles of three Superchargers in the LA area that I have never used since I purchased my Model S in May 2013. However, I feel it's essential that these sites exist because they relieve congestion at other sites that must be used for transit up and down the coast. (like SJC which is frequently crowded) Even with the significant concentration of SCs in LA, I cannot make a reasonable trip to Riverside without a 30-60 min detour. There are still not enough SCs in LA and Tesla will need to continue to build them at a rapid pace to keep up with SC demand.

I personally don't understand why a local would want to regularly use a Supercharger and don't see any long-term issues with "urban" SCs. So much more convenient to charge at home.

Rather than complain on this forum about Tesla's Southern California SC strategy, which is undoubtably successful given the number of cars sold here, just send Tesla a thoughtful email to "sell" them on a single proposed SC site that would be of benefit to owners in your area of the country.

See this is a perfect example. You are concerned about a 30-60 minute detour but the rest of the country has 300-600 mile detours.

 

[roblab]

I live within just a few miles of three Superchargers in the LA area that I have never used since I purchased my Model S in May 2013. However, I feel it's essential that these sites exist because they relieve congestion at other sites that must be used for transit up and down the coast. (like SJC which is frequently crowded) Even with the significant concentration of SCs in LA, I cannot make a reasonable trip to Riverside without a 30-60 min detour. There are still not enough SCs in LA and Tesla will need to continue to build them at a rapid pace to keep up with SC demand.

What I don't get is that you can't make it from LA to Riverside *and back* on one charge. Even from Hermosa Beach, which I would not consider LA, I wonder you can't make it. Then I see you bought a 60. Well, your choice, I guess. Seems like Tesla must build more superchargers to support people's decisions to take long drives in a mid range car. But a 30 minute detour is not a great penalty, and probably doesn't happen very often. Glad you aren't one to complain.

I hope Tesla builds out the long distance charge places before worrying about the rest of LA. But that's because that's what I use.

 

[TexasEV]

Finally - a voice if reason.
I would even go so far as to say that the crowding issue is exactly why the CHAdeMO adapter is such a handy tool
.

What California-centric thinking! No, the CHAdeMO adapter is a handy tool when CHAdeMO is the only fast charging around, where there are no superchargers on the route.

 

[Chuq]

To be fair, complaints about the unnecessarily dense SCs are not a California specific issue.

The gaps between SCs here are 99 miles, and 25 miles - the Tooele one serves no benefit.

The distribution in the UK is also particularly unusual.

 

[KJD]

To be fair, complaints about the unnecessarily dense SCs are not a California specific issue.
The gaps between SCs here are 99 miles, and 25 miles - the Tooele one serves no benefit.

That is true. They should have skipped Tooele/Lake Point. Not sure what they were thinking there.

Idaho Falls would have been a lot more useful.

 

[emupilot]

The distribution in the UK is also particularly unusual.

I think in the U.K. and China, some superchargers are explicitly to provide local apartment dwellers a place to charge.

 

[ItsNotAboutTheMoney]

That is true. They should have skipped Tooele/Lake Point. Not sure what they were thinking there.

Idaho Falls would have been a lot more useful.

The SLC location was intended to be a Sales and Service center and I think that Tesla treats them as an extra node in the network.

 

[KJD]

The SLC location was intended to be a Sales and Service center and I think that Tesla treats them as an extra node in the network.

Yes, too bad those free market bastards in the legislature will not let Tesla sell cars in Utah. Gawd forbid we do something to clean up the air in this state.

 

[Chuq]

I think in the U.K. and China, some superchargers are explicitly to provide local apartment dwellers a place to charge.

I could understand a few in central London, but in Exeter?