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Tesla Supercharger network

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France doesn't have an autobahn with extremely high speed limits. It takes more energy to drive fast therefore you need more superchargers.

Also France has less solar PV than Germany.
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If the source of the energy were important, Quebec (98% hydro and 1% wind) would have more than 1.5 Supercharger sites for 1,000 Model S on the road. (Compare to Michigan with 4 sites for just a bit more than 400 Model S and a mix of coal, natural gas, and nuclear).

Ditto for the autobahn high energy consumption argument (btw, the speed limit of 130 kph in France is often not respected) Today it was a balmy (for Quebec) 20F, but with blizzard conditions. I would like to chart my energy usage at 100 kph in the Winter versus the average on the autobahn. The difference is that a trip from or to a major city like Ottawa to points East of Montreal on days like today cannot be accomplished on the Supercharger network, unless you don't mind waiting at the 2-stall Montreal site.

Yes, the crossroads argument is valid up to a certain point, but there must be other factors at play to see locations every 100 km in every direction when important spots are still missing from the 2014 map in other parts of the World.
 
If Quebec were important, ... unless you don't mind waiting at the 2-stall Montreal site.

Yes, the crossroads argument is valid up to a certain point, but there must be other factors at play to see locations every 100 km in every direction when important spots are still missing from the 2014 map in other parts of the World.

So what you are saying is you find it offensive that Tesla populated the crossroads in the center of a high population continent (742 million or so) instead of populating more sites in an extreme northern section of a different continent with less population (565 million or so). Got it.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_population#Population_by_continent
 
So what you are saying is you find it offensive that Tesla populated the crossroads in the center of a high population continent (742 million or so) instead of populating more sites in an extreme northern section of a different continent with less population (565 million or so). Got it.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_population#Population_by_continent


Lol I wouldn't be comparing Germany to "an extreme northern section" [emoji12]

Just so happens the country of Germany is 7degs north of Montreal and 8degs north of Quebec City
 
Lol I wouldn't be comparing Germany to "an extreme northern section" [emoji12]

Just so happens the country of Germany is 7degs north of Montreal and 8degs north of Quebec City

Canada is northern compared to the center of North America. I hope I don't have to document that.

Germany is central compared to the center of Europe. See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Central_Europe

I'm not comparing the northness of Canada to the northness of Germany. I'm comparing each to their continental centers.

As in driving from New York to LA won't pass you through the center of Canada but it will take you through the midwestern US.
 
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So what you are saying is you find it offensive that Tesla populated the crossroads in the center of a high population continent (742 million or so) instead of populating more sites in an extreme northern section of a different continent with less population (565 million or so). Got it.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_population#Population_by_continent

I'm afraid I don't see the pertinence of the population link. Should Tesla blanket India with Superchargers every 100 km due to population?

The most efficient use of resources would be to complete routes between major cities with Superchargers every 150-200 km before cramming sites every 100 km in Germany. Would it have a huge impact if there were only 45 Superchargers in Germany instead of 55+ and counting? I'm not so sure, but having ten more sites spread around North America would greatly help. This includes in the Northeast (sorry, I don't consider New England, New York, Quebec and Ontario too extreme North to warrant better Supercharger coverage).

For instance, there are many Teslas in Montreal as well as in the NY metro area (since you like population stats, those cities are 6th and 1st in population for the USA+Canada). Yet, there is a 353 km gap on the direct route between them. Then, when someone from NY arrives in Montreal with a depleted battery they are greeted by a congested Supercharger. If you can't see an issue with there only being two stalls, picture the situation over the holidays when one stall was out-of-order for a week.

Priority should be given to completing sites that have been on official TM maps. There are many red dots that appeared in May, 2013 as "2014," but are still pending. Sometimes there are compelling reasons to build elsewhere, but otherwise it's fairer to stick with the published plans. If you were an owner and had made your purchase decision partially based on a two-year overdue Supercharger, would you be so keen to favor redundancy on the London to Minsk route?
 
We can't get I-80 between New York City and Chicago done, but there are two new permits between Montana and Idaho going in the direction of Salt Lake City. Really ?!?

Montana to Salt Lake City seriously is the USA equivalent of the Minsk route
No, it isn't. Idaho Falls ID is a much-requested gateway link to Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks and Lima MT allows access to/from I-90 to Idaho Falls. Those two Supercharger stations are intended to open up routes across the parks, along with the upcoming location in Jackson WY.

Whether or not it is useful to open routes to some of the premier national parks in the country is another argument, I suppose. Last year Yellowstone had more than 4 million visitors; it typically ranks in the top 5 national parks for visitors, despite a very remote location.
 
No, it isn't. Idaho Falls ID is a much-requested gateway link to Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks and Lima MT allows access to/from I-90 to Idaho Falls. Those two Supercharger stations are intended to open up routes across the parks, along with the upcoming location in Jackson WY.

Count me as one of the people who plans to visit both of those parks this summer (in the MX if it arrives), hopefully using the Idaho Falls SC along the way.
 
Status of "Coming Soon" Superchargers

The following is a list of the superchargers listed as "Coming Soon" when Tesla last updated its North American supercharger map three months ago. One "Coming Soon" location, Harrisburg PA, has not been confirmed and locations of three others are completely unknown: Jackson MS, Terre Haute IN, and Hampton Bays NY. Only two stations opened in the last month, and probably about that many will open in March as well. The number of stations in the planning / design / permitting stage is healthy so we should see alot of construction later this spring.

LocationSite Known?Status
Burbank, CA
yesoperational
Buttonwillow, CA
yes
operational
Crescent City, CAyesin permitting
Eureka, CAyespermitting complete?
Fresno, CA
yesoperational
Mammoth Lakes, CAyesoperational
Napa, CAyesunder construction
Santa Ana, CAyesin permitting
Ukiah, CA
yesoperational
Beatty, NV
yesoperational
Colorado Springs, CO
yesoperational
Lindale, TXyesin design or permitting
Victoria, TX
yesoperational
Slidell, LA
yesoperational
Jackson, MSnounknown
Champaign, ILyesunder construction
Terre Haute, INnounknown
Cadillac, MIyesoperational
Louisville, KY
yesoperational
Asheville, NCyesoperational
Plantation, FLyesoperational
Lexington, VAyesoperational
Wytheville, VA
yesoperational
Laurel, MDyesin permitting
Erie, PAyesin permitting
Harrisburg, PAmaybeunknown
Allentown, PA
yes
operational
Tannersville, PA
yesoperational
Hampton Bays, NYnounknown
Augusta, ME
yesoperational
Kelowna, BCyesoperational
Port Hope, ONyes
operational
Following are additional sites not on the Coming Soon list:
Fremont (Kato Road), CAyesunder construction
Groveland, CAyesin planning/permitting
Placerville, CAyesunknown
Santa Barbara, CAyesin permitting
Temecula, CAnounknown
Augusta, GAnounknown
Idaho Falls, IDnounknown
Pocatello, IDnounknown
Peru, ILyesin permitting
Bowling Green, KYnoin permitting
Rolla, MOyespermitting complete?
Lima, MTyesin design / permitting
Tonopah, NVyesdesign complete
Queensbury, NYnounknown
Watertown, NYnounknown
Catoosa, OKyessite agreement completed
Cisco, TXnounknown
Sulphur Springs, TXyesin permitting
Sweetwater, TXnoin permitting
Grimsby, ONnoin permitting
Rivière-du-Loup, QCyesin permitting
 
No, it isn't. Idaho Falls ID is a much-requested gateway link to Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks and Lima MT allows access to/from I-90 to Idaho Falls. Those two Supercharger stations are intended to open up routes across the parks, along with the upcoming location in Jackson WY.

Whether or not it is useful to open routes to some of the premier national parks in the country is another argument, I suppose. Last year Yellowstone had more than 4 million visitors; it typically ranks in the top 5 national parks for visitors, despite a very remote location.

OK, fair enough. Clearly I have an east coast bias.

Still. NEW YORK - CHICAGO.....really?!?

OR...expanding out....NEW YORK and much of New England - CHICAGO and all of the Mid-West from Pittsburgh over.
 
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as I am coming to the end of my trip from FLA to CO and back I've come to the conclusion that Tesla has overbuilt the SC network. I do not mean in locations I mean in number of units per location. Outside of CA and some other urban areas the capacity is way overbuilt. the newer SCs have up to 8 units. In many thousands of miles driven across the US I rarely (outside of CA or the NE corridor) encounter another Tesla at a SC. an example: Is there really a need to have 8 units installed in Trinidad CO? I think that unless tesla is planning for the future of thousands of model 3s overwhelming the system, they've overbuilt in many locations
 
as I am coming to the end of my trip from FLA to CO and back I've come to the conclusion that Tesla has overbuilt the SC network. I do not mean in locations I mean in number of units per location. Outside of CA and some other urban areas the capacity is way overbuilt. the newer SCs have up to 8 units. In many thousands of miles driven across the US I rarely (outside of CA or the NE corridor) encounter another Tesla at a SC. an example: Is there really a need to have 8 units installed in Trinidad CO? I think that unless tesla is planning for the future of thousands of model 3s overwhelming the system, they've overbuilt in many locations

I'd say it's for redundancy/peak load/future proofing.

* Since the SC network is, to most, the only way of fast charging (lets ignore Chademo etc. as it isn't as fast, costs money and requires an expensive adaptor) it needs to be reliable.
* The sites needs to be close enough so that someone can skip one (if it happens to be down)
* The number of stalls needs to be able to deal with peak demand - e.g. when many people take road trips at once - before and after long weekends
 
I'd say it's for redundancy/peak load/future proofing.

* Since the SC network is, to most, the only way of fast charging (lets ignore Chademo etc. as it isn't as fast, costs money and requires an expensive adaptor) it needs to be reliable.
* The sites needs to be close enough so that someone can skip one (if it happens to be down)
* The number of stalls needs to be able to deal with peak demand - e.g. when many people take road trips at once - before and after long weekends

It is way cheaper to build a location with 8 superchargers than it is to build one with 4 and add 4 later. In a construction project, doing 8 at a shot gives you one set of permitting, trenching/digging, pouring concrete, and inspections. You also may risk disrupting an 'live' supercharger to expand it.

It makes sense that if you are to build something like this, it should be with an eye toward meeting expected needs for at least 5 years or more. Tesla has already paid a price (not major) for not building large enough at Harris Ranch CA, Tejon Ranch CA and Newark DE the first time.

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There may also be a marketing aspect to this. Gas stations typically have 6 or more pumps. A supercharger with 6-8-more slots has much better 'optics' for motorists who may be considering a Tesla.
 
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as I am coming to the end of my trip from FLA to CO and back I've come to the conclusion that Tesla has overbuilt the SC network. I do not mean in locations I mean in number of units per location. Outside of CA and some other urban areas the capacity is way overbuilt. the newer SCs have up to 8 units. In many thousands of miles driven across the US I rarely (outside of CA or the NE corridor) encounter another Tesla at a SC. an example: Is there really a need to have 8 units installed in Trinidad CO? I think that unless tesla is planning for the future of thousands of model 3s overwhelming the system, they've overbuilt in many locations

Remember that (for the immediate future) Tesla is on an exponential growth curve. What is overbuilt today is at capacity in a year or so, and woefully crowded a year after that. California is not an exception, it's just the earliest example due to early adopters.
 
Remember that (for the immediate future) Tesla is on an exponential growth curve. What is overbuilt today is at capacity in a year or so, and woefully crowded a year after that. California is not an exception, it's just the earliest example due to early adopters.

The old adage (not exclusive to California, mind you) that "As California goes, so goes the nation" might actually prove true in this example. We're all hoping that the Tesla density across the country becomes similar to LA or the Bay Area, right? I would never complain about overbuilding. Model 3 is coming and Tesla is hoping to produce 80k vehicles this year. The bigger, the better.