Tesla Supercharger network

[ddenboer]

Found the Gilroy supercharger tonight when I felt the need to go for a drive. It's in the outlet parking lot, beside the Sony outlet and behind the In & Out burger. It looks like there will be two superchargers there, and they are right next to a pair of Level 2 chargers at the Sony store.

 

[ElSupreme]

... behind the In & Out burger. ...

Those are good burgers ddenboer!


I have not actually eaten an In-& Out burger. And I also know it is is 'near' not behind. I just watched The Big Lebowski last week.

 

[wycolo]

Just imagine KIPERNICUS driving back and forth between Harris Ranch and Lebec all day long!
116 miles each way, burn(ing) 400W per mile at 80 MPH. (46.4kWH is just over half the pack, perfect for the supercharger). :wink:

 

[markb1]

If anyone's driving by these supercharger locations, please get some pics! Especially wide shots and in the daytime. The only really clear pics of a supercharger location that I've seen are from the Lebec site. All the others have been closeups, which don't show much, and the launch event, which was at night and hard to get an idea of the site layout.

 

[Kipernicus]

Just imagine KIPERNICUS driving back and forth between Harris Ranch and Lebec all day long!
116 miles each way, burn(ing) 400W per mile at 80 MPH. (46.4kWH is just over half the pack, perfect for the supercharger). :wink:

Yeah I suppose it would get monotonous after a bit. That's why the speed limit is 70 and most cars cruise at 80+.
The drive between Gilroy and Harris Ranch is much more interesting. Thanks for the pics, ddenboer!

 

[vfx]

... The only really clear pics of a supercharger location that I've seen are from the Lebec site. ....

Credit my wife for that. Driving fro SF to LA last Sunday.

 

[markb1]

Credit my wife for that. Driving fro SF to LA last Sunday.

Much appreciated!

Also, there are some good shots of the Folsom location. Forgot about those. I'm glad to have any pictures of the supercharger site, like ddenboer's pics from Gilroy. But I'm just really eager to see the site layouts, how many stations, solar panels, etc. It would be really great to see some daytime pics of the Hawthorne site, because that seems to Tesla's flagship supercharger, for the time being.

 

[dadaleus]

It's cooler than you think. There is a gray rounded door (like a tiny darkroom door) to the entire cable storage space. A button on the right opens the door and closes it. If no one closes it a timer does. I'm guessing 30 seconds later. I saw others taking video of it. Jason?

Oh, just saw this. Sorry for delay. Yes, I took a video (and dropped and shattered the back of my iphone 4S in the process. Guess I have no choice but to get that iphone 5 now honey).

 

[AnOutsider]

Oh, just saw this. Sorry for delay. Yes, I took a video (and dropped and shattered the back of my iphone 4S in the process. Guess I have no choice but to get that iphone 5 now honey).

Ok that's cool -- though it seems the ones spied in the wild don't have that mechanism. On the way?

 

[dadaleus]

Much appreciated!

Also, there are some good shots of the Folsom location. Forgot about those. I'm glad to have any pictures of the supercharger site, like ddenboer's pics from Gilroy. But I'm just really eager to see the site layouts, how many stations, solar panels, etc. It would be really great to see some daytime pics of the Hawthorne site, because that seems to Tesla's flagship supercharger, for the time being.

Hmm... silly me. I should have taken a daytime full area pic when I was there Tuesday. The closest thing I have is this one with my and Bob Gurr's smiling faces in the way. This is the solar canopy above, with the charge stations below. I'm guessing the power converters are hidden away somewhere out of sight, but I didn't really search for them. The structure reminded me of a futuristic version of a 50's drive in:

 

[CapitalistOppressor]

Here is the NY Times SuperCharger story.

On an Electric Highway, Charging Into the Future - NYTimes.com

 

[gg_got_a_tesla]

Found the Gilroy supercharger tonight when I felt the need to go for a drive. It's in the outlet parking lot, beside the Sony outlet and behind the In & Out burger. It looks like there will be two superchargers there, and they are right next to a pair of Level 2 chargers at the Sony store.

View attachment 10205

Hmm... an incentive of sorts now to go down to Gilroy - usually go to the Gilroy Gardens theme park nearby during the summer; location near the outlets will sure make my wife happy!

Hmm... silly me. I should have taken a daytime full area pic when I was there Tuesday. The closest thing I have is this one with my and Bob Gurr's smiling faces in the way. This is the solar canopy above, with the charge stations below. I'm guessing the power converters are hidden away somewhere out of sight, but I didn't really search for them. The structure reminded me of a futuristic version of a 50's drive in:
View attachment 10209

Nice! I see the Model X too supercharging back there!

 

[The Air Car]

The thing is that to make Tesla a real success they need them where the cars aren't, not where the cars are. The reason is that where the cars are is mostly covered by home charging. Where the cars aren't is vacation and other travel.

Excellent point, Jerry. Any experienced EVier would agree with that. I have access to so many free chargers around my neighborhood which I never need to use. However, I need chargers around where I work, instead. Same kind of logic.

 

[doug]

Some opinion by Chelsea Sexton:
EV Plug Wars: Charging Ahead When What We Really Need Is More Cars | Wired Opinion | Wired.com

 

[dpeilow]

Some opinion by Chelsea Sexton:
EV Plug Wars: Charging Ahead When What We Really Need Is More Cars | Wired Opinion | Wired.com

There are some valid points but she leaves out a big one in Tesla's favour: They need 90+ kW, CHAdeMO doesn't supply it and the SAE's wasn't finalised when design freezes were happening.

And like it or not, people just don't get this "your EV doesn't need to do everything" thing.

 

[rolosrevenge]

I think that any other car maker is free to adopt Tesla's standard. The Roadster connector was made before the J1772 which is why that is different, and the Model S connector is small, elegant, and handles AC as well as DC. I honestly think it is by far the best charging solution out there. What should happen is everyone move to adopt that, including the SAE. Even if they don't, I can see Tesla having out sold all of the other EVs within a few years so they'd be the defacto standard.

 

[JRP3]

Chelsea missed the point on this one. Tesla needs to limit access to the superchargers or they will be overloaded with cars that can't actually use the full capacity of the supercharger and Model S's that can will have to wait around, killing the benefit of supercharging. Tesla's use of a better plug with a few adapters makes good sense, and the Franken J plug proposal is horrible. Tesla is pushing EV technology forward, not sitting around waiting for standards. She sees the Tesla plug as "Form over function" while ignoring the increased functionality of the Tesla design.

 

[efusco]

Well, I don't fully agree with Cheslsea here either, but there are tons of ways to limit access besides a proprietary connector. They could always charge non-Teslas for access to Tesla chargers while not locking Tesla owners out of SAE or CHAdeMO...which ever Tesla chose is sure to succeed.

 

[RDoc]

Well, I don't fully agree with Cheslsea here either, but there are tons of ways to limit access besides a proprietary connector. They could always charge non-Teslas for access to Tesla chargers while not locking Tesla owners out of SAE or CHAdeMO...which ever Tesla chose is sure to succeed.

I believe the problem with CHAdeMO as the Tesla standard is that it can't handle enough current. One of the engineers said the connector pins are just too small, so there's really no where to go with it. My understanding is that CHAdeMO tops out at 70 amps, whereas Elon was talking about up to 120 amps IIRC. At the Boston store opening, one of the sales people said there was hope that the 85 kwh pack could be 80% recharged in half an hour by the time we get our X. It would be nice...
The reason they couldn't use the SAE plug is that the standard wasn't agreed till last month. Hopefully, there will be an adapter forthcoming from Tesla.

 

[TEG]

Not amps... kW. CHAdeMO ~= 50kW, Supercharger ~= 90kW

Now for AC charging, LEAF=3.3kW (16A)... typical J1772=6.6kW (30A)... Roadster= (up to) ~17kW (70A)...

CHAdeMO and Supercharger are ~=200A+... And at higher (output) voltage than the AC charging.