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Tesla Supercharger network
- Thread starter dsm363
- Start date
For a while the latches were illegal in Washington and I wedged the gas cap into the handle to keep it pumping. I would then get in the car and fill out the book where I logged every fill up. The law banning the latches was repealed a few years back and most gas stations have them again.
I still spent more time outside in the weather gassing up the car than it takes at a supercharger. You still have to run the credit card, wait for it to approve, select the fuel grade, open the gas cap, put in the pump and start it, restart it if the latch didn't catch, then at the end go through the steps to put it back and in my case record the gallons and cost as well as grab the receipt. Each step is short, but in the end you spend about 4X more time in the weather pumping gas than you do outside at a supercharger unless you want to walk to a store or restaurant.
Oregon and new Jersey don't allow you to pump your own gas. In Oregon the equipment is identical to self serve stations in Washington, the state just forces someone at the station to do it for you.
Interestingly, the gas prices are cheaper in Oregon than neighboring California and Washington, even though they have to pay someone to pump it for you. Lower gas tax, I guess?
The same situation always existed with New Jersey compared to their neighboring states. I don't know if that's the case anymore, but it was a couple of decades ago.
cpa
Active Member
And, Oregon does not have a sales tax. That in and of itself shaves another 7-9% off the retail price.
So we have so very little Supercharging information coming in that we talking about GASOLINE!!
This is a year old, but WA has the 2nd highest gas tax in the country:
State Gasoline Tax Rates in 2016 - Tax Foundation
According to this Pennsylvania hiked their gas tax even more Jan 1, 2017
New Year's Gas Tax Changes: Seven Up, Two Down | Tax Justice Blog
Washington also has the lowest electricity rates in the country. No wonder Washington is one of the biggest adopters of electric cars. I see Nissan Leafs whenever we're out running errands. I would not be surprised in another 1-2 years if there were a lot of Model 3s running around Vancouver.
I wonder if the Bonneville Power Administration is going to shut down the wind mill operators again this spring. A few years ago the snow pack was so large that they were running the hydroelectric plants full out during the spring runoff. They idled all the fossil fuel plants and still had too much electricity so they forced windmill operators to shut down too.
When we were taking the cats to the vet on Saturday we noticed the Columbia is running very high downstream from the Bonneville Dam. That's an indication they are letting water out at a high rate in anticipation of the spring runoff. Up the Gorge (where Bonnie is) there is a foot of snow on the ground essentially as sea level (on the shores of the Columbia River) that's going to runoff in the next few weeks, there is normally no snow at all at that elevation this time of year.
Anyway, superchargers: while talking about Washington and Oregon... I do think there should be a supercharger somewhere just north of Vancouver, WA and another in Roseburg, OR. Going from home down I-5, Springfield is a little close to be efficient and Grants Pass is too far unless I want to hypermile on I-5. Roseburg would split the difference and be just about right (with a 90 KWh battery). For those passing through Portland to Seattle or other points north, Springfield to Woodburn is a little short. Springfield to around Richfield, WA would probably be about right for a 90 KWh battery.
A few weeks ago I wrote McMennimins suggesting they install some destination chargers at some of their larger properties. We go over to the Edgefield sometimes in Troutdale. It would be the only Telsa charging between downtown Portland and the Dalles. It's an interesting place where people could do some wine tasting, get a meal, and generally be entertained while charging if they needed a top up to get to the Dalles. It would also be a great place for Tesla owners to stay if they wanted something different from the downtown Portland experience. If Tesla put in a supercharger in Troutdale, they would probably put it at the outlet mall, which is like any other outlet mall. McMennemins' places are a quirky slice of Portlandia.
State Gasoline Tax Rates in 2016 - Tax Foundation
According to this Pennsylvania hiked their gas tax even more Jan 1, 2017
New Year's Gas Tax Changes: Seven Up, Two Down | Tax Justice Blog
Washington also has the lowest electricity rates in the country. No wonder Washington is one of the biggest adopters of electric cars. I see Nissan Leafs whenever we're out running errands. I would not be surprised in another 1-2 years if there were a lot of Model 3s running around Vancouver.
I wonder if the Bonneville Power Administration is going to shut down the wind mill operators again this spring. A few years ago the snow pack was so large that they were running the hydroelectric plants full out during the spring runoff. They idled all the fossil fuel plants and still had too much electricity so they forced windmill operators to shut down too.
When we were taking the cats to the vet on Saturday we noticed the Columbia is running very high downstream from the Bonneville Dam. That's an indication they are letting water out at a high rate in anticipation of the spring runoff. Up the Gorge (where Bonnie is) there is a foot of snow on the ground essentially as sea level (on the shores of the Columbia River) that's going to runoff in the next few weeks, there is normally no snow at all at that elevation this time of year.
Anyway, superchargers: while talking about Washington and Oregon... I do think there should be a supercharger somewhere just north of Vancouver, WA and another in Roseburg, OR. Going from home down I-5, Springfield is a little close to be efficient and Grants Pass is too far unless I want to hypermile on I-5. Roseburg would split the difference and be just about right (with a 90 KWh battery). For those passing through Portland to Seattle or other points north, Springfield to Woodburn is a little short. Springfield to around Richfield, WA would probably be about right for a 90 KWh battery.
A few weeks ago I wrote McMennimins suggesting they install some destination chargers at some of their larger properties. We go over to the Edgefield sometimes in Troutdale. It would be the only Telsa charging between downtown Portland and the Dalles. It's an interesting place where people could do some wine tasting, get a meal, and generally be entertained while charging if they needed a top up to get to the Dalles. It would also be a great place for Tesla owners to stay if they wanted something different from the downtown Portland experience. If Tesla put in a supercharger in Troutdale, they would probably put it at the outlet mall, which is like any other outlet mall. McMennemins' places are a quirky slice of Portlandia.
dgpcolorado
high altitude member
As a visitor, rather than a resident, I'd like to see a Supercharger in the Seattle vicinity; that is one of the few large metro areas with zero Supercharger Stations. I can't make Centralia to Kirkland and back without charging.
And, while I'm fantasizing about Superchargers in that general area, a Supercharger Station near Port Angeles and one on Vancouver Island BC would sure be nice as well.
Agree with Seattle needing a Supercharger.
However, about half of the top 20 cities in population in the US do not currently have a Supercharger, and Seattle is #18 of those 20.
dgpcolorado
high altitude member
I disagree, so I took a look at the top 21 metro areas — the term I deliberately used above, since "city" is not meaningful in many areas — in the USA:
Largest Metro Areas in the USA:
1) NY * [2015 population: 20,182,30]
2) LA * [13,340,068]
3) Chicago * [9,551,031]
4) Dallas-Fort Worth ¹ [7,102,796] (two Supercharger Stations inside metro area in permitting process)
5) Houston * [6,656,947]
6) Washington * [6,097,684]
7) Philadelphia ¹ [6,069,875]
8) Miami * [6,012,331]
9) Atlanta * [5,710,795]
10) Boston * [4,774,321]
11) San Francisco-Oakland * [4,656,132]
12) Phoenix ¹ [4,574,531]
13) Riverside-San Bernardino * [4,489,159]
14) Detroit ¹ [4,302,043]
15) Seattle ² [3,733,580]
16) Minneapolis-St Paul * [3,524,583]
17) San Diego * [3,299,521]
18) Tampa-St Petersburg * [2,975,225]
19) Denver * [2,814,330]
20) St. Louis * [2,811,588]
21) Baltimore * [2,797,407]
* Supercharger Station within or adjacent to the metro area
¹ Supercharger Station within 50 miles of metro area center
² No Supercharger Station within 50 miles of metro area center
While I realize that some of this is a judgment call, I think this is a reasonable breakdown of metro areas that do and don't have Supercharger Stations inside the boundaries or nearby.
Notes: Source for metro area population numbers: List of North American metropolitan areas by population - Wikipedia
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Haha, yes, you did say Metro area. Probably all of those missing one are on the 2017 potential list to get a Supercharger -- I didn't check. I know Seattle and Dallas and Fort Worth are there. San Antonio should get one (although not on your metro list, still the 7th largest city in the US and 2nd largest in Texas).
At any rate, Seattle should have one!
I agree. We enjoyed riding the ferry from Port Angeles, WA to Victoria, BC on a vacation years ago.
That said, there are a few CHAdeMO stations on Vancouver Island, on the Greenlots network. (There's also a CHAdeMO in Port Angeles, but it's at a Nissan dealership and comments indicate that they're no longer letting Teslas use it.)
Given how prevalent CHAdeMO is on the West Coast, we recently decided to pick up a CHAdeMO adapter from Tesla. It's nice to have it as a backup (there's now a CHAdeMO right at the base of the mountain we live on), and we expect it'll be useful in filling in gaps on some of our travels. Even in SoCal, if there should happen to be an available CHAdeMO right next to a place where we need to stop anyway, we'd likely prefer to use that rather than spending extra time to visit a SuperCharger. Whether we'll truly get $491 (the price plus tax) of value from the adapter remains to be seen, but I do enjoy knowing that our collection of adapters will allow us to charge just about anywhere!
dgpcolorado
high altitude member
There's no way I could justify the purchase of a CHAdeMO adapter because Supercharger Stations cover almost all the routes I usually use, but I suppose I could rent one for a trip to Vancouver Island. In Victoria there is plenty of destination charging at RV parks and hotels but getting to Tofino would take some charge enroute for my S60.
The Island is gradually getting more CHAdeMO outlets as well: already there's 1 in Victoria, 1 in Duncan, 1 in Nanaimo, and I can't remember where else (I don't have the adapter).
But the really good news is, there's a supercharger coming to the north Nanaimo / near Parksville area "Tesla soon"; apparently they've been in final landowner negotiations for a few months. That will open up Tofino/Ucuelet and Mount Washington (Courtenay/Comox) easily.
I've thought about getting a CHAdeMO adapter, but there are rumors Tesla is working on a new combo CCS and CHAdeMO adapter, so I'm holding out.
My guess is that will never happen. The protocols and connector are too different and you would have a very large cumbersome Y shaped adapter adding extra weigh hanging off the charge port. (Or you end up with a daisy chain adapter which I think would add too much connector loss.)
Bet TSLA
Active Member
I was at the SLC supercharger last night (Sunday night) from about 10-10:30pm. Before I arrived there it said 4 of 10 stalls were free but when I got there it was actually empty. It still said 4 stalls free the entire time I charged there, I was solo the entire time.
It was charging a little slow so after 30 minutes I decided to leave. When I got home 20 minutes later it still said 4 of 10 free. I think the update feed might be broken there.
It was charging a little slow so after 30 minutes I decided to leave. When I got home 20 minutes later it still said 4 of 10 free. I think the update feed might be broken there.
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