+1 smartypnz. Unless someone is successful in explaining the difference between a parking space and a refueling space, there's no chance of this location working out. Teslas are not allowed to park there, only to charge there. Any Tesla parked and not plugged in deserves to be towed just the same as an ICE. But if they think other people should be able to park in the charging spots, then they should consider gas stations to be public parking lots, too.
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Tesla Supercharger network
- Thread starter dsm363
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This raises a question for me. When and where does the power company convert DC to AC ? Is it all possible to eventually have DC charging at home ? What would be involved with this ?
I was told that the issue of reserved parking was a factor in Superchargers not being installed at Savage Mill in Maryland. Zoning requirements demand so many parking spots per sq. ft. of building space. If the Superchargers displace some of those parking spaces, it could affect the balance. There is now talk in the county where this happened to change the zoning requirements with respect to reserved parking for electric vehicle charging. However, it is too late to help that particular location.
Usually, never. Almost all power is generated from rotating machines that naturally produce AC (solar photovoltaic is the exception, being naturally DC and usually converted to AC close to the panels).
Power companies do nowadays use some DC links for special purposes (notably between independent grids), but that's not relevant to charging.
There's nothing magic about DC charging. In a sense, all battery charging is always DC (at the battery terminals). All we mean by DC charging is that the charger is moved outside the car - if the charger is inside the car, we call it AC charging (because the plug has AC on it), and if the charger is outside the car we call it DC charging (because the plug connects direct to the battery and so has DC on it).
In the case of Tesla and Supercharging, that is literally all the difference there is: the superchargers are built from the same modules as the chargers in the cars. So if you removed the two chargers from your car and put them in a box outside you would have a low power supercharger. In that sense, you could easily have DC charging at home if there was any reason to do so; Tesla could easily build a mini-supercharger for home use if they thought there was a market for them.
I suspect the real question you are asking is based on the misconception that "DC" is the critical part of "DC charging", and so having a supply of DC from the power company would be helpful. In fact, as above, "DC charging" is just a shorthand for "charger outside the car". If the power company suddenly started delivering DC direct to your home (highly unlikely), or you had a solar system that meant you had a local supply of DC (quite plausible), this actually wouldn't help at all - you would still need a charger between your source of power (be it AC or DC) and the battery.
The conversion from AC to DC is really only an incidental function of the charger - its primary function is to regulate the current and voltage applied to the battery. In fact, the electronics in your existing 'AC' charger are almost exactly what you would need to make a charger that took DC at its input. These chargers invariably take whatever input they are given (usually 50/60Hz AC, could be DC) and convert it to very high frequency AC as part of the regulation process.
As an example, these people make a CHAdeMO charger; the standard model runs off normal AC, but they can also supply the same unit configured to take DC from solar panels, or DC from the battery of another EV.
http://www.andromedapower.com/Home_Page.html
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Power companies typically generate AC right from the generators. AC is used for transmission and distribution as the voltage can easily be stepped up and down. AC is stepped up (to 750,000 volts or so) to allow large amounts of power to be transmitted long distance with much thinner wires.
DC home charging requires you to change AC from the power company to DC, which is exactly what your in car charger does.
The reason why fast chargers are DC is that it takes a big piece of equipment to change AC to DC at very high power, so it wouldn't make sense to put such equipment in the car, so for high power, you need to have an external cabinet to change AC to DC.
DC home charging requires you to change AC from the power company to DC, which is exactly what your in car charger does.
The reason why fast chargers are DC is that it takes a big piece of equipment to change AC to DC at very high power, so it wouldn't make sense to put such equipment in the car, so for high power, you need to have an external cabinet to change AC to DC.
Several other responders have provided the right response. Tesla Motors needs alter their "request-model" now to ensure from immediately onwards they are installing only charging sites, not parking sites.
This has been proffered here enough times - and we are certain that there is a core element of TM employees who do monitor this forum - that it really, really ought to have wended its way to Those In Charge of Charges by now.
This has been proffered here enough times - and we are certain that there is a core element of TM employees who do monitor this forum - that it really, really ought to have wended its way to Those In Charge of Charges by now.
That's not going to help as long as the "charging sites" use what were previously counted as parking spaces.
Perhaps gas station island spaces should be designated as 'parking' spaces and regulations applied accordingly (including Handicapped Only refueling spots).
I do not 'Park' at a Tesla SC slot.
Perhaps you missed my point. If supercharger spaces no longer count as parking spaces, the site may fall below the required number of parking spaces for zoning rules.
SteveW25561
Member
One thing I think would help considerably is to paint the pavement in front of the charger stations a red or green color. I saw this for a Chargepoint station at a hotel and it made it very distinctive. Maybe a red with a tesla logo in white in front of each supercharger. I know it doesn't help when there's snow covering it but it's an easy option.
One of the Superchargers in Colorado (Glenwood Springs, I believe) has big blue squares painted with an EV charging symbol in each space. It looks like a handicap parking spot at first. I imagine that's pretty effective.
Tesla blog for 2000 Superchargers at 400 locations:
2,000 Superchargers | Tesla Motors
Very well done, as usual for Tesla.
I am looking forward to the 2000 more to be added in 2015.
GSP
2,000 Superchargers | Tesla Motors
Very well done, as usual for Tesla.
I am looking forward to the 2000 more to be added in 2015.
GSP
gg_got_a_tesla
Model S: VIN 65513, Model 3: VIN 1913
dirkhh
Middle-aged Member
I notice this language: "At Superchargers, Model S owners traveling far from home can get half a charge in as little as 20 minutes – completely free." -- is this a first sign that they will crack down on locals free-loading at superchargers? I know we discussed this at length a year ago as they started to really build out the network, but to me that sounds like a pretty clear statement that the supercharger is free "traveling far from home"...
There has been language like that used to describe the use case for SpCs ever since the SpC network was first announced. But Tesla has never given any indication they intend to back away from the "Free. Forever." promise.
I'm going to say absolutely not. As a matter of fact, I have good reason to believe (not just guessing here) that Tesla's whole philosophy about Supercharger placement and usage has transformed from an initial position that Superchargers were mainly for long distance travelers (and the early on placement of most superchargers outside of large cities) to one of Superchargers will be needed in the cities and everywhere with the introduction of Model 3 (and subsequent more frequent placement of superchargers in bigger cities).
Tesla does not view locals using superchargers as "free-loaders"...
Mike
I meant to post this last week when I stopped at Glenwood Springs to Supercharge, because the signage and pavement markings made such a strong impression on me. You'll note that I parked my car in one of the 'general parking' spots; that was because I believed the others were marked as Handicapped. I even went into the lobby of the Residence Inn (hosts of this SpC) and asked what the protocol was for charging in the spots marked 'Handicapped'; it wasn't until I went back out to take these photos that it dawned on me what the markings were actually saying.
Note that this has been an evolution for the landlord: early on (Glenwood was the second Supercharger opened in Colorado) there were no pavement markings and no orange traffic barrels, and these spots were often ICEd in the evenings by hotel guests. Then they added the barrels; the pavement markings are the most recent addition. Overall, this has to be the best set of anti-ICE markings I've seen at a SpC.
Bighorn
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