Texas Supercharger Locations (location speculation, discussion)

[sublimaze1]

(Thinking out loud)

- opinion forthcoming - placing the superchargers at San Marcos and Waco, as well as Huntsville and __________ is pretty convenient for those who are traveling to places that may not desire to lend you their power (e.g. some hotels, motels, sports venues, etc.). Each of the locations is roughly 100 or less miles from the destination metroplex. So, you can charge at your house, then the SC that is 200 miles from your house, then on the way back, charge at the same one and then plug in when you get home. Granted the SanMarcos one is 258 miles from my house , but how many of you (us) live north of 380 anyway? Still do-able in a pinch.

So, I can kinda see their thinking, if it is - indeed - along this line. If Fremont put a S/C at their station, what's to say they won't at other service stations. Although, in retrospect, I do recall having a conversation with the Dallas folk saying that, although their power is adequate, installing a S/C there and running a few HPWC stations would be too much for what they have currently.

Again, thinking out loud.

 

[purplewalt]

I am just amazed by the things some people find to complain about. Tesla did not "choose" San Marcos to be the location for the first supercharger in Texas. They announced in June that the one between Austin and Dallas would be the first. The San Marcos one was on the fall map. We don't know what caused the delay in AUS-DFW or the change from Temple to Waco for that SC, but I for one am glad they didn't stick to their planned sequence and are putting them in when the contracts and permitting is done, even if that means opening a planned fall SC before the summer ones are in. San Marcos will be one of the two SCs necessary for a trip between San Antonio and Dallas. No it's not that useful to me in Austin, except for a round trip to San Antonio for the day without having to charge there, but I'm happy for any superchargers we get, as soon as we can get them.

+1 We are witnessing history.
If you are more interested in the actual sequence of events, instead of watching progress and history being made, so be it.
Any supercharger station is a major step.
PERIOD.

- - - Updated - - -

Great to see San Marco completed! I think the TSCSNetwork roll out is one of the most critical components of TM. Woodburn OR will probably be next... and at some point the coasts will connect!! I have to pinch myself once in while to remind me we are seeing this in realtime! My infant granddaughter will read about this in a history book. The TSCSNR is beyond awesome... one station at a time! I'm very proud to be an owner of a Tesla Model S, a building block of the greatest transformational change in automotive transportation this century.

Agreed.
Can't legitimately complain about ANY form of progress on the Supercharger front.
There has to be a FIRST one, so San Marcos garners the honor for the FIRST in TEXAS.

HORRAY!

 

[TXjak]

...
If Fremont put a S/C at their station, what's to say they won't at other service stations. Although, in retrospect, I do recall having a conversation with the Dallas folk saying that, although their power is adequate, installing a S/C there and running a few HPWC stations would be too much for what they have currently....

May have been mentioned before, but they are expecting to get SuperCharging at the Austin SvcCtr sometime next year, as I recall.

 

[brianman]

Any supercharger station is a major step.

Especially in Texas.

"You may not like your citizens that are Tesla customers, but we do." -Tesla

 

[Electric Dreamer]

Great to see San Marco completed! I think the TSCSNetwork roll out is one of the most critical components of TM. Woodburn OR will probably be next... and at some point the coasts will connect!! I have to pinch myself once in while to remind me we are seeing this in realtime! My infant granddaughter will read about this in a history book. The TSCSNR is beyond awesome... one station at a time! I'm very proud to be an owner of a Tesla Model S, a building block of the greatest transformational change in automotive transportation this century.

I completely agree with you! I'm so excited to be part of history! I'm driving to San Marcos just because it is the 1st in Texas.

- - - Updated - - -

 

[stephenpace]

Houston Chronicle has coverage of the SuperCharger opening today:

Tesla will soon be charging into Texas - Houston Chronicle

 

[sublimaze1]

Houston Chronicle has coverage of the SuperCharger opening today:

Tesla will soon be charging into Texas - Houston Chronicle

Extracted article (if you are being asked for a login or subscription)

Luxury electric car maker Tesla Motors will debut its first high-powered charging station in Texas next week, a step toward making city-to-city travel along interstate highways more practical.
The so-called Tesla Supercharger in San Marcos opens at 10 a.m. Tuesday at 3939 Interstate 35 South, behind the Simon Premium Outlets. It will be the company's 17th nationwide.
Palo Alto, Calif.-based Tesla will open four more stations in Texas by year's end, spokeswoman Alexis Georgeson said. That includes one on I-10 in Columbus to aid travel between Houston and Austin or San Antonio and two on I-45 for travel between Houston and Dallas.
The next Texas station to open will be on I-35 in Waco, Georgeson said.
"They started in California, with the L.A.-San Francisco corridor, then went to the East Coast and now they are moving to the middle of the country," industry analyst Mike Omotoso said in an email.
"They are basically going to the parts of the country that have the highest share of electric vehicle ownership, and eventually they will have supercharging stations for most major metropolitan regions in the U.S."
Hardware and software for the supercharger stations are designed specifically for the high-end Teslas, Georgeson said, and the superchargers' 120-kilowatt charge also could harm vehicles not equipped to handle that much electricity.
The Tesla stations are able to charge vehicles 20 times faster than public electric charging stations now in place, Georgeson said.
There is no fee to use the superchargers.

Patrick T. Fallon
A Tesla is charged at the company design studio in Hawthorne, Calif. There is no fee to use superchargers.
By the end of the year, Model S owners will be able to travel from Los Angeles to New York, Miami to Boston and Vancouver to Phoenix, Georgeson said.
In 20 minutes, a super-charger station will put enough electricity on a Model S to travel 150 miles. Georgeson said the charging rate will slow slightly as the battery gets closer to full.
Tesla S sedans range in price from $52,400 to $87,400, after a $7,500 federal tax credit. The differences are based mostly on battery size; a top-of-the-line model can travel almost 300 miles per charge.
State law prohibits Tesla from selling cars in Texas, although Texans can order them by phone or online. Models are available for viewing at the Houston Galleria Tesla Motors gallery.
"I'm excited that Texas is getting our first Tesla Supercharger," Stephen Pace, a Houston-area software company consultant and a Tesla owner, said in an email. He plans to attend the ribbon-cutting ceremony in San Marcos "to see a bit of history unfold."
"This is a little like building the railroads," he said.
Rakesh Agrawal, a local high-tech entrepreneur, said he recently drove his family to San Antonio for a vacation - but not in his Tesla. He will be able to next time, he said, because of the supercharger in San Marcos.
"And the superchargers are free, so all the better," he said in an email.
Tesla sent car owners an invitation to Tuesday's debut. It came with a warning: "Due to the expected volume of Model S owners, there may be a wait for charging."

 

[bollar]

That's great coverage! Wish we knew more about I45...

 

[TexasEV]

"The next Texas station to open will be on I-35 in Waco", Georgeson said.

If Waco is next, and Columbus construction has started, that means Waco construction has also started. Who will be the first to locate it?

 

[mckemie]

I had some business in San Marcos this morning, so I went by the SC yet again. Still no power, but they have "Tesla Only" signs up now. The signs block drive through access. I'm not complaining, just reporting.

Houston Chronicle article is for subscribers only.

 

[stephenpace]

Hmm, I don't subscribe to the Chronicle but I could read it. I did sign up using the free logon, though. The workaround (as it is for most newspapers) is to Google the headline ("Tesla will soon be charging into Texas") and click the link. Usually newspapers present the entire text to Google.

 

[sublimaze1]

Hmm, I don't subscribe to the Chronicle but I could read it. I did sign up using the free logon, though. The workaround (as it is for most newspapers) is to Google the headline ("Tesla will soon be charging into Texas") and click the link. Usually newspapers present the entire text to Google.

#326

 

[TXjak]

Hmm, I don't subscribe to the Chronicle but I could read it. I did sign up using the free logon, though. The workaround (as it is for most newspapers) is to Google the headline ("Tesla will soon be charging into Texas") and click the link. Usually newspapers present the entire text to Google.

Thanks for the tip. Worked for me. It said "You have been granted free access to this article."

 

[reddy]

View attachment 28416

I happened to be driving from Austin to Galveston, so I swung by the Comfort Inn in Columbus to see where construction was. They had the area blocked off and had a bobcat and a large drill like device boring holes in the dirt. Two of the lighting pylons had been taken out. I wasn't in a position where I could go chat with the construction crew.

This is NOT a very visible place to have the charger. It is on the far right corner of the Comfort Inn , and you won't see it from the street easily.

There is a La Quinta next door, and a McDonalds next to that. There are several eateries within easy walking distance.

 

[Schmo]

View attachment 28416

I happened to be driving from Austin to Galveston, so I swung by the Comfort Inn in Columbus to see where construction was. They had the area blocked off and had a bobcat and a large drill like device boring holes in the dirt. Two of the lighting pylons had been taken out. I wasn't in a position where I could go chat with the construction crew.

That's pretty good progress. I was there on Tuesday and all they had was some paint on the ground.

 

[dsm363]

It's alive!!! Suoercharging in San Marcos now. It's behind the Premium Mall outlets off of I35. Might be the first customer to charge here?

 

[zero]

I am just amazed by the things some people find to complain about. Tesla did not "choose" San Marcos to be the location for the first supercharger in Texas. They announced in June that the one between Austin and Dallas would be the first. The San Marcos one was on the fall map. We don't know what caused the delay in AUS-DFW or the change from Temple to Waco for that SC, but I for one am glad they didn't stick to their planned sequence and are putting them in when the contracts and permitting is done, even if that means opening a planned fall SC before the summer ones are in. San Marcos will be one of the two SCs necessary for a trip between San Antonio and Dallas. No it's not that useful to me in Austin, except for a round trip to San Antonio for the day without having to charge there, but I'm happy for any superchargers we get, as soon as we can get them.

Not so much of a complaint but a disappointment. I too am excited about any SC's we get and will make the trip out to San Marcos just to see my car get juiced up in under an hour, but you have to admit that's not the location where the majority of us have been waiting to see open first. As far as first's are concerned I think it is very important for Tesla to have had a more visible 1st in Texas than San Marcos not only to keep current and future owners happy, but also to get more Tesla's on the road. With the majority of owners between Houston, Dallas and Austin, midpoints between those locations would have been much more monumental as a 1st. Yes, I get the big picture...SC's are now in Texas. Maybe I was a bit negative about the "for show and marketing" comment", but I am sure Tesla was just wanting to get one up and running in Texas as they had promised us back in June.

 

[Schmo]

It's alive!!! Suoercharging in San Marcos now. It's behind the Premium Mall outlets off of I35. Might be the first customer to charge here?

Take a picture of your dash! I'm curious if it charges at 120 kW...

 

[dsm363]

Take a picture of your dash! I'm curious if it charges at 120 kW...

Will post a picture when I get home. Says 393V 100A and I'm at 198 rated miles now.

 

[dsm363]

Take a picture of your dash! I'm curious if it charges at 120 kW...

It started off as 376V 175A when I got there at 138 rated miles of range.
I should have kept a closer eye on it as it's already ramping the power down. Might me 90kW as there is no 120 kW sticker.