Texas Supercharger Locations (location speculation, discussion)

[sublimaze1]

Good intel dsm. Thanks.

 

[jerry33]

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.

I doubt Tesla had much to do with the opening order. They probably applied for permits to open at the times they indicated but the various cities (and perhaps the contractors) held them back.

 

[dsm363]

I'm being told it should be 120kW. Will try and confirm that.

 

[ItsNotAboutTheMoney]

I doubt Tesla had much to do with the opening order. They probably applied for permits to open at the times they indicated but the various cities (and perhaps the contractors) held them back.

Not to mention that Tesla is trying to keep the costs down and so has to find cheap leases.

 

[aronth5]

I'm being told it should be 120kW. Will try and confirm that.

You will still need a firmware upgrade to take advantage of the 120kW right?

 

[dsm363]

You will still need a firmware upgrade to take advantage of the 120kW right?

That is correct. You would need an update to get max power.

 

[sublimaze1]

What firmware has that SU?

 

[dsm363]

What firmware has that SU?

I thought I'd read that you need a version of 5.0 which is only rolling out on new cars and will be getting pushed to others as well at some point of course. Not sure about that though.

 

[leafarmer]

I tried the supercharger this morning. The car's 85KWh battery was 90% empty, and the charge rate cycled back and forth between 70kW and 90kW every couple minutes. Once the battery was about 2/3rd full the charge rate dropped to just below 50kW. I didn't wait for a full charge. The car has the latest 4.5 firmware.

A guy onsite said the outlet furthest from the chargers was the solo unit, and its twin wouldn't be installed until there was sufficient demand.

 

[purplewalt]

Not to mention that Tesla is trying to keep the costs down and so has to find cheap leases.

Ties into spending adequate time determining locations/sites and partners.
Then assigning design and engineering firms to do the initial Construction Documents, project goes to bid and then review bids, qualify the Contractors and award contracts.
Then the General Contactors go to apply for applicable PermitS, and AFTER receipt of PermitS, begin Construction.

IMO, it is prudent as to the best use of the existing and future financial resources to get the initial Supercharger Stations and Network up and running.
Then Round Two will be to retrofit existing facilities with Roofs and Solar Panels.
Round Three will be if they decide to install batteries, and then be COMPLETELY OFF the grid, maybe use them as a revenue source for charging other Manufacturer's cars.

The Sequence of WHICH Supercharger Stations come on-line, and in which order is immaterial.
They ALL are wanted, and ALL will be used.
Some much more than others.

I REALLY wish I could be in San Marcos Opening this coming Tuesday, but I have previous commitments @ work.
Maybe one of the following Openings, closer to Dallas, or on a better day without lots to do.

 

[cgiGuy]

A guy onsite said the outlet furthest from the chargers was the solo unit, and its twin wouldn't be installed until there was sufficient demand.

hehe.. I asked him the same thing (how they are paired) and he laughed and said "funny.. some other guy this morning asked me the same thing."

To clarify, my understanding was that the one furthest from the chargers and on the side where there are three is the solo. See pic.

He also mentioned the others that were coming soon: Waco, Columbus, Huntsville, and Corsicana (which I think are all known).

 

[sublimaze1]

I may have missed a post, but this is the first I've heard Corsicana. Sounds reasonable.

 

[jerry33]

I may have missed a post, but this is the first I've heard Corsicana. Sounds reasonable.

It's been mentioned before but I sort of thought that with Waco there wouldn't be one in Corsicana. However, it's great news. I love eating at OMI.

 

[TexasEV]

I stopped at the San Marcos supercharger on the way back to Austin from eating BBQ in Lockhart. Charging screenshot below taken soon after I plugged in-- if I understand electricity correctly I'm charging at 208x323= 67,184 watts. It's incredibly fast at 220 mile/hr but that's much less than either 90KW or 120 Kw. I was the only car there.

There is a sign on two of the five spaces that I haven't seen mentioned in descriptions of superchargers at other malls-- it's a gentle reminder not to leave your car there while shopping all day.

 

[dsm363]

I stopped at the San Marcos supercharger on the way back to Austin from eating BBQ in Lockhart. Charging screenshot below taken soon after I plugged in-- if I understand electricity correctly I'm charging at 208x323= 67,184 watts. It's incredibly fast at 220 mile/hr but that's much less than either 90KW or 120 Kw. I was the only car there.

There is a sign on two of the five spaces that I haven't seen mentioned in descriptions of superchargers at other malls-- it's a gentle reminder not to leave your car there while shopping all day.

That's the same rate I was getting. I like the 60 min parking sign too and noticed it was only on 2 spots as well so I e-mailed someone in the Austin Gallery.

 

[purplewalt]

hehe.. I asked him the same thing (how they are paired) and he laughed and said "funny.. some other guy this morning asked me the same thing."

To clarify, my understanding was that the one furthest from the chargers and on the side where there are three is the solo. See pic.

View attachment 28467

He also mentioned the others that were coming soon: Waco, Columbus, Huntsville, and Corsicana (which I think are all known).

This strikes me as perhaps NOT the most effective way to organize the array of chargers, at least under the current circumstances.
Maybe it will make better sense when (if?) the roof and solar panels get installed, but two of the parking spaces are also oversized (width).
I did not notice the 5th Charging Station in the pic on previous post #314, but in this pic, it is certainly there.

So with this configuration, two cars head in on one side, and three cars are to back in on the other side.
Interesting...
Pics of other Supercharging Stations (FL and WA) had all cars backing in (as I recall).

Corsicana has always been one of the suspected sites, not a surprise.
Missing Madisonville, now, that is a surprise.
Maybe in Round TWO.
or THREE.

 

[sublimaze1]

Not that Corsicana is not a sprawling metropolis but one could reasonably expect the SC to be near Chili's on the south side of town (2201 S I45). There is an outlet mall, Whataburger and the Collin Street Bakery (which would be my choice to waste 22 minutes). Also a Gander Mountain (in case you are out of stink bait), and a few other places to spend a little time.

Yeah, Madisonville was my best bet, but I can kinda see what Tesla is doing (with the Corsicana/Huntsville and SanMarcos/Waco arrangment). Makes sense. Also helps out the 60s, particularly if there is any battery degradation after 100K miles.

waiting for a Waco sighting to be posted ....

 

[jerry33]

Not that Corsicana is not a sprawling metropolis but one could reasonably expect the SC to be near Chili's

Too bad Chili's has no edible food, unlike just about every other Tex-Mex restaurant (or at least they didn't the last time I tried them.)

 

[sublimaze1]

Too bad Chili's has no edible food, unlike just about every other Tex-Mex restaurant (or at least they didn't the last time I tried them.)

True that. Good points.

So, back to restrooms .....

 

[cgiGuy]

...if I understand electricity correctly I'm charging at 208x323= 67,184 watts. It's incredibly fast at 220 mile/hr but that's much less than either 90KW or 120 Kw.

Mine (60) didn't even charge that fast, but I had over half a charge already which I'm sure is what's making the difference. I used the bay closest to the chargers.

I was a little surprised how long it took to "top off" to a max charge. It took me 1 hour to get from 111 miles to 204 miles (and I still had about 5 to go, but it was charging at 20 mi/hr at that point). I completely understand this isn't the intent of Superchargers, but since I was the only one there I wanted to see how long it would take so I could use the data for future planning.

That means a "near-empty" to full charge would take in the neighborhood of 1.5 hours. Maybe the "60 Minutes" parking sign is to ensure--at least on a couple of spots--that people don't sit on them for a range charge if others are waiting.

Hopefully the update to 5.0 software will change this, as I think I recall Elon talking about the "taper" being adjusted. So, higher charge rate for a longer time.