The NoVa “Dead Zone”

[mcot222]

This area is ideally situated for Urban supercharging. There are a ton of Teslas here, Tysons may be one of the most high volume sales/service centers in the country. Additionally there are many condos and communities in these areas without L2 charging. In Reston driving a few miles to work I see on average 5-7 Teslas, almost as dense as in California.

We did finally get Urban chargers in Leesburg very recently. Tysons and “Fairfax” have been on the map for years with no progress. Haymarket to the south is quite far, and everyone from this area knows that going near DC/MD is suicide.

Anyone have any inside scoops on why they are not focusing on this area and delaying the proposed sites in Tysons and Fairfax for so long??

 

[Silicon Desert]

Hmmm, I don't know. There are so many superchargers around that area, that I would not call it a dead zone. There are probably a thousand such areas similar to this around the country. It's good enough for travelers and that is the "primary" intent.
Now if you were on I40 going from Oklahoma to Memphis and see only one supercharger in 450 miles, then I would say you have a dead zone.

 

[SureValla]

My sister in law lives in this dead zone. It takes a little bit of planning when we go see her. I usually end up L1 charging in her garage all weekend.

 

[aasandsas]

I was traveling south to Chantilly, VA yesterday from Philly area and had to take a 20 minute hike on I-66 to Haymarket, VA charger.

Hopefully new SC’s come around I-495/-I-66/VA-267 corridor. Definitely need more than 3 SC’s given the amount of Tesla cars in area.

 

[mcot222]

Hmmm, I don't know. There are so many superchargers around that area, that I would not call it a dead zone. There are probably a thousand such areas similar to this around the country. It's good enough for travelers and that is the "primary" intent.
Now if you were on I40 going from Oklahoma to Memphis and see only one supercharger in 450 miles, then I would say you have a dead zone.

I would agree with you if they didn’t have Urban chargers. This should be one of the primary places for several such chargers. The one they did add (Leesburg) isn’t even the most populated city in the area and is still far from several much much more dense Urban centers.

 

[Silicon Desert]

I would agree with you if they didn’t have Urban chargers. This should be one of the primary places for several such chargers. The one they did add (Leesburg) isn’t even the most populated city in the area and is still far from several much much more dense Urban centers.

I am not understanding the comment about the Urban chargers, but then again, I'm about brain dead today and you know that area better than I do. "To me", there is little difference between superchargers and urban charger, and yup I know the difference. I wonder if anyone figures out why I say that

 

[MXFan]

They are building one in Vienna, VA. That should help reduce the dead zone size a lot.

Supercharger - Vienna, VA

 

[mcot222]

They are building one in Vienna, VA. That should help reduce the dead zone size a lot.

Supercharger - Vienna, VA

Yah supposedly that is the Fairfax one on the map. It’s been on there forever. Being part of a new WaWa it may take quite a while to open but I am hopeful.

 

[MXFan]

I am not understanding the comment about the Urban chargers, but then again, I'm about brain dead today and you know that area better than I do. "To me", there is little difference between superchargers and urban charger, and yup I know the difference. I wonder if anyone figures out why I say that

I know Tesla calls them both superchargers on their maps. Of course, both the 72KW urban superchargers and the 120/150KW regular superchargers are plenty fast. And when over 50% SOC, they do charge about the same. In any case, the Dulles/Herndon/Reston area would be a good location for a new supercharger.

 

[mcot222]

Actually I think there is a significant difference between Urban and Normal.

Urban are great for shopping areas. Since V2 went 150kW and with V3 being 250kW they are actually too quick in a lot of cases and you will have to rush back and unplug if you are shopping or grabbing a bite to eat. 72kW is perfect for most cars, it should completely top you off and still give you enough time to shop/eat, much better than a L2 AC charger still.

The NoVa area has a ton of shopping centers or town centers which would all be ideal for Urban.

 

[North75]

That area has nothing on suburban Philadelphia. Now that's a dead zone.

 

[Silicon Desert]

Actually I think there is a significant difference between Urban and Normal.

Urban are great for shopping areas. Since V2 went 150kW and with V3 being 250kW they are actually too quick in a lot of cases and you will have to rush back and unplug if you are shopping or grabbing a bite to eat. 72kW is perfect for most cars, it should completely top you off and still give you enough time to shop/eat, much better than a L2 AC charger still.
The NoVa area has a ton of shopping centers or town centers which would all be ideal for Urban.

yes, agree with all that. The reason I say it makes no difference to me is because I noticed there is just a small window of time when my cars charge at the greatly higher rate before dropping back down below the 90kW level. Then there are times where the SCs are full and I have to share power with the person next to me. The 72kW ones don't share as you probably know. Bottom line is I have looked at my average charge rate from all supercharges on 2 cars over the last 2 years and the average is 70kW per charge. My average charge is from 25% to 85%. Yea yea I am aware that the average charge rate can increase if I charge from maybe 20 to 80, etc, but I'm not going to change my road trip process from what is convenient to me. And of course, I realize some newer cars can do better, but it isn't like cars are going to get a 150-250 charge the whole time the car is on charge as a few people seem to think.