+1 totally agree with you Tesla needs to get their act together before the upcoming season...,
We have a catch 22 here, and I think the only way to break the logjam is for Tesla to install the full suite of superchargers in New England.
Hear me out - no one is taking their MS skiing unless they are confident they can make it home. This means one of the following:
- Day trips are limited to ski areas close to home (~100 mi) with no need for en-route charging.
- Long distance day trips require superchargers along 91/89/93 or guaranteed charging at the ski area.
- Weekend trips add the option of charging at hotels/ski houses
That's just a gimmick. "add _A_ charger"??? Did you see how many hundreds of not a thousand cars are parked there on any given day? What makes you think that you or I will be able to go find and park at the 1-2 charging stations?
And that's the problem. With only one charging station, and no backup plan (ie, supercharging on the way up and back), that probably means that no one will risk it. A large ski area would need to add several stations before drivers would feel secure in finding a charging station for the day in order to make it home.
So Jay Peak puts in one, probably considering it a pilot to see how much use it gets. But the lack of a supercharging backup results in artificially low demand, causing the pilot to fail. To really ascertain demand, you need to put in several, or provide a way to guarantee a charging reservation.
If there were superchargers on the way, then people will bring the Model S. If they get a charge station at the hill, great - they save a 30 minute stop on the way home. If not, they still make it home, just a little later.
Put in the superchargers, and then the Model S's show up at the ski areas. There may be a bit of a backlog at the superchargers on the way up and back, but once the ski areas see the MS's, then it's a simple argument to install destination charging as a means of attracting more/retaining existing customers. Destination charging eases the backlog at the superchargers.
But I don't see achieving critical mass without the superchargers going in first.