They should put a Supercharger in Bath ME

[bjrosen]

We went to Camden yesterday and had to top up in Freeport. The Freeport Supercharger sucks, the nearest bathroom is at LL Bean several blocks away. I came very close to getting idle charges, I received a five minute warning notification, because the round trip between the Supercharger takes longer than a charging session. This is a busy location so it capped me at 80%. If they actually build the Camden Supercharger next year that will fix the problem for Camden trips but it does nothing for the Boothbay region. Bath is the next place along Route 1 they should build a Supercharger, it would be convenient for traffic to Wiscassett, Boothbay and beyond. I wouldn't recommend Wiscassett because of the traffic jams there. Freeport is at it's limit and the lot where the chargers are is very cramped.

 

[kayak1]

We went to Camden yesterday and had to top up in Freeport. The Freeport Supercharger sucks, the nearest bathroom is at LL Bean several blocks away. I came very close to getting idle charges, I received a five minute warning notification, because the round trip between the Supercharger takes longer than a charging session. This is a busy location so it capped me at 80%. If they actually build the Camden Supercharger next year that will fix the problem for Camden trips but it does nothing for the Boothbay region. Bath is the next place along Route 1 they should build a Supercharger, it would be convenient for traffic to Wiscassett, Boothbay and beyond. I wouldn't recommend Wiscassett because of the traffic jams there. Freeport is at it's limit and the lot where the chargers are is very cramped.

Bath would be an easy location to build as they could build just to the right of the bridge where the two free L2 chargers are near the welcome center.
Abundant 3 phase power exists to support Bath Iron Works.

 

[st50maint]

This is a busy location so it capped me at 80%.

The 80% limit can easily be overridden.
Use the slider in the car or on the app to increase it.

 

[bjrosen]

The 80% limit can easily be overridden.
Use the slider in the car or on the app to increase it.

The level in the car/app was set to 90%. The Supercharger was half full when I got there, I've seen the message before at another busy Supercharger which said charging would be limited to 80%.

 

[st50maint]

The level in the car/app was set to 90%. The Supercharger was half full when I got there, I've seen the message before at another busy Supercharger which said charging would be limited to 80%.

Yes, but you can increase it manually if you really need more than 80%

 

[jlv1]

We went to Camden yesterday and had to top up in Freeport. The Freeport Supercharger sucks, the nearest bathroom is at LL Bean several blocks away.

The nearest bathroom is in the L.L.Bean main store on the 2nd floor - it is the large building directly across the parking lot from the SuperCharger. It's a short walk, but you need to walk around the back of the building to get inside.

 

[jlv1]

I drive up to Maine often, including to the Rockland/Camden area. I often stop at the Freeport SuC.

Given the proximity of the existing Superchargers at Kennebunk, Portland, and Freeport, IMHO adding another just 15 miles further up Route 1 in Bath would be unhelpful to those making such a trip.

 

[tga]

The nearest bathroom is in the L.L.Bean main store on the 2nd floor - it is the large building directly across the parking lot from the SuperCharger. It's a short walk, but you need to walk around the back of the building to get inside.

Actually, there's one even closer on the first floor - there's an entrance in the hunting department on the south side (Morse St) - walk past the multiple racks of rifle and shotguns and either drool or have a panic attack depending on your political persuasion, and there are bathrooms in the back.

 

[kayak1]

Actually, there's one even closer on the first floor - there's an entrance in the hunting department on the south side (Morse St) - walk past the multiple racks of rifle and shotguns and either drool or have a panic attack depending on your political persuasion, and there are bathrooms in the back.

They also seem to be less used and much cleaner..

 

[bjrosen]

They also seem to be less used and much cleaner..

It's still so far away that you can't do the round trip before the car stops charging.

 

[tga]

It's still so far away that you can't do the round trip before the car stops charging.

Set the slider to 100% before leaving. It'll take at least a half an hour to go from 90%->100%

 

[bjrosen]

Set the slider to 100% before leaving. It'll take at least a half an hour to go from 90%->100%

My slider was at 90 and it stopped charging at 80. If a Supercharger is busy they limit you to 80%. This is the last Supercharger on Route 1 so it's oversubscribed.

 

[tga]

My slider was at 90 and it stopped charging at 80. If a Supercharger is busy they limit you to 80%. This is the last Supercharger on Route 1 so it's oversubscribed.

You ignored @st50maint's post above. When you plug into a busy supercharger, the slider is lowered to 80% if it is currently set to >80% and the car displays the "busy supercharger, max percentage reduced" warning. But you can go into the charge dialog and raise it back above 80% if you want, and it will stick.

 

[ItsNotAboutTheMoney]

We went to Camden yesterday and had to top up in Freeport. The Freeport Supercharger sucks, the nearest bathroom is at LL Bean several blocks away. I came very close to getting idle charges, I received a five minute warning notification, because the round trip between the Supercharger takes longer than a charging session. This is a busy location so it capped me at 80%. If they actually build the Camden Supercharger next year that will fix the problem for Camden trips but it does nothing for the Boothbay region. Bath is the next place along Route 1 they should build a Supercharger, it would be convenient for traffic to Wiscassett, Boothbay and beyond. I wouldn't recommend Wiscassett because of the traffic jams there. Freeport is at it's limit and the lot where the chargers are is very cramped.

Freeport, ME is only 41 miles from Boothbay Harbor, ME and most of that is relatively low speed.

 

[jlv1]

It's still so far away that you can't do the round trip before the car stops charging.

That's a 3 minute walk. If your car stops charging before you can go to either of those bathrooms and back, then you didn't need to Supercharge that much in the first place. Hop in the car and enjoy the rest of your trip!

(since I can't plot a walk into the store, I extended this a little down the road)

 

[bjrosen]

That's a 3 minute walk. If your car stops charging before you can go to either of those bathrooms and back, then you didn't need to Supercharge that much in the first place. Hop in the car and enjoy the rest of your trip!

View attachment 709314
(since I can't plot a walk into the store, I extended this a little down the road)

Maybe it's a three minute walk for you but it isn't for me or my girlfriend, we are in our 60s.

 

[bjrosen]

Freeport, ME is only 41 miles from Boothbay Harbor, ME and most of that is relatively low speed.

Freeport is a lousy place to stop if you aren't going to Freeport. It's also a very crowded Supercharger. They need more Supercharging capacity on that route and it would be better to put another Supercharge in a more convenient place rather than trying to expand the one in Freeport especially since there really isn't any more room there. Bath seems like it would be the best place although putting one over the bridge from Wiscasset would be good also. Wiscasset itself would be a bad choice because it already has a terrible traffic problem which clears up as soon as you pass Red's.

 

[TFCooper3]

I think Ellsworth is a much more logical place to put a supercharger.

 

[bjrosen]

I think Ellsworth is a much more logical place to put a supercharger.

They have a Supercharger scheduled for Bar Harbor, that's close to Ellsworth.

 

[tga]

They have a Supercharger scheduled for Bar Harbor, that's close to Ellsworth.

"Bar Harbor" doesn't necessarily mean "Bar Harbor" - it's just the biggest/most well known town in the area, which is how they identify general areas of interest before a specific location is chosen. The pin is perfectly centered over the words "Bar Harbor" on the map, which tells me it's not a real location, but just stuck to the town name. See the St Johnsbury VT pin (formerly at Lyndon VT).

Since no permit has been found, many of us believe that "Bar Harbor" will turn out to be Ellsworth, specifically at the Hannaford. Hannaford has a strong sustainability program and history of installing DCFC (Tesla and others) at stores throughout New England (I've used several). Tesla has worked with Hannaford (Portland). Efficiency Maine is installing DCFC at the Hannaford in Ellsworth.

Ellsworth makes more sense anyway, as it catches traffic heading on/off island and along rt 1 (intersection of 2 routes). Bar Harbor is a destination. Tesla generally prefers to install Superchargers along routes, not at destinations. That's what destination/L2 charging is for, and there's plenty of that on the island.

More discussion here - Supercharger Speculation - Bar Harbor/Ellsworth, ME