Vancouver Supercharger location confirmed.

[Colsla]

Taken just now at the new Fairview/Kits store/service center.

Sorry for poor quality, the gate is usually open, but it was closed this morning and I had to take the picture through a gap.




I have other photos of inside the store taken from outside and such, will upload them later.

 

[Mark C.]

great news!

 

[RobertSeattle]

What's the exchange rate between US Electricity and Canadian?

 

[Canuck]

So what is the location? I only see a box in the picture. If Kits is the SC location, that would be a really poor choice for travelers. They need to put it beside a highway for travel, not in a densely populated area that is difficult to get in and out of. But hopefully this looks to just be a place where they are storing the boxes for now.

 

[Colsla]

What's the exchange rate between US Electricity and Canadian?

Haha for residential

So what is the location? I only see a box in the picture. If Kits is the SC location, that would be a really poor choice for travelers. They need to put it beside a highway for travel, not in a densely populated area that is difficult to get in and out of. But hopefully this looks to just be a place where they are storing the boxes for now.

The box has DC Supercharger written on it in black.

I can see why you think it is a poor location choice for them, but as far as I know there are many superchargers in SF that are in urban area where locals charge everyday and create a lineup to a point where they need a valet service. Plus, Montreal had a supercharger location with only 2 chargers until recently. Link is here..

New Supercharger in Montreal - 12 Stalls! • /r/teslamotors

I also believe Tesla considers those 'apartment dwellers' without proper charge plug. I dont really drive around much during the week, and someone else may correct me if they have seen a location where they saw the chargers being installed (that may not even happen yet since the chargers only need to be installed in 2016 not necessarily in May) but I cant see why they would store boxes there when they are not going to install them there.

I dont mind being proved wrong but this location seems to be it... for now at least. I assume at least a couple thousands of ppl from Lower Mainland reserved Model S, so they may move the chargers or install additional ones at another location in the future.

 

[pairtrader]

Hopefully it's both. The new service center/store will be swamped with the Model 3 so a SuperCharger would be useful for Tesla to charge all of the cars going through, and immensely helpful for many downtown owners. They really should have one near Hwy 1, but the apartment dweller issue is significant. I'm having my charger installed in my downtown parkade as we speak. My installation involves some work that will make it easier for future installs, but it's still an obstacle that may discourage potential Model 3 buyers. The additional sales from a downtown SuperCharger would likely justify the cost.

 

[Canuck]

but the apartment dweller issue is significant.

I don't see it as that significant. Most of the "apartments" in Kits are Strata units. Strata owners have a pro-rated interest in common property in accordance with unit entitlement. They should not be legally denied installing a 14-50 plug or EVSE in their parking spot, at their own expense. So they also shouldn't be using SC's as an excuse not to charge at home.

The only exception should be for renters who have no option and we shouldn't be locating SC to serve their purpose. SC are for long distant travel. As such, they need to be placed along travel corridors like they do in the States. The ones in urban areas in California are different since they have tons of SC's also along travel routes, and very close to the urban ones. We do not. If this is one or two SC to serve the service centre, and others will be placed along a highway, that's fine. But if this counts as the Vancouver location it is a very poor choice for travellers, which is the reason for SC in the first place.

 

[f-stop]

I agree a highway location for the Vancouver Supercharger makes much more sense, although I did hear a rumour a few months ago from a Tesla service ctr employee and another at the store that the SC would likely be co-located with the Fir/4th Ave store/service centre (though we do know how accurate that kind of info can be). The site is east of the dense residential area of Kits proper, and might be convenient for travellers going north-south and right into the city since it's very close to the south foot of both Granville & Burrard bridges. But certainly not so convenient for anyone travelling east-west via highway or wanting to avoid the centre of town.

if the SC actually will be at this location, I'm guesing it would have to be in the underground parkade as there isn't really any available exterior space on this same property - I've looked around the site and the building goes right up to the sidewalk and lane all the way around the block. Would there be 24hr access? I guess it wouldn't be the first indoor Supercharger though, I've seen photos of some indoor ones in the US...

 

[Colsla]

Yeah its a quite a bit of drive for those who are on hwy1 to drive off the hwy and come all the way here to charge.. hopefully they will add one more location before 2020 given the number of S owners and 3 reservation holders.

below are pictures from yesterday (around 5 30)


the black gate on the right side of the photo below is the 'back door' to the SC. I believe the showroom cars and other cars that need to be serviced will enter the SC through this gate. The supercharger box was inside the gate.

Below is the 'inside' look of the gate. its being used for temporary storage for construction related stuff it seems.
The supercharger box is gone as of this morning. I wonder if they relocated it somewhere else in the building or it's been moved to a different location altogether.

It makes me wonder though if this will indeed be a supercharger location, how will they allow access to cars at night time? since the store will be closed and locked? I guess this will be one of those 9 to5 super charger locations?
and by the way this is just one side of the store... which it seems like where they will service the cars and have showroom cars and stuff. I have no clue what's happening with the other half of the store. the windows have been blocked with some sort of paper it might be where the stalls are gonna be installed..?

 

[green1]

You do realize that most stores have a non functional supercharger siting in them as a show piece right? Anyone assuming this is anything else may be reading too much in to this.

 

[Colsla]

You do realize that most stores have a non functional supercharger siting in them as a show piece right? Anyone assuming this is anything else may be reading too much in to this.

Yes but given vancouver is getting those this year and the box is sitting there, with a new flagship and all, I think it's not too crazy to assume this location will have a couple of those..

 

[gordo]

I can see why you think it is a poor location choice for them, but as far as I know there are many superchargers in SF that are in urban area where locals charge everyday and create a lineup to a point where they need a valet service.

For what it's worth, this is not completely accurate. SF proper (the densest urban part of the Bay Area) actually has no Supercharger locations. The chargers in Fremont, Mountain View and San Mateo (and even Vacaville, Gilroy and Petaluma) are all located on major highway corridors. San Mateo in particular needs a valet because it's close to SFO and therefore ripe for abuse by airport car services, not to mention proximity to probably the largest concentration of Model S owners in the world (SF Peninsula).

 

[Canuck]

Maybe if a Moderator reads this thread the title can be changed to "[un]confirmed" at least until there is official confirmation rather than speculation.

 

[Colsla]

Maybe if a Moderator reads this thread the title can be changed to "[un]confirmed" at least until there is official confirmation rather than speculation.

Sounds fair enough. Didnt know seeing the charger container isnt enough of evidence. I should have ended the sentence with a question mark since nothing is installed yet.

 

[Canuck]

Sounds fair enough. Didnt know seeing the charger container isnt enough of evidence. I should have ended the sentence with a question mark since nothing is installed yet.

No worries. I appreciate your pictures and information. Please continue to keep us advised. Thanks.

 

[pairtrader]

I don't see it as that significant. Most of the "apartments" in Kits are Strata units.

SC are for long distant travel. .

You're correct that in Kits, and downtown, most units are strata. Permission to install a charger isn't the problem, it's the cost, and how to bill the user for the electricity. Some of the smaller buildings in Kits may be able to install a 15-40 or a level 2 charger for their handful of owners/tenants, which wouldn't be too costly, and users can pay a monthly fee for use. My building downtown has 220 units and my install is $8,000 including the charger and a revenue grade meter, minus the $4,500 government grant. The cost for the next person to install should be lower since my install laid some of the groundwork, but it's still a major expense for someone purchasing a Model 3.

More creative solutions will be implemented, and stratas will become more accepting (some have denied the use of a single Visitor Parking stall as an EV charging stall). The problem I have with the idea of all superchargers being free for the life of the car, is that it closes the door to some good solutions. I believe that many of the people "abusing" the superchargers for local charging would be happy to pay for use. If Tesla could build a few supercharger sites right in Vancouver, and have people pay for use, it would alleviate the need to have home charging. Vancouver is a city of renters. My large building is over 50% renters and I doubt landlords will shell out the money to install a charger. Many of these renters may want a Model 3, but will have difficulty finding an affordable and convenient charging solution. Of course I don't expect the free policy to change, so hopefully the proliferation of public chargers, charging at work etc will be sufficient.

 

[green1]

Only one crate? How does anyone think this isn't just the store display unit? There's nowhere to put a supercharger there, they never do installs with only one pedestal, and they always have one in the showroom. That's what this is.

 

[Colsla]

Only one crate? How does anyone think this isn't just the store display unit? There's nowhere to put a supercharger there, they never do installs with only one pedestal, and they always have one in the showroom. That's what this is.

I am sorry I didn't know they have dummy superchargers in store. We only have a tiny showroom downtown and I don't pass by that store that often either. Plus one of the Montreal supercharger locations only had two stalls until very recently. I'm not sure if they have more than two even now. All I know is they are getting 12 soon as they just broke ground for the construction.

 

[chongov]

I don't see it as that significant. Most of the "apartments" in Kits are Strata units. Strata owners have a pro-rated interest in common property in accordance with unit entitlement. They should not be legally denied installing a 14-50 plug or EVSE in their parking spot, at their own expense. So they also shouldn't be using SC's as an excuse not to charge at home.

You must be living in an alternate universe if you think that it is easy or even possible for a strata owner to gain permission to install an electrical outlet in their parking spot. I fought my strata for two years to get one installed, took legal action, created petitions, and even offered to pay to install a public charging station in visitor parking for the benefit of all residents. All requests were denied. I've now purchased a house on freehold land and strata hell will soon be a distant memory.

Urban Superchargers would absolutely be useful for urban dwellers. If overusage is an issue, Tesla should simply do what they should have done from the start: make us pay to use them.

 

[chongov]

You're correct that in Kits, and downtown, most units are strata. Permission to install a charger isn't the problem

Oh yes it is, let me assure you. I and many others have fought epic campaigns to get permission to install outlets in condo parking stalls. Stratas are largely run by dinosaurs.