Huge Tesla Supercharger Buildout in Response to Huge Gross sales of Mannequin Y, 3, S, & X
I picked up my new Tesla Mannequin 3 in October 2019 on the Salt Lake Metropolis Supply Middle. Since then, I’ve been very happy with the Tesla Supercharger community that enables me to journey cross-country on Interstate highways with solely just a little inconvenience in contrast with my earlier journeys in gas-mobiles. I’m significantly happy with the upgrades Tesla has made since my buy.
A giant enchancment for me is the brand new Nice Grove, Utah, showroom and supply heart 40 miles south of Salt Lake Metropolis, solely 4 miles from my home. However we’re not the one ones getting Superchargers close by.
Determine 1: Tesla worker plugging in my daughter’s Mannequin X utilizing a conveyable Supercharger on the Nephi, Utah, Supercharger. December 26, 2022. Picture by Fritz Hasler.
After we are driving cross nation in Wyoming, South Dakota, and southwest Minnesota, Superchargers are spaced conveniently simply off the Interstate highways and we’re regularly the one automobile charging.
Nonetheless, Tesla has been promoting ~200 vehicles per week on the Salt Lake Metropolis Supply Middle and the brand new service and supply heart in Nice Grove. Add to that the 1000s per week bought in California, with many touring from Southern California to Utah.
The I-15 (Salt Lake Metropolis and Saint George, Utah; Las Vegas, Nevada; to Southern California) hall has develop into a really closely traveled route for Tesla automobiles. The Tesla Supercharger buildout and use alongside this route grew to become dramatically illustrated this previous week simply following Christmas. On Monday December 26, 2022, Tesla rolled out transportable Superchargers to take care of the additional demand (see Determine 1).
Determine 2: My spouse Mary, daughter, canine Zuni, and daughter’s Mannequin X. Leaving Lindon, Utah, on December 26, 2022. Picture by Fritz Hasler.
Loads of visitors is from individuals like my spouse, my daughter, and I, who had been carrying bikes to Saint George (See Figures 2 and three). St. George is nearly at all times snow free and the climate is sunnier and far hotter within the winter than the large metropolitan heart in Northern Utah. Many Northern Utah residents like my daughter personal trip houses down there. Individuals had been additionally on their method to Las Vegas for leisure and playing, Arizona for soccer bowl video games, and California for sunny seashores in San Diego. We additionally noticed ski carriers on the Teslas going the other way from California, going north to Utah ski resorts. Additionally, with the massive Mormon populations in Utah and California, many individuals had been touring residence from Christmas household reunions.
Determine 3: Proprietor with Mannequin Y and wide-tire ebikes on again. Moveable Supercharger at Nephi, Utah Supercharger station on December 26, 2022. Picture by Fritz Hasler.
Sleepy Superchargers of 6 months to a couple years in the past have been constructed out and augmented to satisfy the demand of just about all Tesla cross-country journey. We had been on the I-15 route from Salt Lake Metropolis to Saint George, Utah, two years in the past at Thanksgiving after we stopped halfway on the Beaver Supercharger. We slipped into the final free stall of 8 on the Beaver Supercharger, which shared 150 kW between adjoining stalls. Most older Superchargers have 8 stalls with 150 kW shared between each two stalls. The oldest Superchargers might be as gradual as 72 kW. The subsequent Teslas behind us needed to wait not less than a couple of minutes for a stall. By the subsequent Thanksgiving, Tesla had upgraded the Beaver Supercharger to 32 stalls (See Determine 4). All the brand new stalls have non-shared 250 kW chargers. No extra ready ever! Be aware: there are additionally two extra Superchargers between Salt Lake Metropolis and Saint George if wanted — one in Nephi, Utah, and the opposite in Cedar Metropolis, Utah.
Determine 4: 17 Teslas at 32-station, 250 kW Supercharger in Beaver, Utah, on December 26, 2022. Picture by Fritz Hasler.
We had been stunned to be taught that the sleepy 4-stall 72 kW Supercharger in Cedar Metropolis effectively off of I-15 within the heart of the town has been upgraded with a 16-stall 250 kW Supercharger proper on I-15.
That leaves the additionally sleepy 8-stall 150 kW Supercharger in Nephi 90 miles south of Salt Lake Metropolis that has at all times been packed. Apparently, Tesla anticipated the large post-Christmas journey surge on December 26, 2022, however hadn’t been in a position to set up new everlasting stalls but. As we drove in, we noticed an enormous semi truck trailer with an enormous field on it with a person standing subsequent to it. We backed as much as the trailer and the person, who turned out to be a Tesla worker, plugged in my daughter’s Mannequin X (see Determine 1). There have been 5 extra 250 kW cables operating from the trailer.
It’s common data that the uptake of EVs normally and Teslas particularly in California is way higher than in another state. Despite the fact that Superchargers are far more frequent in California, we do hear studies of waits to cost on busy weekends. On our jaunt from Saint George by way of Las Vegas to Southern California in 2021, we pulled into the Baker, California Supercharger. Shock! The Baker Supercharger has 40 stations, however they solely have a most of 150 kW every. We slipped into the one vacant stall (see Determine 5). Nonetheless, simply 50 miles to the north on I-15 on the Primm Nevada Supercharger there are 42 non-shared stations, every with 250 kW max. Tesla is upgrading a Supercharger in Quartzsite, Arizona, to 88 stations, and the Tesla worker on the Nephi Supercharger reported that not less than two Superchargers in California have already got over 100 stalls. One in every of these is in Barstow, California.
Determine 5: 40-station Tesla Supercharger in Baker, California, on February 21, 2022. Picture by Fritz Hasler.
Nonetheless, these Superchargers are pipsqueaks in comparison with the most important Supercharger on this planet, the 637-stall Supercharger in Shenzhen, China. Shenzhen, with 12.6 million residents, is the companion metropolis to Hong Kong. It’s the residence metropolis to BYD, the world chief in plugin electrical automobiles. BYD has produced the 18,000 public buses for Shenzhen which make it the most important electrical bus fleet on this planet. That is what it takes to insure worry-free journey in a Tesla more often than not.
Nonetheless, there are locations off the most important highways which are troublesome in an EV. For instance, we regularly journey north from our summer season residence in Three Lakes, Wisconsin, to the great vacationer city of Bayfield, Wisconsin, on Lake Superior subsequent to Madeline Island. However after we go there, it requires a 6-hour Stage 2 cost on the Bayfield Chamber of Commerce so as to get again residence. There’s a L3 quick charger 12 miles south in Washburn, Wisconsin, however it’s a CCS charger. You should purchase a Tesla-to-CCS adapter from Tesla for $200, but it surely solely works on not too long ago produced Teslas. Tesla gives an improve for my 2019 Mannequin 3, however it isn’t speculated to be out there till early 2023. I’m holding my breath. With the improve and adapter, we can begin for residence earlier.
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