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Superchargers in VA

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techmaven

Active Member
Feb 27, 2013
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I'm thinking, based on the new low res maps @ Supercharger | Tesla Motors and Elon's comment that they work with rest stop management that the first supercharger in VA will be at the VDOT I-95 Rest Stop at Ladysmith:
Ladysmith Safety Rest Area North


For me, coming out of the west end of Richmond, this means charging for 15 min outbound to DC would get me through to areas like Rockville or Laurel MD with a little L1 charging and make it back to the supercharger to charge for 15 min to make it back home.

The other possibility is at King's Dominion.

That is, until the the second supercharger comes online. I think it's at the Dale City Rest Areas. The dot is too far north for Fredericksburg, I think.
 
Pretty hard to tell based on the relatively low res and imprecise maps in the Tesla site. I hope you are right... that looks like an ideal place.

It makes sense for it to something north of Richmond... The drive between there and DC is a common one. I saw one "guesstimate" that put it slightly south of Richmond, which would have made it inconvenient for those in either DC or Richmond going back and forth... the round trip is almost 220 miles (depending on where within each metro area), and making that trip without having to detour south of Richmond, only tot then head back north on The Hated I-95 would be nice.
 
I disagree--too close in. Even with the faster roll-out supposedly coming, Elon's still talking about connecting major metro areas. DC to Richmond is a short hop, and like with DC and Boston, folks don't need a charge at the endpoint as much as a charge to get to the endpoint. Plus the supercharger page talks about rest stops with things to do, like places to eat or shop. State rest areas like Ladysmith...sit on my hands for 30-60 minutes? Dale City has things to do but is way too close in, IMHO. I really hope they focus initially on ones enabling long road trips. I feel one south of Richmond (not sure how far south, though) would make more sense. (shrug) Just my two cents, though...it'll be interesting to see how this stuff expands in the coming months!

- - - Updated - - -

Whoops, just figured out the timeline on that map (blush)...well, I still hope it's a bit south of Richmond...but I can't read that vague map at all. ;-)
 
I'm thinking, based on the new low res maps @ Supercharger | Tesla Motors and Elon's comment that they work with rest stop management that the first supercharger in VA will be at the VDOT I-95 Rest Stop at Ladysmith:
Ladysmith Safety Rest Area North
.


From Tesla's website "Super chargers are located near amenities like roadside diners, cafes and shopping centers." This would argue against the use of the Virginia VDOT rest stops which have a bathroom and vending machines only. The delaware rest stop at least has a food court. Any Richmonders up for early reconnaissance at likely locations on the 95 corridor between Ashland and Petersburg?
 
The dot is further south than I had originally guessed. I'm thinking King's Dominion (there is a hotel, truck stop, some fast food there as well as the amusement park). Before the announcement, I thought the perfect place would be Virginia Center Commons Mall area right at Route 1/I-64/I-95. Covers east west travel from Charlottesville to the beach as well as north/south. The dot seems too far north for that, but who knows. We'll find out soon enough.
 
I thought that the general idea is 200 miles between stations. Newark DE is about 180 miles from the I-95 North Ladysmith Safety Rest stop.

BTW, what about Safety. Wouldn't we be sitting ducks at these rest stops. The attacker would know that you are there for at least 20 minutes and you are tethered. Car would not move until you get out and remove the cable.
 
200 miles would be too far for 60kWH cars. I'm just over 200 miles from the Newark supercharger - probably difficult to make it in the winter with traffic on 95/301 even in an 85kWH model. In general, it needs to be less than half that... the idea is to fast charge at the lower end of the pack. So 100-120 miles apart is ideal.

I would assume that the safety issues are similar to any night or day stop, but I agree that safety measures should be taken (well lit, populated, cameras, etc). Upon further reflection I'm not sure that Tesla should use the VDOT rest stops and security is one of the issues. VDOT rest stops are relatively secluded from the main road and not particularly well lit compared to commercial areas. I'm more in favor of the big mall areas like Virginia Center Commons and Potomac Mills.

The stretch between Newark DE and roughly Dale City VA is 125 miles. The stretch between Dale City and Virginia Center Commons Mall is 73 miles. North of Richmond is better than south of Richmond because of so much traffic that goes east west through 295 and those coming/going to Williamsburg/Norfolk <-> DC.
 
I thought the May 30 Supercharger announcement indicated the next round of superchargers (including VA) would be in place by the end of June? Seems like if that were the case we would have some idea of location by now. I just suffered through a 300 mile drive from Northern VA to the Outer Banks in the ICE so I'm a little frustrated! I did just read on the forum that Tesla entered a partnership with CBL malls
Tesla Supercharging Stations at CBL Malls

To fuel the speculation, there is a CBL mall in Colonial Heights, Virginia right off I-95 near Petersburg. Any Tesla fans live near enough to do some
reconnaissance?
 
So I did some recon at the Southpark mall just north of Petersburg and unfortunately did not see any suspicious Tesla-related activity going on. Admittedly my reconnaissance was pretty limited, consisting of a slow lap around the perimeter of the mall in my ICE vehicle but nothing was seen. I will say that the location looks like it would be pretty promising given the intersection of major interstates (I95 and I85) as well as a much more pleasant (IMO) route towards the Virginia and Outer Banks Beaches via route 460. With Tesla's announced partnership with CBL Malls this seems especially likely. tegibso, any reply to your email to the mall?
 
The reply is below. I'll post if I hear any changes.


tegibso,
Southpark Mall has not been notified that they will be part of the Tesla
installation.
We will keep your information and contact you if there are plans for this
in the future.
Thank you for contacting us.
Best regards,

Southpark Mall

Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk 2
 
Not much. At the recent event in Richmond a Tesla exec, who specified that he isn't involved or particularly knowledgable in the Supercharger deployment, did not give any encouraging news. His take was that as long as Virginia government is resistant to EV's, Tesla is less likely to commit resources to development of infrastructure. That being said, I still think Tesla has to put 1-2 in VA on I-95 to continue build out of the network, but I'm not expecting anything within the next few weeks. Continued disappointment.
 
I'm not sure he was saying that they were specifically delaying the one slated for summer 2013 because of VA's laws. Instead, I think he was saying that additional investment and timescale is based on where Tesla owners exist. If you look at the supercharger map through 2015, there are only two superchargers slated for VA. There are certainly many Tesla owners in northern VA, but very few throughout the rest of VA. He was saying that if VA would grant Tesla a dealership license and better, change the laws so that Tesla could freely operate in VA, then there would be a natural surge in sales which means Tesla could justify putting in more superchargers in VA. As it stands, they will put in the superchargers along I-95 to allow full travel through VA. Note that they are planning a supercharger along I-95 south of Richmond is just over the border in NC instead of in VA.

Therefore, to see superchargers along I-81, I-85, or I-64 sooner rather than later, VA needs to be more accommodating to Tesla so that the natural progression of sales will drive the investment. Further, they can't put in a service center in central Virginia or elsewhere in VA for the same reason. Apparently it's ok for the one in Rockville MD to exist.
 
This may be me being selfish... but I think that Tesla should not just look locally for whether to put in Superchargers, but regionally as well (and maybe nationally).

I look forward to being able to take 85 in Georgia through NC and into VA to 95 north using Superchargers. Obviously can't do that now in either state... so I hope that with the Southeast become a strong EV area (Atlanta was recently named the 5th best EV city, if I remember correctly)... that it would push the Superchargers north... and connect with the Northeast (kind of like the Golden Spike of the Transcontinental Railroad).
 
Undoubtedly the I-95 corridor is too important for Tesla to ignore even if VA remains relatively hostile to Telsa's direct sales model.

The issue becomes lesser travelled routes like I-64 between Charlottesville and Richmond, or I-81 out to Blacksburg. Even the route out from Richmond to Virginia Beach is likely to be covered by Tesla at some point because of the interest from northern VA/DC/MD owners driving out to the beach. It's just later than earlier.

I think the perspective of Tesla right now is looking at the view points of owners in the Raleigh and DC metro areas and where they want to drive. Until there are enough owners in Richmond, Virginia Beach, Charlottesville, etc., the additional routes that owners in those areas might want covered is necessarily going to be a lower priority. A higher sales level in those areas would mean that Tesla could justify more infrastructure investment sooner than later.