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Why is Tesla putting a supercharger in Seattle?

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Although I (ahem) live in the Seattle area, I don't see why there is a need for one in Seattle. There are many places to charge around here. Even eastside cities like Issaquah, Bellevue, Kirkland, have charging. Sure, more charging is always good but we should save our precious supercharger resources for where they do the most good.

I think we'd be much better off to move a mythical Seattle 10 bay supercharger into a place where it would be needed. Some corridors that could use it:

It just doesn't make sense. There are lots of Teslas in San Francisco but we don't seem to need a charger there.
 
Having a Supercharger in large cities will be helpful for people that live 100-200 miles away. They could drive to town for shopping/events/medical treatment, etc. Afterward, they could stop at the supercharger, have lunch or dinner, and drive home.

I think there is going to be demand for lots of DC fast charge locations. To be convenient, they need to be wherever you are going, with no detour. Tesla's proposed supercharger network is awesome, and very enabling, but eventually more will be needed. Maybe the gap will be filled by for profit J1772-DC and CHAdeMo DC chargers once there are lots of compatible EVs on the road.

GSP
 
I mentioned this in another thread but SC's in metropolitan area is important. As it stands, I can drive to Vancouver BC but after I get there, I'm stuck. Yes, some hotels have charging stations but I'm staying at my parents condo (110v - sometimes).

So my drive currently is range charge and drive to HPC at Ferndale, eat a long lunch at Denny's that'll get me enough charge to go around town in Vancouver. On the way home, if I can't get a full charge done, I'll have to top off at Ferndale HPC again. I really prefer not to add charging time during commute for no reason. I prefer as with most, to have full charge and get home to charge. And that would be solved with a HPC in Vancouver city itself. And a SC for Model S owners.

But of course, we'll run in the problem with freeloaders using SC's instead of at home. With the number of Model S's running around town here, wouldn't surprise me if the spots are taken up more often than not. On one hand, its great that its being used during non-Friday's, but on the other than, some road warrior needs the charge for their travels.
 
2 reasons come to mind. Number 1: For those of use who own 60kWh batteries where 150 miles between chargers is possible but could get a little white knuckle depending on conditions and driving style. I was actually hoping for one in Seattle when I heard about Centralia and Burlington. Number 2: for people visiting Seattle to be able to get to Seattle, drive wherever they want in the metro area and then get out of town without having to wait an extra long time to charge at a non-SC charger. Having just enough superchargers to make it somewhere is ok but why not put them in so that there is no need to worry if you want to drive 80mph or take that detour to wherever?
 
Jackyche;355203... But of course said:
I guess I just don't see it as freeloading. It's a service that is provided for ALL Tesla Model S owners. If some one wants to hog it, well, they have that right. But, even with that said, there is no reason to believe that local drivers will over use it. If I didn't have a charger at all and had to rely on an SC, I'd probably hit it once a week. Plus, I doubt that the Seattle SC will be terribly convenient for most local drivers. My guess is that it will be at the Bellevue Service Center which isn't at all convenient for people that don't drive by Bellevue. I truly see this as a non-problem.
 
Elon's comment in the Q&A seems to have meaning for this discussion as well:
18. Do you plan to combine batteries and supercapacitors?
In the beginning, I kept pushing for exactly that. Shouldn't we have an ultracapacitor combined with a battery pack? We found that if you have a big enough battery pack, you're not power limited.

One of the reasons people "park" at J1772 chargers "all day" is that 30A can feel like forever to charge. If you plug in at a SC and it's basically provided most of its value to you in the first 20-30 minutes, you're (most of the time) simply an idiot for leaving it there for over an hour. Most people won't be motivated to do that.
 
I dunno, it seems like Elon shot down the theory of Superchargers in the bigger cities at the shareholder's meeting yesterday. The first question he answered was from a lady asking about charging options for those that buy an MS but live in an apartment or condo without charging options. He could have said "we may look into supercharging in those areas in the future". He certainly did not offer that as a possibility. He said they should hope the cities expand their charging infrastructure on the street.
 
If you plug in at a SC and it's basically provided most of its value to you in the first 20-30 minutes, you're (most of the time) simply an idiot for leaving it there for over an hour. Most people won't be motivated to do that.

There are many threads that talk about this and the possibilities on how to fix it. I'm sure that someone will come up with something, Push Notifications through the app, digital Placards with cell phone numbers when someone else needs the spot, something. It won't be a problem forever, especially once more people start encountering the problem, i think more people will have a vested interest in solving it, *especially* when this fabled SDK comes out. I cant wait.

Regarding the Seattle Supercharger

Its probably twofold, 1 for out of towners, maybe those like in Bellingham. 90 miles away, 50-75 mi of in town driving (bellevue and back?), 70 miles back to Burlington SC. With a max charge and driving 50-55mph, they can make it, but driving faster would make it something to think about. So in general, its about convenience and having flexibility without forethought. Especially with such a low capital investment of $150k (Grid based) / $300k (Solar based) price tag.

Maybe you're late or caught in traffic and can't stop. Happened to me the other day when I took my 85 up to Vancouver, I couldn't stop in Blaine, WA to charge because I was behind schedule and the border wait was huge. (SIDE NOTE: How i'd love to see a Number System + EV Charging @ the border, talk about wasted time) With a Seattle Supercharger, you have complete flexibility. I would have used it the other day after driving around town on errands, taking someone to the airport and then headed up to Lynnwood. And I live in WALLINGFORD, 2 miles from the service center! Superchargers add freedom. Enough said.
 
They will likely put a supercharger in the parking garage of Bellevue Square Mall where the Tesla store is.
It is right near I-405 and would be easy for anyone going north or south (Portland to Vancouver BC or the reverse trip).
It is also near I-90.
There is then the food court and plenty of restaurants nearby during the 20-30 minutes recharge process.

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Another reason to put it in Bellevue Square Mall is because they already have space leased in the parking garage.
They have Roadster chargers, the wall mounted Model S chargers, etc. They park the demo cars there and they allow current Tesla owners to park there for a free recharge while shopping. It only makes sense that a supercharger would be placed there also.