First Colorado Supercharger location confirmed

Any word on a projected opening date?

If anyone lives near there, they should do some exploring to see if they see signs of construction...

GlennAlanBerry said:

If anyone lives near there, they should do some exploring to see if they see signs of construction...

Click to expand...

I took a drive from Boulder up to Keystone over Loveland Pass last Friday. That trip, coming back on I-70 including some side trips was easily within an 85 kWh range. I did 172 miles and had 76 miles left when I got home that night after a full charge.

Appropriately, the press release says the Supercharger will be in the "green" part of the Mall. The info center was there and I asked them where the Supercharger was going and what the schedule was. They knew nothing of schedules, said that Tesla was waiting approval from the local building dept. and the local utility, Xcel, but the location was next to the "Under Armor" store. I went there and sure enough it looks like a good spot, but the only thing there yet were a lot of utility locates.

Take heart then! In WA, the time from locates to SCs up and running was about a month. That was with a few hiccups (failed inspection at Centralia).

Cottonwood said:

I took a drive from Boulder up to Keystone over Loveland Pass last Friday. That trip, coming back on I-70 including some side trips was easily within an 85 kWh range. I did 172 miles and had 76 miles left when I got home that night after a full charge.

Appropriately, the press release says the Supercharger will be in the "green" part of the Mall. The info center was there and I asked them where the Supercharger was going and what the schedule was. They knew nothing of schedules, said that Tesla was waiting approval from the local building dept. and the local utility, Xcel, but the location was next to the "Under Armor" store. I went there and sure enough it looks like a good spot, but the only thing there yet were a lot of utility locates.

Click to expand...

Thanks for the report, Butch. We started up toward Silverthorne yesterday but turned around at Georgetown when it became clear that the Sunday traffic jam returning to Denver from the mountains had started early. Glad to know what we would have seen if we'd gotten there.

PhilBa said:

Take heart then! In WA, the time from locates to SCs up and running was about a month. That was with a few hiccups (failed inspection at Centralia).

Click to expand...

In Atascadero there was about 2 1/2 weeks from the first signs of construction until completion. Contracts and permits take a lot of time, construction is relatively quick.

We visited the Silverthorne site yesterday: no construction activity is visible yet. The utility locates are between the street and the back of the outlets mall building under what looks like an overflow/employee lot. There are food options and shopping right there, of course. There's also a great, funky breakfast/lunch place, Mountain Lyon Cafe, located just an easy walk away on the other side of the Blue River (conveniently, there's a pedestrian bridge at the north end of the outlet malls). The port cochere in the first photo (I was looking southwest) is attached to the side of the Under Armor store. Anybody know how to decipher the locate codes in the second shot? There appear to be two comm, one gas and two electrical runs in the same trench.






FWIW, the round trip from my house was 174.5 miles and we consumed 47.3 kWh, for an average of 271 Wh/mi. Not bad at all, considering we were driving at or slightly above the speed limit up and over the Divide through the Eisenhower tunnel, twice, with one episode of heavy rain that lasted about 10 minutes. I've got the 19" wheels and stock Goodyears on my standard 85.

Thanks for the visit and report, Steve. I wonder if Tesla will do a ribbon-cutting ceremony like they have been doing in Florida? Regardless of that, it might be fun to have a Tesla Meetup once the SC is ready to go.

This delay is really killin my summer road trip plans.
I feel it's safe to say from your reports it won't be ready to charge me on the way back from Warrior Dash, Sunday the 18th and I will have to drive 65 mph to eke out the distance from Fort Collins. Lame.

Questions for you guys...
I test drove the Model S last year, but am really waiting for the Model X.
How did the Model S handle in the snow over the winter, being RWD?
How do you deal with the big downhills on I-70 coming back to the metro area? As you don't downshift, are you on the brake a lot down the steeper grades?
Thanks.

As of yesterday, 8/11/2013, there was no more progress on the Silverthorne Supercharger site; still just utility locates in the parking lot.

Here are two iPhone screenshots from Google Maps. The blue dots are my position standing where the Supercharger will go.

15 Aug: No progress since Steve's photos. Management Office is aware of the location (progress!) and sent me there. I'm worried that "2-(3phase) #1 Al" is insufficient for any kind of SC !?? Gee, I'm running #1 Cu underground to my house [3x1gaCu] x ~350 ft. Also it is unclear to me where the power source is located: is it in the building or under the shoulder of the highway? For safety reasons the SC might have to be away from the highway, so Cottonwood's blue dot would thus be very accurate.

The good news is that SC will NOT be right in front of a store, so it will likely NOT be plagued by interlopers (ICE'rs).


> The port cochere in the first photo [stevezzzz]

So that's what these are called!! I'm slowly learning to 'speak Colorado'. I want one of these over my kitchen door. :smile:
--

I wonder what the main delay is? Is it permitting or other red-tape, or is difficulty getting a qualified contractor to actually do the work?

It is too bad that Tesla keeps their front-line employees completely in the dark, since I am sure they get a lot of questions about what is going on. Once a deal is signed, there is no reason to be so secretive about the schedule.

Barry said:

Questions for you guys...
I test drove the Model S last year, but am really waiting for the Model X.
How did the Model S handle in the snow over the winter, being RWD?
How do you deal with the big downhills on I-70 coming back to the metro area? As you don't downshift, are you on the brake a lot down the steeper grades?
Thanks.

Click to expand...

Welcome, Barry. This is OT, but here goes... Good snow tires are a big help if you want to drive the S all winter in Colorado. On the stock 19" Goodyears, snow handling is just so-so; the traction control is superb, but with only 52% of the weight on the drive wheels there's just not enough traction. Cottonwood and wycolo can tell you about their experiences with winter driving in the mountains.

The rest of the year, mountain driving in the S is a dream: plenty of power up the hills, plenty of regen braking coming back down. In fact, you really don't need the friction brakes at all, even on the steepest downhills.

First, not sure that locate coding is for the SC feeds - you'll notice they listed qty 2 1AWG 3ph feeders. I suspect that's what is currently in the ground right there.

1 AWG AL wire rated at 90 degC (XHHW-2, for example) is good to 115A. There are two differences between theirs and yours - first, you're running @ 240VAC, and second you're only running single-phase. So CU #1 is good only to 150A * 240V = 31.2 kW for you. For 3PH, total power = I x R x sqrt(3) x PF. Ignoring PF for a moment, maximum possible power on 3PH, 480VAC @ 115A is 95 kW. So that would be a bit undersized for SC needs.

The SC hardware has a nameplate current rating of 160A @ 480VAC 3ph. That would require #3/0 AL @ 90 degC.

Power companies get to use different rulesets that I'm not always familiar with (they can vary by state, too), so they might get to use something slightly smaller.

Right, these markings are specs, not the usual radio-scans of 'something is buried here'. Note the 1 1/4 gas line. This could run a generator to power the whole SC at probably cheaper rates than Xcel offers.

Opening Day = Rocky Mt TESLA Get Together ! ! !
--

GlennAlanBerry said:

I wonder what the main delay is? Is it permitting or other red-tape, or is difficulty getting a qualified contractor to actually do the work?

It is too bad that Tesla keeps their front-line employees completely in the dark, since I am sure they get a lot of questions about what is going on. Once a deal is signed, there is no reason to be so secretive about the schedule.

Click to expand...

Actually, that's not entirely true.

The issue becomes the safety of the public / construction crews as well as the equipment itself (i.e. before bollards are installed or othe protective measures). I mention equipment, but if any portion of the build (including the site civil work) is damaged during construction, the implications on the schedule may create additional delays in rolling out the site.

Other than those that are directly involved with the site construction and turn-up of the facility, the fewer informed, the better to minimize the traffic / liability and safety concerns during construction. It is a challenge to keep these projects safe for everyone concerned, even if the scope seems minimal from a construction standpoint. The crews handle those situations fairly well but you may or may not be surprised how much attention these locations sometimes garnish even from non-Tesla vehicle drivers. In turn, I've seen vehicles dart behind operating heavy equipment or drive up on unfished parking stalls that the asphalt hasn't properly set, etc.

Thanks and be safe out there.

Any updates? Sure would be nice to use in September. Which I do not any longer consider summer BTW.