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How about fund raisers for superchargers?

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I've seen reports that a supercharger and its installation costs about $150k. Does anyone think that a fund raiser would ever work to put one in a specific location? Or are the 'there isn't a supercharger where I want one' groups too scattered?

I know that I'd contribute to one or two on the route from central Texas to the coast. When the supercharger network is complete, we'd have to drive all the way to Florida or California to get to the beach! (if you want to be supercharger-y) Ok, there's Galveston, but the more southern barrier islands are where its at (like Padre and Mustang).
 
I wholeheartedly agree with Brandon and, although I rather believe Mr Musk tempers his altruism with a good head for business, regardless, as well off as I believe I am, his comparable net worth has a lot more zeros after it...why don't you try him?

In all seriousness, if you wish to pursue this any more, take a look at what the "Northwest" subsection of this forum has been doing over in, I think, the Port Angeles WA area: a subscription-based effort to emplace a charger there (not an SC, though).
 
Ok, sure, we could wait around for Musk to add all the superchargers that we want everywhere. But if every elementary school waited for Michael Dell to give them computers, the Walton family to give them school supplies, or Paul McCartney to give them band instruments the overwhelmingly vast majority would have none of those. What do they do? They have fund raisers with the people around them who care.

$2k per car may go to build superchargers, but since almost 50% of Teslas are sold and driven in California, the company is probably more likely to add one to the Apple parking lot if they ask than on the road to coast in Texas. (ok, maybe not, but you get my point)

Perhaps they could do a "matching supercharger construction grant" program. If there are enough people to raise half the money for a supercharger in a specific location, then there is enough interest, so we'll do it. That's how many companies distribute their charity money (match the charity money that the employees give, including schools -- sometimes 2x).

Not that I consider a supercharger charity, but signing a petition or just asking for something is...eh. Ponying up cash shows commitment.
 
Ok, sure, we could wait around for Musk to add all the superchargers that we want everywhere. But if every elementary school waited for Michael Dell to give them computers, the Walton family to give them school supplies, or Paul McCartney to give them band instruments the overwhelmingly vast majority would have none of those. What do they do? They have fund raisers with the people around them who care.


That isn't the same. I already paid (pre-ordered) for superchargers. I am waiting for them to ship. Why go to the store and buy something that is already en-route?

In general I am against ALL charity directed at for profit organizations. Tesla, as much as I like them, are no exception.
 
For the time being, SC locations—and service centers—are being built where the concentration of Teslas is the greatest. Over the next few years, we should begin to see a more geographic distribution. Tesla does seem to be lagging behind its own predictions regarding SC openings. Perhaps the local approval issues at each location have been more cumbersome than originally thought. I doubt whether these delays have anything to do with Tesla's cash flow.

Looking at Tesla's 2015 SC map (below), it appears that Texas will be pretty well equipped by 2016. If some coastal areas are not well covered, you might consider approaching some businesses who'd be likely to benefit and get them to put in HPWC 80A access. A Supercharger is a pretty big undertaking. With site work, I believe we're talking in the area of $250K.


SCLocations2015.jpg
 
Mr/Ms Atlanta & Mr/Ms Vermont, I see tha YOU can get to the coast with superchargers..... No 4 hour trip turned into 8 for you, eh? With that time multiplication I can't afford to go to the coast for the weekend.

I purposefully posted this in the mountain/southwest forum for us central texans to collectively express the pain that you obviously don't have or feel, nor emphasize with.
 
Mr/Ms Atlanta & Mr/Ms Vermont, I see tha YOU can get to the coast with superchargers..... No 4 hour trip turned into 8 for you, eh? With that time multiplication I can't afford to go to the coast for the weekend.

I purposefully posted this in the mountain/southwest forum for us central texans to collectively express the pain that you obviously don't have or feel, nor emphasize with.

Well after the full build out us Atlanta people can make SC beaches (Augusta is in the 2014 slider position). Otherwise we would have to drive through NC to get to a beach. Not so to FL beaches, even with the full build out (2015 placement required) it still has major detours.

At least you can make it to Galveston (at least it is beach-ish) right now. I cant get to a beach without slow charging.

I have pointed out (in other threads) that many of the dots after the winter 2013 build out, don't really make sense. I would expect that all the dots after that get moved a lot, and more are added. I don't think much thought was put into where they were.

And it looks like you can make Mustang Island from San Marcos as well.

And I empathize with you. I have exactly zero superchargers in range of myself. Whereas you have two. I also will only have a path to Charlotte NC until "2014". Not to mention if I want to go up to the NE going I-20 to I-95 is much better than going through NC on I-85. And even with full build out there are 220 mile gaps to get to Florida. Atlanta actually looks terrible on their maps.
 
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I like the idea of fundraising to accelerate the supercharger network buildout.

I suggest to find 60kWh Model S owners that are willing to upgrade their car to supercharging capability. There are several benefits compared to giving the money to Tesla
* leverage. Car owners should match the fund with a contribution of their own
* improved resale value

The drawback is, of course, no additional influence on Tesla where the SC should go.
 
I've seen reports that a supercharger and its installation costs about $150k. Does anyone think that a fund raiser would ever work to put one in a specific location? Or are the 'there isn't a supercharger where I want one' groups too scattered?

I know that I'd contribute to one or two on the route from central Texas to the coast. When the supercharger network is complete, we'd have to drive all the way to Florida or California to get to the beach! (if you want to be supercharger-y) Ok, there's Galveston, but the more southern barrier islands are where its at (like Padre and Mustang).

If you think about it isn't your idea essentially the same as paying Tesla to change the order of the Supercharger roll-out?

Tesla has an existing plan to build out the network that will get you to the Florida beaches, or the California beaches for that matter. It seems the issue is not that the proposed Supercharger "dots" are in the wrong locations, but rather the ones you are interested in aren't immediately available.

Coming up with hundreds of thousands of dollars in donations from Model S owners will be a very heavy lift especially since Tesla is eventually going to do this at no additional cost. My suggestion would be to set your sights a little lower. Why not find suitable host hotels on the routes you are interested in and offer to donate High Power Wall Connectors (HPWCs). Its a long drive to Florida, especially long if you want to go to beaches that aren't on the Panhandle. If you are going to have to stop at a hotel overnight anyway, why not charge overnight? The HPWCs currently cost only $1,200 each. It's going to be hard, but to a lot easier to obtain donations for them.

I survey our new club members on what activities interest them. Donating to charger installations is by far the least popular activity. Nevertheless, we were able to get a few of our members to donate to a worthy cause. Knowing that Tesla would never install a Supercharger at Key West, a few of our club members donated to installing an HPWC there after finding a suitable host.

Larry
 
I think that any private efforts should be aimed at filling in the gaps with 80 amp HPWC units similar to the Port Angeles, WA project that was done in the Pacific Northwest.

The goal there was to make the Olympic Peninsula EV accessible for Model S owners. There isn't nearly enough EV activity (or population density) to justify a Supercharger. But an 80 amp HPWC makes sense in Port Angeles, WA. That makes it possible to get from Seattle to the Pacific Ocean (Forks WA, La Push beach) and have some reasonable recharging speed (stop for lunch in Port Angeles).

The same could be applied to many locations around the USA that are not near a Supercharger but are still points of interest that Tesla owners will want to visit.

Next year I plan to install a HPWC at our family business near Jackson Wyoming (on the Teton-Yellowstone loop). There will be lots of future EV drivers that will want to recharge prior to driving through the mountain pass to get to Jackson Hole. That is the southern entrance to Yellowstone (4 million visitors per year).
 
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I think that any private efforts should be aimed at filling in the gaps with 80 amp HPWC units similar to the Port Angeles, WA project that was done in the Pacific Northwest.

Agreed. There are plenty of routes like 377-177-77, 380, and 180 that won't ever have Superchargers but would be great for HPWCs.