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The Cracker Barrel Network?

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ThosEM

Space Weatherman
Dec 13, 2013
871
326
Annapolis, MD
I've noticed that Cracker Barrel restaurants have started a pilot charger program at about 24 of their locations in Eastern Tennessee along the major interstates. It appears they are going for a mix of EV Plugs and Quick Chargers of some sort. They have something like 600 locations in total, and if they were to extend this program to a large fraction of them, it sure would make a nice network. Will Cracker Barrel become the next network for highway refilling stations? Here's a map of their easterly locations.

Screen Shot 2014-01-02 at 15.19.30.jpg
 
They would appear to offer good coverage in places Tesla may neglect, for example the I81 corridor along the Shenandoah in Virginia. But we may need CHAdeMo adapters ($$$).

Given what they are paying for the CHAdeMO charging outlets, maybe they will start a program of keeping a CHAdeMO to MS adapter at each place and rent/loan them to you. Maybe taking a credit card or drivers license as a deposit.
 
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Given what they are paying for the CHAdeMO charging outlets, maybe they will start a program of keeping a CHAdeMO to MS adapter at each place and rent/loan them to you. Maybe taking a credit card or drivers license as a deposit.

Don't know how smart a CHAdeMO adapter is but would suspect it has a MAC address or other ESN and could be tracked when it appears on a charger. Just as I suspect a charger can extract our VIN when connected.

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They would appear to offer good coverage in places Tesla may neglect, for example the I81 corridor along the Shenandoah in Virginia. But we may need CHAdeMo adapters ($$$).

Yes, I too noticed Tesla is ignoring I-81, and I-65 is also one of the last on the schedule. Birmingham, AL is not even on the 2015 schedule. Memphis gets one in 2015 but there is none east of Memphis.

I fear I will have to have a CHAdeMO adapter.
 
The Cracker Barrel CHAdeMO chargers are part of a Nissan deal. When Nissan relocated its national headquarters to Nashville it was the politic thing to do to place chargers for Leafs. I suspect that the government leaned on another TN corporation Cracker Barrel to facilitate Leaf travel between Nashville, Chattanooga and Knoxville. Take a look at the placements and you will see no real effort to place chargers at other Cracker Barrel locations. This theory is supported by the Nissan infusion of $ into Blink. Also look at the number of J1772 chargers in the Nashville area.