Missing supercharger routes? (End of 2015)

If you have a suggestion or especially if you are or know a property owner or someone influential they can secure the kind of place Tesla is looking for Tesla has this website
Supercharging

Other option is to try and get some people together to donate a 80A HPWC to a good spot.

Yes I live just off 81 in NE Tennessee and there is no way to get to DC or for that matter Pittsburgh or Meridian MS which are all frequent destinations for us. Unfortunately there is no way to make a Model S work for us unless they add several more sites.

I will just have to make do with a Volt as our trip car.

A route to South Padre Island, Texas, one of the best beaches in the country, is missing on the end of 2015 map. That area of south Texas includes Brownsville where SpaceX plans a launch site, so the omission is even more surprising.

There isn't anything for Michigan's Upper Peninsula -- that would make it really inconvenient to get to the western UP from the Lower Peninsula, not to mention Green Bay. I know it would be a long way off since US 2 isn't a divided highway, but it would be nice to know that it's on their long-term radar.

There are no supercharger dots along I-55 between St. Louis, MO and Memphis, TN. I don't think an S85 would make it. I'm certain an S60 wouldn't. So that's another route that is missing. Not a super long route -- would only require 1 supercharger -- but on an interstate between 2 major cities. I think Tesla will put a supercharger on that route eventually. It's just not on the tentative future map currently.

I'd like to see some along I-24 and I-57. That would be good for folks going from WI, Chicago, etc. to the Southeast and back. That would avoid the congestion around Louisville and Indianapolis.

caddieo said:

I'd like to see some along I-24 and I-57. That would be good for folks going from WI, Chicago, etc. to the Southeast and back. That would avoid the congestion around Louisville and Indianapolis.

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I-24 is an important connector between St Louis and Nashville and between Chicago and Nashville, not to mention providing access to the "Land Between the Lakes" recreation area!

I'll date myself, but for two summers, long, long ago, I worked as a card-carrying union construction worker building I-24 through Southern Illinois.

^Me too (less cluttered). Thanks for the map comparison. I'm disappointed to see they scrapped US-287 (Amarillo to Denton) given it's a major artery to the west from Dallas. Maybe it comes back in 2017 with the unveiling of Model 3.

Jackson, MI, which was supposed to go in last year, got dropped off of I-94 altogether, leaving a 190 mile haul from Windsor, ON to St. Joseph, MI. That also means that many round trips along I-94 will require L2 charging or up to 80 miles of detour to catch the supercharger in Lansing. It also forces a detour of just under an hour for trips to Chicago from the south side of the Detroit metro or from the 401 in Ontario. A supercharger in Jackson or maybe Marshall would address all of this, and would make a Model 3 much more usable for me. I'm having a hard time fathoming Tesla's logic here -- seems like a pretty big miss.

physicsfita said:

Jackson, MI, which was supposed to go in last year, got dropped off of I-94 altogether, leaving a 190 mile haul from Windsor, ON to St. Joseph, MI. That also means that many round trips along I-94 will require L2 charging or up to 80 miles of detour to catch the supercharger in Lansing. It also forces a detour of just under an hour for trips to Chicago from the south side of the Detroit metro or from the 401 in Ontario. A supercharger in Jackson or maybe Marshall would address all of this, and would make a Model 3 much more usable for me. I'm having a hard time fathoming Tesla's logic here -- seems like a pretty big miss.

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My guess is that someone thought that a 25-mile detour through Lansing would be okay if the 190 miles is too far. Maybe as a short-term fix, but something that should be addressed.

physicsfita said:

Jackson, MI, which was supposed to go in last year, got dropped off of I-94 altogether, leaving a 190 mile haul from Windsor, ON to St. Joseph, MI. That also means that many round trips along I-94 will require L2 charging or up to 80 miles of detour to catch the supercharger in Lansing. It also forces a detour of just under an hour for trips to Chicago from the south side of the Detroit metro or from the 401 in Ontario. A supercharger in Jackson or maybe Marshall would address all of this, and would make a Model 3 much more usable for me. I'm having a hard time fathoming Tesla's logic here -- seems like a pretty big miss.

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It's simple, Tesla execs want to avoid being accused of favoritism. That's why Kingston, Ontario ("Coming Soon" since September 2013, but still stalled) where Elon Musk spend two years is so delayed. In the I-94 case, Jerome Guillen's University of Michigan degree works against you.

I am with wk057 in his thoughts. The past four-five months of Supercharger completion in North America has been beyond expectations when we consider how slowly they were opened the early part of 2014. I have every reason to believe that the greyed-out pins on the 2015 map will be open by early summer. However, it seems that Tesla works in spurts, so I feel that we will experience another tapering of the construction of SC's in the last half of 2015, pending the start of the delivery of the Model X.

Location planning and route emphasis may be held back in part by the distribution of the Model X. Tesla may have developed models to determine perceived need based upon the delivery locations of their customers. Once delivery and orders of Model X are well under way (say, second quarter 2016), we might then see another construction push the last half of that year. But, I think the projection map for 2016 is too sanguine to rely upon right now. There will still be gaps on some of the less-traveled routes.

But I hope I am 100% wrong!

I'm going to lift the following from one of The Best Posts Of 2014, back from 25 June:

It makes me more than sad to contemplate not only that some people think this way [that is, emplacing SpCs only on the continent's most traveled routes], but that TMC also might follow this. If the network of SpCs is so constructed, then Teslas are relegated only to the worst of all roads with which to enjoy North America - effectively, the interstate highway system. That's terrible! and I dearly hope it does not come to pass.

As an example, I suggested two weeks ago to the SpC Team they consider a N-S route that covers Rte. 93 - one of the gems of travel on this continent. It begins in Jasper, in the high Canadian Rockies, and takes travelers through some of the absolute finest scenery that BC, Montana, Idaho, Nevada and Arizona have to offer; tying together a number of Tier 2 cities along the way. Is it ever a major thoroughfare? No, thank goodness. But it is one of many, many wonderful roads that remain a delight to travel - something that cannot be said about the Interstates.

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Oh, wait. That was me who posted it! Heh heh.:wink:

Here is the route with one suggestion of SpC sites, from south to north, with miles in between each station. Extant or apparent SpC sites are emboldened

Wickenburg
131 miles
Kingman AZ
104 miles
Las Vegas
151 miles
Caliente
133 miles
Ely
139 miles
Wells (West Wendover, 60 miles to the east, appears to have gotten the nod)
116 miles
Twin Falls, ID
108 miles
Arco
80 miles
Challis
135 miles
Darby, MT
63 miles
Missoula
118 miles
Kalispell
137 miles
Cranbrook, BC
89 miles
Radium Hot Springs
81 miles
Lake Louise AB
145 miles
Jasper

I ran out of patience looking for which western Canadian sites are to be close to the one I suggested above.
At any rate, I am not holding my breath on this one; I think it likely only with respect to SpC-ing it all the way back to Alaska..... yeah, right. A terrible shame, just as much a shame as it is to have to make this drive only in an ICE.

AudubonB said:

I ran out of patience looking for which western Canadian sites are to be close to the one I suggested above.
At any rate, I am not holding my breath on this one; I think it likely only with respect to SpC-ing it all the way back to Alaska..... yeah, right. A terrible shame, just as much a shame as it is to have to make this drive only in an ICE.

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Talk to them about putting in a battery swap station. Or maybe you'll be the first with the new 170 kWh battery option! Of course, you deserve some love, but Tesla is notoriously a lousy lover.

And I bet those Pickups get lousy mileage, too.

AudubonB said:

I'm going to lift the following from one of The Best Posts Of 2014, back from 25 June:



Oh, wait. That was me who posted it! Heh heh.:wink:


I ran out of patience looking for which western Canadian sites are to be close to the one I suggested above.
At any rate, I am not holding my breath on this one; I think it likely only with respect to SpC-ing it all the way back to Alaska..... yeah, right. A terrible shame, just as much a shame as it is to have to make this drive only in an ICE.

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I happen to agree with your statement that there are much more scenic, humble and leisurely roads out there for us all to travel, that are off the Interstate Highways. Your Highway 93 is a good example, as is US395 from Reno to Kettle Falls and into Canada; US97 from Weed (although Bend OR is scheduled for a SC) to the Canadian border; US101 up the Oregon coast and to the Olympic Peninsula; US50 ("The Loneliest Road in America"); US6 across Nevada; US40 east of Heber City UT; US2 from Spokane across Northern Montana, North Dakota and Minnesota. Doubtless there are dozens more in other parts of the US and Canada that I am not familiar with.

I would hope that after Tesla has completed the 2016 map that covers virtually all of the USA and selected routes in Canada that they would then take a look at installing even two-pod "temporary" Superchargers along many of these more remote highways, just to see if they get a fair amount of utilization before plunging into full-fledged construction of permanent Superchargers.

+1 ...

cpa said:

I happen to agree with your statement that there are much more scenic, humble and leisurely roads out there for us all to travel, that are off the Interstate Highways. Your Highway 93 is a good example, as is US395 from Reno to Kettle Falls and into Canada; US97 from Weed (although Bend OR is scheduled for a SC) to the Canadian border; US101 up the Oregon coast and to the Olympic Peninsula; US50 ("The Loneliest Road in America"); US6 across Nevada; US40 east of Heber City UT; US2 from Spokane across Northern Montana, North Dakota and Minnesota. Doubtless there are dozens more in other parts of the US and Canada that I am not familiar with.

I would hope that after Tesla has completed the 2016 map that covers virtually all of the USA and selected routes in Canada that they would then take a look at installing even two-pod "temporary" Superchargers along many of these more remote highways, just to see if they get a fair amount of utilization before plunging into full-fledged construction of permanent Superchargers.

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My hope is that they realize well before the end of 2016 that anyone who can afford a Model S or X who's traveling on business will fly if it's more than a few hundred miles, because their time is valuable. That being the case, while driving to amusement parks and similar man-made destinations for recreation may never require that you leave the interstate, anyone who likes their recreation more natural needs SCs off the interstates en route to them. Why aren't there more SCs planned in gateway towns for National Parks and Monuments in 2015/2016, like Moab and the soon to arrive Lone Pine and Inyokern, instead of the sure to be lightly used and mostly non-scenic I-94 in North Dakota? As posted upthread, interstates are boring drives - they're supposed to be.

Here's some I think would be valauble sooner rather than later in addition to the routes mentioned above, that are missing from the 2015 map (Note that I don't think SCs will be possible and/or allowed in most NPs/Monuments):


Grand Canyon: Tusayan, Cameron and probably Ash Fork, AZ, eventually Kanab or Jacob Lake. Ash Fork so people approaching from the west on I-40 don't have to go to Flagstaff first, the others are the south and east gateway towns.

Monument Valley: Kayenta, AZ, in combination with Cameron from the south, Blanding from the north, and Cortez from the northeast.

Glacier: Kalispell, MT, and/or West Glacier (plus a better EB interstate 90 location than Superior)

Mesa Verde: Cortez, CO.

Grand Teton: Jackson and/or Moran.

Yellowstone: West Yellowstone, Gardiner, plus Pocatello and Twin Falls to get here and Grand Teton from SLC.

Rocky Mountain: Estes Park and Granby, CO.

Great Basin: Baker, NV.

Capitol Reef: Hanksville, UT.

I'm sure people can come up with many others, but it seems to me that these cars are going to be used on longer road trips primarily for weekend/vacation rather than business, so Tesla should be enabling those trips rather than the largely absent need to drive transcontinentally.