How soon is "coming soon"?

I took a look at the Supercharger Wiki. It looks like 6 opened in the US in August. At that rate I'm not sure that Tesla will be able to open everything planned for us by the end of 2014.

I'm hoping the "coming soon" spots will actually arrive before December 31, 2014.

Well, the OP is in Canada, and we've had "coming soon" for almost 2 years now...

I was looking forward to a more direct route NM-WA by the end of this year... that's now been pushed back to 2015... :crying: Well, at least Barstow should have 8 bays soon :smile:

So far, it is my experience that Tesla ALWAYS delivers . . . but NEVER "on time"

this of course will come as no surprise to anyone who has been paying attention for a while. Just try to concentrate on the "Always Delivers" part. The other part tends to get painful

Having watched the Supercharger efforts from the very beginning, it's my experience that "coming soon" basically means nothing. There have been dots on the coming soon map that never materialized (plans got changed) or took forever and there have been SC locations that never were on the coming soon map that actually happened. The Squamish, BC site was on the CS map for at least 6 months before it happened. The Coeur d'Alene SC has been languishing for quite a while now. Several of the Oregon and N Cal I5 SCs sort of just showed up fully built - the coming soon sites on the maps were in different locations. Just don't count on their published maps as anything other than a general intent and you won't be disappointed.

Tesla has really poor schedule discipline and communications. But when you stand back and look at the SuperCharger network they have built so far, it's actually pretty amazing.

At each Supercharger site, to get it built Tesla has to contend with multiple entities to get permit approvals, negotiate the terms with the property owner, deal with utilities to get power to the site, manage the construction, etc. the entire process is subject to numerous delays and roadblocks that are outside of Tesla's control! To those who incessantly whine about delays and location changes, stop complaining and recognize that Tesla is accomplishing something that no other EV manufacturer has accomplished: building out a multi-country high speed DC charging network that enables convenient long distance EV travel.

AMEN!!

ecarfan said:

At each Supercharger site, to get it built Tesla has to contend with multiple entities to get permit approvals, negotiate the terms with the property owner, deal with utilities to get power to the site, manage the construction, etc. the entire process is subject to numerous delays and roadblocks that are outside of Tesla's control! To those who incessantly whine about delays and location changes, stop complaining and recognize that Tesla is accomplishing something that no other EV manufacturer has accomplished: building out a multi-country high speed DC charging network that enables convenient long distance EV travel.

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I feel like the appropriate response from Tesla could be: "You'll get what you get when you get it." Of course, that wouldn't be very customer friendly. However, in a lot of ways the Supercharger map does just feel like a best guess from Tesla, which is natural when you consider the obstacles to building anything these days. In addition, I suspect that the supercharging team is scoping out lots of other opportunities that aren't on the map, and thus we may get something completely unexpected as well. In the end, it's a brilliant, if necessary, idea that hopefully will make Tesla into a real powerhouse in the car business.

ecarfan said:

At each Supercharger site, to get it built Tesla has to contend with multiple entities to get permit approvals, negotiate the terms with the property owner, deal with utilities to get power to the site, manage the construction, etc. the entire process is subject to numerous delays and roadblocks that are outside of Tesla's control! To those who incessantly whine about delays and location changes, stop complaining and recognize that Tesla is accomplishing something that no other EV manufacturer has accomplished: building out a multi-country high speed DC charging network that enables convenient long distance EV travel.

Click to expand...

I sang that mantra for along time. And do agree that they've done an amazing job to date. However, it's pretty clear that while they do have to contend with a lot of moving parts they don't control, they also have been significantly under communicating. For example, the Hawthorn map had the new locations of the northern I5 SCs but the web site maps still had the old locations. In fact the CS map didn't get updated until they were nearly completed, long after the permits issued. The info was in the company, they just chose not to bring their primary communications current. This is pretty typical of Tesla. I doubt it will change but I understand the frustration. They really do need to get their communications house in order. In a small brash start up, it was ok. In the EV leadership position they have, it needs to get a lot better. And, I'm not just talking about superchargers.

"coming soon" can range anywhere from imminent, to 10 years

Coming Soon = "Shorter Implementation Time Than For Duke Nukem' Forever"

scaesare said:

Coming Soon = "Shorter Implementation Time Than For Duke Nukem' Forever"

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..., we hope.

I suspect that "Coming Soon" means they've settled on a site and are in some stage of negotiations, permitting, or construction. The dots on the 2014 map seem more aspirational. I'd even argue that they're put out to test our reactions; if we raise good objections, the team adjusts. I'm thinking in particular of the original location of the dot on I-95 in CT that looked to be near Old Saybrook. We whined, and the actual location is much better, at Milford.

Based on the sheer number of supercharger stations popping up every month, no one can question that Tesla is working hard at it.
Some places have insane NIMBY based regulatory burden on any new project, those take time to navigate. Other places are much more reasonable.
If you want to place your anger at something go attack the massive regulatory burden in California and many other states.
Right now there are 10 USA superchargers under construction plus 10 USA superchargers in Permit phase, plus 1 Canadian under construction and 2 in Permit phase.
And the flow is moving pretty fast.

macpacheco said:

Based on the sheer number of supercharger stations popping up every month, no one can question that Tesla is working hard at it.
Some places have insane NIMBY based regulatory burden on any new project, those take time to navigate. Other places are much more reasonable.
If you want to place your anger at something go attack the massive regulatory burden in California and many other states.
Right now there are 10 USA superchargers under construction plus 10 USA superchargers in Permit phase, plus 1 Canadian under construction and 2 in Permit phase.
And the flow is moving pretty fast.

Click to expand...

See my post at Tesla Supercharger network - Delay is a Poor Excuse for Low Install Rate.

If we are to get to the published 2014 map, then there should be 25 or more in permit phase and 25 or more under construction. Tesla needs to keep starting more each month; if they do that, eventually, more will finish each month.

Tesla has their part of this down to a science. They've built nearly 200 Superchargers world-wide, so they should. Delays are usually caused by issues beyond Tesla's control: permit delays, utility delays, adjacent construction delays. Tesla can enforce performance contracts with its own contractors, but it's kinda hard to do that with a utility.

"When will then be now............soon."

Model S in Taos

We have been asking the same question about the ABQ station. It is the only one that prevents us from going directly to LA and beyond.
If enough of us ask maybe it will get there attention. I have written and called them twice.