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Supercharger - Napa, CA (EXPANDED Jun 2018, 12 V2 stalls)

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MarcG

Active Member
Oct 29, 2014
4,302
6,248
San Francisco
Hi guys,

So this is somewhat of a breakout from the NorCal Supercharger locations? thread, which has mostly been about the Petaluma supercharger. Figured it would be useful to have a separate thread for the upcoming Napa SC.

To start us off, I drove by yesterday on my way to pick up my holiday shipment from the winery where I'm a member. The status of the whole block on the South-West corner of Devlin Rd & Airport Blvd is under the initial phase of construction, meaning the ground has been excavated but there's nothing more at the moment. I'm wondering if some kind of shopping mall or strip mall will be built there (Napa locals, please feel free to chime in with any useful knowledge!)

Unfortunately I didn't get a picture since I didn't really stop the car, but there wasn't much to see anyway except a large field of grass and dirt.

Here's to a quick completion of the new supercharger site in Napa!

-Marc
 
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The contractor who built the West Wendover, NV site said they had won the bid to build the Napa site. Although West Wendover is done now, that doesn't necessarily mean that the Napa supercharger construction will begin now since its construction timing might be complicated by the larger project.
 
...To start us off, I drove by yesterday on my way to pick up my holiday shipment from the winery where I'm a member. The status of the whole block on the South-West corner of Devlin Rd & Airport Blvd is under the initial phase of construction, meaning the ground has been excavated but there's nothing more at the moment. I'm wondering if some kind of shopping mall or strip mall will be built there (Napa locals, please feel free to chime in with any useful knowledge!)...

Jameson Ranch? (I was just up there a week ago. Also by the airport.)

Considering the amount of traffic on that road, I would think it should be a very popular charging site.
 
I was up to Napa the weekend of Jan 17th and I recharged for free at the Tesla Chargers in the parking lot of the Napa River Inn. There are 2 chargers there and they worked just fine. They were not Superchargers, but the Tesla HPWC's mounted on posts in the parking lot behind the other EV chargers. I think I got about 50M/Hr while I was there.
 
The contractor who built the West Wendover, NV site said they had won the bid to build the Napa site. Although West Wendover is done now, that doesn't necessarily mean that the Napa supercharger construction will begin now since its construction timing might be complicated by the larger project.

That's interesting, because it was reported in the other thread that the contractors doing Petaluma are going to be doing Napa next:

NorCal Supercharger locations? - Page 41

Foreman says the contractor they work for, out of SoCal, has done five supercharger projects, Petaluma being the first one he's personally been involved in--they mostly have done telecom site installs in the past.

He says they're going to Napa next.

Maybe they're the sane guys that did West Wendover?
 
The NorCal Supercharger thread shows the Napa location is part of the "Allied Clean Fuels" project. It is a fueling depot. The basic parameters of the development are as follows:

... construct a fueling depot and approximately 3,400 sq. ft. convenience market on an approximately 3 acre portion of a 6.37 acre industrial property within the Napa Valley Business Park. In addition to gasoline and diesel fuel pumps, the facility will include pumps and/or stations for alternative fuels including electric vehicle chargers, compressed natural gas (CNG), liquefied natural gas (LNG), propane, and diesel emissions fuels (DEF).
per the Planning Commission Document from June 2014. Site plans are also available in the Supporting Documents area, but remember, this pre-dates the addition of the Tesla chargers. The Tesla application says it is will be installed around the Convenience Store, but there is only a total of 14 parking spaces. It's also about a mile up Devlin Road from Airport Blvd.
 
Jameson Ranch? (I was just up there a week ago. Also by the airport.)

No that's on the other side of 29. The SC is supposedly on the SW corner of Airport blvd & Devlin rd (see the google maps link in my first post).

- - - Updated - - -

The NorCal Supercharger thread shows the Napa location is part of the "Allied Clean Fuels" project. It is a fueling depot. The basic parameters of the development are as follows:

per the Planning Commission Document from June 2014. Site plans are also available in the Supporting Documents area, but remember, this pre-dates the addition of the Tesla chargers. The Tesla application says it is will be installed around the Convenience Store, but there is only a total of 14 parking spaces. It's also about a mile up Devlin Road from Airport Blvd.

Very interesting, thanks for the detailed info!
 
SW corner of Devlin and Airport Rd. is a beehive of activity. The dirt has been covered with concrete, and they are laying tilt up walls by the dozen. Still an area of dirt along Airport Rd. south of Devlin, but lots of trucks, excavation. I can't figure where the parking will be, but this looks like a huge building. Don't know what it is or will be.
Looking north by northwest with Airport in the background. Note multiple solar arrays almost on every building. West of where I am standing, across the new construction is the Napa County Sheriff's Dept, with many, many solar arrays on carports all around.
The Propane business is a mile north of here, not anywhere near Airport Rd., but "221 Devlin" is the address. I can't imagine charging at the Propane address. The new (mall?) construction would be ideal for idling away a half hour or so.
I would expect a lot of progress even a week from now. No reason Tesla couldn't have charging in before the building are completed, but WHO KNOWS!!

SC Napa 010 sm.jpg
 
SW corner of Devlin and Airport Rd. is a beehive of activity. The dirt has been covered with concrete, and they are laying tilt up walls by the dozen. Still an area of dirt along Airport Rd. south of Devlin, but lots of trucks, excavation. I can't figure where the parking will be, but this looks like a huge building. Don't know what it is or will be.
Looking north by northwest with Airport in the background. Note multiple solar arrays almost on every building. West of where I am standing, across the new construction is the Napa County Sheriff's Dept, with many, many solar arrays on carports all around.
The Propane business is a mile north of here, not anywhere near Airport Rd., but "221 Devlin" is the address. I can't imagine charging at the Propane address. The new (mall?) construction would be ideal for idling away a half hour or so.
I would expect a lot of progress even a week from now. No reason Tesla couldn't have charging in before the building are completed, but WHO KNOWS!!

Wow, thanks for the update!
 
UPDATE: Feb 11, 2015

I went out to the Napa airport today and stopped by the upcoming SC site. Nothing much to see. Can't identify exactly where the SC will be. Work on the site continues. It appears to be large warehouse/storage/office space type of construction. I live in Napa, so I'll continue to watch, as I go to the airport often.
 

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I went out to the Napa airport today and stopped by the upcoming SC site. Nothing much to see. Can't identify exactly where the SC will be. Work on the site continues. It appears to be large warehouse/storage/office space type of construction. I live in Napa, so I'll continue to watch, as I go to the airport often.

Excellent, thanks for the update! And nice choice of colors and options, by the way :biggrin:
 
Took a detour down south of Napa near the airport, the "Napa Supercharger Location" (which is quite a ways from the actual airport). Took a couple pics and then went to the construction office. A bunch of really nice guys were very willing to help, said they had heard of Tesla Chargers, had seen it in the plans, and leafed through a stack huge pages for a few minutes to find where. They claimed the chargers would be on the west wall (facing away in first pic) of the huge warehouse type building below. I figure they could also mean the little Level II chargers. Either way, here's the pics. Top pic is same view as in post #8. Note many loading bay type openings on down the wall to the far corner.

On the second pic, which faces back to other camera view, see the nearest corner. It is cut out like a main entrance, with pickups parked in front. Around the right corner, next to the building is a single row of parking next to the building and the chargers are supposed to be close to the corner. On the front of the building facing the camera is another single row of parking. This is not much parking, and chargers would be ICEd a lot. I don't see where other buildings are going yet, but they're not close, as there is a drainage ditch swale in front of this building between the camera and the front door. What are people going to do while waiting? I'm just saying it doesn't make sense, so the engineer types may not have known what they were talking about.

Tesla Chargers 1 sm.jpg


Tesla Chargers 2 sm.jpg
 
Can we/should we change the title of the thread to indicate that this Supercharger is a long, long time away from being operational (to differentiate this thread from the other threads of Superchargers that are operational or soon to be)? Someone who just opened up the Cal Supercharger forum could see the title and think that there already is one open in Napa somewhere. Judging from the pictures, it will be many months before this could be a reality.
 
Can we/should we change the title of the thread to indicate that this Supercharger is a long, long time away from being operational (to differentiate this thread from the other threads of Superchargers that are operational or soon to be)? Someone who just opened up the Cal Supercharger forum could see the title and think that there already is one open in Napa somewhere. Judging from the pictures, it will be many months before this could be a reality.
As I noted in the NorCal thread in December, I received the following response to my inquiry:
"Hi Bill:

Yes, there is a Tesla Supercharger station that will be going in at that location. The estimated time of opening is about one year from now. The station is part of a larger alternative fueling station that will be built on that property. If you have further questions about the project, you can call the planning department at 253-4417.

Sincerely,

Michael Karath
Staff Assistant BOS
Napa County
Office: 707.299.1477
Cell: 707.637.7890
[email protected]"
 
As I noted in the NorCal thread in December, I received the following response to my inquiry:
"Hi Bill:

Yes, there is a Tesla Supercharger station that will be going in at that location. The estimated time of opening is about one year from now. The station is part of a larger alternative fueling station that will be built on that property. If you have further questions about the project, you can call the planning department at 253-4417.

Sincerely,

Michael Karath
Staff Assistant BOS
Napa County
Office: 707.299.1477
Cell: 707.637.7890
[email protected]"

OK, Napabill, I looked for that post. Mainly I want to find out where "that property", as described in the email, is. Are we talking the property in the pictures, or at the Propane Gas facility?

SFOTurtle, I only drop by to see what I can see and share because there are a lot of people who might want to use a SC here. Maybe even me. I had not heard it would be a year, but I hope it doesn't bother too many people if I stop and take a picture every few weeks. Changing the title might be good. "Possible Potential Eventual Napa SC".

But this does make me think even more that the site that I photographed is probably not the SC site.
 
I can understand why Tesla would want to be part of an "alternative fuels" site. But, I also have to say, after visiting a lot of Superchargers from Wisconsin to California, there will be less to do at this location, than any other SC location I have seen. There is nothing within walking distance and if anyone thinks because it is Napa, this should be pretty, it won't be. I'm sure property closer to downtown would be very expensive, given the Napa costs. Maybe something will emerge in this construction that will make it all better ... sure hope so. ROBLAB - thanks for the pictures. I had it on my list of things to do today and you've saved me the trip. :smile: