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Supercharger - Albuquerque NM

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reddy

Active Member
Jan 26, 2013
1,127
1,939
Amarillo, TX
I got confirmation from HOLIDAY INN EXPRESS HOTEL & SUITES MIDTOWN that they are getting the ABQ Superchargers.
Address: 2500 Menaul Blvd NE, Albuquerque NM 87107

This makes sense, since all of the other I-40 superchargers at at Holiday Inn Express locations from ABQ to Amarillo

My contact looking for a building permit from the city has not found one filed yet. ABQ has a system to find applications, not just approved permits, so we should get a heads up when they apply.

Here was my email from the manager:

"Hello ...,

As of now there is not an estimated completion date, but there are plans of installing a Tesla Supercharger on our facility.

Thank you,

Ottmar Ruiz

General Manager"
 
All that is needed is to check if the Holiday Inn Express in Grants, NM is another hotel on the list. That city has been suggested by those who are overlaying the Tesla future SuperCharger locations map with a standard road map. OC to OKC, here we come! Thank you Tesla Motors and Holiday Inn Express.
 
My awesome dad stopped by the Holiday Inn and spoke with Ottmar today. According to Ottmar, both the Holiday Inn and the Applebee's had to sign off on the location.

Since I didn't take these pics - it's hard for me to explain anything about them. I am sure that my dad would be willing to go back once construction starts for better contextual pics. (I do believe that is Ottmar himself in the first pic!)

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Another interesting tidbit from Ottmar is that Las Vegas, NM is "further along in the process than the ABQ site". Off to create the Las Vegas, NM thread! :)
 
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That's great news. I am going to be travelling to ABQ in 2 weeks. It surely wont be done by then. ABQ doesn't have much infrastructure for EV's. I have looked at the chargepoint unit downtown at the department of municipal development as an option near my hotel. But I hear on Plugshare that it's notorious for malfunctioning.
 
Stopped by the future supercharger location in Albuquerque at about 2PM today. Spoke with a manager at the hotel...the manager told me the Applebee's next door is working on the actual build out.

Went next door. Spoke with Alan Jordan, General Manager at the Applebee's. He said he understood the superchargers were going to be located on the east side of the parking lot (2600 Menaul Blvd., NE). He did not know a time line and he wasn't 100% sure of the exact location. Both managers indicated Applebee's was the lead player in supercharger construction, so I'm assuming the superchargers will be located on Applebee's property. I guess we wait and see...

I will also check on this when I can. Very exciting!
 
For those with CHAdeMO adapters, Albuquerque will very soon have four DC charge stations. The future locations are visible on PlugShare. A photo was posted recently showing a completed station with only the meter missing. Sunflower Market (Coming Soon) | Albuquerque, NM | Electric Car Charging Station | PlugShare

PlugShare - EV Charging Station Map - Find a place to charge your car!

Type "Albuquerque" in the PlugShare map and select High Power Stations on the upper right. Download the Greenlots app to your smart phone to use their network of stations.

Greenlots on the App Store on iTunes


https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.zecosystems.greenlots
 
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Greenlots CHAdeMO now open in Albuquerque

The first DC charging in Albuquerque has been documented on April 11th, 2015 on PlugShare: Winrock Shopping Center | Albuquerque, NM | Electric Car Charging Station | PlugShare

Next to Dave and Busters and near a Trader Joe's, this should be a very busy location. Check the regular and satellite map for details.

Google Maps

One down and three to go. Great to see this milestone occur in Albuquerque. Only the Tucumcari Supercharger is needed for the LA to OKC drive using DC charging.
 
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The first DC charging in Albuquerque has been documented on April 11th, 2015 on PlugShare: Winrock Shopping Center | Albuquerque, NM | Electric Car Charging Station | PlugShare

Next to Dave and Busters and near a Trader Joe's, this should be a very busy location. Check the regular and satellite map for details.

Google Maps

One down and three to go. Great to see this milestone occur in Albuquerque. Only the Tucumcari Supercharger is needed for the LA to OKC drive using DC charging.

CHAdeMO is useful, but is not a Supercharger...the Supercharger in Albuquerque is still in the planning phase according to Supercharge.Info.
 
From those of you who know New Mexico better than I, why does Albuquerque and the whole state have so little EV charging up to now? Phoenix has all kinds of J1772, Quickchargers, and Superchargers. Is it some mixture of politics and economics ?

NM has .8 GW of installed wind power capacity, but my understanding is that it has a lot more wind potential. NM is ranked 10th in installed solar, right behind NY, but it must have a lot more solar potential.
 
From those of you who know New Mexico better than I, why does Albuquerque and the whole state have so little EV charging up to now? Phoenix has all kinds of J1772, Quickchargers, and Superchargers. Is it some mixture of politics and economics ?

NM has .8 GW of installed wind power capacity, but my understanding is that it has a lot more wind potential. NM is ranked 10th in installed solar, right behind NY, but it must have a lot more solar potential.

Number One reason would be Population, or rather the lack of it.
New Mexico is the 5th largest state, yet the biggest reason probably is there are so few few centers of concentrated population through-out the state, in fact it is the 6th least densely populated state.
Albuquerque covers a vast area relative to its population of 550,000, with Las Cruces being the only other NM city over 100,000 population.
Period.

Without dense urban populations, there simply isn't the (state or local) government mandated need for EV infrastructure.
Because without the critical mass population, there also is not the amount of air pollution, nor the need to address and countermand it.

There are huge land areas that could be utilized to harvest Wind, PV and Solar, it just isn't the state's first level of priority.
The potential for extensive Solar is certainly there, it just is not fully needed/warranted.
Once again, due primarily to low NM population numbers.
 
Number One reason would be Population, or rather the lack of it.
New Mexico is the 5th largest state, yet the biggest reason probably is there are so few few centers of concentrated population through-out the state, in fact it is the 6th least densely populated state.
Albuquerque covers a vast area relative to its population of 550,000, with Las Cruces being the only other NM city over 100,000 population.
Period.

Without dense urban populations, there simply isn't the (state or local) government mandated need for EV infrastructure.
Because without the critical mass population, there also is not the amount of air pollution, nor the need to address and countermand it.

There are huge land areas that could be utilized to harvest Wind, PV and Solar, it just isn't the state's first level of priority.
The potential for extensive Solar is certainly there, it just is not fully needed/warranted.
Once again, due primarily to low NM population numbers.

I'll piggy back onto purplewalt's comment. I agree New Mexico has a ton going for it renewable energy wise, it really boils down to population. It's density within the state, & the income (most are in poverty outside of Albuquerque metro and Las Cruces).

The two biggest utilities within the state are Xcel and PNM. PNM covers most of the northern and southwestern portion of the state, and Xcel is mostly the eastern plains. Windpower wise PNM set up what was the largest windfarm in the nation a decade ago (before Texas surpassed a couple of years later). Xcel gets most of it's windpower from the Texas panhandle. That's how they're meeting state RPS mandates. Otherwise no point in setting up more windpower unless it can be exported to Texas or Arizona (there are two different transmission projects planned which will make this happen, like windpower in Texas with the CREZ transmission lines, build it and they will come).

With PNM, when most of your customers are in poverty, they keep convincing (probably rightly so) the public utility commission that switching drastically from coal (currently 60%) to a mix of wind, solar, and batteries would be too extensive of a capital cost in a short time. I'll agree to a point, but I think the economics are about to drastically change within the next 7 years, at that point I think PNM will see the light.

EV adaption within New Mexico the same argument. Not a lot of people could afford a brand new EV. Heck I bought mine used after my 2011 Leaf came off it's lease. Only place chargers really make sense are Albuquerque and Santa Fe, where most of New Mexico's population are. Why put in charger infrastructure or mandate it when most people can't afford EVs to justify it.
 
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I'll piggy back onto purplewalt's comment. I agree New Mexico has a ton going for it renewable energy wise, it really boils down to population. It's density within the state, & the income (most are in poverty outside of Albuquerque metro and Las Cruces).

The two biggest utilities within the state are Xcel and PNM. PNM covers most of the northern and southwestern portion of the state, and Xcel is mostly the eastern plains. Windpower wise PNM set up what was the largest windfarm in the nation a decade ago (before Texas surpassed a couple of years later). Xcel gets most of it's windpower from the Texas panhandle. That's how they're meeting state RPS mandates. Otherwise no point in setting up more windpower unless it can be exported to Texas or Arizona (there are two different transmission projects planned which will make this happen, like windpower in Texas with the CREZ transmission lines, build it and they will come).

With PNM, when most of your customers are in poverty, they keep convincing (probably rightly so) the public utility commission that switching drastically from coal (currently 60%) to a mix of wind, solar, and batteries would be too extensive of a capital cost in a short time. I'll agree to a point, but I think the economics are about to drastically change within the next 7 years, at that point I think PNM will see the light.

EV adaption within New Mexico the same argument. Not a lot of people could afford a brand new EV. Heck I bought mine used after my 2011 Leaf came off it's lease. Only place chargers really make sense are Albuquerque and Santa Fe, where most of New Mexico's population are. Why put in charger infrastructure or mandate it when most people can't afford EVs to justify it.
I'd think the Taos area sees enough high income tourists to justify EV infrastructure there. Destination charging at hotels/motels, definitely, maybe Taos Ski Valley parking too.
 
I'd think the Taos area sees enough high income tourists to justify EV infrastructure there. Destination charging at hotels/motels, definitely, maybe Taos Ski Valley parking too.

There are a few homeowners in Taos where you can charge, but not all business owners know/care about it unless they have an EV. If the state doesn't incentivize why would a business owner even care? Even then would the material/instillation costs even justify the potential revenue stream? Granted my Leaf battery is 9/12 bar degraded, but I've attempted driving to Santa Fe with my Leaf in the hopes I could make it there so I could then DC charge at the Nissan dealership and then head to Taos. I didn't make it (despite driving 60mph drafting off a semi, 2,500ft in elevation change is a killer). Had to pull over outside Cochiti Lake, off I-25 and plug into a 120 volt for 2 hours just to get to Santa Fe. After that gravity was on my side getting back to Albuquerque.. by the hair of my chin btw haha.

It was a fun adventure don't get me wrong, but no point in EV chargers in Taos until more Tesla folks are in the state or are visiting from others.