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Shortage of Superchargers in mid America

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It is 678 miles from Nashville to Oklahoma City This path includes the 20th largest city in the US (Memphis)

It is 1064 miles from Dallas to Phoenix.

Neither of these routes has single supercharger between them.
Meanwhile SC are clustered as close as fleas on a junkyard dog in parts of the EU.


[FONT=Times New Roman, serif]Tesla has promised to fix these US gaps by the end of 2016 , only 11 months away. That is [/FONT][FONT=Times New Roman, serif]what[/FONT][FONT=Times New Roman, serif] the map shows but I am having increasing doubts. Meanwhile Tesla opens up new countries with SC while neglecting vast areas of their own country,. [/FONT]

[FONT=Times New Roman, serif]If they don't do some [/FONT][FONT=Times New Roman, serif]quick[/FONT][FONT=Times New Roman, serif] expanding in the US , I am going to be an unhappy Tesla customer. As it is, I no longer recommend buying a Tesla to anybody living in my part of the country. It's a great car but where I live travel is nearly impossible to the west and difficult anywhere except to the east. Even getting from Nashville to St Louis requires stopping at an RV park, hardly convenient

Does Tesla see most of the country as "fly over" ? Even if you don't live there you might want to travel to say Little Rock, Memphis or Odessa..
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I suspect there are several places overseas that have bought more Tesla Model S's per capita than many states in the U.S.

The CHAdeMO adapter does help travel in certain places like Tennessee, but yes, there are still many gaps. It doesn't help that you live right next to a big gap. Tesla did install over 100 Superchargers in North America last year. If they just do another 100 in 2016, many of big gaps would be closed. Pennsylvania still has many big gaps and that's due west of two major cities. At over 100 locations a year and roughly 6 plugs per location on average, Tesla has the most aggressive L3 charging network (or only L3 charging network) available.

Please do let Tesla know your critical routes, posting here is a round about way. They do need to hear that certain routes are needed and why. Our collective voices and our purchases helps them figure out where to put future Superchargers.
 
There are signs that Tesla is about to fill in the I40 route from Dallas to Memphis through Little Rock. A new Supercharger was permitted in Suphur Springs, TX along I40. No other reason to put one there unless they intend to fill in I40 east bound.
 
It is 678 miles from Nashville to Oklahoma City This path includes the 20th largest city in the US (Memphis)

It is 1064 miles from Dallas to Phoenix.

Neither of these routes has single supercharger between them.
Meanwhile SC are clustered as close as fleas on a junkyard dog in parts of the EU.


Tesla has promised to fix these US gaps by the end of 2016 , only 11 months away. That is what the map shows but I am having increasing doubts. Meanwhile Tesla opens up new countries with SC while neglecting vast areas of their own country,.

If they don't do some quick expanding in the US , I am going to be an unhappy Tesla customer. As it is, I no longer recommend buying a Tesla to anybody living in my part of the country. It's a great car but where I live travel is nearly impossible to the west and difficult anywhere except to the east. Even getting from Nashville to St Louis requires stopping at an RV park, hardly convenient

Does Tesla see most of the country as "fly over" ? Even if you don't live there you might want to travel to say Little Rock, Memphis or Odessa..

Tesla has been very aggressive in expanding the Supercharger network over the last 2-3 years. Their progress has actually been pretty good compared with their own projections of timing and particular access points. If you look at their map for 2016 they clearly have the Nashville to OKC path marked as well as Dallas to Phoenix. Of course some of these locations may be held up to permitting issues which may be real or political, but I don't think there is any substantial evidence that Tesla is marginalizing the middle part of the US.

To me they have 1.) focused on where the cars are being sold and 2.) ensuring that there are paths between major metropolitan areas.
 
As it is, I no longer recommend buying a Tesla to anybody living in my part of the country.

I am sort of sad to see this feeling cropping up so often: I can't wait. I want it my way, now! I can't drive anywhere.

Even when the Tesla map shows huge increases in SC sites this year, people complain. "I don't believe they will do it", when they've done it year after year.

Three years ago, Tesla was still a great car. Even in CA, there were NO superchargers. We hadn't heard of them. And a month after we got ours, guess what we did? Went to Canada. OH MY! Had to use RV parks!

How things have changed.

I still recommend anyone, anywhere, to buy a Tesla. It's the best, most futuristic car in the world. Don't have chargers (other than home)? How about becoming part of the solution and getting a group to put in some 80 amp chargers in Memphis, Odessa, and Little Rock? Twice as fast as an RV park, and you'll feel like you are helping hundreds move up as they move out. Plus, I see three ChaDeMo Nissans in Memphis. Why not donate an adapter for Tesla owners and advertising on Plugshare?

Other than having to wait for a charge, or looking for a motel with a 14-50 (offer to buy one for your favorite motel!) it really isn't hard. Of course, you're in a hurry. Maybe you shouldn't use the Tesla for business. But waiting a few hours gets you 500 miles a day, easy.
 
The original post certainly mirrors frustrations others have voiced - build-out of SpCs there; infilling of the network yonder; but neglecting here (in this case, of course, mid-NoAm).

However, it is in error to use the word "promise" - long-timers know that Tesla never promised to have the mentioned gaps filled by end of 2016. And real long-timers know I have been bemoaning TM's lack of planning, let alone actualization, of SpCs for one of the continent's most cherished destination routes - to and from Alaska - since before the galvanic pile was invented.
 
Have to agree with Bevguy. This is not an issue of someone who just purchased their car and is whining about no Superchargers in their area. Those of us who purchased their cars in late 2012 and early 2013 did so based partly on a Supercharger Network (that was pitched to us as a long distance travel network) that would be completed by 2015/2016. Here it is 2016 and there are significant holes in the network where we are, and there seems to be nothing but jabs from people who have SC's in their back yard who seem to think we are just complainers. We would like to enjoy the benefits (you now enjoy) that we were promised as some of the early adopters. We put our cash on the line with no car, no service centers and no superchargers and we continue to be left hanging. I don't think we are off base in encouraging Tesla to build out the network they promised. I encourage you to hop in your car and try to drive to Nashville and then see what we are dealing with. I would like to go west from Nashville sometime before my battery warranty runs out. Maybe even drive to Napa?
 
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Frustrating non the less.

We are unable to visit our son in college (Nashvilele) from our home in St Louis with our Tesla due to the lack of ANY super chargers in such an important route.

Too many gaps, appears as if Tesla is slowing down with the deployment of the super chargers, or at least has not much interest in its customers in the "under-devolved unworthy Midwest""
 
Please do let Tesla know your critical routes, posting here is a round about way. They do need to hear that certain routes are needed and why. Our collective voices and our purchases helps them figure out where to put future Superchargers.
What is the best way to do this? The biggest thing that is holding us back from getting a Model S is the lack of Superchargers in the Upper Midwest.
 
I find it interesting that I-10 has not been a high priority. Since most of the Teslas are in California and from what I understand number 2 is Florida it seems that I 10 would be the most desirable long distance travel route. It's also much better than northern routes during the winter. Right now the only East West travel route from California is I-70/I-80. Would actually prefer I-80 all the way. I-40 stops in Oklahoma City. We have a trip next month and if we take the Tesla we have to drive around almost 1000 miles further in addition to charge time. We are visiting relatives along the way and so have multiple stops. If it wasn't for that it would be better to fly.
 
What is the best way to do this? The biggest thing that is holding us back from getting a Model S is the lack of Superchargers in the Upper Midwest.

On Tesla's Supercharger page, at the bottom:

Supercharger | Tesla Motors

You can email the Supercharger team. Plus, you can suggest specific sites. Owners figuring out the "right" venues is a huge help, especially if they can do some of the legwork since Tesla people might not know the local area, traffic patterns, etc.
 
I find it interesting that I-10 has not been a high priority. Since most of the Teslas are in California and from what I understand number 2 is Florida it seems that I 10 would be the most desirable long distance travel route. It's also much better than northern routes during the winter. Right now the only East West travel route from California is I-70/I-80. Would actually prefer I-80 all the way. I-40 stops in Oklahoma City. We have a trip next month and if we take the Tesla we have to drive around almost 1000 miles further in addition to charge time. We are visiting relatives along the way and so have multiple stops. If it wasn't for that it would be better to fly.
Before there were Superchargers (the first two years of ownership) we drove our Model S using RV parks and PlugShare HPWCs. It just takes a bit of planning. Twin chargers and CHAdeMO can also help (although CHAdeMO is relatively new so we never used those). Don't think that "no Superchargers = can't go on a trip or have to go a long ways out of the way".
 
What is the best way to do this? The biggest thing that is holding us back from getting a Model S is the lack of Superchargers in the Upper Midwest.

If you are looking for SCs in North Dakota, yes, those are very sparse (zero).
I feel Minnesota is very fortunate to have as many as we do. I can go pretty much anywhere other than ND and Canada today, and those should be reachable in the next 18 months.

To the OP, please write to Tesla with your requests and suggested locations.

And don't take it personally. Comments such as "...unworthy Midwest" are just dripping with sarcasm and make the writer sound like a 6 year old.
Tesla places SCs depending upon a number of factors. A big factor is the number of Teslas in the area.
The Midwest tends to have fewer owners, and thus gets fewer SCs.
There is no implication that the Midwest is "unworthy”.
 
i have owned my S since March 2014
If you look at the figures it is clear that Tesla is concentrating SC deployment outside the US. Even starting sales and SC in brand new countries while leaving thousand mile gaps in US SC deployment.
In many parts the US local trips do not get you anywhere you want to go. This is not like heavily populated California or the NE. I wonder if Musk and crew realize this. Because unless they really push they are not going to meet the 2016 map.
SC must come first or they won't sell many Teslas in there areas..

For the poster wanting to go from ST Louis to Nashville there are several R V parks an long the way with RV50 service. So it's doable - it just might take an extra couple of hours. Worth it if you are going to see loved ones.

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re Chademo - in my area many are broken others blocked by ICE for hours sometimes all day. So they can't be trusted. RV parks are better, but only some welcome BEV so phone first.
 
Before there were Superchargers (the first two years of ownership) we drove our Model S using RV parks and PlugShare HPWCs. It just takes a bit of planning. Twin chargers and CHAdeMO can also help (although CHAdeMO is relatively new so we never used those). Don't think that "no Superchargers = can't go on a trip or have to go a long ways out of the way".

This ^^^
 
Before there were Superchargers (the first two years of ownership) we drove our Model S using RV parks and PlugShare HPWCs. It just takes a bit of planning. Twin chargers and CHAdeMO can also help (although CHAdeMO is relatively new so we never used those). Don't think that "no Superchargers = can't go on a trip or have to go a long ways out of the way".

With respect, I'd say "not this."

To take a trip without SC's is to make "getting there in an electric car" the point of the operation. There's simply no longer *any* comparison to an ICE in the efficiency of the journey. It becomes "travel as end" rather than "travel as means". No amount of planning can get around a max charge rate of 58 mph.

This sort of travel is an admirable thing, but it'll never get people who aren't enthusiasts to adopt the vehicle. The whole point of the SC network is to make long distances acceptable for somebody whose main goal is just to get somewhere.

This spring I'm driving from St. Louis to Florida. I'm taking my MS, but the lack of a SC in Paducah made it a close call. Without a mostly-complete SC network, I'd never have considered it.
 
There are trips we take that simply cannot occur if we must charge more slowly than supercharger speed. A trip from Dallas to see certain family members the east coast, for example, would require double the travel distance if we wanted to supercharge the entire way or double the travel time if we wanted to drive the most direct route. Either way, our schedules don't permit the luxury. Perhaps if we were retired empty nesters we'd make the EV trip just for EV sake. We're not there yet. So, in such cases, we take our ICE car.

Ideally, I'd be able to supercharge the entire way for every road trip I could envision, but the build-out isn't there yet. However, I'm pleased with Tesla's deployment rate of one US supercharger every few days. When we got our first S there were about 30 supercharger in North America. Now look.
 
Before there were Superchargers (the first two years of ownership) we drove our Model S using RV parks and PlugShare HPWCs. It just takes a bit of planning. Twin chargers and CHAdeMO can also help (although CHAdeMO is relatively new so we never used those). Don't think that "no Superchargers = can't go on a trip or have to go a long ways out of the way".

No superchargers = slower trip. Slower trip = further removed from the ICE experience. Further removed from the ICE experience = less people willing to change.

Lets take me as an example. I would not take a trip that was not SpCed in the Model S. Period. No questions about it. We'll take the ICE in that case. We're leaning towards becoming a 2 household EV, and if/when that happens, we'll rent a car for a trip that's not supercharged.


Sure, I expect the same members here to repeat the same words - ICE sucks, we get more rested by stopping every 2 hours, etc. etc. etc. I hear that, but I don't want to hear it, KWIM?
 
Perhaps some key RV parks could be convinced to put in 80amp? Of course, only help those with dual chargers. Are there any that are commonly used?

I do see evidence that the 2016 map will be done. But I'm still waiting on purchase until I see it.