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Suggested Supercharger Locations

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daxz

Member
Supporting Member
Nov 15, 2011
188
71
Denver, CO
The last TM informational meeting I was at they asked for suggestions for supercharger locations. And I know there is a bunch of individual local discussions of best places to place a supercharger. I made another map in ZeeMaps for placing in your suggestions.

Tesla Supercharger Desired Locations

  • To add a marker, use the "Additions"/"Add Marker - Detailed or Simple" drop-down.
  • Use your reservation number followed by dash and your personal ranking e.g. "P1635-1" or "S42 (EU)-1" (1 would be highest priority for yourself)
  • Please follow the color-coding convention in the legend at the bottom: green=90kW charger, lightgreen=20kW, lightblue=10kW (chargers should have lower levels at same location)
  • If there is someone else with a reservation already in your desired location, please place your marker slightly to one side; otherwise, it will not be visible.
  • If someone else already placed a marker near your desired location please be sure to place another marker there. The high frequency marker locations (from different reservation holders) can be the biggest signal to an Ideal location. You can turn off other posting by clicking on the ledge on the footer of the map - then you should be able to place without the other marker interfering.
  • Try to be as specific as possible for the location - since this is a location you specifically would desire you should know what is in the area already. These markers are for trips you should be doing regularly.

Try to keep your suggestions for places that you would utilize only (<10 locations) . Hopefully others will choose similar locations and would send a signal to TM of what locations would be useful.



Traveling speeds affect distances - here is a approximate guide of ideal distances :

Max Range (miles)40kWh60kWh85kWh
55mph160230333
60mph150213307
65mph136197283
70mph128182260
75mph116169239
80mph109156219
80% MaxRange (miles)40kWh60kWh85kWh
55mph128184267
60mph120170246
65mph109158226
70mph102146208
75mph93135191
80mph87125175
Wh/mile usage40kWh60kWh85kWh
55mph250261255
60mph267282276
65mph294305301
70mph313329327
75mph345355356
80mph367383388

60 and 85 kWh packs match with my calculations to new Model S Efficiency and Range | Blog | Tesla Motors values

km/hmphWh/mileWh/kmmiles 85kWhkm 85kWh
15093483300176283
14087436271195314
13081393244216348
12075354220240387
11068318198267430
10062286178297478

References:
Highway Range Ignorance
EV Time Distance Chart Calculator
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Not sure why 60 and 85 kWh packs have such a large leap in watt-hr/mile usage?

I think its partly because the wh/mile numbers for the 40kwh pack are erroneous.
Using your data for range at 80mph:

85 kwh/213miles= 399 wh/mile
60kwh/163 miles= 368 wh/mile
40kwh/109 miles= 367 wh/mile.

you have 400 wh/mile, 367 wh/mile and 345 wh/mile numbers in your wh/mile table. Coincidentally 40kwh/116 miles (75 mph number) = 345 wh/mile suggesting something like an excel row shift error.

Thank you for the tables.
 
made some additions for the German Autobahn Netz.

Many thanks to daxz for seizing the initative! Can you add some tables with ranges in km and speed in kph? Mind you, 150kph is a convenient cruising speed here!
 
made some additions for the German Autobahn Netz.

Many thanks to daxz for seizing the initative! Can you add some tables with ranges in km and speed in kph? Mind you, 150kph is a convenient cruising speed here!

edit initial thread posting adding in km/h chart for 85kWh pack

at 150 km/h you can go a max of 270 km w/ 85kWh pack
You are also getting close the limit of where the supercharge can sustain that velocity over long distances. For some distances it's quicker over all to slow down then it is to stop to charge.

Max sustained velocity for charger sizes.
charge ratemphkm/h
90 kW108173
59 kW93150
31 kW75121
20 kW65104
10 kW5183
 
Wh/mile usage chart is incorrect for 60kWh... Shouldn't it be 261Wh/mile at 55mph?
I had 240miles as max range for 55mph in my calcs. I've re-adjusted my calcs with the 60kWh pack sizes above to hit 230miles @ 55mph. Thanks for pointing that out!
Still don't know why the 60 vs 85 would have the hit of 22Wh/mile.
 
daxz: Great idea. Have you e-mailed Tesla with this map? I'm sure they probably already know about it but might be good information for them. Thanks.

+1. It'd be not just good, but GREAT information for TM. It'd also solve a lot of the headaches of finding suitable sites. If we already have cities in mind, it'd save them time and trouble of finding places. They'd just have to scout within city limits, not look for cities to put them.
 
The one that I really want to see, that I added to the map is at the Clemson University International Center for Automotive Research. It happens to be pretty much halfway between Charlotte and Atlanta, and well is also directly on I-85.
 
A charger in Greensburg Indiana would be my number 1 point. A level 2 charger in this location would allow for me to drive a 40 kw Model S between Cincinnati and Indianapolis without worry, and a Level 3 charger would be a great top off point for 85 KW models going between Cincinnati and Chicago (this trip is just barely out of range without a charge)
 
In the US, I think it makes the most sense to do these are places that are what I'd call "travel centers." A great example is at the Laval Road exit fro I5 just North of the grapevine in Califonria. There you can find a Starbucks, In-n-out burger, Chipotle Grill, Panda Express, and McDonalds. It's also along the busy I5 cooridor, and a nexus with other major routes like Freeway 99 and routes from the coast, 127 miles south of the already identified Coalinga Supercharger. These kinds of places don't exist everywhere we'd need them, but it seems an ideal way to stop and plug in, use a bathroom and grab a quick meal, and hit the road again. I've marked a few of these I know of the map (since I travel that route often).
 
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In the US, I think it makes the most sense to do these are places that are what I'd call "travel centers." A great example is at the Laval Road exist just North of the grapevine in Califonria. There you can find a Starbucks, In-n-out burger, Chipotle Grill, Panda Express, and McDonalds. It's also along the busy I5 cooridor, and a nexus with other major routes like Freeway 99 and routes from the coast, 127 miles south of the already identified Coalinga Supercharger. These kinds of places don't exist everywhere we'd need them, but it seems an ideal way to stop and plug in, use a bathroom and grab a quick mean, and hit the road again. I've marked a few of these I know of the map (since I travel that route often).

there's a whole host of those up and down the I-95 corridor on the east coast as well (and i agree - ideal locations for chargers). On the routes that i generally travel, that would cover Maryland, Delaware, New Jersey, etc...
 
@Tempus: same in New England. Rest stops along the Mass Pike (I-90) are well-spaced and provide services to spend time while charging. The rest stops on the Maine Turnpike are also good targets, especially the Kennebunk area--putting one there would really open up the Maine coast to EV driving. Maine is a wasteland of EV charging right now.
 
lol

I have just filled Denmark with all the optimal locations
mostly ferry crossings
Why exactly is a ferry crossing a good location? An electric car won't exactly use very much electricity while on a ferry. It might even be able to charge while on the ferry.

I would have thought Denmark really only needs two superchargers. One in close proximity to the bridge to Sweden, and one where the E20 meets the E45. For good measure there might be one near Aalborg. Hirtshals to Copenhagen is 480 km, which means the entire country is inside the range of a Model S. That means you really only need supercharging when leaving Denmark.

Anyway, I addded som suggestions for Norway. Mostly at the midway points between major cities.
 
I decided to add enough charger locations to reach the entire country relatively easily. I would be very surprised if Tesla decided to install chargers north of Trondheim, but it would be quite awesome. Then any car vacation I would like in the entire country would be possible.

You really only need 16 superchargers to cover the entire country, though. That's probably less than $2 million. Good value for money. :eek:
 
Looking at the numbers, it is possible that Tesla might decide to implement a Supercharger grid like the one I laid out. Already there are around 300 reservations for the Model S in Norway, and if we assume Tesla will be able to sell that many cars each year, Tesla would need to use less than 1% of the revenue on Superchargers.

I think Tesla would be able to easily sell enough cars to offset that cost, based on the advertising value of having the grid. Traveling from Lindesnes to Kirkenes mostly on the E6, would take 42 hours, if you had two drivers that alternated on sleeping/driving, and they only ate at my specified charging locations. That's a distance of 1800 miles. Doing it in an ICE car would be 37 hours, with no stops at all.

The grid would allow Tesla to sell the idea of the unlimited range electric car, and that should resonate with buyers.
 
Why exactly is a ferry crossing a good location?

A ferry crossing is a good location because you're stopped anyway, so you might as well charge up there as someplace else. Almost all the ferries I've been on had a significant wait before you actually boarded the ferry. Also charging while on the ferry doesn't help reduce the use of fossil fuels.
 
I'll agree a ferry crossing can be a good place to charge, but it depends entirely on the circumstances.

Most ferries I've had to take means queueing up to enter the ferry, as it spends as little time as possible unloading/loading cars, and it would be hard to charge while in the queue. To put up a Tesla charger would mean that the ferry company would either have to give electric cars special treatment, or it would require the EV driver to park and charge while the ferry is approaching, and then when cars start to be loaded, join the back of the queue. (This last option wouldn't really work on a number of the ferries I've taken, as there is no guarantee there is actually room for your car, so joining at the back of the queue might mean having to wait for the next ferry.) I think we will need a larger number of EVs on the roads before the ferry companies will be willing to change their loading procedures, but of course, one can at least try to affect their views.

Furthermore, if the destination of the ferry is also the final destination for most people boarding the ferry, it makes little sense to put up chargers, because the EV will almost definitely be charged at the final destination. So, this aspect will need to be assessed - will most people need to have full charge when the ferry unloads them?