1st 135kW supercharger FOUND in U.S. (NJ)

[GSP]

Cotton, Flasher and other gurus:

Well then, why should we be constrained to those 480V? Why not 1,000V? Or some juicy higher number?

That's a serious question: are there reasons other than "well, 480V is the normal max voltage hanging around in mere-mortal situations (ie, downstream of most substations)" not to consider higher voltages? In other words, if we're going to think outside the box....let's stay outside...the weather's fine!

In theory there is no need for the large and expensive 480 V transformer. The DC fast charger can be run directly from utility 14.4 kV lines with greater efficiency, as proven by EPRI's proof-of-concept:

EPRI's Fast, Flexible - And Cheaper - EV Charging System

In practice, the utility industry is not ready to deploy this in the real world. As FlasherZ points out, the best way for Tesla to get Superchargers installed now is with currently available standard components.

GSP

 

[FlasherZ]

Don't forget availability of labor... Part of it surely has to do with the trained labor and contractors. Industrial-strength HV electricians with all the proper gear are few and far between (and usually work for the utilities directly)... safety plays a part, too.

 

[Cottonwood]

Don't forget availability of labor... Part of it surely has to do with the trained labor and contractors. Industrial-strength HV electricians with all the proper gear are few and far between (and usually work for the utilities directly)... safety plays a part, too.

To paraphrase FlasherZ: 600V is a huge threshold (another pun intended) in available components, wire, trained personnel, etc, not to mention the comfort level of inspectors. As I understand it, utilities do almost all the work at higher than 600V, and most have their own inspection authority. Local electrical inspectors VERY rarely do anything over 600V. Getting them comfortable with that would be another huge threshold to cross.

 

[pbleic]

Who has a reader that can decipher that modern-day bar code shown in Yobigd's photograph? Any cool embedded information?

Always up for a challenge, but this one was too easy. Are you ready? The barcode reads: P1033026-00-A:ST13L0001010, which are the numbers written in alphanumeric on the right of the bar code. Phew.

 

[EdA]

Boy I could have used this charger yesterday.
7:30am leave bagel store 15 miles west of Boston.
10am Greenwich SB SC
2pm Philly
6:15pm leave L2 charger
drive slowly due to traffic, weather and lack of margin in my range
9pm? Greenwich NB SC for 1/2 hour
10pm? Milford NB SC (better food choices)
1am home (last leg had the worst weather - cold and rain)

It would have been nice not to spend all that time in Philly at an inferior charger but
I actually stayed longer to let the traffic ease out. I still ended up taking 95N to Trenton
and US Rt. 1 parallel to the NJT due to "serious redness".

 

[tom66]

Who has a reader that can decipher that modern-day bar code shown in Yobigd's photograph? Any cool embedded information?

That is a "Data Matrix" barcode.
Contents:

P1033026-00-A:ST13L0001010

i.e. part # and serial number as printed.

 

[pbleic]

That is a "Data Matrix" barcode.
Contents:

P1033026-00-A:ST13L0001010

i.e. part # and serial number as printed.

Yes, that is what I said, 2 posts above.

 

[tom66]

Yes, that is what I said, 2 posts above.

Funny - two people a week apart answer a question on the first page. Did not see your post sorry.

 

[pbleic]

Funny - two people a week apart answer a question on the first page. Did not see your post sorry.

No prob. I went back through because I was certain somebody would have answered it already.