Supercharger - Cranberry, PA (NW of Pittsburgh)

[JakeP]

Cranberry Twp is energized! Supercharger #2 is taking a firmware update as we speak, to make it compatible with 5.9, as it was an older build. But Supercharger #1 and #3 are up and running, and #2 will be online in an hour or so.

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Ah, so its not Allenton, but really close. Whitehall, PA. Did he mention where in the process? Permits or construction? Great find!

Sounded like still in permitting phase...appeared that there were some kinks in permitting/leasing that were still being worked out, even though the construction bid had been awarded already. Construction was not yet underway, from what I understood.

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It certainly was a big day for Tesla in PA: not only did the Cranberry Twp Supercharger finally come online, but TMC's own Newscutter confirmed his Model S order, and his gorgeous grey baby is due to arrive in June. Congrats Newscutter!!!!

 

[sefs]

Awesome! Thanks for all the coverage, JakeP. On a side note, are you and Newscutter attending the Tesla HPWC open house event at the CMU Electric Garage tomorrow night 4-7pm?

 

[JakeP]

I just saw that thread, but my daughter has a lacrosse game down in Peters Township tomorrow, so I don't think I can make it!

 

[Newscutter]

I have a full array of pictures (as usual!) and some video of the problematic first charges-- those will go up tomorrow if I can find the time.

Yep. True to my signature... I waited a full 2 days into Q2 2014!!
Confirmed my first Tesla this morning. Still have stomach butterflies. Will post more on that elsewhere-- but hats off to JakeP for keeping me (mostly) sane.

Can't make the event tomorrow night, unfortunately... I'll be-- well, cutting news!

 

[AoneOne]

Braving the rain, I dropped by the Cranberry SC after work and charged for a few minutes. My battery was cool (51F ambient) and not very empty (50 rated miles remaining), so I only got 80 kW at first, rising to 92 kW as my battery warmed after about 8 minutes. 7 minutes later, having added about 75 rated miles to my range, I left to rejoin the rush hour traffic back home.

Given it's relatively isolated location, I doubt I'll be back again unless I'm passing that way into or out of the area, but it will certainly make much more of western PA accessible to Tesla owners and also make the Somerset PA to Macedonia OH leg much easier.

 

[InTheShadows]

Ah, so its not Allenton, but really close. Whitehall, PA. Did he mention where in the process? Permits or construction? Great find!

Really? Whitehall PA? I would not think that that would be a great place for a supercharger. Harrisburg and Hazelton are much better locations. 76, 80, 81 are all major interchanges that see massive amounts of traffic.

Whitehall really only serves the people that are going between Harrisburg and NYC. Is 76 to 78 the preferred method to get from
Pittsburgh to NYC or is it 22-99-80? Most people coming in from the west will be using i80. Coming in from the south and sw would be 95. I could see people using Whitehall from the Deep South, however there are no superchargers or planned superchargers on the map for I-81 through Virginia.

Are my thoughts on traffic flow through PA incorrect?

 

[jrreno]

Coming from the south it is 93 miles north of Newark , Delaware. My destination is 133 miles north near Binghampton, NY so Whitehall is perfect for me.

 

[JakeP]

We confirmed that Binghamton is being studied for a site location as well, which is perfect for I-81. Erie is on the radar, but no confirmation of progress...though I did share your excellent parking lot pic with the Tesla Supercharger guy, and I hope he shares it with the site acquisition team. I bet we see one at Carlisle or just west of Harrisburg soon as well, for I-76 and I-81 traffic. That would really connect all the dots. Maybe one more on I-86 in NY State between Erie and Ithaca/Binghamton, for icing on the cake. Other spots on I-80 are coming as well, but no formal confirmation of the towns.

 

[JakeP]

Really? Whitehall PA? I would not think that that would be a great place for a supercharger. Harrisburg and Hazelton are much better locations. 76, 80, 81 are all major interchanges that see massive amounts of traffic.

Whitehall really only serves the people that are going between Harrisburg and NYC. Is 76 to 78 the preferred method to get from
Pittsburgh to NYC or is it 22-99-80? Most people coming in from the west will be using i80. Coming in from the south and sw would be 95. I could see people using Whitehall from the Deep South, however there are no superchargers or planned superchargers on the map for I-81 through Virginia.

Are my thoughts on traffic flow through PA incorrect?

I always go 76-78 to get to NYC. But then I am often stopping at my in-laws in Carlisle.

 

[paulkva]

Really? Whitehall PA? I would not think that that would be a great place for a supercharger. Harrisburg and Hazelton are much better locations. 76, 80, 81 are all major interchanges that see massive amounts of traffic.

Whitehall really only serves the people that are going between Harrisburg and NYC. Is 76 to 78 the preferred method to get from
Pittsburgh to NYC or is it 22-99-80? Most people coming in from the west will be using i80. Coming in from the south and sw would be 95. I could see people using Whitehall from the Deep South, however there are no superchargers or planned superchargers on the map for I-81 through Virginia.

Are my thoughts on traffic flow through PA incorrect?

When I commuted between home (Rockaway NJ) and school (CMU in Pittsburgh PA), I used to take I-80 to Route 28, although I don't think 99 existed yet at the time, or at least it wasn't up to Interstate standards. If I had lived in central NJ instead, I'd have taken I-78 to I-81 to I-76. (We still need a Harrisburg/Carlisle area supercharger to make that route work well though.)

Even today I find myself on I-78 occasionally, e.g. if I want to avoid I-95 traffic from DC to my in-laws (Bridgewater NJ). I'll either go through Frederick and Harrisburg, or through York and Reading. This new supercharger will be 190-200 miles from home for me -- a bit of a stretch in the cold, especially given the hills, but likely a viable option if I-95 is miserable (as it so often is on holiday weekends).

Combined with Hagerstown, the Whitehall supercharger can get you all the way from NYC / central NJ to the I-81/I-64 interchange without touching I-95. Granted, we need some more planned superchargers along I-81 -- maybe Staunton and Wytheville in VA -- to fill the gap.

 

[Half Dollar Bill]

Really? Whitehall PA? I would not think that that would be a great place for a supercharger. Harrisburg and Hazelton are much better locations. 76, 80, 81 are all major interchanges that see massive amounts of traffic.

Whitehall really only serves the people that are going between Harrisburg and NYC. Is 76 to 78 the preferred method to get from
Pittsburgh to NYC or is it 22-99-80? Most people coming in from the west will be using i80. Coming in from the south and sw would be 95. I could see people using Whitehall from the Deep South, however there are no superchargers or planned superchargers on the map for I-81 through Virginia.

Are my thoughts on traffic flow through PA incorrect?

We vacation in Maine frequently and before Tesla we would make the trip north through Allentown to avoid the 95 traffic and tolls to get to northern Jersey and southern NY. My first trip to Newark with the MS from northern VA was an eye opener with over $20 in tolls. I'll happily take advantage of an Allentown SC.

 

[InTheShadows]

*waving the white flag* Whitehall does seem like a good location. I'm glad to hear that there will be another supercharger in PA soon. Though I was personally hoping for Harrisburg.

I think the I-81 corridor through VA should get superchargers too. We use it more than 95 when heading south for the same reasons others are avoiding 95.

It's funny having conversations like this because in 2 years we will likely have superchargers in all of these locations.

 

[JakeP]

And I *completely* forgot to ask the Tesla guy yesterday about the status of the one in Harrisburg, which is shown on the 2014 map!

 

[Walker34]

Harrisburg is the one I'm waiting for as well. Hopefully we'll get more info soon.

 

[Newscutter]

Working on a video of the "going live" difficulties. Will try to make it self explanatory, but suffice it to say Tesla's test car was a 60 w/Supercharging but it was disabled and then firmware on one of the main cabinets was incompatible with the v5.9 firmware on the test car... <sigh> It all worked out in the end-- but having JakeP's car there definitely expedited the SpC coming online. AND we were the first to customer charge at this location also, to add to our first at Somerset (Tesla Supercharger - Somerset, PA - YouTube). I'm hoping to give JakeP a run for his money at the next one... if my car arrives in time!

Also included here are some "Supercharger Porn" photos for those of you that like to look under the hood.

Posting this picture here for Jalopnik. <ha> Service was swapping it for local owner whose car was going back to Columbus, OH for annual service.... and using it to test the Supercharger on the way into town.

MS60 Loaner with grey interior, pano, air.

Posting the VIN and a look at the front edge of the battery pack for anyone trying to correlate VIN ranges built with Tank Mode already on them. To our eyes, this car does NOT have the new plating.

The idea of a Tesla van is intriguing. Model X could definitely do wheelchair lifts-- I would think-- but imagine a van the size of a Ford Econoline.

The highly technical skill of putting adhesive characters on a Supercharger. Has this ever been captured before? <ha>

Eenie-meenie-miney-moe is not necessary in this case. There is a clear beauty pageant winner.

 

[airj1012]

Great pictures. I'm surprised they're not using the new covers. Have they been implemented outside of Hawthorne yet?

 

[JakeP]

Excellent shots as always, Newscutter! There is an excellent side-by-side comparison of 19" Cyclones and 19" Rial Luganos, for those interested in such things.

I also asked for clarification on the handicapped spot. It was a city requirement from Cranberry Township, not anything initiated by Tesla. He said they have been asked to do this a couple of times now, to adhere to city planning ordinances.

Though I think my favorite aspect of this post is Newscutter's new signature line, "Model S Confirmed 4-3-2014"!

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Great pictures. I'm surprised they're not using the new covers. Have they been implemented outside of Hawthorne yet?

Yes we asked about that, and he said the ones in the construction queue will still be getting the old cabinets for a while. I don't know if those new cabinets are for 135kW only, either.

 

[Newscutter]

Great pictures. I'm surprised they're not using the new covers. Have they been implemented outside of Hawthorne yet?

Gentleman from the Supercharger team said he had only done ONE install using V2 covers. Perhaps that was Hawthorne? This installation was a hybrid-- the stainless sides of the stanchions are for the LED lighting of the V2 covers but for whatever reason we got V1 covers. Timetable on V2 installations to come seems to be an unknown.

I suggested they consider reselling the V1 covers when/if they upgrade the existing Supercharger locations. I can imagine a number of enthusiastic Tesla owners would happily wrap their home chargers in what would otherwise just be a discarded Supercharger cabinet! Reduce, Reuse, Recycle!

 

[airj1012]

Yes we asked about that, and he said the ones in the construction queue will still be getting the old cabinets for a while. I don't know if those new cabinets are for 135kW only, either.

I think the Hamilton Marketplace, NJ location is 135kW. We'll see!

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I suggested they consider reselling the V1 covers when/if they upgrade the existing Supercharger locations. I can imagine a number of enthusiastic Tesla owners would happily wrap their home chargers in what would otherwise just be a discarded Supercharger cabinet! Reduce, Reuse, Recycle!

Great idea and I agree!

 

[Doug H2]

Great reporting. I'm glad to know that Cranberry is finally live. I've traveled through that corridor twice now. Once, at the beginning of the year, around the 6th of Jan and again in February. I experienced the wonderful hospitality of Jake P and his wife while I charged in his garage. I enjoyed my time there, but I'm also happy to know that us 60s can now make the Turnpike trip through PA without having to oppose on anyone.