cpa
Active Member
I drove from So. Cal. to North Carolina on I-40. Both Kingman and Flagstaff sites were abysmal for supercharging. Both sites had chargers that were inoperative, a line to wait in for use (I was in each of these locations on 6-12-2021, the first day of my road trip), and because of that all chargers were running 75kW max as they are V2 chargers, with some urban chargers in Kingman.
I drove the I-10 to return to CA and all but one of the SC sites I charged at were V2 from Lake Charles, LA and west. However, I didn't experience delays on the way home, likely due to fewer Teslas east of CA than in CA. The one V3 I charged at in that stretch was just east of CA in Quartzsite, AZ. There is another V3 site along the I-10 near the state border as well. The I-40 is in dire need of V3 charging near Kingman, AZ, if not an upgrade at the V2 site. Many of the V2 sites need a "refresh" the same way the model S and X needed a "refresh". And I would add, from my experience, Flagstaff, AZ and Albuquerque, NM to the V2 sites that need more charging capacity, if not an upgrade as well.
No argument. Kingman has been a bottleneck since around 2016. Six stalls at a Carl's Jr.
I do believe that Tesla is trying their level best to augment or enhance many of these problem areas throughout the country. They have to consider whether to expand a current location with V3 or to add a new location a short distance away.
For example, Gallup recently added four V3 Superchargers to the existing four V2. In addition, Holbrook added eight V3 to supplement the original four V2. Mojave CA (not on I40, but on CA58, a western extension towards Bakersfield) has two urban chargers available for use and has some V3 cabinets stashed on the gravel above the six permanent V2 Superchargers, so some sort of expansion is being considered.
I would hope that Kingman is in their sights.