Supercharger - Laurel, MD

[DiamondDave]

I live about 15 minutes from here going the other way on 198. Had to go to the Towne Centre so I scoped out the parking garage. I did not see any construction. The parking structure is behind most of the shopping, it's been mostly empty when I've been there in the past. That said, there has been considerable development recently. Today, there was little parking in front of the stores - I had to drive around for 10 minutes. However, on the side of the parking structure opposite the theaters, there was plenty of open spaces (photos below). If the superchargers are in this area I wouldn't worry too much about ICEing, though during the premiere of, say, Star Wars, or any movie night, YMMV. It was a 5 minute drive from 95 with little traffic on 198.

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Also, leaving Laurel, I was headed to Columbia which takes me north on 95. Google Maps did not route me west on 198 but, rather, north on 7th Street/216 to get to the 216 exit onto 95. I was on 95 in about 6 minutes after clearing the Christmas Eve mall traffic. If you're headed south on 95, it may be more direct to take this exit. A little farther from 95 to the site compared to the 198 exit, but shorter than continuing on 95 from the 216 exit to the 198 exit.

In summary, whether you're travelling north or south, you can route yourself around the piece of 95 between 198 and 216 when going to this supercharger.

Admittedly, this route goes through a neighborhood that is not exactly scenic, but it's just a few blocks.

 

[iplugin]

Although Laurel is a great location, it would have made more sense for travelers to have the superchargers located somewhere in Northern College Park, near IKEA. In and out of I 95 would have been easy, whether coming from North or South of the interstate.

 

[techmaven]

Although Laurel is a great location, it would have made more sense for travelers to have the superchargers located somewhere in Northern College Park, near IKEA. In and out of I 95 would have been easy, whether coming from North or South of the interstate.

I am generally opposed to Superchargers near urban centers in the U.S. Bethesda Supercharger demonstrates all the pitfalls of having Superchargers too close to population centers.

 

[CatB]

I am generally opposed to Superchargers near urban centers in the U.S. Bethesda Supercharger demonstrates all the pitfalls of having Superchargers too close to population centers.

Agree and disagree - part of Bethesda's problem is that there are only 2 stalls, if there were 4, we wouldn't see that much queueing up (although I'm sure there is latent demand - a lot of locals would charge opportunistically if there weren't such a wait, and slow charging issues).
And yes, would be ideal if we didn't have local abusers (and I'm one of them occasionally, I am still house-hunting for a Tesla-friendly garage attached to a house that suits me, in the meantime, my MS is primarily garaged at my parents' house in Baltimore County - am I the first EV boomeranger?) and would be REALLY helpful if Tesla found a way to discourage corporate charging (at least two cars with LTS license plates who are hired uber drivers have been noticed charging there overly frequently - I vote for reducing their charge speeds to the point that the Limo company owner would find it more cost-effective to install proper charging for the cars rather than pay people to stay with the cars while they charge).
But still, we need an urban charging solution... I don't think free supercharging is the long-term answer, but it's helping to bridge the gap...

 

[loganss]

Bethesda has sooo many problems ...
* Too close to the mall entrance. IMO no superchargers should be placed so close to a business entrance, especially a busy one.
* Terrible parking lot. It's way too tight in there for the amount of cars that use the superchargers, HPWCs, and 14-50 outlets
* Marked as temporary when it first opened with no permanent location established to relieve the demand
* Along with being a 2 stall "temporary" location it's shared with the Tesla store in Montgomory Mall

I hate to say it but the supercharging network as it is now isn't easily scalable. If Tesla Model 3 is free charging for life, I fear my chances might be better with a Chademo adapter when making road trips. The free for life concept helped me get into a Model S but I would also have been ok paying a reasonable rate for the convenience and the excellent maintenance of the superchargers.

In general, free charging for EVs helped in the beginning but it isn't a practice that should be used long term.

 

[jdo]

I hate to say it but the supercharging network as it is now isn't easily scalable. If Tesla Model 3 is free charging for life, I fear my chances might be better with a Chademo adapter when making road trips. The free for life concept helped me get into a Model S but I would also have been ok paying a reasonable rate for the convenience and the excellent maintenance of the superchargers.

In general, free charging for EVs helped in the beginning but it isn't a practice that should be used long term.

This is straying off-topic, and maybe there's another thread where it's being discussed, but I agree. Say for purpose of discussion that the M3 sells at 10x the number of MSs. If it's free charging for all, there's no way that the SC network, even once built out to Tesla's 2016+ maps, will be able to support free charging for all in the large population centers. In fact I worry that even with a nominal fee there will be a lot of frustration along the popular routes.

I believe eventually Tesla will have to franchise fee-based SCs for the M3 to be successful.

 

[republic]

This is straying off-topic, and maybe there's another thread where it's being discussed, but I agree. Say for purpose of discussion that the M3 sells at 10x the number of MSs. If it's free charging for all, there's no way that the SC network, even once built out to Tesla's 2016+ maps, will be able to support free charging for all in the large population centers. In fact I worry that even with a nominal fee there will be a lot of frustration along the popular routes.

I believe eventually Tesla will have to franchise fee-based SCs for the M3 to be successful.

That's a brilliant idea, and I bet Tesla plans to do exactly that. Alternatively, S/X would continue to receive free charging whereas M3 would be on a subscription model. They could license supercharger usage to non-Tesla vehicles as well. For EVs to be practical for urban populations, there would need to be dozens of chargers in each major city.

 

[CHRGIT]

Per the county web site, the permit has not yet been issued.

 

[DiamondDave]

Per the county web site, the permit has not yet been issued.

Would the permit not be issued by the City of Laurel?

 

[CHRGIT]

Would the permit not be issued by the City of Laurel?

Other permits for Laurel Towne Center are listed on the PG county site, so I would think this one will show once it is issued.

 

[Lanny]

The City of Laurel has the permit application.

As of this morning, the permit is still pending, waiting for the contractor's name.

Lanny

 

[CHRGIT]

The today and 2016 maps on Tesla's website have been relabeled, but nothing of additional importance.

 

[CHRGIT]

Drove through the location this morning and no sign of activity.

 

[CatB]

When this location was found, i think there were about 5 SCs under construction on the East Coast, so I was thinking "great, surely one of those crews can head to Laurel"
And now that we have Snowzilla hitting the whole northeast and no little orange cones on the supercharge.info map, it seems to me that all those crews would be thrilled to take on a nice semi-inside job... but it seems to just be stalled. Any new news?

 

[Lanny]

These projects are put out for bid so a crew that might have been working on another east coast project is not necessarily going to be doing Laurel. The last I heard, the permit office was waiting for the contractor to be assigned. It may be time for me to follow up next week.

 

[CatB]

That would be awesome
It just looks like SC construction has slowed down a LOT lately...

 

[Lanny]

When this location was found, i think there were about 5 SCs under construction on the East Coast, so I was thinking "great, surely one of those crews can head to Laurel"
And now that we have Snowzilla hitting the whole northeast and no little orange cones on the supercharge.info map, it seems to me that all those crews would be thrilled to take on a nice semi-inside job... but it seems to just be stalled. Any new news?

I just heard back from the City of Laurel that no permit has been issued yet as of Feb. 1st.

Lanny

 

[Syd]

It's been over another month, any news?

 

[Lanny]

No sign of construction as of today.

 

[andrewket]

Perhaps the crew working at Newark will head to Laurel when they're done.