Supercharger - Morrisville, NC (RDU)

[GMW93]

In this article about a new gas station opening next to RDU airport, it mentions the current Sheetz (1600 Aviation Pkwy) will be demolished and rebuilt. (Possible paywall so I've included the quote below)

The RDU Galleria will open just as the Sheetz convenience store nearby prepares to close. The company plans to demolish the existing 16-year-old building and build a reconfigured one that’s a third larger. In an email, Sheetz spokesman Nick Ruffner said the new store will “include a restaurant-style experience with self-service kiosks, additional seating both inside and outside the store, a drive-thru, a new Tesla charging station and more.” The company hopes to reopen by the end of the year.

This permit simply mentions the Tesla chargers included as part of the construction. Interestingly, a separate permit was filed for "new EV Charging Canopy Structure with roof mounted Solar panels."

 

[SigNC]

Only 2 miles from the install at exit 287 but nice to add coverage directly by the airport.

 

[M3 Ivy]

The Sheets closed April 30th and demolition started May 1st. As of today the building and exterior property are not more. Does this constitute a construction update on the superchargers or does construction on the superchargers need to commence first?

Also, is it concerning that the Tesla website does not have a future supercharger pin on Morrisville, NC?

 

[Tdreamer]

Thanks fore the update. The Sheetz demolition does not constitute supercharger construction start, but it's certainly a great sign and one step closer to happening. Typically, a supercharge.info construction marker is considered when the actual supercharger component of a project commences. That's things like fencing around the supercharger project site itself, Tesla equipment showing up or other supercharger specific work.

Guessing the supercharger work is 4-6 months out minimum - possibly more depending on how much site work needs to be done before the new facility construction begins.

 

[jstrickland]

Sheetz #399 has reopened but the EV parking spaces under the solar canopy are still awaiting Tesla hardware. I think @Urgo has pictures from yesterday that he might contribute to this thread soon?

 

[jstrickland]

I was up that way for the hockey game tonight so I figured I’d swing by and snap a pic of the solar canopy. It’s located on the north side of Sheetz. No normal parking spaces along that side of the building, because the drive thru lanes run parallel alongside that wall. In bottom corner of the shot is a curb then a couple of feet of grass then a curb for the two drive thru lanes.

There are 12 EV parking spaces underneath the canopy, one of which is van accessible. Still no Tesla hardware on-site.

 

[SigNC]

Swung by today and, at least from the road, no change.

 

[RTPEV]

I have some pictures I took just before Christmas. This would certainly be a very unconventional Tesla installation, with pairs of pedestals being installed on islands in between parking spots. Not quite what I would call ideal, but not too bad either. I did not spot any obvious spot where charging cabinets might be located or currently roughed in.

I appreciate the addition of the trash can and window washer dispensers (and the fact that they are already equipped is interesting!) but they might have to re-think the placement--seems like a tight fit!

 

[SigNC]

Drove by Saturday, no change.

 

[Tdreamer]

This will be an interesting location when finished. Likely a one-of-a-kind for a while.

 

[BrownOuttaSpec]

It's been about 3 months since the last update. I checked the app and nothing is listed yet. Anyone seen construction updates of pedestals?

 

[RTPEV]

No...it's probably been about a week since I last drove by, but definitely no equipment on site at that point.

 

[Da_Gman]

After much waiting, there are finally signs of life at this location. Drove by there yesterday and saw some Tesla branded boxes as well as a transformer with Tesla sticker already in place. The transformer had meter in place, but has not yet been energized. A back hoe was located at the site as well. I believe this qualifies for construction cone status.

Distant view of Tesla boxes with solar canopy in foreground.

Close up detail of one of two boxes from opposite point of view.

Sticker on transformer identifying Tesla purposing. Meter in place but not turned on.

Transformer with backhoe showing ground work in progress.

Backhoe from opposite perspective showing construction tape and solar canopy control boxes with shutoffs.

Looking forward to this site located immediately adjacent to RDU airport property. Too bad Hertz is
quitting Tesla rentals as this site is perfect for rental fill ups, EV or ICE.

 

[jstrickland]

So, I swung by yesterday since I think we can all admit this charging location has been something of an oddity. There is still no grey pin in Morrisville on Tesla’s Find Us map to indicate this as a future Tesla Supercharger location. Could the charging stalls that arrive be Sheetz branded? Yes, that’s purely speculation, but a thought nonetheless. Given the BP press release back in October that announced their $100 million order of Tesla hardware, who’s to say Sheetz didn’t follow suit & has just been sitting on the info. As an earlier post pointed out this would become a prime location for EV rental charging before those vehicles are returned to the rental companies at RDU.

This week or June should put the mystery of this spot to rest once the charging stalls are delivered and unwrapped.

It’s been mentioned in previous posts that there are 12 EV spaces under the solar canopy, hence the three wrapped Tesla cabinets. It was hard to tell how many from the distant view in the previous post.

Pallet 2 of 4

Pallet 3 of 4

Pallet 4 of 4

Pallet 1 of 4 was an assortment of boxes hiding behind pallet 3 in the group shot of the cabinets. I should’ve snagged a pic of it.

For those curious about the cabinets, here’s a sticker.

I wanted to take a closeup pic or two of the transformer but there was a crew member sitting on the curb near it and I didn’t wanna disturb his mental break. Every time I’ve stopped by the parking lot has been full, so I know that location is busy each day.

Site work shot

Another site work shot.

Standing near the north corner of the property I took this panning shot of the current site work. The noise you hear is a bus idling in front of some of the EV spaces. Over the past several months cars, taxis, limos & buses have used the corridor in front of the unused EV spaces to park. As I was leaving yesterday, circled around the Sheetz and my Model S had to squeeze between that idling bus and a van that was parked parallel beside it. Hopefully the concrete barriers and cones blocking access to the road behind the solar canopy will be moved and those drivers can use that space to loiter near the station, otherwise Sheetz may need to put no parking signs on the curb across from the canopy.

 

[Da_Gman]

There were only two boxes present when I snapped the previous pics on Sat, May 18th so you are looking at relatively new deliveries since then.

We are agreed that ICE'ing might be a concern as back area was popular for parking long vehicles adjacent to the previously located car wash. In my top pic, you can see where a pickup hauling a boat trailer was covering several slots. Hopefully, some other accommodation, such as direct access to the paved area immediately behind the charging location, might be granted.

Sheetz branded cabinets would be very interesting. Will have to keep a sharp eye on that.

 

[RTPEV]

Sheetz branded cabinets certainly would be interesting, but also unprecedented (of course this arrangement at a Sheetz is also unprecedented). I doubt that is the case though (although we shall see soon).

I haven't been paying close attention the the Supercharger labels/stickers, but it is interesting that these are apparently "V3.5" cabinets. Does the 3.5 imply built-in support for NACS? Or something else?

And while ICEing could be a concern (that parking lot is strangely REALLY full all the time), I think that the unique arrangement of the stalls in a quasi-island configuration will deter ICE vehicles from pulling into those spots. Probably won't help with the trucks and busses that park in front of the spots though.

 

[scottf200]

Sheetz branded cabinets certainly would be interesting, but also unprecedented (of course this arrangement at a Sheetz is also unprecedented). I doubt that is the case though (although we shall see soon).

I can't recall if there have been other examples beside BP

https://www.bp.com/en_us/united-states/home/news/press-releases/bp-boosts-ev-charging-network-with-100-million-dollar-order-of-tesla-ultra-fast-chargers.html

 

[RTPEV]

I guess I am saying that it would be unprecedented to have Sheetz branding specifically. I'm aware of the BP Pulse, and I do suspect others may follow, but if there is some deal to provide Sheetz branding, I can't imagine any reason it would be kept secret, so it would be really surprising if these had Sheetz branding.

That said, given Tesla's apparent new direction, why wouldn't they offer to allow whatever branding the host desired (for a fee of course!)

 

[ChrisC]

Yeah, no, I don't think that there's some secret Sheetz thing happening. It's just the usual lag of Tesla's findus map that occasionally happens, with entire stations popping up out of the blue. With that lag now made astronomically worse by the chief manbaby's actions. This is just us chewing our limbs off because nothing is happening here

 

[RTPEV]

Most of the Sheetz locations never appeared as Coming Soon on the findus map, so nothing strange there. I think it's a case of which sites were initiated by Tesla versus other third parties, and Sheetz has been prolific in adding sites at their request, many of which just popped up out of nowhere.