Supercharger Needed on I-26 in South Carolina - help submit to Tesla

[Jtrader]

Moderator note: The first fifteen posts in this thread are the result of combining two related threads on the same topic.

Why couldn't they put at least one of the 3 SC's on I-26 in South Carolina near the Interstate? All three of them (Greenville, Columbia, Santee) are at least 20 to 50 miles out of the way.

 

[Electric700]

That would be nice. Perhaps it will happen with Supercharger v3 (350+ kW).

 

[ItsNotAboutTheMoney]

You can post a suggestion to the Supercharger team.

I think that they had a greater focus on the N-S Interstates and some of the larger cities and it left I-26 a little lonely. Spartanburg, SC to Charleston, SC in the most obvious gap at about 200 miles.

Santee, SC, based on simple Supercharge.info mapping seems to give the least diversion off I-26.

Tesla is planning a Charleston, SC Supercharger that could help trips there and back, but it certainly looks like they need at least one and probably two on I-26 itself becuase of the current large diversions.

Orangeburg, SC (There's a Ruby Tuesday) and Clinton, SC could work to cover the length..

Santee, SC opened end of 2013, and Tesla signs 5-year leases, so end of 2018 they might look to re-site that one or add a 2nd location.

 

[zjfk2]

Asheville Nc is the only supercharger on I-26. The rest of them require detours. At least asheville is there. Greenville would really be out of the way for I-26 travel. Columbia Sc was the biggest disappoint for me. They could have put it a place where I-26,I-20, and I-77 all had easy access. Instead, its located on I-77 and completely out of the way for I-26 travel. The jump from Asheville to Santee is just too big especially for the uphill return trip. My wife and I have considered taking the Tesla to the Folly Beach, but the lack of access to easy destination charging or supercharger in Charleston along with the crappy placement of superchargers on I-26 just led us to taking the van .

 

[supratachophobia]

Why couldn't they put at least one of the 3 SC's on I-26 in South Carolina near the Interstate? All three of them (Greenville, Columbia, Santee) are at least 20 to 50 miles out of the way.

I personally like the added risk of possibly being murdered at the Santee supercharger. Makes for an interesting trip.

 

[Rogue Synapse]

One of the major remaining holes in Supercharger coverage is the entirety of I-26 from the mountains to the coast in South Carolina. Sure, there is Northeast Columbia (which is a problematic site with frequent ICEing and downtime: see Columbia SC SC?) and Santee, but both of these are a significant detour out of the way - so much so that my wife has forbidden that we take our Model S on our frequent trips to visit family on the coast in Charleston due to the inconvenience and hassle with our kids (we live in Asheville, NC and our P85D cannot even pretend to make it all the way on one charge).

I was looking at Google Maps and it seems that splitting I-26 in half somewhere around Columbia makes the most sense (I know, I know, Columbia already has a Supercharger, but it’s on I-77 and way on the other side of the metro area, not really desirable). This DoubleTree by Hilton is right at the junction between I-26 and I-20 and seems to have some restaurants nearby: DoubleTree by Hilton Columbia, South Carolina Hotel

I submitted a request to consider this site on the Tesla Supercharger suggestion page (scroll towards the bottom; you can select “Tesla Owner” in the drop down menu and suggest a location just as an interested party): Charging Partners | Tesla

Does anyone agree? Would you consider also suggesting this site or another one nearby to build a critical mass and get this hole on Tesla’s radar? If so, drop a post here and thanks.

 

[Chuq]

One of the major remaining holes in Supercharger coverage is the entirety of I-26 from the mountains to the coast in South Carolina.

Outsiders point of view:
Without knowing the area, I looked at the area at this scale - and thought this was another one of those "people complaining about superchargers when they're is actually plenty" type threads... "What's he talking about? The entire region is covered!"

Then I zoomed in and it's uncanny how they've (so far) managed to place superchargers

I'd look at areas with food/drink outlets instead of hotels. A quick look a the south-west side of Columbia shows numerous options - this is the intersection with I-20, multiple sites with multiple food options and the density is just as good scrolling north-west or south-east from here:

I would find it unlikely Tesla couldn't find a viable option here, should they want to do it. It might be an idea to find and email the owners/operators of these sites and ask the question (as well as contacting Tesla)

 

[Rogue Synapse]

View attachment 482851

That map is perfect! It really shows how far the superchargers are off the route for this main highway in the state. I should have just done that and let the post stand for itself. The only reason I picked the hotel is that most of the restaurants around there have kind of crappy parking situations. But I’m not intimately familiar with the area, although your Google Mapping research certainly speaks from itself, even from pretty close to the exact antipode on this planet...

 

[turnem]

Yes, I completely agree. I'm in Charlotte, NC and they just added a SC on the south side of town to compliment the one on the north side of town which was sorely needed for folks passing through.

It's nearly an identical situation to the one you mention in Columbia.

 

[jsight]

I was looking at Google Maps and it seems that splitting I-26 in half somewhere around Columbia makes the most sense (I know, I know, Columbia already has a Supercharger, but it’s on I-77 and way on the other side of the metro area, not really desirable). This DoubleTree by Hilton is right at the junction between I-26 and I-20 and seems to have some restaurants nearby: DoubleTree by Hilton Columbia, South Carolina Hotel

[..]

Does anyone agree? Would you consider also suggesting this site or another one nearby to build a critical mass and get this hole on Tesla’s radar? If so, drop a post here and thanks.

I'm in kind of the opposite position, as I live in Charleston, but I've been observing this issue for a long time. Electrify America put in a station at the Wal-Mart at Harbison Columbia, and this area would intuitively be a pretty good area for a Supercharger as well.

Having said that, there are some disadvantages. For one, this area is really busy and sometimes time consuming to enter or leave. But also, what about people traveling from Charleston to Columbia and back? This is a common trip for a lot of reasons and a station in the Western part of Columbia isn't ideal as not all trips go that far.

I think the better solution would actually be a location in Clinton, SC and a location in Orangeburg, SC. Then no segment would be over ~100 miles. Of course, the ideal would be all three with one in Columbia as well.

Either way, I'm glad to see some visibility to this issue. This has been a really baffling route failure, IMO, and your concerns are really valid.

 

[Rogue Synapse]

You’re exactly right, @jsight. I went back and submitted Supercharger considerations for the most prominent interchanges in Orangeburg and Clinton. That would make a lot more sense for a lot of different travel plans compared to a single Supercharger on I-26 in Columbia.

I wonder what else I can do to make this happen. I thought about contacting the owners of the sites in question, but I don’t know the first thing about what sort of logistics or financial arrangement is involved with hosting a Supercharger site. I guess the only other thing I could directly do is ask members of this forum with similar interests to submit requests to Tesla as well.

I just know that I would love to be able to take our Tesla down I-26 again (our last trip was kind of a debacle because of the detour needed to get to the Supercharger in Columbia on I-77, and my wife said never again unless they put a supercharger somewhere on I-26). Pretty much every other interstate we could possibly desire in this part of the country is thoroughly covered, just I-26 (the highway we use most) is a weird exception. I almost wonder if the lack of friendliness of the state of SC to Tesla stores and service centers is a disincentive for Tesla to build out superchargers that would mostly benefit owners in that state...

 

[EnrgyNDpndnce]

As one who travels around South Carolina quite frequently (I have used every SC in the state) I feel your pain. However, IMO the greatest need right now is a Charleston area SC, ideally placed in close proximity to I-26 somewhere between Summerville and I-526. I have already submitted multiple suggested sites to Tesla on this. The reason I think this one is more important than your Clinton / Orangeburg suggestion (which is a fine suggestion btw) is because technically they do have coverage along I-26. Yes it’s a PITA to use them sometimes, but you can do it. To me Columbia is more painful than Santee because of the traffic. Santee is a 10 minute detour (20 round trip) but at least there isn’t an ICEing issue or traffic to deal with, and I’ve never seen that one anywhere near full. For anyone visiting Charleston from more than 200 miles away, a SC near town along I-26 is sorely needed.

Let’s hope Tesla will build all of these, and many more.

 

[jsight]

As one who travels around South Carolina quite frequently (I have used every SC in the state) I feel your pain. However, IMO the greatest need right now is a Charleston area SC, ideally placed in close proximity to I-26 somewhere between Summerville and I-526. I have already submitted multiple suggested sites to Tesla on this. The reason I think this one is more important than your Clinton / Orangeburg suggestion (which is a fine suggestion btw) is because technically they do have coverage along I-26. Yes it’s a PITA to use them sometimes, but you can do it. To me Columbia is more painful than Santee because of the traffic. Santee is a 10 minute detour (20 round trip) but at least there isn’t an ICEing issue or traffic to deal with, and I’ve never seen that one anywhere near full. For anyone visiting Charleston from more than 200 miles away, a SC near town along I-26 is sorely needed.

Let’s hope Tesla will build all of these, and many more.

I can see where you are coming from in an LR. The SR+ is harder to make work, IMO.

 

[Rogue Synapse]

To resurrect this thread - I am quite jealous of all the redundant superchargers being added at a feverish pace around big cities and major corridors, yet I-26 in SC is still sorely lacking. Makes for a rough drive back up to Asheville from Charleston.

 

[Rogue Synapse]

I-26 has got to be high on the list of longest stretches of interstate in the country without a supercharger at this point.

 

[ChrisC]

@ItsNotAboutTheMoney should have exact statistics on that

 

[jsight]

I-26 has got to be high on the list of longest stretches of interstate in the country without a supercharger at this point.

I agree, and considering that 3 were added in the state within the last 12 months, its absence is becoming even more conspicuous.

 

[Rickkamm]

I agree the I 26 and Charleston situations are intolerable. There is a new SC on Hilton Head Island but that is of no help to those of us who travel north west on I 26. Orangeburg would be a good location as will as around Irmo.

 

[theothertom]

I agree the I 26 and Charleston situations are intolerable. There is a new SC on Hilton Head Island but that is of no help to those of us who travel north west on I 26. Orangeburg would be a good location as will as around Irmo.

The one in Charleston is near I-26?

 

[EnrgyNDpndnce]

The one in Charleston is near I-26?

Yes. The North Charleston SC is located at The Mellow Mushroom near the I-26 / I-526 interchange.