Just Down a Major Street From Where I Live Is a Brand New Tesla Supercharger Center

[MineralMan]

It opened about two months ago. It has at least 12 charging stations, although there might be more. It's in a parking lot at a major shopping center.

I drive past it at least six times a week. Not once have I seen a car parked and being charged at that station. Not once. It is definitely open and operational, and must have cost a pretty penny to install there. There are two Teslas that could use it in the small 32 unit development where I live. Just down the street, as I said. The community is an affluent one, and Teslas are fairly common here.

Why are they not at those chargers? Well, I suspect that the owners who live in this suburb have fast chargers in their garages. If they can afford a Tesla, they can probably afford those, too.

We're not a tourist place, although we have a very, very busy regional shopping district that is larger than any other in the Twin Cities. Why aren't people who come here to shop charging their Teslas? Why was the investment in building that Supercharger station a waste of money? I do not know. I just know that there is never anyone charging any EV at those chargers.

It's interesting.

[usonian]

1. At the local supermarket (it's a very small town) chargers have signs saying anyone park anything for an hour or so.

What's your altitude? Some sub-par civil engineering happens!



The local charging spots are mostly under a bank of solar panels, making the spots desirable in the summer sun.

Red area here but a lot of tourists pass through.

[MineralMan]

3. LOL! DO NOT USE CHARGERS WHEN FLOODED!

[Shellback Squid]

2. only level 2 for most homes, 50 amp 220/240, it takes most a day to fully charge a car but

most are just topping off, the super chargers are expensive to use too

[MineralMan]

4. Right. Most people plug in at their level 2 charger when the car

is in the garage. Practical. I'm trying to figure out who they though was going to use those Supercharges in that parking lot. It is right at an exit from a busy Interstate ring bypass loop. I'm thinking whoever installed that did not do an adequate study of what the demand might be. From my perspective, it looks like there is no demand at all.

I have no idea how much it costs to use one of those.

[haele]

5. Might be time of day.

We have a Hyundai EV, and I'm actually getting a bonus this year so we're putting a level 2 solar generator in for it.
For now, I or Laz get up between 0430 and 0500 once or twice a week to get to the nearest EV Go or Electrify America supercharger and charge up to 80% - when it only costs $0.33 a kwh x session time.
Most chargers have three price periods; full price peak (4 pm to Midnight), 1/3 price Off-off Peak (Midnight to 0600), and 2/3 price Off Peak (0600 - 4pm).
You also get different prices on different speed chargers, depending on the charger provider.
In San Diego - with the EV Go and Electrify America account discounts (with $7 a month fee; primarily for the super fast charger availability locally), it typically costs us $20 to go 300 miles on a charge that typically takes 15 to 20 minutes.
I also have a Circle K Charger account (discounts on a free account, but the charger is only level 2, taking around 30 -40 minutes for 300 miles), but the Circle Ks with chargers are few and far between, primarily at the truck/rest stop service stations, where they expect you to go in and buy ..
The larger CA DMVs and a few other government locations have one or two free chargers, but they're typically only available during office hours.
Also, Tesla Superchargers are really f'ing picky, they won't always accept charger adapters from other make/model EVs.
Teslas haven't own the California EV market for well over 5 years now, and they're being really pissy about that now...
With the Solar/combined charger outlet at home, it might cost us $20 a month.

[flvegan]

6. My guess is it's too expensive.

I'm no authority on this, but I don't believe charging rates are set or even competitive. Rather they reflect the cost of the power, time of day as well as profit. If they need to recoup the money for building that place, that's gonna factor in. Quite heavily, I assume.

Or maybe everyone just doesn't want to give Elon any more money.

[GopherGal]

7. Yeah, whatever economic study they would have done before building it

could not possibly have fully accounted for the "Celebrity CEO goes full-on Nazi supervillain, turning owning one of his cars into a mark of shame" into the risks.