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Supercharger - Twin Falls, ID

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Patrick W

Active Member
Mar 17, 2015
1,524
943
SLC, UT
I just watched a video mentioned on the Video Forum where Tesla rep JB Straubel spoke about all things Tesla. Interesting talk if you've an extra 50 minutes to spare.

At one point the speaker showed a map of all the superchargers that will have been installed by the end of this year (he noted they are expanding the network by about 1 per day).

One spot on the map is Twin Falls, Idaho.

I'd love it if one went in there as then I could make a trip from here in Salt Lake to Twin Falls for a 2 hour meeting and then back the same day.

But looking at the Tesla website I see one going in in Boise, Idaho but not Twin Falls.

Anyone here heard of an upcoming Twin Falls supercharger?

Thanks!
 
It had been on the projected map for quite a while, but they hadn’t been doing I-84. Now that they have progressed pretty quickly through Pendleton, Baker City, and Boise, I am pretty sure Twin Falls will be coming along within the next couple of months or so. The website for building permits in Twin Falls does not have a live lookup database, but they publish a list on the site of the previous month’s permits. I’ve checked it for the last few months and haven’t seen it on there yet. The list for July will be coming out soon, so I’ll check it again to see if it’s on there. If it isn’t, I may go ahead and call to see if they have heard anything about it coming up.
 
It had been on the projected map for quite a while, but they hadn’t been doing I-84. Now that they have progressed pretty quickly through Pendleton, Baker City, and Boise, I am pretty sure Twin Falls will be coming along within the next couple of months or so. The website for building permits in Twin Falls does not have a live lookup database, but they publish a list on the site of the previous month’s permits. I’ve checked it for the last few months and haven’t seen it on there yet. The list for July will be coming out soon, so I’ll check it again to see if it’s on there. If it isn’t, I may go ahead and call to see if they have heard anything about it coming up.

Hi Rocky, Is this the site you check for the monthly list of permits?
Twin Falls, ID - Official Website


Thanks,

patrick
 
Ah, ok, I just saw that too. I'll hold off ringing. Please post what you learn.


I just called and talked with a lady in the Twin Falls building department and asked if they knew anything about permitting for a Tesla charging station. She said she did remember hearing something about that, but that they had not seen an application for a permit for it yet. So it sounds like at least it is likely to be in Twin Falls, rather than Burley. I guess we’ll keep checking the monthly reports.
 
In the meantime, while Twin Falls does not have its Supercharger, this isn’t too bad a gap to get across. Unbeknownst to me, another Tesla owner from here in Boise and I both took the trip down to Salt Lake City for the weekend, and we happened to see each other on the way back at the Tremonton Supercharger. Starting from either end (Boise or Tremonton) with a full charge(assuming the 85kwh model), and driving fairly efficiently, you can do about 1.5 to 2 hours of charging on one of the two 40A charging locations in Twin Falls to make the rest of the way. That’s not too much of a time delay if you plan a long meal stop there. Or, there is a Tesla owner on Plugshare with an 80A HPWC for possibly a shorter stop.
 
In the meantime, while Twin Falls does not have its Supercharger, this isn’t too bad a gap to get across. Unbeknownst to me, another Tesla owner from here in Boise and I both took the trip down to Salt Lake City for the weekend, and we happened to see each other on the way back at the Tremonton Supercharger. Starting from either end (Boise or Tremonton) with a full charge(assuming the 85kwh model), and driving fairly efficiently, you can do about 1.5 to 2 hours of charging on one of the two 40A charging locations in Twin Falls to make the rest of the way. That’s not too much of a time delay if you plan a long meal stop there. Or, there is a Tesla owner on Plugshare with an 80A HPWC for possibly a shorter stop.

Thanks but when I do go up there it's for a meeting that does not seem to be anywhere near the public charger and then right back to SLC. Hopefully the map is correct and one will show up there soon.
 
In the meantime, while Twin Falls does not have its Supercharger, this isn’t too bad a gap to get across. Unbeknownst to me, another Tesla owner from here in Boise and I both took the trip down to Salt Lake City for the weekend, and we happened to see each other on the way back at the Tremonton Supercharger. Starting from either end (Boise or Tremonton) with a full charge(assuming the 85kwh model), and driving fairly efficiently, you can do about 1.5 to 2 hours of charging on one of the two 40A charging locations in Twin Falls to make the rest of the way. That’s not too much of a time delay if you plan a long meal stop there. Or, there is a Tesla owner on Plugshare with an 80A HPWC for possibly a shorter stop.

We're heading down to SLC this week for a commencement ceremony (wife completed her MBA, congrats to her!), and my sister is getting married the following weekend but it looks like I'm going to have to run back home in between since I have a hay field that will need baling - so back-and-forth twice over that gap in the next couple of weeks. I called the Blue Lakes Inn and they were able to set up a reservation for me this week for just the HPWC - not a room- at $5/hour. Since I have dual chargers I guess that 3 hours will top me back off even if I drive 80mph the whole way between either Boise-Twin Falls or Tremonton-Twin Falls. When I called to speak to them on the phone they seemed friendly and willing to help...even though I told them I would only be charging ~3 hours and wasn't sure of the time frame, they just blocked out the full day for me.

I'll post back later and let you know how that really goes...will have young kids with us the first trip so even with a meal could be an interesting 3 hours; hopefully there's a park nearby!
 
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We're heading down to SLC this week for a commencement ceremony (wife completed her MBA, congrats to her!), and my sister is getting married the following weekend but it looks like I'm going to have to run back home in between since I have a hay field that will need baling - so back-and-forth twice over that gap in the next couple of weeks. I called the Blue Lakes Inn and they were able to set up a reservation for me this week for just the HPWC - not a room- at $5/hour. Since I have dual chargers I guess that 3 hours will top me back off even if I drive 80mph the whole way between either Boise-Twin Falls or Tremonton-Twin Falls. When I called to speak to them on the phone they seemed friendly and willing to help...even though I told them I would only be charging ~3 hours and wasn't sure of the time frame, they just blocked out the full day for me.

I'll post back later and let you know how that really goes...will have young kids with us the first trip so even with a meal could be an interesting 3 hours; hopefully there's a park nearby!

Whoa, very important details you need to know. That HPWC at the Blue Lakes Inn I think is just repurposing the 50A circuit they had their 14-50 on before, so it is 40A, not 80A. Since you have dual chargers and want a faster charge, you should contact Cleve on Plugshare.com, who does have an 80A HPWC there in town.
 
Whoa, very important details you need to know. That HPWC at the Blue Lakes Inn I think is just repurposing the 50A circuit they had their 14-50 on before, so it is 40A, not 80A. Since you have dual chargers and want a faster charge, you should contact Cleve on Plugshare.com, who does have an 80A HPWC there in town.

Thanks for the heads-up! I guess along with the sound of one hand clapping, a question of the ages for the philosophers will be "Is an HPWC at <80 amps still an HPWC?"

Leaving tomorrow morning, expect to hit TF around 2-3, so will try to contact Cleve in the meantime - hopefully he checks his email often :)

Thanks again, Rocky!
 
Received this today. Looks like they continue to work on it.

+++++
Thank you for your email. We are actively working on a site in the Twin Falls area and we hope to open this station in the coming months. There are a number of scenarios that can affect the timeline for a new site but we are working hard to open as many sites as quickly as we can. We understand the need for more Superchargers and we are excited to announce new sites on our website and in your Model S.

We appreciate your patience, enthusiasm and support in Tesla and our Supercharger technology.

Best regards,
The Tesla Supercharger Team
+++++
 
In my opinion this could end up in Jerome County where I-84 meets HWY 75, Comfort Inn & Suites would be a convenient location off of I-84 but probably not as ideal as the Magic Valley Mall to help kill time with better restaurant options.

Unfortunately the Jerome County doesn't have building reports available on their website, either that or I couldn't locate it:

http://www.jeromecountyid.us/index.asp?Type=B_BASIC&SEC={29A91080-D9EC-4A40-BA31-B477A056A445}&DE={FC46C6EF-31CD-4760-BFCE-47001870CF62}
 
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In my opinion this could end up in Jerome County where I-84 meets HWY 75, Comfort Inn & Suites would be a convenient location off of I-84 but probably not as ideal as the Magic Valley Mall to help kill time with better restaurant options.

Unfortunately the Jerome County doesn't have building reports available on their website, either that or I couldn't locate it:

http://www.jeromecountyid.us/index.asp?Type=B_BASIC&SEC={29A91080-D9EC-4A40-BA31-B477A056A445}&DE={FC46C6EF-31CD-4760-BFCE-47001870CF62}


I don't see a highway 75 hitting I-84. Do you mean 79?
 
After my experiences this past week, I would recommend putting one in Mountain Home and one in Burley. If you are going to have only one in Twin Falls, you will have to be completely charged there and then in either Tremonton if heading North or Boise if going South, and out-of-range for a 60kWh battery.

Oh, I'm sure it's completely doable with just the one station - if you crawl along along at 25 miles under the speed limit (55 mph). And, you shouldn't be doing road trips with the 60kWh, in any case - that's strictly a commuter vehicle. But, I left Boise with 217 miles of range and got to TF with only 23 left, running right at speed limit of 80 mph (with the exception of 70 mph through a construction zone for ~8 miles), with no memorable accelerations to accommodate passing - just a standard ho-hum trip. Wouldn't have made it to Burley without slowing down. And, leaving TF the next morning with a full 255 miles of range, got to Tremonton with 60 miles of range - again, right at the speed limit the whole time, no atypical accelerations. Which means that in both cases, leaving with <200 miles rated range means you have to drive under the speed limit.

That may be fine while we are pioneers of the West out here - I've certainly had my share of will-I-make it trips, where I had to count on 55 mph to have a ghost of a chance. But, for a finished corridor, to have to choose between spending an extra half-hour charging, twice, or being a road hazard because you are so slow compared to the rest of traffic that you are practically a standing object, in order to complete the trip, leaves a slightly sour taste. Stopping at Mountain Home and Burley both would be another 20 minutes, but since you would be charging less at Boise/Tremonton the total would be about an hour gain in the trip time between SLC and Baker City. And for those who own Teslas in TF (Thanks Cleve for letting me stop by! Things didn't go as planned but not your fault, you were a very gracious host), remember, the very last SC location you want installed will be the one in your town - because that's your base and you always have your car charged when you are there; it's just for road trips you need the network, and in that case having Burley/Mountain Home SCs would be very advantageous.

On the way back through I did a full charge at Tremonton, drove @65 mph to TF, charged for two hours to add 50 miles of range, and got into Boise with 4 miles of range left. I let myself run the AC for one rated mile for every 5 I drove - not conditions I would subject my family to, but they weren't with me, and I chose to do that rather than slow down even further. Once there is another SC to close this gap I will be able to leave the AC on and charge up to full in almost half the time - but I will have to spend at least an hour at the SC there in order to be able to drive on to Boise/Tremonton as if I were in an ICE vehicle.

Charging time between SLC and Pendleton with one more SC in Twin Falls:
-Tremonton - 60 minutes (200 rated miles range needed)
-Twin Falls - 60 minutes (200 rated miles range needed)
-Boise - 40 minutes (coming up from practically no charge at all)
-Baker City - 20 minutes
Total = 3:00

Charging time between SLC and Pendleton with SCs in Mountain Home and Burley:
-Tremonton - 20 minutes
-Burley - 20 minutes
-Mountain Home - 20 minutes
-Boise - 20 minutes
-Baker City - 20 minutes
Total = 1:40

So, adding two SCs instead of one will drop the charging time for that stretch of I84 by almost half - even with one more stop.
 
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