Visited World's Largest Tesla Supercharging Station @ Barstow w/ 120 Stalls

[On the Road with Ralph]

This past Friday, I stopped at the new Tesla Supercharger station at Barstow, California. It is near the junction of I-15 and I-40 - both VERY heavily traveled routes. There are 120 dispensers at the new station! It is entirely v4 and has a couple spots that could accommodate vehicles towing trailers. There are no restrooms on-site (but there are lots of trash cans); within five minutes walking distance there are multiple fast food outlets and a convenience store.

Added to the other existing Tesla Superchargers in the Barstow area, there are 230 Superchargers that are open to most non-Tesla vehicles (including our Lightnings). Electrify America has eight dispensers in Barstow. Eight. Hey EA, you are absolutely the most worthless company in the United States.

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[K6CCC]

I was poking around at that area yesterday on the Tesla and Ford apps and saw that station with 120 stall available. Nice to hear they are all version 4. As of me tying this at 1229 Sunday, there are 98 of those 120 stalls available. And for a Supercharger location, not bad price either - 50 cents / KWH. I will attempt to remember to check that in a few hours when all the Las Vegas travelers are headed back to LA...

 

[On the Road with Ralph]

And for a Supercharger location, not bad price either - 50 cents / KWH.

I have a Tesla membership, so my cost was 41¢/kWh. I tend to road trip in spurts, so I turn the membership on-and-off to save a few bucks. That said, on one of my usual 1500+ mile journeys, I save more than a few dollars vs. the EA chargers (and I have Pass+, tho' I am thinking about ditching it, or at least turning it off when I am not traveling).

The best DCFC charging deal: Tesla in Needles (CA): 25¢/kWh (was 21¢ until recently). The EA station a mile away is 42¢ with Pass+, 56¢ without it.

By the way, mid-afternoon on Sunday, there are still 190 open Tesla chargers in the Barstow area; at the EA station, all eight chargers are in use, and I suspect there is a line and a couple of the dispensers are running at reduced output. EA is worthless.

 

[Maxx]

Forget about the price and number of chargers, the length of the charging cable is what stands out to me. It looks like you could park right in the designated charger spot and reach.

 

[Jimbalf]

Forget about the price and number of chargers, the length of the charging cable is what stands out to me. It looks like you could park right in the designated charger spot and reach.

yes you can. But for some reason I approached every V4 from the back side and it made it trickey to reroute the cable around the back when I had pulled my truck up close. I’ll get it right some day.

 

[Maxx]

for some reason I approached every V4 from the back side

Not that there is anything wrong with that.

 

[On the Road with Ralph]

Forget about the price and number of chargers, the length of the charging cable is what stands out to me. It looks like you could park right in the designated charger spot and reach.

Yeah, tho' once I got the hang of it, I really stopped having any problems charging at v3 dispensers - the cable reaches just fine. That said, I am parking in the "wrong spot" and, in essence, taking two. I try to minimize that by using chargers at the end of the row, or in a less-busy part of the station.

 

[BarryGoyette]

This past Friday, I stopped at the new Tesla Supercharger station at Barstow, California. It is near the junction of I-15 and I-40 - both VERY heavily traveled routes. There are 120 dispensers at the new station! It is entirely v4 and has a couple spots that could accommodate vehicles towing trailers. There are no restrooms on-site (but there are lots of trash cans); within five minutes walking distance there are multiple fast food outlets and a convenience store.

Added to the other existing Tesla Superchargers in the Barstow area, there are 230 Superchargers that are open to most non-Tesla vehicles (including our Lightnings). Electrify America has eight dispensers in Barstow. Eight. Hey EA, you are absolutely the most worthless company in the United States.

Good to know Barstow is the king of EV towns. FWIW, the other big station in town with 70+ chargers at the outlet center, has bathrooms right next to it, and along with restaurants and shopping, also has quite a few pull through spots and generally easy access for lightnings.

 

[Mach Turtle]

.... Electrify America has eight dispensers in Barstow. Eight. Hey EA, you are absolutely the most worthless company in the United States.

Having used EA chargers more than any other DCFCs, I feel compelled to come to their defense...sort of...in a limited way.

They provide some value. At least some of us are better off with their chargers than without them. I've depended on them during some road trips and was never stranded, just slowed down a little. Their reliability isn't close to T#$!@ level, but it's improving. In my area, the greatest obstacle to the installation of more EA chargers seems to be bureaucracy (permits, electric utility management, etc.) rather than EA themselves.

I share, acknowledge, and respect your frustration, though, and would support an award for unrealized potential.

 

[astrand1]

I have a Tesla membership, so my cost was 41¢/kWh. I tend to road trip in spurts, so I turn the membership on-and-off to save a few bucks. That said, on one of my usual 1500+ mile journeys, I save more than a few dollars vs. the EA chargers (and I have Pass+, tho' I am thinking about ditching it, or at least turning it off when I am not traveling).

The best DCFC charging deal: Tesla in Needles (CA): 25¢/kWh (was 21¢ until recently). The EA station a mile away is 42¢ with Pass+, 56¢ without it.

By the way, mid-afternoon on Sunday, there are still 190 open Tesla chargers in the Barstow area; at the EA station, all eight chargers are in use, and I suspect there is a line and a couple of the dispensers are running at reduced output. EA is worthless.

I do the same. Turn membership on and off as needed. I’m not a fan of EA either. The SC always seem to be cheaper and they just work. Much more consistent.

 

[On the Road with Ralph]

Having used EA chargers more than any other DCFCs, I feel compelled to come to their defense...sort of...in a limited way.

Thanks for the “fair and balanced“ assessment of EA.

Over the last two years I’ve logged more than 150 billed EA charging sessions. The problem is the roughly 100 failed sessions or sessions when the dispenser was only delivering 20 or 30 kW per hour. Or those sessions that never happened because there was a line of cars waiting to charge, usually because there were too few chargers and at least one was off-line.

And then there is EA’s standard site installation: four dispensers sitting in the sun (or the rain or the snow) out at the edge of some huge Walmart parking lot. It is obvious that no one at Electrify America gives a shit about the customer experience.

I recently visited a Rivian charging outpost in Joshua Tree, California. It was mind blowing how nice it was - a glimpse of what the EV charging experience ought to be. The comparison with EA is shameful.

 

[NikonJim]

I believe Kyle from Out of Spec said those are just V4 dispensers, the actually chargers are still v3, so he called them V3.5. Not that the lightning can take the increased power anyway. The longer cords are welcome.

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