For the same reason why car dealerships don't generally have public gas stations.

 

The environmental requirements for having an on-site gas station is surely more demanding than a few superchargers. I've seen several dealerships other than Tesla with chargers, some free some not.

 

Given the choice:

• Close to 24x7 open restaurants, mini-markets, motels, and parking lot.
• Close to business hours only service center with customer vehicles parked outside.

Bob Wilson

 

The added traffic and access/exit lanes required would be large and a problem.

 

The Tesla Service Center/delivery location in Dedham, MA has a bunch (8x150kW) of superchargers. Close to the highway, too. (edit: I don't consider this "Providence Hwy/US1" a highway even though it technically stretches from Maine to Florida I think, but the Tesla location is 0.5 mile from I-95.) [edit: corrected typo referring to the interstate highway]

 

Some do. I think I’ve been to one near Cincinnati.

 

DC fast chargers primarily benefit people who are traveling through an area - not for people who live in the area (those people can generally charge at home for local travel). DC fast chargers tend to be strategically located in areas through which people typically pass while traveling from and to other locations.

Take Tyler, Texas, for example - an East Texas city with a population of about 110,000 where there are no Superchargers (or any fast chargers as far as I know). There's a Tesla service center there off of a loop around the city, but the vast majority of that traffic is local. Interstate 20 passes through Tyler, but stopping at the service center would require an extra 30-45 minutes of driving. There are Superchargers in a much smaller town of Lindale 15 miles down the road. These chargers are located right off the Interstate and benefit those traveling between Dallas and Shreveport.

The best place for Superchargers isn't always where Tesla service centers or galleries are located. It can cost well over a million dollars to install a bank of Superchargers and that's more than the value of many service centers themselves.

 

DC fast chargers primarily benefit people who are traveling through an area - not for people who live in the area (those people can generally charge at home for local travel). DC fast chargers tend to be strategically located in areas through which people typically pass while traveling from and to other locations.

Take Tyler, Texas, for example - an East Texas city with a population of about 110,000 where there are no Superchargers (or any fast chargers as far as I know). There's a Tesla service center there off of a loop around the city, but the vast majority of that traffic is local. Interstate 20 passes through Tyler, but stopping at the service center would require an extra 30-45 minutes of driving. There are Superchargers in a much smaller town of Lindale 15 miles down the road. These chargers are located right off the Interstate and benefit those traveling between Dallas and Shreveport.

The best place for Superchargers isn't always whereTesla service centers or galleries are located. It can cost well over a million dollars to install a bank of Superchargers and that's more than the value of many service centers themselves.

There are plenty of dead zones that could use a Super Charger. Some of these service centers aren't busy either. I don't expect to use a fast charger near my house but sometimes I travel near a Tesla service center in a different town and could use a quick charge.

 

Some used to, but I think that they are moving away from it. Most locations don't have space to begin with.
And many probably have them, but not open for public use. I know some of ours closed theirs from public use. It got to be a fight on who used them, service, new cars or general use.

 

The newest Service Ctr in Tucson has 15+ L2 chargers. But, AFAIK, no DCFCs (the cables are too thin).

 

Mostly lack of space is the reason at Service Centers.

 

FYI: There are seven restaurants (and a paint store) within walking distance of the newest SC in Tucson.
Just Sayin'!

 

The best DCFC charging rate I've seen at a car dealer was 62kW. Most are less.

I'll show them! My 2017 BMW i3-REx only charges at a maximum 48 kW.

Of course the real problem is they'll have to find someone to move their inventory cars blocking access. Then the sales critter who comes out to complain, "These are just for our customers." Or the other option, "It has been down for months."

Bob Wilson

 

Soooo…what you’re sayin’ is they would have to hire ex-McDonad’s employees to staff the charger bays.

Customer: I’d like a McFlurry
Employee: Sorry, "It has been down for months."

 

Here in central Florida my closest service center has several chargers. All free while you are there. We also did wifi hookup in the parking lot, which was super fast, and did a SW update.

Our biggest problem here is that there are not enough service centers. This closest one has a slammed schedule for months.

 

Here in central Florida my closest service center has several chargers.

We're talking about Superchargers, not destination chargers.

 

We're talking about Superchargers, not destination chargers.

So am I

 

Which service center are you referring to?

 

I just found out that my local Tesla service center has 2 super chargers but the cables are stowed in a lock box and not available for the public. It's a shame, they have plenty of room and the center is only 3 miles from I-75.

 

Get the hint? Some of the Service Centers / Stores used to have public Superchargers, but there pressures between drivers and the needs of the facilities. So Tesla tended to turn them all private and not list them.

At one of my delivery centers, there was seldom enough room to hold the cars, let alone the customers. Add to that the desire to charge new cars before users pick them up and cars just coming on the lot to charge, well, it was commonly gridlock.

 

Town and state?

Bob Wilson

 

Not totally on topic, but tangentially connected and a neat fun fact. I’m not sure how many of you are familiar with the Woodward Dream Cruise or the place of Woodward Avenue in car culture. There is a restaurant on Woodward called Vinsetta Garage. It was for many, many years a fully functioning garage with a ‘50s American Graffiti vibe. When the garage closed it made news. Some automotive writers and editors bought the property and turned it into a restaurant and kept the garage theme. It is very popular among the car culture here. The garage had fully functioning ‘50s era gas pumps out front. When it was converted to a restaurant the owners thought it would be cool to replace the iconic gas pumps with EV Chargers. Fully functioning of course. The first time I went to the restaurant we drove the Chevrolet Volt and figured we’d plug in and get a charge while we ate. Didn’t happen. Turns out the zoning department allowed the restaurant to go through the entire renovation process then days before the restaurant opened informed them that they couldn’t use the chargers because the cords would present a trip hazard. Chargers are still there to this day. And have never been used. That’s a stock photo, not our Volt. The second picture is when it was a fully functioning garage.

 

There's a home builder in Longview, Texas that has a public EV charger mounted to the side of an old gas pump - I thought that was a neat design.

It was originally $1.50/hr., which was 19¢/kWh - a reasonable price considering electricity rates in the area.

Last year, they raised the price to $10.00/hr., which is $1.25/kWh!

That's even higher than the only DC fast charger in that city, which is 85¢/kWh - about 2.5 times higher than the nearest Superchargers.