Please scroll down to the bottom of the article for the most recent status.
A reader of our news articles did a bit of detective work searching Brevard County public records. He discovered that Tesla recently submitted a permit application for a new Supercharger Station in Rockledge and passed the information on to me.
The proposed site is at the Viera Village Center shopping mall located at 5410 Murrell Rd, Rockledge, FL 32955.
Here’s the permit application:
You will note that Tesla is proposing an 8-stall Version 3 Supercharger Station.
Below is a vicinity map:
The red arrow marks the location of the proposed Supercharger Station in Rockledge. It nicely splits the distance between the new Titusville Superchargers and the West Melbourne Superchargers to 24 and 19 miles, respectively. The "Coming Soon" Cocoa West Supercharger, which used to be displayed on Tesla's Find Us page, is no longer listed. Its removal is not surprising since it would have been only about 10 miles from this proposed Supercharger Station.
Above is a Google view of The Village Center parking lot. Based on where the underground utilities are located, I am guessing that the charging stalls will be near the red rectangle. After the permit is issued, that is where I would start looking for signs of breaking ground. As the project proceeds let's see if my guess is correct.
Update: Well my guess was wrong. Please scroll down for the correct location.
This permit application was submitted on December 1, 2020 and at this time an Electrical Contractor has yet to be assigned to the project. We should not expect any progress until that happens.
Update as of January 25, 2021.
Permit was issued on January 25, 2021.
Update as of February 5, 2021.
Our eagle-eye reader (thanks Mike) who discovered the permit on this Supercharger Station found that construction started and my guess was incorrect.
My guess was the red rectangle on the left above. The actual location, in the far right corner of the parking, is better.
Here Mike labels the charging posts that he has seen under construction.
Interestingly, the original permit was for 8 charging post, but as you will see in subsequent photos, Tesla has delivered 3 Version 3 Superchargers with each powering 4 charging posts.
Three Version 3 Supercharger cabinets to power 12 charging posts.
Tesla informs me that they will be installing 12 charging posts. I am guessing that four more charging posts will eventually be added adjacent to the number 8 label show in an earlier image.
Some of the initial construction of the charging posts.
Three charging posts with the concrete pad for the Supercharger cabinets and switchgear in the background.
We zoomed in on the concrete pad. It's hard to see, it appears that there are conduits for 3 Supercharger cabinets.
Update as of February 13, 2021.
Work has now begun on installing the last four charging posts. Mike has helpfully updated this image to show posts number 9 through 12.
Here are charging posts 9 through 12, with the concrete pad for the Supercharger cabinets and switchgear.
Switchgear to the left with three Version 3 Supercharger cabinets.
This is the first time I have seen this arrangement with bollards to protect the charging posts set at 90 degrees from a typical orientation. It looks like a clever idea, but to protect the posts while minimizing the chance of damage to Teslas, I think I would have positioned the bollards up past the curbing and installed some parking bumpers. We have communicated our concerns to Tesla.
Pulling in cable from the charging posts to the Supercharger cabinets.
Update as of February 18, 2021.
A view of all the charging posts.
.jpg)
Zooming in on the meter cabinet. No meter yet and no utility transformer which should be nearby.
Another view of the charging posts and the meter cabinet to the right. I am guessing that the utility transformer will be installed behind the orange fencing.
Update as of February 19, 2021.
.jpg)
This view is across Murrell Road with the Superchargers directly behind. It shows utility markers directly aligned with an existing utility transformer across the street.
This photo is the same point of view as the previous, but further back to show the excavation adjacent to the Supercharger pad.
Above is my description of what I think will happen. The existing transformer on the right denotes the location of existing underground high voltage cable. The utility markers in the previous photo suggests that the utility will be boring under the street to extend the cable to the Supercharger location. The excavation adjacent to the Supercharger pad is the likely location of a future concrete pad for a new transformer to power the Supercharger Station. So, while the fencing has been removed and to the causal observer this installation looks almost ready, the fact remains that there is a bit more utility work needed.
Update as of March 4, 2021.
A member of the Tesla Motor Club (TMC) forum took this photo and spoke with these Tesla Energy technicians. They told him that they were closing out some minor items, placing the post numbers on, etc. They allowed him to charge. So apparently, there's a utility transformer somewhere nearby and they were bypassing the missing meter to allow charging. The hole next to the pad shown in previous photos has been filled in and sodded over.
One of our readers reported to me that he spoke with two workers on March 2. They told him that two fuses would complete the install in a day or so. This would be immediately followed by a city inspection for approval of use. From that point on, it would be up to Tesla to open the site.
On March 4, another member of Tesla Motor Club (TMC) forum reported that he was able to charge despite the fact that the Supercharger Station is not currently listed as active on the Find Us page or in the Tesla navigation systems.
Update as of March 5, 2021.
The Rockledge Supercharger Station is operational.
Update as of March 5, 2021.
Yes, we knew that there had to be a transformer there somewhere, but finally here's a photo.
Thanks.
Larry Chanin
President, Florida Tesla Enthusiasts
email: lfchanin@gmail.com
Website: teslaownersflorida.org
Facebook: Florida Tesla Enthusiasts
