Superchargers or Super-dumps?

Tesla Superchargers are supposed to be a B-E-A-Utiful place for Tesla owners to come and re-energize their beloved vehicles. They are a place to relax, take a stretch on a long trip, and sometimes even a place for owners to meet up for events.

But as more and more Tesla’s join the fleet, and more and more people utilize them... I’ve seen a growing problem emerge; owners are dumping there garbage at the Superchargers as though they are there own personal dumps.

Now I can’t speak for all Superchargers, but for the ones that don’t have a garbage can or dumpster in the vicinity definitely show a pattern problem in my experience.

About 2 years ago at the Southampton Supercharger, I found an adult diaper right next to a stall. If that wasn't crazy enough, today I found one of the stalls cracked open, and to make things even worse... there was a hollowed out part in the charger being used for Garbage! With more Teslas on the road than ever, it’s just becoming too much for me to handle by myself. It took me 2 hours bending over in the hot sun at the Valley Stream Supercharger just to get it to become respectable again.

Now people littering of course is a problem, but the real source of the problem is the lack of receptacles at these charging stations for people to properly dispose of their trash. At the  Southampton charger, the closest receptacle is an industrial dumpster about 300 feet away, hidden behind a building. At the Valley Stream charger, there’s a metal garbage pail that’s not very visible located at BJ’s Restaurant, also about 300 feet away. Because of its low metal top, you can barely fit anything bigger than a bottle inside.

Due to the lack of convenience and good placement, we can’t fully blame Tesla Owners. I’m sure if they had the option, they would do the right thing, and place their waste in a garbage receptacle, or even better, an option to recycle if they could.

I’ve seen some nice charging stations, with convenient garbage receptacles, and I don’t see any reason why every Supercharger can’t have them. If we don’t do something now, it won’t be long before you’ll have to be walking through a pile of garbage at some of these stations just to be able to plug in your Tesla.

We must be united in our common interest of our B-E-A-Utiful superchargers. We must call upon Tesla, property managers, and even ourselves to do something about this problem, before it becomes too big of a problem to handle. We want to charge on with peace & cleanliness, and remember... cleanliness is next to godliness.

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