Answer Man: New Tesla charging station in Biltmore Park? Sidewalk issue on South Slope?

Today’s batch of burning questions, my smart-aleck answers and the real deal:

Question: A few months ago, about 12 parking spaces at the west end of the Biltmore Park commercial center (across from the Hilton hotel and beside Which Wich) were converted to Tesla charging stations. I assume Biltmore Farms did the conversion. I had never seen more than two-three charging stations together before. Can you find out why that many and why now? Do they believe the stations will bring in revenue? Customers from the interstate looking for a charge? And isn't Tesla using proprietary plug-ins? Or can any electric vehicle use a Tesla charging station?

My answer: I'm still waiting for drive-up craft beer refueling stations. Now that would really be Asheville.

Real answer: These 12 stations appear to be Tesla "supercharging" stations.

Biltmore Farms President and CEO Jack Cecil said his company, which developed and operates the commercial aspect of Biltmore Park, still owns the parking lot where the chargers were installed. The installation is a Tesla project, and the chargers are theirs, too.

The stations make sense for the area, Cecil said, especially with Biltmore Park being located right off Interstate 26 at the Long Shoals Road exit.

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"Many of our region’s residents and visitors traversing I-26 have Tesla vehicles," Cecil said via email. "Town Square’s shopping and dining venues offer the owners a pleasant diversion while they are using the proprietary charging stations."

On its website, Tesla notes that it has 4,500 "destination charging sites" nationwide. I reached out to Tesla's media relations but didn't hear back by deadline.

Cecil says charging stations of all sorts are becoming a much more common sight.

"This number of charging stations clustered together are becoming more common as electric vehicles increase in popularity," Cecil said. "We are delighted to play a part in advancing the region's sustainability goals."

As far as the stations being open to other vehicles, it looks like the ones in Biltmore Park are for "Tesla vehicle charging only," as signs near them read.

Tesla has started a small pilot project in Europe to "unlock" its chargers for other brands. Forbes.com writer Alistair Charlton wrote about the issue in November in an article titled, "Tesla Superchargers Can Now Be Used By Other Electric Cars: Here Is How It Works."

"Tesla now allows drivers of other electric cars to charge their batteries at its Supercharger stations," Charlton writes. "Although only a small pilot project for now, the unlocking of the Supercharger network is a significant move for Tesla and the electric car market as a whole."

Charlton cited a Tesla blog post that said "the pilot project will see 10 Supercharger stations in the Netherlands become accessible for other EVs." The drivers need the Tesla app, and then they can tap on a "Charge Your Non-Tesla" option and add a payment method.

For now, the program is just in the Netherlands, but as Forbes noted, Tesla also said:

"More customers using the Supercharger network enables faster expansion. Our goal is to learn and iterate quickly, while continuing to aggressively expand the network, so we can eventually welcome both Tesla and Non-Tesla drivers at every Supercharger worldwide.”

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The Superchargers, according to Tesla, "are ideal for long distance travel and are designed to charge your Tesla quickly so you can get back on the road. For daily commutes or local driving needs, there are a variety of home charging options."

Depending on the Tesla model, you can recharge with a Supercharger for 162-200 miles in 15 minutes. Tesla vehicles have an on-board GPS that shows where all the stations are and gives pricing information, and the company notes almost all Supercharger stations are open 24 hours a day.

If you haven't noticed, a lot of Teslas are on the road. Car & Driver magazine reports the company delivered 936,172 vehicles in 2021 worldwide.

Question: As part of the city of Asheville's recent redevelopment of the Lee Walker Heights neighborhood, I was expecting new sidewalks to be added on Southside Avenue on the development's northern boundary, between McDowell Avenue and Short Coxe Avenue. There has been a gap in the sidewalk here for years, forcing pedestrians to walk in the street, where the lanes are already narrow. Does the city have plans to fill this gap? Is the Lee Walker Heights redevelopment subject to the same rules as private development in the city of Asheville?

My answer: So, there's a need to fill a gap near Short Coxe Avenue? Please, make your own joke here...

Real answer: City of Asheville spokeswoman Kim Miller handled this question, first noting that the Housing Authority of the City of Asheville "is the property owner and developer of the recently completed redevelopment of Lee Walker Heights, which is now called 'Maple Crest.'"

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"The Asheville Housing Authority is required to follow the same development regulations as all other developers, and the Maple Crest development was approved through the standard city review process," Miller said via email.

So, about that sidewalk gap...

"The sidewalk gap that is referenced was not required to be constructed by the Asheville Housing Authority in this case because the city plans to construct a Neighborhood Greenway Connector that will ultimately connect the Bacoate Branch Greenway to Southside Avenue and will continue along Southside Avenue to Biltmore Avenue," Miller said. "The project is currently being designed and construction is expected to begin in 2022."

For more information about the Greenway Connector project, visit www.ashevillenc.gov/projects/greenway-connectors/.

This is the opinion of John Boyle. To submit a question, contact him at 232-5847 or jboyle@citizen-times.com

This article originally appeared on Asheville Citizen Times: Answer Man: Tesla charging station in Biltmore Park? Sidewalk issue?