250 kW Superchargers are great if you want to minimize stopping time, like in Clayton NM at night when nothing is open, but they charge too fast if you want to stop for a leisurely meal or shop (and not have to move the car
). You can often grab take-out, but many of my Supercharger stops have been less than 15 minutes, so take-out was the only option if I wanted to keep moving. Sometimes I don't and I want to stop at a sit-down restaurant. I can do far longer trips and still feel great at the end if I take more breaks.
L2 chargers work perfectly where people are going to take their time. I Supercharged recently in Socorro NM and could almost make it to the new SC in Post TX. I only need about 25 miles, so I stopped at the L2 chargers at the UFO McDonald's in Roswell. I also spent the night in Roswell. My 2022 Model 3 LR gets 50 miles of range per hour on a 11.5 kW charger. They have 4 at the UFO McDonald's, ranging from 11.5 to 19.2 kW (if your car will take the 80A). I would get about 220 miles in an hour on a 50 kW charger if the charge curve is the same as for the 11.5 kW power level, which it might not be. So unless I was really low on charge, if I was shopping or eating I'd have to return to the car and move it, just like with a 150 or 250 kW Supercharger.
@nwdiver could probably tell us the numbers here, but you could put in several L2 chargers (6-ish to max 19.2 kW) for the same cost as a single 50 kW DC faster charger. Many people are still a confused about this and think everyone wants and needs DC fast charging in all situations. Others are confused in a different way and think L2 chargers along main travel routes are going to work for people who want to keep moving and not dilly-dally. This is not to minimize the need for Superchargers along main travel routes. We need those, too!
