Availability of Superchargers

[Srad600Volt]

I stopped in at the San Clemente SC today, just a random Saturday and it was pretty close to being full. There were about 5 empty stalls when I got there, and one person got there after me bringing it down to four before I left. They do have quite a few available. This was my first time supercharging, but I was surprised by how many cars were there.

 

[Srad600Volt]

BTW, this SC was charging at 528mi/hr! I was in and out of there in just a few minutes...that was unexpected, and awesome.

 

[Gizmotoy]

When taking SF<->LA trips we've pretty regularly had short waits on peak weekend travel times depending on where you stop. If you're traveling for a holiday weekend, expect them to be packed. Livermore was at 100% capacity the entire hour we were there, but fortunately a car left as we were pulling in so we didn't wait. We've never had a problem on a weekday.

Tesla does seem to be OK about keeping on top of this. There have seemed to be waves of crowded Superchargers over the past 7 years. When one gets really congested, a new one opens. Sometimes it takes awhile, though.

 

[DanDi58]

I've been watching some videos by Branden Flasch (EV Nomad) on YouTube this past week - he has a 2015 Model S 75D and has done a ton of cross-country roadtrips taking advantage of his free Supercharging. I think he's reported maybe 2 broken Superchargers in all of his videos, at least the ones I've watched so far.... Pretty amazing. BTW, his videos have gotten me a lot less concerned with range anxiety.

 

[Big Earl]

80,000 miles in just over two years for our Model 3. In the more than 500 Tesla Supercharger sites we've visited, we've only encountered the occasional slow or busy Supercharger site - once at the Fremont Factory where we had to wait 5 minutes on the last day of Q2 this year (very busy), twice last year on the way across South Dakota to the Tesla rally in Custer (the 4-stall sites were busy with other folks coming to the rally), and I think that's about it. The network has been very fast and very reliable for us, and we've found trip planning to be a breeze.

 

[rxlawdude]

Has anyone encountered any ICE-hole's blocking others at supercharging sites recently?

On our recent trip back home from Sedona, we stopped at the Ehrenberg, AZ Supercharger (better amenities than disgusting Quartzsite).

So in the pull-in stall (I had a bike rack on the back, so this type of stall was preferable) was an Audi e-tron. When the guy came back, I tried the friendly "that doesn't look like a Tesla," only to be greeted with a hostile "well, there are plenty of spots open and we were just here for a short time." Note the sign on that stall specifically states it is for Tesla charging ONLY.

I explained that while there were spots open, that could change in minutes. He just shrugged. I finally lost it and said that taking up a charging spot when there were myriad places to park was the action of an asshole. I didn't go as far as asking how he'd feel if his next DCFC station was blocked by Teslas or ICE vehicles.

Indeed, five minutes after this moron left, all stalls were occupied (by Teslas, charging).

I should have taken a picture of this jerk's car.

 

[DanDi58]

On our recent trip back home from Sedona, we stopped at the Ehrenberg, AZ Supercharger (better amenities than disgusting Quartzsite).

So in the pull-in stall (I had a bike rack on the back, so this type of stall was preferable) was an Audi e-tron. When the guy came back, I tried the friendly "that doesn't look like a Tesla," only to be greeted with a hostile "well, there are plenty of spots open and we were just here for a short time." Note the sign on that stall specifically states it is for Tesla charging ONLY.

I explained that while there were spots open, that could change in minutes. He just shrugged. I finally lost it and said that taking up a charging spot when there were myriad places to park was the action of an asshole. I didn't go as far as asking how he'd feel if his next DCFC station was blocked by Teslas or ICE vehicles.

Indeed, five minutes after this moron left, all stalls were occupied (by Teslas, charging).

I should have taken a picture of this jerk's car.

The good news is that when he went to charge his car, he probably wouldn't be able to unplug the charger anyway!

 

[TomServo]

And as I learned on our first long road trip, DO NOT COUNT ON TESLA DESTINATION charger availability. Folks can now buy an adapter and use a Tesla HPWC. I was "Mach E'd" at the hotel we booked which was an official Tesla Destination charger hotel. And don't expect hotel staff to intervene.

 

[jsight]

And as I learned on our first long road trip, DO NOT COUNT ON TESLA DESTINATION charger availability. Folks can now buy an adapter and use a Tesla HPWC. I was "Mach E'd" at the hotel we booked which was an official Tesla Destination charger hotel. And don't expect hotel staff to intervene.

Why would they? With the newer destination chargers, they can configure them to lock out non-Tesla vehicles, but I doubt they'd want to. They'd generally want any EV to use them, not just Tesla. There's no financial incentive for them to restrict usage.

 

[boulder.dude]

And as I learned on our first long road trip, DO NOT COUNT ON TESLA DESTINATION charger availability. Folks can now buy an adapter and use a Tesla HPWC. I was "Mach E'd" at the hotel we booked which was an official Tesla Destination charger hotel. And don't expect hotel staff to intervene.

Destination Chargers can also be occupied by other Teslas or might just be broken.

Safest bet is to get a hotel near a Supercharger as a backup, if at all possible.

 

[Big Earl]

And as I learned on our first long road trip, DO NOT COUNT ON TESLA DESTINATION charger availability. Folks can now buy an adapter and use a Tesla HPWC. I was "Mach E'd" at the hotel we booked which was an official Tesla Destination charger hotel. And don't expect hotel staff to intervene.

I find planning trips around destination chargers to be stressful, mostly because we also travel with a dog, and finding pet friendly hotels that also have EV charging takes quite a bit of research. Anyway, destination charging is great if it's there, but my primary plan is to use Superchargers.

 

[TomServo]

Why would they? With the newer destination chargers, they can configure them to lock out non-Tesla vehicles, but I doubt they'd want to. They'd generally want any EV to use them, not just Tesla. There's no financial incentive for them to restrict usage.

True, but doesn’t Tesla provide the hardware “free of charge” when a business enters into the Tesla Destination program? If so than I’d guess the cost is actually shared by Tesla owners who provide Tesla the income to give them away for free. But maybe the Tesla Destination program has changed. Just an observation from my perch.

 

[jsight]

True, but doesn’t Tesla provide the hardware “free of charge” when a business enters into the Tesla Destination program? If so than I’d guess the cost is actually shared by Tesla owners who provide Tesla the income to give them away for free. But maybe the Tesla Destination program has changed. Just an observation from my perch.

I don't think that is the case any more, and AFAIK there isn't really a clear distinction between sites that may have gotten it for free vs sites that bought the hardware. In any case, they are the ones paying for the power and operating costs.

 

[DanDi58]

My experience last week, traveling for a vacation on Cape Cod from NJ -

- Charged in New London, CT on the way up - 10 stalls, we were the only ones there at 7:15 am on a Saturday
- Charged twice in Hyannis MA - once on Saturday afternoon, once on Friday evening. Each time, there was only one other car at this 12 stall location (One of only 3 SC's on the Cape). There was an ICE parked there the first time.
- Charged in Madison CT on the way home - 12 stalls, there was one car when we pulled in at 9:15 on Saturday, and a different car there when we left.

Note that the CT SC's were on I95, on very busy traffic weekends. Pleasantly surprised overall.

 

[TomServo]

I don't think that is the case any more, and AFAIK there isn't really a clear distinction between sites that may have gotten it for free vs sites that bought the hardware. In any case, they are the ones paying for the power and operating costs.

Thanks for clarifying, counting on a Destination Charger isn’t a good plan.

 

[Srad600Volt]

I'm pleasantly surprised to see that Supercharging stations are popping up pretty frequently in my neck of the woods. When I got my car, the Brea, CA supercharger was the closest one. Within a few months, Superchargers have been added in Yorba Linda, Eastvale and Chino Hills. All within about 20 minutes of each other. Tesla's are like Camry's around here though, literally I can sit at multiple lights in town with just EV's and sometimes just Tesla's. Anyway, the SC's are almost always near capacity around here. I've started going after 9pm to get the best speed.