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Best supercharging times la <~> sf roadtrip

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Never drove our teslas on this route but plan to soon. One reason we didn’t do the trip was seeing the lines at superchargers throughout the day in our ice vehicle. Weekends being the worst. I plan to leave at 7am to hit the chargers a bit earlier than most would but does it make a difference?
 
Never drove our teslas on this route but plan to soon. One reason we didn’t do the trip was seeing the lines at superchargers throughout the day in our ice vehicle. Weekends being the worst. I plan to leave at 7am to hit the chargers a bit earlier than most would but does it make a difference?

If you look at discussion in this thread the past year or two, it's basically not an issue, outside of major travel holidays such as Thanksgiving:


I personally did a trip to LA over this past Memorial Day weekend (outbound Thursday, return Sunday), and never had to wait for charging. The longest line I experienced was at the In-N-Out drive-through in Kettleman City, and that was only about 10 minutes.

Having a little familiarity with the resources along your route can help too. Note also that along I-5 there are so many Supercharger stops that you can pick and choose less-busy Supercharger locations to stop at. Lines, if there are any, will move faster at larger Supercharger sites such as Firebaugh, Kettleman City (both sides), and Tejon (Outlets at Tejon Drive). US-101 seems to have enough Supercharger coverage that it's also a viable (but longer) alternative.

Have a good trip and let us know how it went!

Bruce.
 
Thanks Bruce! Great info and confidence inspiring. The last time I saw the kettleman charger was a holiday week so that probably contributed to the long lines.

Russell, my family will be happy to not leave at 7. We’ll prob do 8 now :) thanks!
 
There are now giant supercharger stops along the route, Tejon Outlets, Kettleman Annex, Firebaugh all with 56 charging spots and other chargers near by. This last holiday Tesla specifically DIDN'T discount nite charging on this route as they have enough capacity. Even the Vegas route didn't get much of a discount, the focus was on Palm Springs route outta LA. We should see some more chargers on that route this year.
 
Thx guys. Finished the trip and proved to be too easy on the 5. I’m sure traveling in a non holiday window helped but was amazed at how built out some superchargers are now. Love the ones with solar panel roofs/shade. Now I can’t say the same for the city chargers in LA where some were packed all day and evening.
 
It's funny that people crush into LA Superchargers, and yet when I go to the Free SoCalEd DCFCs that are littered all over the LA basin I never wait, well, once, but it wasn't long. Even the AAA free chargers are almost always empty. Perhaps that will begin to change now that good CCS cars are hitting the market.
 
Thx guys. Finished the trip and proved to be too easy on the 5. I’m sure traveling in a non holiday window helped but was amazed at how built out some superchargers are now. Love the ones with solar panel roofs/shade. Now I can’t say the same for the city chargers in LA where some were packed all day and evening.
Just wait. The Harris Ranch 80 stall expansion is going to make things even better. I hope it opens by Labor Day.

As far as LA goes, go early in the morning. I can't sleep past 5 AM so going out to grab a coffee and charge works out great for me. Chargers are empty and no traffic.
 
The longest line I experienced was at the In-N-Out drive-through in Kettleman City, and that was only about 10 minutes.
Ha ha ha. Yup, been there done that :) Burger worth the wait though.

To add for OP, I often go around that route to get down to San Diego (every 2 months). Never experience any charger delays, but with more Ts on the road, let's see how that may or may not change in the future. Actually, now that I think about it, in over 5 years of driving all over the USA, I only recall one time having to wait a few minutes to get into a charger and that was in the San Fran bay area last year. Looks like I have done over 400 supercharges in the last 5 years. So my experience has been great thus far.
 
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It's funny that people crush into LA Superchargers, and yet when I go to the Free SoCalEd DCFCs that are littered all over the LA basin I never wait, well, once, but it wasn't long. Even the AAA free chargers are almost always empty. Perhaps that will begin to change now that good CCS cars are hitting the market.
I’ll need to do some research on the DCFCs. Never heard of em! Is there an app you use?
 
It's funny that people crush into LA Superchargers, and yet when I go to the Free SoCalEd DCFCs that are littered all over the LA basin I never wait, well, once, but it wasn't long. Even the AAA free chargers are almost always empty. Perhaps that will begin to change now that good CCS cars are hitting the market.
Where can I get of list of AAA free charger locations?
 
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Where can I get of list of AAA free charger locations?
J, actually you bring up something I have been also thinking about. Somewhere there much be a list of charger locations (not superchargers of course) where I charge for free without needing to be a "guest" of a hotel or being hassled by owners of a location for using theirs (even though no sign is posted).

My example is that I've run into lots of locations across the USA where the "destination" chargers are free, yet might be located in a hotel parking lot, casino, et. Then again, there are ones at similar locations for use ONLY by registered guests. Surely that is a list of these somewhere in the cloud?
 
That sounds a LOT like PlugShare. :) Filter the list as appropriate for your vehicle and charging needs.
Thanks. Been there done that and it hasn't provided me with accurate information during my last long trips in recent months. It's been hit or miss for me.
EDIT: Oh and I may add that the operative word is "FREE". Unless plugshare has recently added it as a filter, I never saw "free" as a selection. Perhaps I am too dumb to find it :)
 
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There is a “Show locations that require payment” filter that defaults to on that you can turn off.

Edit: The restricted locations are the one like you mention where they are for paying customers (hotels, etc…)

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I’ll need to do some research on the DCFCs. Never heard of em! Is there an app you use?

DCFC stands for "Direct Current Fast Charger". It basically means the high-powered (direct current) charging stations, such as those run by Electrify America, Chargepoint, EVgo, and other companies (you might need or want an app for whatever company runs the charger). You might also see them referred to as Level 3 chargers. Collectively these make up the fast charging infrastructure for non-Tesla EVs, but Teslas can use them with an appropriate adapter for the connectors (either CCS or CHAdeMO). The trick is that as of now (July 2022), the CCS and CHAdeMO adapters for Teslas aren't being sold in the US yet (in the case of CCS) or anymore (in the case of CHAdeMO).

Bruce.
 
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DCFC stands for "Direct Current Fast Charger". It basically means the high-powered (direct current) charging stations, such as those run by Electrify America, Chargepoint, EVgo, and other companies (you might need or want an app for whatever company runs the charger). You might also see them referred to as Level 3 chargers. Collectively these make up the fast charging infrastructure for non-Tesla EVs, but Teslas can use them with an appropriate adapter for the connectors (either CCS or CHAdeMO). The trick is that as of now (July 2022), the CCS and CHAdeMO adapters for Teslas aren't being sold in the US yet (in the case of CCS) or anymore (in the case of CHAdeMO).

Bruce.
I would add that a "Fast Charger" on Plugshare does not match with what many Supercharger users are used to. 50 kW is considered fast.
 
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I have seen 25kW considered fast, heck I have charged at 16kW chargers that used DCFC connections. Technically that is still faster than my car can AC charge.

Bruce is right that there are no longer CHAdeMO connectors sold from tEsla, and that CCS connections are not yet on the US Tesla site, but that doesn't mean they are not available to North American customers who do their research, or who go on eBay and potentially pay a LOT of extra money for them.

Using my new CCS adapter at FaceBook last night could have saved me almost 50% of the time I used to spend there with my CHAdeMO adapter before I sold it on eBay for a profit. There are a few free chargers there that have 62.5 kW capability, if I had left at 80% charge it would have been a very quick stop.
 
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