Charging near Thunderhill Raceway, California

[dortor4ev]

Moderator note: the first three posts in this thread were moved from
Supercharger - Williams CA (permit approved, construction not yet started)
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Can't wait for this one to pop up! Thunderhill Raceway park tends to drain your battery, and this one is about 30 minutes away. Just enough time to stop and charge in the middle of a track day

while i love the Tesla SC network - i’m thinking the better bet is chademo adapter + the Electrify America fast chargers being installed near thunderhill @ wallmart - much closer and more charge left when you get back to the track...

 

[lambodiablo205]

while i love the Tesla SC network - i’m thinking the better bet is chademo adapter + the Electrify America fast chargers being installed near thunderhill @ wallmart - much closer and more charge left when you get back to the track...

Interesting...I didn't know that was an option. How many are there?

 

[dortor4ev]

There will be at least two - site is under construction now according to PlugShare. I’m just saying that’s an option once it’s open.

 

[miimura]

Electrify America typically has only one CHAdeMO connector per site. That is the only fast charge plug that is Tesla compatible so far and you have to have the $400 adapter. IMHO, relying on a site with a single stall is not a great plan.

 

[dortor4ev]

I agree - I'm used to EVGo where most of the stations have both - I would enjoy a CCS adapter from Tesla.

 

[WalterB]

Electrify America typically has only one CHAdeMO connector per site. That is the only fast charge plug that is Tesla compatible so far and you have to have the $400 adapter. IMHO, relying on a site with a single stall is not a great plan.

Not true. If you check any photos from completed Electrify America sites, you will see that each charging cabinet have two connectors (CHAdeMO and CCS). It is weird how they are labeling PlugShare locations as having only one CHAdeMO connector....

 

[dortor4ev]

I think we'll have to wait and see - I agree Tesla Superchargers are the best solution - and Chademo is limited to 50 kW if I remember correctly - but it's less than 7 miles from the track vs. 33 miles to the Tesla Supercharger…(either williams or corning - LOL).

 

[miimura]

Not true. If you check any photos from completed Electrify America sites, you will see that each charging cabinet have two connectors (CHAdeMO and CCS). It is weird how they are labeling PlugShare locations as having only one CHAdeMO connector....

Believe me, all the stations have two cables, but all but one are dual CCS. Only one pedestal has CCS + CHAdeMO. They are required to support both standards, but not equally and they are not shy about showing their bias.

Look at this picture of the Livermore EA site. The blue handle is CHAdeMO and the white handles are CCS.

 

[mociaf9]

It is weird how they are labeling PlugShare locations as having only one CHAdeMO connector....

That's not an error or a typo. EA stations only have a single CHAdeMO connector on a single charger. That one charger will be dual CCS + CHAdeMO. All the other chargers have 2 CCS connectors.

 

[WalterB]

Believe me, all the stations have two cables, but all but one are dual CCS. Only one pedestal has CCS + CHAdeMO.

All the other chargers have 2 CCS connectors.

I see it now, but it makes it even more strange. Usually it is one cabinet per one parking stall, why do you need two CCS connector per one car?

 

[mociaf9]

I see it now, but it makes it even more strange. Usually it is one cabinet per one parking stall, why do you need two CCS connector per one car?

According to EA, it's so that the chargers are agnostic about which side of the car the charging port is on. Different brands put them in different locations on the car and since EA is supposed to be brand agnostic, this was the solution they determined to use to be able to reach no matter where the ports were.

 

[miimura]

The one good thing about the dual CCS cables is that it provides some redundancy against broken or worn cables. It is still spiteful to put only one CHAdeMO per site. I can understand putting only one at a 4 stall site, but a 8 or 10 stall site should have at least two.

 

[mcbarnet007]

Will Model 3 ever get ccs compatibility in the US?

 

[magudaman]

I wanted to post some information regarding Thunderhill charging for anyone heading out there in the future and this seemed like a good place.

I went to the Thunderhill last month for a track day and knew they had ton (more than ~70) 14-50 plugs onsite however I did not expect to only be able to charge at 32 amps. All the outlets I tried at the west track would drop down to 32 amps after a couple minutes and the car would report it reduced charge amperage. Watching voltage I couldn't see anything change when it would decide to drop. I've done 48 amps at Sonoma and Laguna Seca with no issues but something is either different with the software now or their power is wonky. PS it is 208v nominal of course and starts out at about 213v and drops to about 208v. Some outlet further from the transformer would drop further down in the range of 203v.

Another note about the the walmart fast chargers: A guy was driving a M3P at the track that day and went to the fast charger with the adapter and could not get it to work. In fact he got his adapter stuck and almost missed his next session. SO beware these DC fast chargers may be problematic. He said this was the second time he had issues getting the walmart chargers to work and had tried to use them a couple months early too.

PS this is an awesome track!

 

[PixelatedRolex]

Any update on the Thunderhill charging station?