Chicago area superchargers failing in cold

[SO16]

Fortunately it is just 3 out of the roughly 13 stations around Chicago that are completely down (depending on zoom).

But yes, Tesla should say something about this. I’ve driven through Chicago a few times with my Tesla but always charge well outside the area.

I suspect a lot of this is from locals charging and not preconditioning prior to arrival which only exacerbates the issue.

 

[fholbert]

I suspect a lot of this is from locals charging and not preconditioning prior to arrival which only exacerbates the issue.

Hard to precondition when you arrive on a tow truck.

 

[SO16]

Hard to precondition when you arrive on a tow truck.

True but I don’t think they were stranded on the road with 0%. I think the towed people were directed towards the superchargers that were down and lost charge there. Those people really got screwed. That is definitely a major bug that Tesla needed to fix ASAP.

I’m talking about the long waits at the working superchargers. And yes, probably some of those towed in were from the non-working chargers.

Just a bad situation all over. The anti-EV crowd is going to have an absolute field day with this. Even though they conveniently forget how a couple years ago a significant chunk of the eastern seaboard was without gas.

If it is majority locals charging, really makes me appreciate L2 home charging. Probably wouldn’t own an EV without it. This is also why giving away months of free supercharging is bad.

 

[Bikeman]

Wow! Glad I have home charging! Just checked my app looking into Chicago area SC's. Good Golly!

These are just the stations in my immediate vicinity. There are many more locally that are either closed or nearly closed. This is a big news story locally, and it isn't a good look for Tesla or electric cars in general.

currently...
Arlington Heights, 5 stalls out of order (O.O.O.)
O'Hare, 1 stalls O.O.O.
Elmhurst, 2 stalls O.O.O.
Oakbrook, CLOSED all stalls O.O.O.
Burr Ridge, 2 stalls O.O.O.
Naperville, 4 stalls O.O.O.
Aurora, 2 stalls O.O.O.
Oswego, 2 stalls O.O.O.
Bolingbrook, 4 stalls O.O.O.
Rosemont, CLOSED all stalls O.O.O.
Orland Park, 7 stalls O.O.O.
Country Club Hills, CLOSED, all stalls O.O.O.
New Lenox, 5 stalls O.O.O.
Flossmore, 3 stalls O.O.O.

All have wait times, some major. Many have bricked Teslas clogging the area around the stations.

My model Y is currently on "shore power" and hopefully happy. Been plugged in (outside, no garage*) for 5 solid days now and hasn't moved in these double-digit negative temps. Been using the Prius as my daily driver because it can handle the cold better -- the windows and door work reliably, whereas the Tesla is a pain for that reason. I'm lucky I have 2 cars and also have a home charging solution for the both of them. But jeez, I cannot fathom owning any electric car for these 15 days in these temps without being able to charge at home. There's a guy at work that has one car, a BZ4x, no home charging at all, and travels 75 miles per day round trip. In this weather he says he only has 100 miles of sustained charge. He's using 3rd party D.C. chargers somewhere. Yikes.

EDIT: Update. Checked the official Tesla map online. None are marked closed, yet many are, or are almost totally closed. Do not trust the online tesla charging map!

* I'm hoping the charging port and Tesla/J1772 converter aren't frozen completely shut. It has happened before.

 

[jsmay311]

I suspect a lot of this is from locals charging and not preconditioning prior to arrival which only exacerbates the issue.

Also, if you only live a few miles away, even if you use navigation on the way to the SC, it won’t give the car enough time to meaningfully warm the battery anyway.

Tesla should really give owners more visibility and control over preconditioning. You should be able to warm the battery remotely without also warming the cabin, and vice versa. And you shouldn’t have to read forums everyday to know when cabin preconditioning does and doesn’t initiate battery preconditioning.

But this also shouldn’t distract from the main issue, which is SC stalls and entire locations being out of order and Tesla having no explanation.

 

[alexgr]

I really find it strange. We traveled many times in sub-zero temps with no supercharging issues. The story, the way how the stories are synchronized across the media, are very fishy. Hope Tesla reacts to this.

 

[alexgr]

Wow! Glad I have home charging! Just checked my app looking into Chicago area SC's. Good Golly!

These are just the stations in my immediate vicinity. There are many more locally that are either closed or nearly closed. This is a big news story locally, and it isn't a good look for Tesla or electric cars in general.

currently...
Arlington Heights, 5 stalls out of order (O.O.O.)
O'Hare, 1 stalls O.O.O.
Elmhurst, 2 stalls O.O.O.
Oakbrook, CLOSED all stalls O.O.O.
Burr Ridge, 2 stalls O.O.O.
Naperville, 4 stalls O.O.O.
Aurora, 2 stalls O.O.O.
Oswego, 2 stalls O.O.O.
Bolingbrook, 4 stalls O.O.O.
Rosemont, CLOSED all stalls O.O.O.
Orland Park, 7 stalls O.O.O.
Country Club Hills, CLOSED, all stalls O.O.O.
New Lenox, 5 stalls O.O.O.
Flossmore, 3 stalls O.O.O.

All have wait times, some major. Many have bricked Teslas clogging the area around the stations.

My model Y is currently on "shore power" and hopefully happy. Been plugged in (outside, no garage*) for 5 solid days now and hasn't moved in these double-digit negative temps. Been using the Prius as my daily driver because it can handle the cold better -- the windows and door work reliably, whereas the Tesla is a pain for that reason. I'm lucky I have 2 cars and also have a home charging solution for the both of them. But jeez, I cannot fathom owning any electric car for these 15 days in these temps without being able to charge at home. There's a guy at work that has one car, a BZ4x, no home charging at all, and travels 75 miles per day round trip. In this weather he says he only has 100 miles of sustained charge. He's using 3rd party D.C. chargers somewhere. Yikes.

EDIT: Update. Checked the official Tesla map online. None are marked closed, yet many are, or are almost totally closed. Do not trust the online tesla charging map!

* I'm hoping the charging port and Tesla/J1772 converter aren't frozen completely shut. It has happened before.

Are the Chicago gangs stealing copper from superchargers?

 

[Bikeman]

Are the Chicago gangs stealing copper from superchargers?

Dunno, unless they're burning them in 55-gallon barrels to keep warm. Neg. temps for entire week.

 

[cwerdna]

The story, the way how the stories are synchronized across the media, are very fishy.

Sure, there could be Astroturfing - Wikipedia and a coordinated effort but stories being echoed (sometimes having bad/wrong info) happens ALL the time, even if it has nothing to do with Tesla or EVs.

Check out coverage the next time any national newsworthy thing crops up. Just do Google searches and limit the timeframe to the last 24 hours...

 

[Bikeman]

I really find it strange. We traveled many times in sub-zero temps with no supercharging issues. The story, the way how the stories are synchronized across the media, are very fishy. Hope Tesla reacts to this.

Fishy? Did you read post #24? That is official real-time Tesla Info.

 

[alexgr]

Fishy? Did you read post #24? That is official real-time Tesla Info.

Sure, it is real. My issue with the new stories is that many of them spin it as EVs can't charge in the cold. If this were true, we would see this issues right now not in Chicago area only. How about Minneapolis, Ann Arbor, Denver (it's -10F in Denver now)?

 

[jsight]

I really find it strange. We traveled many times in sub-zero temps with no supercharging issues. The story, the way how the stories are synchronized across the media, are very fishy. Hope Tesla reacts to this.

That was my first thought as well when seeing the initial pictures. But it sounds like this is only the ones very close to Chicago, and those dense urban locations tend to get very different usage patterns anyway.

It is still odd that so many people seem to be parking in spots that block the stalls and not even attempting to charge. But I'm sure frustration is leading to some less than optimal behavior, as it always does.

 

[scurtis]

Will be interesting to get to the bottom of this. Last year when Colorado had shut downs, mostly CCS providers had issues and not SCs. Unfortunately, there are a lot of subtleties with cold weather EV driving that can become major issues. ie using 110v you wouldn't be able to charge in severely cold weather, using preconditioning before arrival, awareness of other DC fast chargers or even level 2s in the area. EVs are still in a phase where you need to have contingency plans and know your equipment well. I definitely would not own a tesla without a legit level 2 solution in house in that area.

 

[Bikeman]

I wonder why these stalls are marked inoperable. Is it because they really are broken, or is it because there's a bricked car blocking the stall? I'm sure it is some of both, but I sure hope it isn't the former.

 

[DBeckwith]

Another story:

 

[Bikeman]

Sure, it is real. My issue with the new stories is that many of them spin it as EVs can't charge in the cold. If this were true, we would see this issues right now not in Chicago area only. How about Minneapolis, Ann Arbor, Denver (it's -10F in Denver now)?

News is news, and we're used to the reporting not digging further to get to the truth. Unfortunately. But to your second point, how about someone checking their app in those parts of the country we know are experiencing these temps for many days in a row. Is it only Chicago? Are there other high concentrations of trouble areas out there? Probably now's the time to find out.

^ That WGN story embedded above was just on live TV as I was writing this post!

 

[merc65fd]

Issues with Tesla superchargers last night.

I was here last night, next in line behind the first guy they interviewed. I was coming from Normal Illinois to Antioch. No issues prior to the Chicago suburbs. Charged at many rural Chargers all over Illinois earlier in the day with no issues. I arrived in Bollingbrook with 30% or so to find the first line I have ever seen that was pretty long. App said Rolling meadows had 5 open chargers and it was 250 KW so I left there and headed 15 minutes to Rolling Meadows. We arrived there to find a line at 8pm. They had two sets of chargers 150 kw and 250kw. I didnt know at the time since app said only 250kw. I got in the wrong line, the 150 kw line. it had 10 chargers. 4 were broken, 2 had cars that were left to charge and were done charging but no one there to move them, so that left 4 for cars in line to use. 1 of the 4 had the car on a tow truck try to charge it and not able to but tied up the space for longer than I was in and out for. So it left 3 for the line. I arrived there with 21% waited two hours to get a charger even though I was 3rd in line when I arrived. Cars were splitting 150kw so it was taking them a long time and it seemed everyone wanted to go from near 0 to full. I set my heat to 65 degrees and shut off everything to consrve power while waiting. I ended up with 16% after the 2 hour wait. Cars all around me were shut off and sitting in the cold because they arrived with less. I think the 250KW line was moving faster, but not by too much, but by the time I realized I was at 150kw charger I was next. I only need to charge for 15 minutes because I only had an hour of travel left. I really wish I would have charged a little more at the previous charger I could have just drove straight home. There appear to be too many Teslas and not enough chargers the closer you get to Chicago. That coupled with -10 degrees making them need to be charged more than normal. There were more broken chargers than normal but that only made a bad situation a little worse. From now on, Im going to charge before and after populated areas if possible, especially in the bitter cold.

 

[renambot]

- several days of continuous negative temps
- holidays weekend
- lots of new Uber drivers (chargers around the city are very busy with Uber drivers, see the fleet plates)
- lots of tesla
- not a lot of new chargers (hope the new 52 stalls at ORD comes soon), need another one for MDW
-

 

[cwerdna]

I was here last night, next in line behind the first guy they interviewed. I was coming from normal Illinois to Antioch. No issues prior to the Chicago suburbs. Charged at many rural Charger all over Illinois earlier in the day with no issues. I arrived in Bollingbrook with 30% or so to find the first line I have ever seen that was pretty long. App said Rolling meadows had 5 open chargers and it was 250 KW. We arrived there to find a line at 8pm. They had two sets of chargers 150 kw and 250kw. I didnt know at the time since app said only 250kw. I got in the wrong line, the 150 kw line. it had 10 chargers. 4 were broken, 2 had cars that were left to charge and were done charging but no one there to move them, so that left 4 for cars in line to use...

Since you have a relatively new car, yours should have CCS hardware enabled. If so, you could buy https://shop.tesla.com/product/ccs-combo-1-adapter and then use CCS1/SAE Combo DC fast chargers. Check Plugshare (app and/or web site) and filter by SAE Combo/CCS to see if there are/were any reliable ones in that area/on your route.

Having such an adapter can open up possibilities in case something like this happens again and will let you charge MUCH faster than falling back to level 2 J1772 or Tesla wall connectors/"destination chargers".

 

[Bikeman]

Will be interesting to get to the bottom of this. Last year when Colorado had shut downs, mostly CCS providers had issues and not SCs. Unfortunately, there are a lot of subtleties with cold weather EV driving that can become major issues. ie using 110v you wouldn't be able to charge in severely cold weather, using preconditioning before arrival, awareness of other DC fast chargers or even level 2s in the area. EVs are still in a phase where you need to have contingency plans and know your equipment well. I definitely would not own a tesla without a legit level 2 solution in house in that area.

Kyle did a great job reporting the Colorado EA situation last season, didn't he? They needed the shaming he gave them, and it has probably helped to get the company that operates them off their butts. I wonder how it is out there right now as their temps are very similar to last year? My L2 has been a life saver in this cold. It just automatically added another 3 kWh to my car tonight, and helped the battery keep somewhat warm. L1 can't do that.