Bikeman
Member
Sort of, but I'd call it more of a useless old almost collapsing shed without any electricity so, no. There are a lot of things on my want list; a decent garage tops the list.
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Chicago area superchargers failing in cold
- Thread starter DBeckwith
- Start date
Sort of, but I'd call it more of a useless old almost collapsing shed without any electricity so, no. There are a lot of things on my want list; a decent garage tops the list.
stopcrazypp
Well-Known Member
I was going to say the manufacturers adopting NACS will have paid upfront fees to fund more stations/stalls to cover the demand, but others claim the manufacturers actually pays Tesla no money upfront to cover the extra demand. I personally don't see that as sustainable (pay per use is not sufficient to cover for this, that's why all the charge operators are losing money and all are trying to get users to do monthly subscriptions), but I guess Tesla perhaps is banking on access to government funds perhaps for more stations/stalls.Odd that no one has even brought up what will happen next year, or later this year, when non-Teslas are trying to also chargeat SC's. I sure won't mention it.
That said, given the growth of Model 3/Y sales, Tesla will have to expand the network anyways (which they announced plans of doing prior to the expansion to non-Teslas), so things won't remain the same. Also those NACS cars won't be able to use the V2s.
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I've heard the above claims too.
If true, that will create some interesting problems. Either they will need to be upgraded to work or a bunch of non-Tesla drivers will be confused if they pull up to a Tesla Supercharger and it doesn't work. Tesla and the automakers will need to make it clear somehow (e.g. signage, in vehicle/charging app UI, Plugshare, etc.) about these v2 units and why they won't work with non-Teslas.
Sorka: Not everyone has a garage. Even for those in single family homes, there are places like row houses. Google for them for a visual aid.
stopcrazypp
Well-Known Member
The app and any database the manufacturers use with exclude them as incompatible. Tesla already does something similar for the Magicdock.
The V2 not being supported corresponds to the stall numbers announced by Ford/GM (which correspond to V3s). It was also explicitly pointed out in press releases and faqs:
"A Tesla-developed adapter will provide Ford F-150 Lightning, Mustang Mach-E and E-Transit vehicles fitted with the Combined Charging System (CCS) port access to Tesla’s V3 Superchargers."
"Ford drivers will be able to view the expanded list of Tesla Superchargers available to Ford vehicles in the FordPass App as we launch in 2024.
Note: V2 Tesla Superchargers are not capable of charging non-Tesla EVs and will continue to be unavailable."
I don't see Tesla bothering to upgrade the V2s. Money is better spent on install more V3s or V4s (that's generally how they update locations, they add new stalls instead of taking out old ones).
Until this Chicago debacle I would have disagreed with this. I assume the V2 incompatibility is a simple signaling issue and would require either the replacement of a single circuit board or maybe even just a firmware update. That's gonna be MUCH cheaper and faster than the permitting and installation of entire new V3s and V4s.
With the tremendous influx of non-tesla demand, they'll HAVE to create more V3/V4s.
I agree about the tremendous influx of demand, but most of it will be from Tesla's rapid expansion. Tesla already sells more EVs in the US than all other automakers combined, and Tesla production will really accelerate when the "next gen" cars from new assembly line in Texas, and then Giga Mexico, hit the market.
Meanwhile GM and Ford are scaling back or delaying EV production plans, and Stellantis has nothing in North America besides a PHEV minivan.
IIRC, Elon did say Tesla's supercharger team will have to work extra hard to expand fast enough to accommodate cars from other automakers, but also that their own production will require a huge expansion anyway.
This situation in Chicago underscores the need to get L2 charging available to city dwellers. People that use superchargers like gas stations, arriving with 5-15% and charging to 90-100% really clog up the system. Travelers only charge for as long as they need for a quick bathroom or meal stop.
Technical solutions to make L2 charging less expensive to install at appartments and condos, laws preventing HOA or permitting or utility foot-dragging, and incentives for landlords to install L2 charging are needed.
GSP
There are 10 SC sites in the Twin Cities metro. 2 out of a total of 108 stalls are out of order this morning. Temps have been in the single digits above and below 0 for the last 4 days, not much different than Chicago. Last night while reading this thread I checked the app and 2 of the 10 locations were “short wait”.
Only 1 in the Minneapolis/St. Paul metro area out currently.
Scattered outages outside the metro area. I’d say about 10%.
Rochester is a tight spot, 5 of 8 malfunctioning with wait times. No wait times anywhere else I could see.
Scattered outages outside the metro area. I’d say about 10%.
Rochester is a tight spot, 5 of 8 malfunctioning with wait times. No wait times anywhere else I could see.
In Rolling meadows the other night someone claimed they poured hot water in one and got it working. I watched them pour hot water in 3 connectors but it did not fix them. I was hopeful.
Something to keep in mind too is the fact that the other night their were many more broken chargers in reality at the chargers I was stopping at then the app was listing. Also rolling meadows said 5 available stalls when in reality there was a 1-2 hour wait. Eventually, after I was there 2 hours the app changed to 5 minute wait which was of course an hour and 55 minutes off. I always thought the app was 100% correct. it wasn't even close this night for several locations around Chicago. I wouldn't put 100% trust in it unless you see the charging location yourself
Agree 100%. We overemphasize our ICE bias of equating gas stations with superchargers. However, over 90% EV charging is done at home. I think it is a bigger bang for buck and more equitable building out level 2 chargers at residences, work and motels.
In my own personal road trip experience since 2018, it appears no significant motel L2 expansion. In fact many have shut down. Imagine how many supercharger visits could be eliminated if every motel had overnight charging.
ev_go123
Member
I read elsewhere that a lot of these out of order stalls is caused snow/ice caked inside the connector for the supercharger cable. Then the person who tries to charge finds it doesn't work (can't plug the connector all the way in), and then reports that stall as broken. Is this what's going on here? If that was the case, I wonder if forcing the connector in with tons of ice/snow could actually damage the contacts inside the connector.
They were also saying people are now carrying around heat guns to defrost the connectors on the supercharger plugs.
They were also saying people are now carrying around heat guns to defrost the connectors on the supercharger plugs.
I love the part at the end of the Fox32 clip where the reporter says that a car expert recommended that all EV owners “hit the battery precondition button on their car before attempting to charge it in extremely cold weather”.
Too bad Teslas don’t have a button like that. They should IMO.
(And yes, I know cabin preconditioning will also warm the battery when the battery is especially cold, but (1) that’s an inefficient way to heat the battery, (2) I think it will stop warming the battery when it’s still quite cold, maybe around 40Fish(?), and (3) how many owners actually know that anyway? Most people don’t read forums everyday or memorize the entire manual.)
I don’t disagree, but it’s worth noting that all of the complete station outages have been in the suburbs.
On a counterbalancing note, AAA probably announced that thousands of Chicago area ICE owners could not even start their cars due to ultra low temperatures. Their antiquated 12V starter batteries failed to turn over those cold soaked piston engined vehicles. Required AAA to dispatch a record number of tow trucks to jump start those vehicle. Wait times ran into the hours, with owners sitting in freezing cold vehicles due to non-working heating systems. Owners were given no assurances that they would start again if they let them get cold again, so many owners left them to continously idle, significantly ramping up the pollution levels. Of course this is tongue in cheek, but reality is that super cold weather is tough on all mechanical devices.
jgillispie
Member
I was trying to supercharge on New Years Eve a few years back and it was in the -20s. My charge was low enough the battery pack heater wouldn't come on and the supercharger was reading the pack was too cold to send a charge. That left me getting no charge at a functional station.
I'm not sure if Tesla ever fixed this bug, haven't been in the situation myself since then.
I'm not sure if Tesla ever fixed this bug, haven't been in the situation myself since then.
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