Enough Superchargers for Christmas? with info from Thanksgiving?

[Garlan Garner]

Well,

Now that we have had some experience with Superchargers during the Thanksgiving holidays....will there be enough for Christmas?

Info from Thanksgiving:

1. Cold = reduces distance dramatically / Increases Charging times significantly.
2. Snow = Drastically reduces range.
3. Rain = Reduces range - and you get wet.
4. Navigation distance significantly wrong if any or multiple conditions from above exists.
5. Outside of California - Not that much congestion at all.
6. SuperCharger charge times greatly increased due to cold battery. ( parts of Cali excluded ).
7. Energy distance estimate much more accurate than Battery distance estimate.

Will there be as many travelers for Christmas than there were for Thanksgiving? Hmmmmm

 

[ewoodrick]

Thanksgiving is a much more significant event for travel than Christmas. The bigger factors are that Thanksgiving have very defined travel days, whereas Christmas is spread out over a much larger period and a lot of people add vacation to spread the traffic out over 1-2 weeks this year.

My guess is that many Superchargers will be even less busy than normal.

 

[Gavyne]

We survived Thanksgiving, everything else will be a piece of cake. Tesla seems to be ramping up on supercharger expansion, so congestion will be further relieved very soon. Socal is about to get a 20+ stall supercharger in Westminster Mall off 405, will alleviate the congestion seen in FV & SA.

 

[Kbra]

And if there's not? You staying home?

 

[t6061]

Posted this in the Thanksgiving thread but thought it might be useful here. Agree that if Thanksgiving went reasonably well, Xmas shouldn't be a problem...

"Drove from San Clemente, CA (home) to Santa Cruz, CA on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving. Stopped at Tejon, Harris Ranch and Gilroy on the way up and Hollister, Kettleman City and Santa Clarita on the trip back to San Clemente the following Saturday. Even with the holiday traffic, the only station that was full on arrival was Harris Ranch but there was a security guard managing the cue who put me in line (I was first up upon arrival) and we waited no more than 5 minutes before we were directed to a charger. Could have done the trip with one fewer stop each way but as I it was my first road trip I was conservative with my calculations just in case the chargers were overwhelmed. Great experience over all. Impressed by the rate of charge at each station given the number of cars charging. Just enough time at each stop to stretch the legs, grab a bite and/or something to drink and use the facilities. Lots of Model 3s at the stops and along the way. My wife did one leg on the return trip home but I drove the rest of the time and autopilot really helped lower the stress levels and made for a relatively painless drive. I did the same trip a couple of years ago (not on a holiday) in a Chevy Volt and was wrecked at the end of each drive. Couldn't wait to get out of the car! (And we loved our Volt...)"

 

[raloki65]

I do not think congestion will be as bad as it was for Thanksgiving during Christmas. ewoodrick made a good point as to how Christmas travel is more spread out as opposed to travel in a small window for Thanksgiving.

One factor I do see being a problem would be the decrease in temperature in many regions in North America, Traveling and charging in harsh winter conditions may come with an increase in slowed charging rates in very cold climate. Also, I have driven on ice with the standard "All weather tires" my Model 3 came with and she was definitely sliding. I would highly suggest setting regen breaking to low, might save some lives this season.

 

[Garlan Garner]

Posted this in the Thanksgiving thread but thought it might be useful here. Agree that if Thanksgiving went reasonably well, Xmas shouldn't be a problem...

"Drove from San Clemente, CA (home) to Santa Cruz, CA on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving. Stopped at Tejon, Harris Ranch and Gilroy on the way up and Hollister, Kettleman City and Santa Clarita on the trip back to San Clemente the following Saturday. Even with the holiday traffic, the only station that was full on arrival was Harris Ranch but there was a security guard managing the cue who put me in line (I was first up upon arrival) and we waited no more than 5 minutes before we were directed to a charger. Could have done the trip with one fewer stop each way but as I it was my first road trip I was conservative with my calculations just in case the chargers were overwhelmed. Great experience over all. Impressed by the rate of charge at each station given the number of cars charging. Just enough time at each stop to stretch the legs, grab a bite and/or something to drink and use the facilities. Lots of Model 3s at the stops and along the way. My wife did one leg on the return trip home but I drove the rest of the time and autopilot really helped lower the stress levels and made for a relatively painless drive. I did the same trip a couple of years ago (not on a holiday) in a Chevy Volt and was wrecked at the end of each drive. Couldn't wait to get out of the car! (And we loved our Volt...)"

I agree that "autopilot" was a dream on my trip as well.

 

[Garlan Garner]

I do not think congestion will be as bad as it was for Thanksgiving during Christmas. ewoodrick made a good point as to how Christmas travel is more spread out as opposed to travel in a small window for Thanksgiving.

One factor I do see being a problem would be the decrease in temperature in many regions in North America, Traveling and charging in harsh winter conditions may come with an increase in slowed charging rates in very cold climate. Also, I have driven on ice with the standard "All weather tires" my Model 3 came with and she was definitely sliding. I would highly suggest setting regen breaking to low, might save some lives this season.

You know.....( concerning your regen setting )...

I was thinking that Tesla should implement some kind of "settings profiles" for things such as 1. lower regen 2. chill mode....etc. that each individual can save.

I would like to have a settings profile I can configure for:

1. Winter
2. Car Wash.
3. Racing.
4. Summer.
5. etc.

Anyway....I digress.

 

[chronopc]

It all depends on where you choose to charge. In CA there are a lot of options. The SC in Kettleman City has never been full according to the workers there.

 

[SnakeDoctorTD]

I'm not as familiar with the Model 3, but I assume you have driver profiles too. You can set those things, and save a new profile. Just name them winter, summer, etc.

You know.....( concerning your regen setting )...

I was thinking that Tesla should implement some kind of "settings profiles" for things such as 1. lower regen 2. chill mode....etc. that each individual can save.

I would like to have a settings profile I can configure for:

1. Winter
2. Car Wash.
3. Racing.
4. Summer.
5. etc.

Anyway....I digress.

 

[whatthe2]

At Park Meadows (Denver) on Black Friday, there were always 2-3 open stalls when I was there. Previously it was always packed solid. I noticed more out of state cars here on Black Friday, so I'm guessing Christmas should be fine. Seems as though people are using it when passing through, as opposed to locals using it to top off. Or maybe it was just a coincidence.

 

[follow.johnny]

I hope there will be enough Superchargers for Christmas.

I'm planning to drive up to San Jose from LA the day before Christmas (Monday, Dec. 24) I'm going to plan the trip using A Better Route Planner A Better Routeplanner

Any other suggestions or things to plan for? I'm not sure how the weather will be driving up that week. Thanks in advance!

 

[Garlan Garner]

I'm not as familiar with the Model 3, but I assume you have driver profiles too. You can set those things, and save a new profile. Just name them winter, summer, etc.

My driver profile only remember mirror and seat position. Hmmmmm.

Maybe I'm doing something wrong.

 

[raloki65]

You know.....( concerning your regen setting )...

I was thinking that Tesla should implement some kind of "settings profiles" for things such as 1. lower regen 2. chill mode....etc. that each individual can save.

I would like to have a settings profile I can configure for:

1. Winter
2. Car Wash.
3. Racing.
4. Summer.
5. etc.

Anyway....I digress.

I am slowly starting to see things that would make the Model 3 even better also. That is a great idea and should not be very difficult to implement in an update. I was thinking it would be nice if the Tesla app added more configurations such as scheduling charge times, software update breakdown, (listing what the update does) when you turn on the climate control to warm or cool the car it would be nice to see how much energy it will take from the battery to complete the temperature change, ability to see the cameras from the app (and in the car (not just the rear camera)) etc. I feel like I had a more expansive list for updates that would be cool to see but I forgot...always forgetting...

 

[DigAdrenaline]

What should happen is that ABS should also impact regen, as should brake application. So if it’s winter and the tires lock up on ice, regen should release them. Conversely, if I step on the brakes regen should also ramp up first, perhaps without using the brakes at all until some significantly high threshold is reached for emergency braking.

Kev

 

[chronopc]

I hope there will be enough Superchargers for Christmas.

I'm planning to drive up to San Jose from LA the day before Christmas (Monday, Dec. 24) I'm going to plan the trip using A Better Route Planner A Better Routeplanner

Any other suggestions or things to plan for? I'm not sure how the weather will be driving up that week. Thanks in advance!

I make that trip on almost a monthly basis. There are so many SCs next to I-5 so you'll be fine. Kettleman City is the best SC I've been too so far. They have a lounge that is a great place to hang out while you wait for the car to charge.

A Better Route Planner is probably going to have you stop twice. But you can stop once for like 40 minutes and you'll easily get to San Jose.

The weather won't have a huge impact unless you like to use your heater. I made a round trip from SF to LA during the thanksgiving weekend with some driving in the rain and I averaged 230 Kw/mi. I was driving in the 80s whenever I could, but you will definitely hit traffic so you'll get a lot of regen.

 

[follow.johnny]

I make that trip on almost a monthly basis. There are so many SCs next to I-5 so you'll be fine. Kettleman City is the best SC I've been too so far. They have a lounge that is a great place to hang out while you wait for the car to charge.

A Better Route Planner is probably going to have you stop twice. But you can stop once for like 40 minutes and you'll easily get to San Jose.

The weather won't have a huge impact unless you like to use your heater. I made a round trip from SF to LA during the thanksgiving weekend with some driving in the rain and I averaged 230 Kw/mi. I was driving in the 80s whenever I could, but you will definitely hit traffic so you'll get a lot of regen.

Thank you very much for the info! I was planning to stop in Kettleman City to checkout all the superchargers and lounge! Been a bucket list for me since taking delivery of my Model 3.

 

[Big Dog]

I'm planning to drive up to San Jose from LA the day before Christmas (Monday, Dec. 24) I'm going to plan the trip using A Better Route Planner A Better Routeplanner

Any other suggestions or things to plan for? I'm not sure how the weather will be driving up that week. Thanks in advance!

Drove from The OC to San Jose last week. Stopped at Kettleman, for a quick boost, and then on to Harris Ranch for a meal and longer charge. Stopped at Harris Ranch (left at 92%) and Bakersfield to for an electron boost on way home. Coulda make it home from HR with ~10% if I kept the speedo under 70, but come-on now, what's the point of a 70 mph interstate?

Alternative was to add electrons at Tejon Ranch, but that had fewer stalls available when we checked. TR seems to fill up faster.

 

[follow.johnny]

Drove from The OC to San Jose last week. Stopped at Kettleman, for a quick boost, and then on to Harris Ranch for a meal and longer charge. Stopped at Harris Ranch (left at 92%) and Bakersfield to for an electron boost on way home. Coulda make it home from HR with ~10% if I kept the speedo under 70, but come-on now, what's the point of a 70 mph interstate?

Alternative was to add electrons at Tejon Ranch, but that had fewer stalls available when we checked. TR seems to fill up faster.

Thanks for the information! Very helpful

 

[Nocturnal]

It all depends on where you choose to charge. In CA there are a lot of options. The SC in Kettleman City has never been full according to the workers there.

40 stalls right? That's crazy.