First Road trip with model 3.....really sucks.....

[hao3361]

NOTE: Update below.

I have my model 3 for about two weeks. And decide to have our first road trip from Bay Area to LA. There are so many super charge along I-5. So I was not worry about charging, even with my 2 years old in the car...... I never used super charge before since I always charge at work. After read a few view for supercharge and it seems very easy to use.

Everything went well at first, and EAP is awesome, which I used most of the time. we stopped at Kettleman super charge and plan to have dinner and refill it to 80%so we can heading LA without stop. After plug in charge cable I got error message “unable to change , supercharging option not enabled”, I switch several charge station, same issue and same error message.

Called custom service, waited half hour in the queue, trouble shooting another 30mins with technician, they cannot fix it and told me need send to another engineer team review will get back to me tomorrow morning!!

Now I am stuck at supercharge station with two years old. Luckily they have a wall charge here, it is slow but it is something...... after 6 hours charging.... I may be able to head to LA.....

First road trip, really sucks.......

———————
Update:

Short version: Tesla fixed this via OTA

Full version : Tesla called me back the second day morning and told me they fixed via OTA and asked me to do a car reboot and it should get fix. I learned my lesson from first day so I decided not to trust anything until I actually test super charge. So I used my remaining mile and drove to nearest Super charge (and wait in a line for 10mins.......LA.....), did both reboot and power cycle. Nothing happened! Still same error messages and cannot supercharge. Called Tesla again(another 30 mins waiting in the queue). They connected to their supervisor and then connected to the engineer team. They did a “remote access” they asked me remain in the car and I can tell they did remote access and reboot, my screen just go black my it self and back. Then supper charging start working!!!

I asked them what problem it is, they told me “software bug” without further explanation.

This is my theory:

Someone mentioned I did not test super charge after picking up car. However I believe that my supercharge issue is not defect from factory but from software upgrade Let me explain why.

Other than supercharge issue, I have another small issue, you can check out this thread :
Help~trip planner option is gone
Basically My trip planner feature is gone after latest firmware update. since this issue was small and did not draw much attention. I strongly believe they are related. Trip planner will add supercharge stop if you do not have enough power left to reach your destination. Since my car super charger feature has been disabled, trip planner feature is also gone(since I could not super charge). The key is I DID have trip planner feature early, and I used it before, it disappeared after latest software update ( I thought Tesla removed trip planner in the latest Software). although I did not test super charge I believe it it working after I pick up the car (along with trip planner). And both of them gone after software update. After OTA fix, both of them are back !!!


So for anyone who is far from super charge but want to check if you have this feature disabled just check if you have trip planner feature in the car

 

[Zaxxon]

Weird, since Supercharging isn't even an option.

 

[hao3361]

Weird, since Supercharging isn't even an option.

yes I may get luck and unlocked a hidden feature in V9!!

For the people still waiting for your car, please add supercharge test to your checklist, otherwise you may stuck somewhere on your way home after picking up.......

 

[Krugerrand]

On the bright side, it was Kettlemens. They have a super nice lounge with amenities. Be thankful it wasn’t Shamrock, Texas on a Sunday night.

 

[Electroman]

It is not the first road trip, but its your first supercharging that screwed up your trip. You should have checked out to the supercharging in your nearest supercharger first, a few days before you went for the road trip. Especially given that you are in CA, that should have been quite easy.

 

[hao3361]

It is not the first road trip, but its your first supercharging that screwed up your trip. You should have first checked out to see by supercharging in your nearest supercharger first, a few days before you went for the road trip. Especially given that you are in CA, that should have been quite easy.

Learned it in a hard way.....

 

[badronald]

On the bright side, it was Kettlemens. They have a super nice lounge with amenities. Be thankful it wasn’t Shamrock, Texas on a Sunday night.

I'm picturing the T***y Twister bar in 'From Dusk Til Dawn'

 

[hao3361]

There are quite a few people charging here , they saw me using wall plug and friendly reminded me to use super charge and it would be much faster...... thanks for you all for kind advice....

 

[Msjulie]

You should have first checked out to see by supercharging in your nearest supercharger first,

I don't disagree but really, should you have to check such things? I know I know... to be fair, I just yesterday stopped to charge for all of 10mins just to prove it worked but.. I find my lack of faith disturbing...

 

[Krugerrand]

I'm picturing the T***y Twister bar in 'From Dusk Til Dawn'

It’s not quite *that* middle of nowhere as the Superchargers are right behind a Route 66 tourist stop, so a few passerbys reliving the good ole days. But definitely not a metropolis.

 

[hao3361]

It’s not quite *that* middle of nowhere as the Superchargers are right behind a Route 66 tourist stop, so a few passerbys reliving the good ole days. But definitely not a metropolis.

Yes that is bright part of this sad story..... I heard this supercharge station is the best in US

 

[hao3361]

Plan to charge it until I have enough safe range to arrive LA hotel and drop it off at service center first thing in the morning. It is hard for me to finish this trip without super charge. And the hotel I booked does not even have a charge station

 

[tracksyde]

There is a J1772 at the Best Western right next to the Kettleman Supercharger. Just walk over there to see if it’s free.

Best Western Kettleman City PlugShare - Find Electric Vehicle Charging Locations Near You

And download PlugShare

 

[hao3361]

Quick question, does every supercharge station have a regular L2 wall charge?

 

[hao3361]

There is a J1772 at the Best Western right next to the Kettleman Supercharger. Just walk over there to see if it’s free.

Best Western Kettleman City PlugShare - Find Electric Vehicle Charging Locations Near You

And download PlugShare

Thanks, Actually this supercharge station has free L2 wall charge, it is just slow......

 

[Msjulie]

Quick question, does every supercharge station have a regular L2 wall charge?

Many of the ones I have visited are in parking lots of shopping areas so - not all cause none of those did, just a bank of Superchargers..

 

[tracksyde]

Thanks, Actually this supercharge station has free L2 wall charge, it is just slow......

Is it a 240V or 120V outlet? Guessing 120V since you said it’s slow. PlugShare lists the Best Western as. 90A J1772 (didn’t know there was such a thing). But you may be able to get 40A there at 240V giving you about 32-33 miles per hour of charging? You’re probably charging at 4 miles per hour now?

Edit: I guess even 240V @ 40A is slow compared to Supercharger.. carry on, good luck with your trip

 

[Kermee]

@hao3361 — First of all, that royally sucks. Especially after you've already had your car for about two weeks. I might have a dumb question, but just in case, do you have a saved credit card payment in your Tesla.com account under Account Settings towards the bottom of the page?

Within hours of taking delivery of my Model 3 last Monday, I hit a Supercharger and it worked without a hitch. Though ironically, I didn't get billed for any usage until the third time I hit a Supercharger, yesterday. Got the email invoice almost immediately after I had finished topping up.

 

[run-the-joules]

It is not the first road trip, but its your first supercharging that screwed up your trip. You should have checked out to the supercharging in your nearest supercharger first, a few days before you went for the road trip. Especially given that you are in CA, that should have been quite easy.

That really, REALLY comes across like blaming the victim.

 

[hao3361]

@hao3361 — First of all, that royally sucks. Especially after you've already had your car for about two weeks. I might have a dumb question, but just in case, do you have a saved credit card payment in your Tesla.com account under Account Settings towards the bottom of the page?

Within hours of taking delivery of my Model 3 last Monday, I hit a Supercharger and it worked without a hitch. Though ironically, I didn't get billed for any usage until the third time I hit a Supercharger, yesterday. Got the email invoice almost immediately after I had finished topping up.

Yes I do have credit card in Tesla, I have use it for car deposit and accessories purchasing without any issue. And Tesla technician has trouble shooting this, he did not find any account issue, need to hand over to engineer team for further trouble shooting.