First Time using a Super Charger this weekend, I got some questions....

[djillusion]

Gonna be taking the X on a decent road trip this weekend for Labor Day. I will need to Super Charge locally at least once which I have mapped out. A couple of questions as I have never used a Super Charger yet with my X:

1) I know I should pre-condition the battery by selecting the local Super Charger in the navigation selection. Is this best process forward to condition the battery? Any other methods?

2) How does one engage the cost (ie payment) for use with the Super Charger? Do I just plug in and it will charge my Tesla account accordingly? What is typical for a fill-up cost? $2-3 or more? I'm more curious than anything on the cost.

3) What do I charge to? Ideally, stop at 90% battery vs full charge? I don't need a completely 100% battery for my road trip, so I'm good with staying at 90% to ensure its a pretty quick fill-up.

4) I should stay away from using a plug that is near someone else who may be charging, correct?

Any other tips, tricks? TIA

 

[DirtyT3sla]

1) Route to supercharger and it'll do the rest. You don't even have to do this, it'll just give you slightly faster speeds.

2) It'll just automatically charge the card on file. You don't do anything besides plug in. If you don't have a card on file, you'll be prompted on the touchscreen, so I hear, but I've never experienced this.

3) 90% is fine. If you have time/want to charge to 100% and are immediately going to get driving, it's fine. It's just bad to charge to 100% and let the car sit around for hours. Going from 90% to 100% takes a very long time.

4) The stalls are labeled 1a 1b 2a 2b etc. They're not always directly next to each other. So avoid using the same number as someone else. If you park on the same stall as someone, you'll get the slower charge rate until they ramp down/leave, so you won't effect them. For V3, this is no longer true and you can plug in wherever you like.

A big trick I've seen people use is putting a wet rag on the handle if the handle gets really warm. That can speed up the charge rate quite a bit when it's hot out.

Overall, you could just show up, plug in, not think about it, and you'll have a great time No need to worry about most of this stuff.

 

[HankLloydRight]

3) What do I charge to? Ideally, stop at 90% battery vs full charge? I don't need a completely 100% battery for my road trip, so I'm good with staying at 90% to ensure its a pretty quick fill-up.

I've taken dozens of long road trips since 2014 in my Model S.
You'll learn this pretty quick yourself. Only charge enough to get to your next SC stop (or destination charger) plus a safe margin. In the summer, I usually take miles (via the Nav) to the next destination, and add 20%. I've never had a problem with this formula. If it's raining out, or you are gaining elevation during the next segment, maybe add 30%. If it's clear, flat, and not too hot, you could probably get away with 15%. And on long road trips, I tend to drive between 75mph-80mph and my Wh/m is around 330-340. If you drive slower, you'll use less energy and can adjust the buffer accordingly.

But there's no need to wait around for a 90% charge at every stop -- unless you're stopping to eat in which case your car will be done charging before you are ready to leave.

 

[K3Man]

All good advice so far. I’ll chime in with a few tips as well.

• Remember to check for the type of supercharger you are considering for a stop; there are three to consider (note: I’m referring to Superchargers not destination chargers or other Level 2 locations not offered by Tesla). The type of supercharger will be indicated by its KW rating as follows- 250kW indicates a V3, 120-150kW is a V2 and is the type you should take the pairing issues mentioned above into consideration, and finally, there are the 72kW that are “Urban” Superchargers. They don’t have pairing issues but are capped at 72kW. The navigation screen will show the supercharger type when you select the “lightning-bolt” icon then tap on the site in question.
  
• Check out the “A Better Routeplanner” app (or website A Better Routeplanner ). It’s a good pre-planning resource and can identify supercharge sites along your route. It tends to be a bit conservative if it’s not fine tuned for your car and driving conditions and habits, but those can be adjusted in the app for your specific situation.
  
• Investigate non-Tesla charging options as well with another app such as PlugShare. It can locate Level 2 chargers that your Tesla Nav screen misses (though the Tesla nav can find some L2 locations for you now too).
• Lastly- Enjoy your trip! It’s good to remember that for most, it’s more about the journey rather than the destination.

 

[teethdood]

You have a 2018 X so check to see if you have Free Unlimited Supercharging included. If you bought it before 9/2018, then you have FUSC.
For me, it's all about the destination. I like Tesla, but I'd rather not be in the car any longer than I have to. That means I have a lead foot. I go 80-83mph (get outta my way!) so I use more kWh. My rule of thumb is 2/3 of the remaining miles left before charging and I'm safe.

 

[djillusion]

Awesome!

Thanks for the feedback guys. Looks like my expectations are in line with what ya'all wrote.

 

[Puma2020]

You may want to go to a local supercharger and put in 1 or 2 kWh, just as a test. Before find out issues before you get too far down the road.

 

[jerry33]

4) The stalls are labeled 1a 1b 2a 2b etc. They're not always directly next to each other. So avoid using the same number as someone else. If you park on the same stall as someone, you'll get the slower charge rate until they ramp down/leave, so you won't effect them.

This behaviour changed a while ago. Now if you plug into the same number as someone else, you will each get half the available power. Before the change it was like you said, first in gets the lion's share. Sadly, that's no longer true.

 

[StanMI]

When we first got our X we drove for about an hour then routed to a supercharger just so I could be comfortable with what it was like to charge. It really wasn't anything special other then how close you have to get. I never realized how short the cord for the plug is.

 

[teethdood]

When we first got our X we drove for about an hour then routed to a supercharger just so I could be comfortable with what it was like to charge. It really wasn't anything special other then how close you have to get. I never realized how short the cord for the plug is.

Speaking of the short cord, if possible consider using stalls that require backing in, leaving stalls that you can go forward in for others with trailers, bike racks, etc. Nice thing to do.

 

[DCGOO]

Gonna be taking the X on a decent road trip this weekend for Labor Day. I will need to Super Charge locally at least once which I have mapped out. A couple of questions as I have never used a Super Charger yet with my X:

3) What do I charge to? Ideally, stop at 90% battery vs full charge? I don't need a completely 100% battery for my road trip, so I'm good with staying at 90% to ensure its a pretty quick fill-up.
Any other tips, tricks? TIA

You do not need any more than it takes to reach the next stop. If you are navigating to an ultimate destination, you will receive a notification in the app when you have taken on enough charge to make it to your next stop.

If you are on a road trip, I recommend setting the maximum charge level to 100%. not because you will necessarily ever need it. But simply because the charge rate really slows down as the battery nears 100%. If you are shopping or dining, it gives you plenty of time to make it back to the car before it stops, and avoids the rather steep idle charges (which also automatically go to your card on file).

 

[nomis_nehc]

In terms of charging speed vs time, you probably want to stop around 80%, that's the percentage where it starts to slow down quite a bit. For the most part, I have seen people estimate that 0-80% is nearly the same amount of time to charge the remaining 20%.

 

[posey_mvp]

yah it’s not worth charging to 90%.. I usually charge to 80..

 

[djillusion]

yah it’s not worth charging to 90%.. I usually charge to 80..

got it! Heading out later this AM; so I got my notes. Thanks again, all!