For discussing the issue of locals charging at California Superchargers

[roblab]

So the only two real examples here are people that live in apartments which cannot have chargers installed because they cannot make modifications to the property....

And don't want to work with the "crazy" property owner. Yeah. I'd like to see how it really is.

I had a teacher who had heard how hard it was to get a job in Alaska. He went there for the summer and got job offers from over a hundred people. Now I have eternally raised eyebrows whenever I hear someone CAN'T arrange charging.

 

[logan]

mociaf9, you and I all agree on this!

I think what has bothered me the most is the disingenuosness of moving the posts here "for further discussion." Just deleting them all would be more honest.

Not to mention this thread isn't even IN the CA Supercharging sub-forum...

 

[markb1]

I agree that @ecarfan is being too heavy-handed with the moderation. We were discussing a particular supercharger!

 

[jdber]

I was directed to this forum because of disucssion as to whether there is rate limiting when using a local charger. I read through all of the pages of this post and there is no mention of that concept at all.

The Alameda SuperCharger seems to be inconsistent in its charging speeds, where some locals are registering oddly slow charging speeds (around 32kW) while others (not sure if they are locals) have been observed at around 103kW. We can't find any logical explanation (except a defect in the hookups) but reduction for local chargers may make sense.

Has anyone seen evidence of lower charging speeds for locals anywhere? (and why would they do that - I'd think they'd want locals do get OUT of the spots asap to free them up for other people).

 

[mociaf9]

Has anyone seen evidence of lower charging speeds for locals anywhere? (and why would they do that - I'd think they'd want locals do get OUT of the spots asap to free them up for other people).

I don't believe this is actually happening or that it is Tesla's policy to do so. Frankly, IMO, in order to claim this was the case without Tesla announcing it, you'd need to collect quite a bit of data to show it was actually happening and not just coincidence. However, as to why it might be a partially effective method to reduce the numbers of locals using a supercharger: it would reduce the effectiveness (read utility) of supercharging for locals and thereby drive them toward home charging. It's simple Supply&Demand Economics. Many/most of the locals currently using superchargers still have Free Unlimited Supercharging, so Tesla can't really affect the demand much through raising the price of supercharging. But they can reduce the demand of "superfluous" local charging by degrading the value of the service being provided [note: here I'm using "superfluous" to denote routine local supercharging by those with secure access to sufficient home charging]. While you're right that it would have the effect of lengthening the duration of each local's charging sessions it would hopefully also significantly lower the numbers making use of the chargers.

All that said, I don't think this is actually happening nor do I think it ever will happen. As far as Alameda goes, whenever you've got a new supercharger where charging speeds seem either erratic or regularly low, first assumption should be that there's an issue with either the power supply or the charging equipment.

 

[jdber]

All that said, I don't think this is actually happening nor do I think it ever will happen. As far as Alameda goes, whenever you've got a new supercharger where charging speeds seem either erratic or regularly low, first assumption should be that there's an issue with either the power supply or the charging equipment.

That is our primary assumption. We have one member who is a regular with Superchargers and has reported the issue officially, so hopefully they can send out a team to verify everything is set up properly.

Thanks for the writeup.

 

[PLUS EV]

No way this will be pay to park. Also, everyone I know who lives in Del Mar or RSF have home chargers too, so I don't see that many locals using it as a main source to charge. But I suppose we'll have to wait to see.

It's full on the first day that it's open so that is a bad sign.

 

[logan]

It's full on the first day that it's open so that is a bad sign.

That’s a different Supercharger.

 

[PLUS EV]

That’s a different Supercharger.

My bad I was thinking Carmel Valley must be referring to the Carmel Mountain supercharger. Which one were you talking about?

(This is yet another problem with taking posts from many different threads and putting them here.)

 

[logan]

My bad I was thinking Carmel Valley must be referring to the Carmel Mountain supercharger. Which one were you talking about?

(This is yet another problem with taking posts from many different threads and putting them here.)

Haha no worries. I was talking about the Del Mar Highlands / One Paseo charger.

 

[maximizese]

I've been to the Fountain Valley lot 3 times even though it's 6 miles from house. I've stopped off when my range is below 50 miles AND at least 50% of the stalls are available (visible through the app/navigation screen). I've also been the Santa Ana location once and was fascinated to see a Tesla Valet. Apparently a lot of local folks charge their Teslas up during their lunch breaks and the valet makes perfect sense if you're going for a long sit-down meal or catching a movie. It creates a few jobs, wildly increases productivity, and prevents stall hogs and idlers. I don't know if there's a fee but I would think a $5 premium either in a fee or tip would be more than appropriate. Perhaps Fountain Valley would benefit from something like that. Folks can spend a lot of time at Costco and Souplantation without hogging the stalls.

Other than those 4 times, I charge at home 5 nights a week and try to charge at least 60 miles more than I need each day...you never know what unplanned errand or emergency might pop up.

 

[gilscales]

San Clemente is an example of what a Supercharging Station is supposed to be

Well I live in Long Beach and while traveling to Vista to meet some friends my wife asked if we could stop at the San Clemente outlets on the way home, I did not need a charge but curiosity had me driving over there to see this 20+ station, it was full with a queue for the 2 plus hours I was there, I drove by 3 or 4 times just to verify! (and because I did not want to shop!)

 

[Need]

Well I live in Long Beach and while traveling to Vista to meet some friends my wife asked if we could stop at the San Clemente outlets on the way home, I did not need a charge but curiosity had me driving over there to see this 20+ station, full with a question for the 2 plus hours I was there, I drove by 3 or 4 times just to verify!

He posted it almost a year ago though... since then there are probably 60,000 more Tesla in California!

 

[gilscales]

He posted it almost a year ago though... since then there are probably 60,000 more Tesla in California!

Yeah I should have looked at the date, I did notice that very few model 3's were charging though, looked like 3 or 4 out of 21 chargers plus the queue, could point to local abuse but probably just points to all the money in that area with all the top of the line model S and X cars, haha

 

[Vern Padgett]

Yeah I should have looked at the date, I did notice that very few model 3's were charging though, looked like 3 or 4 out of 21 chargers plus the queue, could point to local abuse but probably just points to all the money in that area with all the top of the line model S and X cars, haha

Speaking of all those Model 3s, my daughter has one that looks just like yours and she lives in Long Beach!

Except she has the stock 18" wheels with the black plastic covers. Looks good with the white paint!

-- Vern

 

[Vern Padgett]

Has the SLC squatting/parking problem been eliminated because of the idle fees?

 

[israndy]

[Moderator note: this post was moved from the Emeryville Supercharger forum]

It is amazing how full it is. Like, don't you people have homes to go to (and charge)? I fear people are being lazy and not plugging it in at home because it's not that expensive to Supercharge. But someday they'll be on a road trip complaining that they cannot get over 95 amps and Tesla will say, "You reached your Supercharging limit, we are protecting your battery", then they'll be sorry.

Leave the Urban Superchargers for the apartment dwellers. We really need more charging in Alameda.

 

[Araman0]

Just for kicks I looked up what fraction of Bay Area housing units are single family homes. Turns out 54% are. That suggests 46% of Bay area’s housing units are multi family dwelling units (apartments and condos).

Now granted, some apartments and condos have shared chargers. But then again some single family homes might Not have a garage capable of providing charging for Tesla’s (as in my case in Seattle).

If even half of 46% of Tesla owners in the Bay Area can’t charge at home, that is thousands of Teslas that need to make weekly trips to public charging stations, of which superchargers are the fastest and cheapest. Not 100% of local people charging at superchargers fall in this category, but I’d bet a lot do.

Source
Bay Area Census -- Bay Area Data