How busy are the Folsom superchargers?

[derekt75]

I'm trying to figure out which car I should take to El Dorado Hills from San Jose tomorrow.
308 miles round trip.
multiplied by 1.3 means I need about 400 rated miles.
I'll start tomorrow with 260, so that means I need to get about 140 from the charger.

How long will I likely have to spend in Folsom to get from 60 rated miles to 200?

thanks,
Derek

actually, let's say 60 to 220 to be safe.

 

[Frankrb]

less than an hour.....you will have no problem. Plenty of shopping and choices for food.

 

[roblab]

actually, let's say 60 to 220 to be safe.

Plan on more than you think you'll need. I understand Fri PM thru Sat is the busiest times, so there might be some wait.

If the primary chargers are going, you will get charged as secondary (first charger starts at full, second starts low. As first ramps down, second ramps up).

If freeway traffic is bad, you will not be going 75, but maybe far less, and will get much better mileage.

So, overall, your charge time is almost irrelevant. The joys of driving electric outweigh driving ICE many times over for some, and that would be the deciding factor. But with everything else to figure, who can tell. I'd take the S, plan on eating supper while I wait and charge, plan on taking twice as long as normal due to traffic, plan on taking longer in case of waiting for charge, or charging at lower kW.

And in my experience, your 160 miles of range would probably take 45 minutes. Or so. Good luck. and enjoy El Dorado.

 

[derekt75]

Thanks guys,

Wifey doesn't want to be in the heat for 30-60 minutes with the toddler (we'll be driving for hours, so the kiddo is probably going to want to run around somewhere, and an air conditioned store might not be ideal for a toddler running.)
So, it sounds like we're taking the gasoline car.

 

[rcsting]

There is a McDonalds about 200 yards from the Supercharger with an indoor playground so that might help pass the time without being outdoors. Hope this helps.

 

[Banahogg]

Second that the McD's playplace would probably be a good place for a toddler. There's also a park just across the street with some shade trees, though it's far enough away that you'd probably want to drop them off then go to charge.

You're going to do your first supercharger road trip some time and this one sounds pretty easy (single supercharger stop, don't need to add too much range). If you had more time I'd suggest my wife talk with your wife about supercharger trips with a little one ;-)

If you keep a light foot on the way there and start with a range charge, you probably won't need more than 15-20 minutes of charge, though it's probably best to plan on 30-40.

 

[napabill]

Plan on being at Folsom mid-morning tomorrow. Save a spot for me!

UPDATE:
Was there at about noon today and there were two in the slot. After lunch at Subway the red one was gone and a blue one had arrived. In sharing stack, I was only able to get 114amp/116 mi/hr. But as I only needed 80 rated miles to top off, no problemo.

 

[Benz]

Plan on being at Folsom mid-morning tomorrow. Save a spot for me!

UPDATE:
Was there at about noon today and there were two in the slot. After lunch at Subway the red one was gone and a blue one had arrived. In sharing stack, I was only able to get 114amp/116 mi/hr. But as I only needed 80 rated miles to top off, no problemo.
View attachment 24776

I see the "NEED KWH" number plate on the back of the brown Tesla Model S. Very nice colour, specially in the sunshine. I wonder when there will be a canopy with solar panels on it at the Folsom Supercharger location.

 

[napabill]

I see the "NEED KWH" number plate on the back of the brown Tesla Model S. Very nice colour, specially in the sunshine. I wonder when there will be a canopy with solar panels on it at the Folsom Supercharger location.

Hey, it was only about 103 when this shot taken. Who needs a canopy. Seriously though, one of the best features of the MS is to be able leave the A/C on while charging keeping the cabin cool. The red MS next to mine is unclear on the concept. Had the back passenger window open and A/C off. Probably could've baked bread in there!:biggrin:

I was not happy with the Navigation instructions on getting over to 80-North from Folsom SC. Would think going up through Granite Bay then over to 80 would make more sense.

 

[derekt75]

I talked the wife into it.
Indoor playground would have been a good idea, but my daughter had fun running around inside the Carter's store.
We only needed to be there a half hour, but when it was time to go, we needed restroom breaks and what not, so we wound up going from 50 to 209 miles range in maybe 40 minutes. We got home with 50 miles left (too much traffic; spent much of the time going 70. :frown: )

There was one silver car in 2B when we got there, so I pulled into slot 1A. When I left, there was a silver car in slot 1B (twinned with my car's slot, I think).
Neither of their cars had the A/C on. It was 110°F outside. The metal end of the charge cable was quite hot when I got back.

It would be nice if someone driving in could get some indication of which slot to park in. If there's a car in 1A and another in 2B, is there any way to know which car is done charging, and which one just got there?

all in all, for me it was a great charging experience. 241A @ 360V. wow. fun watching the range tick up while you watch.

I really wish the car had adaptive cruise control. After five hours of driving without cruise control (due to traffic), my right foot was getting tired.

 

[Trnsl8r]

How many slots are there at Folsom?

 

[napabill]

How many slots are there at Folsom?

Four

 

[Lloyd]

I think I remember saying that they needed bullards when they were finishing this site! Now they have to replace a supercharter enclosure!!

I see the "NEED KWH" number plate on the back of the brown Tesla Model S. Very nice colour, specially in the sunshine. I wonder when there will be a canopy with solar panels on it at the Folsom Supercharger location.

 

[aaronw]

I stopped at Folsom on 6/28 and 6/30 on my way to and from Lake Tahoe and there was only one other car there each time. There was one other silver Tesla at the timeshare, though and only one charging spot. Fortunately for me they did not use the 14-50 outlet when I did. As far as I can tell they didn't charge the entire time I was there. The funny thing was that when I pushed the button on my charging cable to open the charge port the other car's charge port also opened and it displayed the range left on their dash. I didn't see the other car's charging cable in the trunk so I'm guessing they may have forgotten it. It also had a cracked windshield.

 

[derekt75]

The funny thing was that when I pushed the button on my charging cable to open the charge port the other car's charge port also opened and it displayed the range left on their dash.

hmm, is this fair for determining which slot to park in at a supercharger:

Push the button on their charging cable so that the screen displays how much range their car has left, then choose to park in the spot twinned with the car with the highest range?

I guess I could see some owners feeling violated if I pushed their button, but at the same time, it can make a big difference if you park in the spot twinned with the car that has 262 miles of range vs. parking in the spot twinned with the car that has 20 miles of range.

 

[Tacket]

hmm, is this fair for determining which slot to park in at a supercharger:

Push the button on their charging cable so that the screen displays how much range their car has left, then choose to park in the spot twinned with the car with the highest range?

I guess I could see some owners feeling violated if I pushed their button, but at the same time, it can make a big difference if you park in the spot twinned with the car that has 262 miles of range vs. parking in the spot twinned with the car that has 20 miles of range.

I as a fellow S owner wouldn't be peeved at this. Hopefully one day SC status will happen via the mobile app or onboard.

 

[DrComputer]

From the pictures above it looks like someone has already backed into the 1A charger. You can see the bent metal. I pointed this out the TM when I used the first one in October. They need to come up with better placement of the chargers.

 

[Banahogg]

From the pictures above it looks like someone has already backed into the 1A charger. You can see the bent metal. I pointed this out the TM when I used the first one in October. They need to come up with better placement of the chargers.

Maybe that's part of the reason that many of the new superchargers are back-in spots with the charger up on the curb?

 

[derekt75]

From the pictures above it looks like someone has already backed into the 1A charger. You can see the bent metal. I pointed this out the TM when I used the first one in October. They need to come up with better placement of the chargers.

Well, backing in to the space would be useless since the charge cable is really short. (250 amps!)

The damage was almost certainly done by the front left of a car.
Perhaps it was while someone was pulling forward, but more likely someone did it when backing out after charging.

The spaces are actually reasonably wide, so I don't think better placement of the chargers is a good solution.

Parking sensors would be a good solution...

- - - Updated - - -

incidentally, the white "charging station" seems to just be a rack to hold the cable. All of the electronics are off to the side in a separate area (painted green).

 

[lodenthal]

We live 10 minutes from the Folsom Superchargers and the four slots have never been full yet when we've been there. Though this holiday weekend may see some action..