How to report supercharger problems

[jpl]

I stopped at the Hamilton Township New Jersey Supercharger station on my way back from Pennsylvania, plugged in my Model X, and went into Barnes and Noble to kill some time. After perhaps 15 minutes, I checked the Tesla app on my mobile phone, and saw that it said "charging stopped". I went back to the car, opened the door, and, sure enough, there was a yellow warning message on the dash that said something like "cannot continue charging, disconnect, reconnect and try again". So I disconnected, reconnected, waited until the mobile app got past "starting charging", and the app and dashboard both reported the "stopped, try again" message. I tried one more time, this time watching the dashboard. It went through the "starting charging" phase, then failed again. At this point, it seemed prudent to try the charger next to mine. I did so, and the dashboard went from "starting charging" to "1 hour remaining". But I thought, "What if I hadn't noticed that the charging had failed?" So I called roadside service, selected Supercharger problems, and reported my experience. I was somewhat surprised that the answer was "If you aren't having problems now, that's what's important." But that's not why I called, and it's not all that's important. It was dumb luck that I checked the app before returning to the car, expecting enough mileage to get home. I was hoping to hear that someone would check out the unit, so someone less lucky wouldn't waste an hour. I was tempted to hang a piece of paper on the charger, saying "this might be defective". But I had no paper, it COULD have been my fault (although three fails at one station and instant success at the station next to it makes this seem unlikely), and it seems very "low tech". I got the impression that the guy on the phone was able to check the status of the charger I had problems with, which would be great. But I'd hate to think that by just dropping the issue, I compounded a problem for some other Tesla driver.

 

[jeffro01]

Welcome.

A couple of suggestions if I may.

1. When charging, especially supercharging, don't walk away until you see charging actually going with the green light around your charge port flashing quickly

2. Make sure the alerts are enabled on your Tesla app on your phone so that way if it is interrupted, you get notified

3. It is very difficult for Tesla to troubleshoot supercharger issues after the fact so most users tend to do what you did and move to another spot. Certainly reporting the problem to Tesla is helpful and you absolutely should do so.

Hope some of that helps.

Jeff

 

[Tam]

...I got the impression that the guy on the phone was able to check the status of the charger I had problems with, which would be great...

You did the right thing by calling Roadside Assist to report on Supercharger issue. Yes, the operator can check on the status of a supercharger and reboot it remotely if necessary.

Lesson to learn here is remember to stock up some writing paper, tape and pen in your Tesla

 

[MrsSchmorgan]

Hi, all. New Model S75 owner here and just experienced my first supercharger problem. We have had the car for just over a month and have not had any problems charging at Mt. View, San Mateo, Gilroy, or Vacaville superchargers before/after road trips. Until today. We spent the weekend visiting family for the holidays and needed to charge in San Mateo to make it the rest of the way home. When we arrived, all stalls were full and there were 3 S's queued up to charge. We waited about 30 min, noticing several drivers who returned to their cars to check, and then leave again.
After plugging in, we hung out a few min, saw everything was working, and then decided to grab a bite while we charged up.
A few minutes later, the app notified me charging was disrupted. The hubby went out and unplugged, examined, and re plugged. Came back into the restaurant.
5 minutes later, happened again. This time he called the roadside assistance line and they said they can't do anything, except report the problem to the supercharger team. But they did say it wasn't the first report of a problem.
After the third plug in, all was well and we were able to get in 70% charge and head home.
Just wanted to report here to get anyone else's tips, tricks, feedback, etc. Happy electric motoring!

 

[chillaban]

In my experience: If it's a really dire situation, I would call up Roadside Assistance or the number listed on the supercharger. I've heard of a few cases where the operator was able to clear a fault flag or something and make a charger work again.

If you are in a hurry and resolved the problem yourself (e.g. moved to a different stall), I would at least shoot an email to ServiceHelpNA while you're charging. They usually respond within a business day or two, and claim they are doing something about it. I've never really verified whether or not that is the case, but either way, your voice makes a difference in prioritizing issues.

 

[Redmiata98]

I have called Tesla numerous times about a malfunctioning Supercharger. Each time I got a courteous "wait a minute" while they checked their logs and let me know that I was the first to call or that it had already been reported. You must have gotten someone having a bad day, please continue to call!

 

[thecloud]

Calling Roadside Assistance to report a non-working charger is the right thing to do, since you are on the road trying to get somewhere and have run into a problem getting the charge you needed. Even though you were able to simply move to another charger, another driver might not be so fortunate if the supercharger site gets busy later on.

I have been in this situation, called Roadside Assistance to report it, was thanked for doing so, and was also told that I was not the first person to report the same problem with that charger. But it's important to report it anyway, as multiple reports will help alert Tesla to the frequency of a problem and to prioritize the superchargers which need more attention.

 

[leighb]

I had a supercharger issue today at Santa Ana, CA. I pulled into 1A, plugged it in, and nada. I saw one other vehicle further down, so, I thought I'd move down, a feat that is not easy at this location as it's on a main artery at the entrance/exit of the parking garage. This did not resolve the issue. I called the 1800 tesla number and a very nice woman informed me the station has been having intermittent issues and has been taken off-line and is scheduled for maintenence tomorrow. Fortunately, I had enough charge to make it to Buena Park. I wish Tesla would change the color of the supercharger icons in navigation when they are down. Seems like an easy software fix.

 

[ggr]

I had a supercharger issue today at Santa Ana, CA. I pulled into 1A, plugged it in, and nada. I saw one other vehicle further down, so, I thought I'd move down, a feat that is not easy at this location as it's on a main artery at the entrance/exit of the parking garage. This did not resolve the issue. I called the 1800 tesla number and a very nice woman informed me the station has been having intermittent issues and has been taken off-line and is scheduled for maintenence tomorrow. Fortunately, I had enough charge to make it to Buena Park. I wish Tesla would change the color of the supercharger icons in navigation when they are down. Seems like an easy software fix.

They already do change the color of the icons, but I'm not sure how long the change takes to propagate out.

 

[Owner]

I've called several times, mostly to just report slower charge rates than expected.

 

[jpl]

jeffro01:

Welcome.

A couple of suggestions if I may.

1. When charging, especially supercharging, don't walk away until you see charging actually going with the green light around your charge port flashing quickly

2. Make sure the alerts are enabled on your Tesla app on your phone so that way if it is interrupted, you get notified

3. It is very difficult for Tesla to troubleshoot supercharger issues after the fact so most users tend to do what you did and move to another spot. Certainly reporting the problem to Tesla is helpful and you absolutely should do so.

Hope some of that helps.

Jeff

After my initial failure, I adhere rigorously to suggestion 1. I watch the dashboard, trusting it more than the app and flashing lights.

I'm pretty sure alerts were enabled (they are now), and that I received no alerts (but the "silence" button on my iPhone gets switched on unintentionally sometimes). A charge failure rates at least as high, in my book, as a "near ready" notification, for which I was receiving notifications.

Given that Tesla is among the most technologically sophisticated companies in existence, and, if reports are accurate, will start issuing warnings to move your car when charge is complete, it's pretty clear that they know the state of charge, who is charging, and, I would guess, which charger is being used. It shouldn't be necessary to call roadside assistance. They know, or could know, which chargers are associated with which problems. But I'm happy to give r.a. a buzz until they implement a better solution.

 

[Joe F]

Sadly, my first attempt ever was at the Hamilton Township New Jersey Supercharger on Jan 2, 2017. One other S there plugged into 1A (I think it was A) so I plugged into #3. Watched charge go from 50A to 40A to 30A and bounce around a bit. Checked PlugShare (actually checked PS first as I couldn't find the location. Would be nice if the map in the car said; "It's behind the Barnes and Noble, stupid!") and saw other complaints about this location. Pulled around to 2A or 2B (don't remember which) and got the same crappy rate.

Was low on charge, but not low enough to make it back home, even though it was cold and raining a bit. Wanted to show my wife how to use the Supercharger before our first long road trip. Hopefully it was the chargers and not the car...

Didn't know enough to call Roadside Assistance then, but do now. Not encouraging to see 3 months later this location is still problematic.

 

[TexasEV]

It can be helpful to put the map in satellite view if you're having trouble locating the superchargers in a parking lot.

 

[BirderScott]

Sadly, my first attempt ever was at the Hamilton Township New Jersey Supercharger on Jan 2, 2017. One other S there plugged into 1A (I think it was A) so I plugged into #3. Watched charge go from 50A to 40A to 30A and bounce around a bit.
(...)
Didn't know enough to call Roadside Assistance then, but do now. Not encouraging to see 3 months later this location is still problematic.

Yes, the Hamilton Township Supercharger has issues - I was there Jan 26, 2017 and the first two stalls I tried only gave me 10 AMPS. (One of the #2 and then #3 stalls). Then I moved to one right next to the power plant (#1 maybe?) and got a good current.

Screenshot attached of what it looked like on my iPhone when I was getting low current.

Until reading this thread It didn't occur to me to call Roadside about this.

 

[vperl]

jeffro01:

After my initial failure, I adhere rigorously to suggestion 1. I watch the dashboard, trusting it more than the app and flashing lights.

I'm pretty sure alerts were enabled (they are now), and that I received no alerts (but the "silence" button on my iPhone gets switched on unintentionally sometimes). A charge failure rates at least as high, in my book, as a "near ready" notification, for which I was receiving notifications.

Given that Tesla is among the most technologically sophisticated companies in existence, and, if reports are accurate, will start issuing warnings to move your car when charge is complete, it's pretty clear that they know the state of charge, who is charging, and, I would guess, which charger is being used. It shouldn't be necessary to call roadside assistance. They know, or could know, which chargers are associated with which problems. But I'm happy to give r.a. a buzz until they implement a better solution.

Called five times in five weeks, Woodburn, Oregon SUPERCHARGER... Never fixed and the rest of the stalls never get above 60KW

CALL , REPORT AND ASK WHY

 

[vperl]

My experience is Tesla will not fix unless many report.

But, go ahead do not call and report...

 

[dgpcolorado]

Called five times in five weeks, Woodburn, Oregon SUPERCHARGER... Never fixed and the rest of the stalls never get above 60KW

CALL , REPORT AND ASK WHY

I charged at Woodburn OR yesterday and it seemed to work fine, but my car maxes our at about 70 kW. Went from 5% to 90% in about an hour and ten minutes, which is about as fast as I've ever seen it charge.

I reported a pair of Superchargers down at Green River UT last June, leaving only one working pair for three cars, by calling the number posted on the stanchions. They checked and told me it had been reported before. Was fixed eventually, although it took awhile. Yes, do call and let them know.

 

[vperl]

I charged at Woodburn OR yesterday and it seemed to work fine, but my car maxes our at about 70 kW. Went from 5% to 90% in about an hour and ten minutes, which is about as fast as I've ever seen it charge.

I reported a pair of Superchargers down at Green River UT last June, leaving only one working pair for three cars, by calling the number posted on the stanchions. They checked and told me it had been reported before. Was fixed eventually, although it took awhile. Yes, do call and let them know.

 

[vperl]

Yep, Woodburn fixed, just took six weeks.

Glad to see Tesla at it's best.

 

[KJD]

I charged at Woodburn OR yesterday and it seemed to work fine, but my car maxes our at about 70 kW. Went from 5% to 90% in about an hour and ten minutes, which is about as fast as I've ever seen it charge.

I reported a pair of Superchargers down at Green River UT last June, leaving only one working pair for three cars, by calling the number posted on the stanchions. They checked and told me it had been reported before. Was fixed eventually, although it took awhile. Yes, do call and let them know.

I was in Green River UT last Monday and station 2A does not work at all. Tried to call Roadside service and was on hold for 20 minutes before I finally gave up.

Is there an email address to report Supercharger problems ?