ICE in Barstow

[onautopilot]

Barstow has 16 Superchargers but a whole bunch of them were occupied by Non-Tesla vehicles last night. I think this is a more common issue than Tesla drivers leaving their cars after charging is complete. The wasn't even a shortage of parking spots in the area.

I wonder if Tesla should employ signs with harsher language or something?

 

[championi]

So annoying!

 

[Tiger]

We Need a Super Charger Extension Cable | Tesla

 

[KarenRei]

We Need a Super Charger Extension Cable | Tesla

Without cooled charging cables, a "supercharger extension cable" won't work. Not only does increasing the length mean increased mass on its own, but you also have to increase the cable thickness, meaning even more weight and less flexibility. Even with cooling, you'd get less power to the vehicle without a significant thickness increase.

If you want to take matters into your own hands, you could always travel with a jack and a set of wheel skates

I'd personally call the police every time and insist that they get someone out to remove the offending vehicle, whether I planned to stick around or not. Tickets and impound fees should teach a pretty good lesson about blocking EV chargers.

 

[mrElbe]

The problem with ICEing is that it is the property owner's call what signage and what type of enforcement, if any, is taken. Since it is private property, police will likely not take action unless called by the property owner.

 

[wycolo]

An official SC extension cord could i.d. itself thus derating the kilowatts a bit. Much better than no charge at all.
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[scottm]

But are they really ICE?

They could be electric cars, just not needing a charge so not plugged in... and exhaust pipes are ornamental.

To find out, one potato pushed down each exhaust pipe, rammed in with a stick maybe 6 inches or so.. if the car is electric all is well, the driver will be able to drive home no problem.

 

[ecarfan]

@onautopilot there is a dedicated thread for discussing issues specific to the Barstow Supercharger location that you are welcome to post in, see Supercharger - Barstow (EXPANDED, 5 stalls added, now 16 total)
However, the discussion about a hypothetical "Supercharger extension cord" would be off topic for that thread. Thanks.

Barstow has 16 Superchargers but a whole bunch of them were occupied by Non-Tesla vehicles last night. I think this is a more common issue than Tesla drivers leaving their cars after charging is complete. The wasn't even a shortage of parking spots in the area.

I wonder if Tesla should employ signs with harsher language or something?

 

[KarenRei]

An official SC extension cord could i.d. itself thus derating the kilowatts a bit. Much better than no charge at all.
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Not just "a bit" - hugely for the same amount of weight. And do you really think Tesla is going to dangle an extra, giant, low power cord from all pedestals just in case there's an ICE there? I sure don't.

 

[David99]

We need one of these in front of every stall. Tesla cars would automatically lower it. For any other car, this happens

 

[wycolo]

Not just "a bit" - hugely for the same amount of weight. And do you really think Tesla is going to dangle an extra, giant, low power cord from all pedestals just in case there's an ICE there? I sure don't.

An extension cord made of the same sized conductors as in the SC cord and some 10 ft long could* trigger the SC to accept the connection and limit charge power to 90kw instead of the normal 135kw. Hooked up this way your session might not be that much longer depending on your SOC upon arriving. Travelers on tight schedules would be willing to invest in this extension and endure the added cargo weight. Actually the cord might not need to be even 10 ft; someone could measure this. And thicker conductors would help as well. We shelled out for Chademo adapters so we can shell out for the 'ICE Eliminator'.

* Tesla could code for this and test that it wasn't just a dirty contact situation.
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[chillaban]

FWIW I was at Barstow around 12-15hrs after this sighting and those cars were already gone and all stalls were available to Teslas. I guess they must've had a parking surge overnight, but it's not a typical sighting for an ICE to be parked at a Barstow SC.

 

[KarenRei]

and limit charge power to 90kw instead of the normal 135kw.

How are you getting 135kW? Normal is 120kW max per stall, and usually caps out around 116kW or so in practice.

 

[chillaban]

How are you getting 135kW? Normal is 120kW max per stall, and usually caps out around 116kW or so in practice.

The specs given by a spokesperson had indeed been 135kW for at least this year's timeframe. But as you said, it never seems to deliver that to the car. 116kW is also near the highest I've seen on a 100D, definitely nothing over 120.

 

[KarenRei]

The specs given by a spokesperson had indeed been 135kW for at least this year's timeframe. But as you said, it never seems to deliver that to the car. 116kW is also near the highest I've seen on a 100D, definitely nothing over 120.

It sounds like you're mixing up the per-cabinet figure with the per-stall figure.

 

[chillaban]

It sounds like you're mixing up the per-cabinet figure with the per-stall figure.

Perhaps you can find a better source than I can, but the references to 135/145kW don't differentiate between per-stall vs per-cabinet: Tesla quietly upgraded its Superchargers for faster charging, now capable of 145 kW

It could very well be either way, but it doesn't seem to matter as much, given nobody's seen a charge rate above around 116 or so.

 

[KarenRei]

Perhaps you can find a better source than I can, but the references to 135/145kW don't differentiate between per-stall vs per-cabinet: Tesla quietly upgraded its Superchargers for faster charging, now capable of 145 kW

It could very well be either way, but it doesn't seem to matter as much, given nobody's seen a charge rate above around 116 or so.

The article explicitly states that the maximum it can deliver to a Tesla vehicle is 120kW.

Given that the cables and connectors already can at times overheat at ~116kW, they're already essentially being used to their limits.

More current = cooling required. More voltage = different battery design required.

 

[chillaban]

The article explicitly states that the maximum it can deliver to a Tesla vehicle is 120kW.

Given that the cables and connectors already can at times overheat at ~116kW, they're already essentially being used to their limits.

More current = cooling required. More voltage = different battery design required.

I'm not sure why we are arguing about this; We're both describing the same max user-visible charging capacity. The rest (whether the 135/145kW limit is per-stall, per-cabinet, thermally limited by the cable/handle, or by the car's cooling capacity / software) seems to all be speculation. I've not found a source that says one way or another where the 116 or 120kW limit is coming from.

 

[KarenRei]

I've not found a source that says one way or another where the 116 or 120kW limit is coming from.

It's coming from the maximum current that's safe to have going down that cable and through that connector, at Tesla charging voltages.

 

[cpa]

I was at Barstow four weeks ago during the late morning. The newer Superchargers are along the west side of the parking lot, perpendicular to the solar canopy. One of the stalls was ICEd. I went to the signage for just those new spots.

The Tesla sign says that overnight hotel parking and 2-hour general parking is permitted.

For those of you who are skeptical of this, please check the Barstow Supercharger listing on PlugShare for a picture of the sign.