Idea: Tesla could limit charge to 80% when a location is extremely busy

[SageBrush]

wow i had no idea!

Obviously. I hope you get a clue.

 

[abasile]

I think this is the best idea come up with here. Have one station that allows charging above 80%. Simple.

I like it. In places like Inyokern and Lone Pine where there are only four Supercharger stalls, that would be perfect during periods of congestion. Someone who really needs > 80% could still get it if they're willing to wait. At larger Supercharger sites, multiple stalls (but still a minority of stalls) could allow > 80%.

Ideally, the system should set charge limits dynamically. The nav screen should be able to tell incoming drivers what the charge limits are, by stall. If a Supercharger site is not too close to being full, then no one should have to rush back to move their car at 80%.

 

[AMPd]

Y’all are over thinking this.
Special stalls for those needing more than 80%? Having people move and go back in line?

That’s no way to convert ICE drivers, many already dislike the idea of waiting 20-40 minutes to charge, add in special stall usage and getting back in line to fill up beyond 80% and you’re going to be laughed at.

The simple fact is Tesla is not keeping up supercharger install with vehicle sales. The onus is on tesla to keep their customers satisfied.

 

[Silicon Desert]

I think Daniel probably knows what I am talking about here.... Whenever I take the 395 route down or back from San Diego, I have found it is FAR MORE productive to charge the car to 90% than 80% (not that much more time), so I can bypass that out-of-the-way Mammoth Lakes charger and go direct from Lone Pine to Gardnerville. It seems to take me 10 minutes or more to drive off 395 to Mammoth and then another 10 minutes back to 395. That's on a good day without all of the campers in front of me sightseeing at 30 mph. Add that in, and it 40 minutes both directions.

 

[Silicon Desert]

Y’all are over thinking this.
Special stalls for those needing more than 80%? Having people move and go back in line?

That’s no way to convert ICE drivers, many already dislike the idea of waiting 20-40 minutes to charge, add in special stall usage and getting back in line to fill up beyond 80% and you’re going to be laughed at.

The simple fact is Tesla is not keeping up supercharger install with vehicle sales. The onus is on tesla to keep their customers satisfied.

Amen on that one.

 

[abasile]

Y’all are over thinking this.
Special stalls for those needing more than 80%? Having people move and go back in line?

That’s no way to convert ICE drivers, many already dislike the idea of waiting 20-40 minutes to charge, add in special stall usage and getting back in line to fill up beyond 80% and you’re going to be laughed at.

The simple fact is Tesla is not keeping up supercharger install with vehicle sales. The onus is on tesla to keep their customers satisfied.

I'm not disagreeing with this, and I wish Tesla would speed up the pace of Supercharger network expansion, but it's not going to be solved overnight. So I think it's fair to explore how Tesla might optimize the usefulness of the existing Superchargers. As bad as it might be to have to stop charging at 80% unless you go to a particular stall or get back in line, that doesn't seem half as bad as having to wait a long time to start charging at all. This isn't an issue at every Supercharger site, just certain congested locations.

The challenge of optimal utilization may become more acute with Supercharger V3 and many more Teslas on the road. This is because V3 starts at a very high charge rate and starts ramping down relatively quickly. As a result, the V3 stalls will be best utilized by cars at low SOC (state of charge).

There's also the issue of electrical service capacity at many locations, particularly in rural areas. Adding more Superchargers could require major infrastructure upgrades, or perhaps a number of Powerpacks.

Long term, one possible solution could be power sharing at the site level. Suppose a given Supercharger site has 1.2 MW (1200 kW) of available power. Rather than allocating a fixed 120 kW to each of 10 stalls, perhaps there could be 20 or more stalls and power could be directed wherever needed. So, if a few people are charging above 90%, they may be occupying stalls but they won't be drawing much power. If there's an abundance of stalls, then no one should need to worry about moving their vehicle at 80%.