Is this a normal amount of time to charge on a supercharger?

[PatD]

I charged this weekend from 13 miles left on my P85D. I had been driving for two hours prior, so battery was definitely warm and no one else was at SC. This was also at the brand new (As of last week) Newark DE charger. I started around 117kW which was great! Within 10 minutes, I was at 25% SOC and the power started tapering. I was surprised it tapers that early. . .

Crossover point for 90 kW is at ~40% or so, so it's close enough.

"Crossover"?

 

[FlasherZ]

"Crossover"?

Yes, where the power drops below 90 kW. There are a couple of cases where Supercharging is constrained to a maximum of 90 kW -- very old Supercharger cabinets that can do 90 kW (I don't know if any are still around), and those with the first-generation 85 kWh battery packs. The 90 kW point is where all cars and supercharger locations will charge at roughly the same rate.

 

[legoman]

First trip with a supercharger today. Oxnard was great, no issues. Pulled into Atascadero and charging was way less so I started looking here. I was getting 90a. Most stalls were full. I'm at #2A and there were cars in 1B and 2B. Interestingly when 1B left, my charge rate went up to 140a. When 2B left my rate went up to 300a. So the earlier posts about "sharing" A/B were spot on, but there is also some share for other stall numbers too. Might be just how this station is wired but I'd add to this thread that overall the fewer cars charging, the better.

 

[FlasherZ]

First trip with a supercharger today. Oxnard was great, no issues. Pulled into Atascadero and charging was way less so I started looking here. I was getting 90a. Most stalls were full. I'm at #2A and there were cars in 1B and 2B. Interestingly when 1B left, my charge rate went up to 140a. When 2B left my rate went up to 300a. So the earlier posts about "sharing" A/B were spot on, but there is also some share for other stall numbers too. Might be just how this station is wired but I'd add to this thread that overall the fewer cars charging, the better.

I've seen the charging stalls mislabeled in the past as well. I haven't seen sharing across multiple cabinets, but it's possible if the transformer was undersized and they used voltage drop detection to determine safe current.

 

[Gremlin]

Took my first ever trip in a P90D this weekend (Pgh to Cleveland). The temperature was about 40 degrees, pretty cold. When we arrived we had 30 miles left. I went to a supercharger before the return trip and I was expecting to get about 80% after about 35 minutes based on what the dealer told me a supercharger would do.

Unfortunately, at 35 minutes we only had 155 miles (which should have been plenty but it was cold and I didn't want to risk it). It took 1 hour and 10 minutes to get 220 miles.

Does this seem abnormal? My wife was sort of upset because she thought we were going to just hit the charger real quick and be on our way.

Thanks for any input.

I have plugged in my car when it was 5 degrees outside. A very cold battery and the supercharger acts if if you are plugging into a 110v house line until the battery gets conditioned. I lived 18 miles from the Potomac Mills Supercharger. 18 miles is not even enough time to get rid of the dotted yellow line in really cold weather. I supercharged once 1 week couple months after getting my car, job location changed, for 19 months (house rented out and I had to use public chargers since temp housing did not have 240 volt line). I couldn't take the 6-7 hours to slow charge my car over the weekends.

Communication between the car and supercharger limits the amps and volts to charge until the battery is "conditioned" (i.e., cold). This is so as not to shock the battery. Same as regenbraking disabled when its cold. Supercharging times depending on various factors. This includes Supercharging during "peak times" especially in the summer, regardless if there other Teslas on the same circuit. Charging at off peak is when I've seen crazy fast times (summer time). I try not to supercharge when it's over 90 degrees. I plan my trips early morning or late evenings during summer months. I haven't used a supercharger with an overhang yet.

As someone stated earlier, you can't let the battery get cold. Rule of thumb for lithium batteries, if you are cold then the battery is cold, if it's hot outside then the battery is hot needs to be cooled. Anything near 50 degrees the lithium battery is cold. You drove through two mountain ranges, to the temp was colder at higher elevations. I did that drive last Oct (Broncos vs Browns game). Somerset PA supercharger looked like it was jury rigged (location) seemed out of place and wasn't sure the local infrastructure was up to the task. That comes into play.

It the battery is near empty, it chargers at a much faster rate (battery is empty lots of space for the electrons to move). Once that battery starts to get warm, the cells expand and there's less room to push ions. Finishing the last 1/3 takes as long as doing the first 1/2 of topping off a nearly drained battery. Ever notice how the Tesla's fans kicks in while supercharger when its above 60 degrees? Notice how when the car is nearing full charge the amps and voltage drop from the Supercharger? Glycol isn't the best at transferring heat (efficiency wise) (keeping the battery warm - yes). I turn on the AC while the car supercharges in warmer weather to pamper the battery. Yes is not as quick, but I still get 196 miles for a 60Kwh 22 month battery back with 38K miles (even with all the Supercharging).

 

[Redmiata98]

I was at 31 miles left today when I pulled into the supercharger. First 30 minute added 123 mikes and last 34 minutes (brought me up to 90% at 224) took me up 70 mikes. 70 degrees F and just finished 181 mile trip. This is on a P90 but an X.