Knoxville Supercharger Not Working

[Skotty]

I believe the ability to see offline superchargers was added in 7.1. I remember reading it in the release notes. And I think someone also showed it correctly identifying the St. Louis supercharger as offline (it's had problems and is supposed to be repaired this week). A nice feature, but I still wouldn't trust it to always be right.

 

[apacheguy]

A better option would just be to display maximum available amperage on the SpC detail screen on the Nav. The Nav should also trigger an on screen warning if the destination is set.

For instance, a SpC only outputting 50 A might not be listed as out of order, but an owner could quickly discern there was an issue and take measures to not charge at that location.

 

[dhanson865]

Plugshare:

Ignore the ones under construction, but the rest are all within ~15 miles of the SC, except for Gatlinburg.

OK so the one in Harriman is a crap shoot, it's a blink that might or might not work and is out of the way because the OP was going south on 75 not west on 40. The OP would have to charge for 30+ miles on top of anything needed to get from the supercharger to Chattanooga and if it didn't work that's 30 miles more they have to spend on a L2.

The one at Farragut is the close one that is also a crap shoot in terms of working/usable but at least it is close. I'd definitely try that if I was the OP. It'd be expensive but it'd only risk 10 more miles on a L2.

There is one downtown but that is 15 miles from the supercharger and would be a back track of another 15 miles meaning the OP would have to charge for 30+ miles on top of anything needed to get from the supercharger to Chattanooga and if it didn't work that's 30 miles more they have to spend on a L2.

That downtown location is inconvenient (one way streets, not convenient to the interstate) so I have no idea if it works or how hard it is to get to. As in I've lived in this town for almost all my life and I would find it an adventure to get to that location. Not visitor friendly at all.

The rest are "under construction".

Oh and if the Blinks work they are ($7 member) $10 guest a charging session, no credit card reader on the unit, you have to give Blink your credit card online and then use a guest code on the touchscreen on the physical unit if and I say again IF the touchscreen works unless you have a blink network RFID card. And then if the screen is out you might if you are lucky be able to get the RFID tag to start a charge session.

I think being half way across the country you have a false view of how "chademo friendly" Knoxville is. I have a car that has a chademo port and I treat this town as though it has none.

 

[JohnSnowNW]

OK so the one in Harriman is a crap shoot, it's a blink that might or might not work and is out of the way because the OP was going south on 75 not west on 40.

The one at Farragut is the close one that is also a crap shoot in terms of working/usable but at least it is close.

There is one downtown but that is 15 miles from the supercharger and would be a back track of another 15 miles meaning the OP would have to charge for 30+ miles on top of anything needed to get from the supercharger to Chattanooga. Very not optimal and it's in an inconvenient location so I have no idea if it works or how hard it is to get to. As in I've lived in this town for almost all my life and I would find it an adventure to get to that location. Not visitor friendly at all.

The rest are "under construction".

Oh and if the Blinks work they are $9 a charging session, no credit card reader on the unit, you have to give Blink your credit card online and then use a guest code on the touchscreen on the physical unit if and I say again IF the touchscreen works unless you have a blink network RFID card. And then if the screen is out you might if you are lucky be able to get the RFID tag to start a charge session.

I think being half way across the country you have a false view of how "chademo friendly" Knoxville is. I have a car that has a chademo port and I treat this town as though it has none.

This is true, I don't know how reliable the stations are. My comment wasn't directly related to the Knoxville area, but as a general rule. The point being that the SC network is limited, and therefore planning for unforeseen circumstances is advisable. Also that some things are outside of Tesla's control.

As an aside, the dealership I bought my Leaf from has had their DCFC station down for months...not exactly sure why these stations seem to be so unreliable.

 

[dhanson865]

As an aside, the dealership I bought my Leaf from has had their DCFC station down for months...not exactly sure why these stations seem to be so unreliable.

As far as I know its all about heat. Making the Chademo stations reliable would have made them boxier and louder (more airflow, fan noise) so they went for the smallest design they could and they tend to die the thermal death and have to be serviced with replacement parts often. It isn't cheap to fix and isn't a common part pool so they sit unrepaired as often as they work.

 

[kort677]

Agreed. In 7.2 we were supposed to have gained the ability to view faulty SpC through the in car Nav. Obviously that didn't work in this case or the OP would not have been stuck in the situation that he was. Unfortunate.

@OP - Since this affects all Tesla's, consider posting in a more general forum as opposed to the Model X sub forum.

what 7.2??? as of now there is no 7.2 complaining about vaporware?

 

[apacheguy]

Correction. 7.1

 

[Dalia]

Yes, I think in the future, I will look into the Chademo charger and any other charging adapters/accounts. Like dhanson said, the Blink machine we went to wasn't really working. We couldn't even see the screen and when I called their customer support, they asked me to leave a message I'm currently charging at the Atlanta station, on our way back up to Chicago. I'm a little hesitant to stop at Knoxville. What if it's an issue with the MX only? I have to say, my outlook on roadtripping with a Model X has completely changed after this trip. I may write about it more when I get home. But it's definitely not a carefree trip. You really have to diligently be aware of your Wh/mi. You can't just speed like you normally do and pass people up. Oh and if there's a lot of hills, you really have to be careful. You have to be aware, also, of your 'Projected' miles under the Energy app. The car may say that you have 100 miles, but your driving will dictate the actual miles and Projected miles will reflect that. So if you're driving at a good Wh/mile, your projected miles will be more than your stated miles and if you're not, it will be less. When supercharging, the last 20-50 miles take a long time, so that's why it's a waste of time to charge full every time. When my husband drives, he'll fill up and skip a charger and arrive at the next one with almost 20 miles left. It's a little tricky. But I think we may do that to pass up Knoxville. I think you will need to experience it to understand.

 

[Dalia]

Here is an example. My miles on the car.

 

[Dalia]

And this is my projected miles.

 

[Dalia]

Actually, I take that back, I have never experienced my projected miles more than the stated. You have to be driving very slow at 55 mph to reach that.

 

[apacheguy]

@Dalia - Quick tip to reduce the range anxiety. Pull up the destination on the Nav when you are charging. You will get an alert stating that you have sufficiently charged to continue your trip. As a rule of thumb, I go about 10-20% beyond that. Then, once you're on the road again, just glance down periodically at the trip planner. You really don't need to worry about projected miles/Whmi, etc. If you see that you're arriving with anything above 5% after you've been on the road for some time then you know you're set.

 

[mikeash]

A better option would just be to display maximum available amperage on the SpC detail screen on the Nav. The Nav should also trigger an on screen warning if the destination is set.

For instance, a SpC only outputting 50 A might not be listed as out of order, but an owner could quickly discern there was an issue and take measures to not charge at that location.

They actually do some of this already (at least sometimes). About two months ago, the Paramus, NJ Supercharger was partially down, and it showed up differently on the nav screen (I think it showed the same icon as for a closed one, but I'm not totally sure) and had a message saying it was at reduced capacity. I recall that the nav system was still happy to have me charge at it, though, despite many alternatives in that area.

 

[Dalia]

Arrived at Chattanooga (a 112 mile trip)

@Dalia - Quick tip to reduce the range anxiety. Pull up the destination on the Nav when you are charging. You will get an alert stating that you have sufficiently charged to continue your trip. As a rule of thumb, I go about 10-20% beyond that. Then, once you're on the road again, just glance down periodically at the trip planner. You really don't need to worry about projected miles/Whmi, etc. If you see that you're arriving with anything above 5% after you've been on the road for some time then you know you're set.

You know you're right, maybe I just worry too much.

 

[Timothy Meredith]

I'm going to be traveling through knoxville again tomorrow, anyone been having issues with the supercharger since this post was made?

 

[Electric700]

You can also find a list of Destination Chargers on Tesla's site (Find Us | Tesla Motors). I recommend that you call first before going to one.

 

[Timothy Meredith]

Thanks but if I had to depend on destination chargers for a long trip I'd drive my ICE vehicle. The only exception is if I was spending the night and the next stop had a supercharger, but for a 2.5hour trip I can't stop that long. Good news is I stopped several times the last few days at the knoxville supercharger and didn't have any issues. Hopefully it was just a fluke a few weeks ago.

 

[Plinck]

I drove from Atlanta to Michigan (in my Model S about 9 months ago) and stopped at Knoxville both ways. I would have freaked if it didn't. On the way up there was a sign on the fence that said power was gonna be cut off since bill was not paid. But, the chargers worked so it must have been old. On the way back, I plugged into one of the stations and it did not work, then tried another and it did. In fact, that happened to be several times on my trip to and from Michigan - some stations worked and some didn't. I was planning to take my Model X to Michigan next month and Knoxville is a key stop on that route to charge. I am starting to think I will probably have to drive my Truck instead ....

Any way to check SC status before relying on it?

 

[Electric700]

Thanks but if I had to depend on destination chargers for a long trip I'd drive my ICE vehicle. The only exception is if I was spending the night and the next stop had a supercharger, but for a 2.5hour trip I can't stop that long. Good news is I stopped several times the last few days at the knoxville supercharger and didn't have any issues. Hopefully it was just a fluke a few weeks ago.

No problem, it's just good to know that there's a map in case we might need a charger for situations like this one.

 

[Timothy Meredith]

I drove from Atlanta to Michigan (in my Model S about 9 months ago) and stopped at Knoxville both ways. I would have freaked if it didn't. On the way up there was a sign on the fence that said power was gonna be cut off since bill was not paid. But, the chargers worked so it must have been old. On the way back, I plugged into one of the stations and it did not work, then tried another and it did. In fact, that happened to be several times on my trip to and from Michigan - some stations worked and some didn't. I was planning to take my Model X to Michigan next month and Knoxville is a key stop on that route to charge. I am starting to think I will probably have to drive my Truck instead ....

Any way to check SC status before relying on it?

Most SC's are supposed to report status of issues in the nav but the problem was this one didn't the time it messed up. But I've used it at least ~4 times since the first issue I saw (and at least 4 times before) and it has worked every time since. To be safe ask when it's getting closer if anyone is having any issues, I'm sure I'll have a chance to use it again by then.