With the new one on Del Mar Heights road coming on line soon, I think we finally have enough capacity in San Diego for the first time, ever. It’ll be interesting to see how long it lasts. How have the Los Angeles and OC SCs been holding up?
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LA County Supercharger capacity and usage
- Thread starter Cosmacelf
- Start date
TaoJones
Beyond Driven
Not well in LA County.
Redondo's been saturated for months until and after 10pm, and expansion plans are no longer viable given that their available parking is slightly overburdened. Otherwise, it would have been easy to add another 8 pedestals there. I suppose the hotel group could opt to add parking if they own more dirt, but I doubt they do or they would have enclosed it when they walled off what they had. There is certainly room for Redondo Otra Vez either adjacent the elevated Green Line (light rail) terminus or even in one of the stealership parking lots across the street - I'm sure they wouldn't mind.
Manhattan Beach's urban chargers were saturated from day one and continue to be.
Culver City has been a trainwreck during the day for at least a year now.
SpaceX/Hawthorne has been regularly saturated during the day - less so at night although that's hit or miss.
So they're behind the curve still in LA County (the irony) and the OC was never fully served, although with Westminster maybe there will be fewer fights at Fountain Valley. As long as Tesla continues to insist upon putting SCs at malls and shopping centers, they will continue to have problems. Obviously I'm referring to the 3% of the network that's subject to congestion, and generally to an area well west of the 5 (that's I-5 to you non-Californicated types) at least in LA County. It's always fun to get back on the road and see tumbleweeds blowing through Quartzsite - although Qzsite in particular as a chokepoint has had its problems lately as well.
Happily, if they ever add the other 5 SCs and 75ish pedestals to, in part, North (San Diego) County that'll take pressure off as far north as Fountain Valley.
Redondo, unfortunately, remains at the nexus of freeway (long-distance road traveler and commuter), airport (livery, as well as air travelers), and a growing number of ungaraged locals. While ungaraged owners have had carte blanche with Tesla since day 1 to use SCs, and now moreso that they're paying handsomely for the service, it's still Tesla's responsibility to stay ahead of demand at least enough to avoid lines that are now regularly 6-10 cars midday at Culver City, 3-4 deep at Redondo, and now 3-4 deep at Manhattan Beach.
It's not all bad - if you have flexibility, plan ahead, and charge at off-peak times, you'll rarely if ever wait in a line. But if you've got a family (with associated requirements), commute 40 miles each way to work and live in a non-garaged condo, yeah, you're pretty much SOL now in LA County and the OC.
Lastly, while I appreciate optimism as much as the next true believer, is SD really at a point that can be called adequate? In my mind, adequate means NO lines at peak times - not holiday peak times - just your average Friday afternoon or Sunday afternoon oh my god it's a zoo at Costco gas stations peak times.
As unlikely as it may seem, San Diego does seem to be OK right now, and will remain OK for a while when Del Mar Heights comes on line. You have to ignore Qualcomm (the original San Diego location) as that one has peculiarities that make it always busy.
We could use another dozen plugs between southern OC and northern SD, as San Clemente can get full.
And it would be nice to have even a 2 station SC somewhere near or in Julian, or Anza Borrego, but that’s for traveling. There are zero DC fast chargers of any kind in that area.
We could use another dozen plugs between southern OC and northern SD, as San Clemente can get full.
And it would be nice to have even a 2 station SC somewhere near or in Julian, or Anza Borrego, but that’s for traveling. There are zero DC fast chargers of any kind in that area.
AMPd
Well-Known Member
I heard Qualcomm is now charging for supercharging, so that should help relieve the traffic from Model 3 owners looking for a free fill up.
Excellent post and captures the state of play nicely.
I'd add that OC is a complete joke for SuperCharging, with Tesla neglecting the obvious opportunities near John Wayne like the Spectrum or surrounds. San Juan Capistrano is a total joke and Fountain Valley has a perpetual Costco gas-like queue during peak times to add to the short-but-frustrating drive to and from the 405. Santa Ana's Mainplace charger's only saving grace is the attendant that handles traffic control but I've yet to charge there -- even at 10am on a weekday -- without a 20 minute wait.
It seems that capacity expansion in this area has slowed as sales have increased, exacerbating the problem.
How Tesla has neglected SpaceX country and so many of its customers is beyond me - perhaps they would prefer to see how things play out with V3 first.
Yes, San Diego is almost figured out for now (one more SC coming on line very soon). Sad to hear LA and OC are still disaster zones.
Just listened to Tesla’s autonomy presentation. If they want to make that real, they are going to need a lot more SCs. A lot more.
Just listened to Tesla’s autonomy presentation. If they want to make that real, they are going to need a lot more SCs. A lot more.
freeewilly
Member
Tesla ignores the entire east side of LA. If you look at Fwy 210, 10, and 60. There is no super charger between LADT all the way to Rancho Cucamonga.
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