Long Line for Charging

[Silicon Desert]

Having made 4 2K mile r/t road trips from southern IL to southern MD I have NEVER waited to charge and looking back I don’t recall usage exceeding 50% of available stalls.

That was most likely a Calif location and I wonder how many were actual ROAD TRIPPERS or locals who live in apt/condos without the ability to charge?

Hmmm, I was sort of thinking the same thing. In 5 years of traveling all over the USA several times, I have never waited for a supercharger ever, and several of those chargers have been in California. Done over 400 charges the last time I looked. That situation sure looks unusual. I hope this is not a sign of new things to come.

 

[leaftoy]

Almost 115k 3’s and Y’s were delivered in California just in 2021. Hopefully Tesla will rethink their intention to open up the SC network and focus on growing SC network to match this. Otherwise few years down the road at least in California this may be common.

Hmmm, I was sort of thinking the same thing. In 5 years of traveling all over the USA several times, I have never waited for a supercharger ever, and several of those chargers have been in California. Done over 400 charges the last time I looked. That situation sure looks unusual. I hope this is not a sign of new things to come.

 

[WhiteWi]

Hmmm, I was sort of thinking the same thing. In 5 years of traveling all over the USA several times, I have never waited for a supercharger ever, and several of those chargers have been in California. Done over 400 charges the last time I looked. That situation sure looks unusual. I hope this is not a sign of new things to come.

I past two years Tesla added a lot of cars to the road. And they will added record amount this year I am sure. I hope they are on top of their game with adding more superchargers and staying ahead of the new cars surge.

 

[iamnid]

I have never waited in line but I've seen lines twice.

1. Between Christmas and New Years 2020 in Cabazon, California - saw the wait and decided I could make it to the next charger. There are now at least two chargers within a short distance that could be used instead (Beaumont and Moreno Valley).

2. Friday after Thanksgiving 2021, Yermo, California. Pulled in, there was a line, got back on the freeway and chose to charge in Baker instead (where there were 15+ available stalls).

The video is unlikely to ever happen again as they have greatly expanded charging at both that station and the surrounding area. The only caveat has to do with holiday weekends. Pay attention to the map in the car which tells you which stations are available and plan accordingly - there's usually more than one supercharger you can use in the surrounding 20 miles or so.

 

[thesmokingman]

Because... lines do not ever form at gas stations, like that never happens daily at a costco.

 

[jjrandorin]

Because... lines do not ever form at gas stations, like that never happens daily at a costco.

Seriously... My wife just waited 30 minutes about 4 days ago at our local costco to get gas. Somehow, a situation during a holiday from 2+ years ago is something that needs to be brought back up and posted, though.

 

[Sandor]

I have never waited in line but I've seen lines twice.

1. Between Christmas and New Years 2020 in Cabazon, California - saw the wait and decided I could make it to the next charger. There are now at least two chargers within a short distance that could be used instead (Beaumont and Moreno Valley).

2. Friday after Thanksgiving 2021, Yermo, California. Pulled in, there was a line, got back on the freeway and chose to charge in Baker instead (where there were 15+ available stalls).

The video is unlikely to ever happen again as they have greatly expanded charging at both that station and the surrounding area. The only caveat has to do with holiday weekends. Pay attention to the map in the car which tells you which stations are available and plan accordingly - there's usually more than one supercharger you can use in the surrounding 20 miles or so.

Re Cabazon, they've added Highland since. And Palm Springs, San Bernardino as well as Riverside had chargers for a while. Cabazon is adding a second site and Redlands should get one too very soon. Even Lake Arrowhead has an operational supercharger now. Finally IE is getting some SC love.... Now, east of Indio it's a lot more interesting

 

[thesmokingman]

Seriously... My wife just waited 30 minutes about 4 days ago at our local costco to get gas. Somehow, a situation during a holiday from 2+ years ago is something that needs to be brought back up and posted, though.

Yea, Costco is insane and it happens daily.

 

[Midnightsun]

Because... lines do not ever form at gas stations, like that never happens daily at a costco.

Big difference is a few minutes between cars compared to 20-30 at the SC. Wonder if people are still in that line waiting to this day.

Good news is most never use a SC or at least those that have homes and garages that is. Personally between home and the office Gen3 chargers I really have no need for a SC unless I were to go on a long trip that is. Never seen a line up in my neck of the woods, yet.

Pretty sure if Costco offers lower EV charging rates like they do for gas, there will be line ups at Costco. It's the price that has people lining up to save a few dollars not because they have no choice like EV charging stations.

 

[LoudMusic]

Yea, Costco is insane and it happens daily.

I bet every one of those cars had their engine running the whole time too.

 

[Silicon Desert]

Almost 115k 3’s and Y’s were delivered in California just in 2021. Hopefully Tesla will rethink their intention to open up the SC network and focus on growing SC network to match this. Otherwise few years down the road at least in California this may be common.


View attachment 767761

Yup, I am familiar with those numbers and also hope Tesla rethinks the opening of SCs to other vehicles. It isn't as bad as it might seem. The above is looking at the charging demand side of things. To put things into perspective, Tesla added a little over 300 USA charging stations (roughly 3100 stalls) in 2021. There is an average of 10 stalls per supercharger location. Of somewhat more importance is the rate of installations is now roughly 60% higher than what occurred in 2020. Another minor statistic is that the ratio of Teslas to supercharger stalls is about 110 to 1. At the end of 2020, that number was 82 to 1, so the rate of installations are not quite keeping up with the number of produced cars.

One positive is that many of the newer installations also have a higher charging rate as well as newer cars charging a bit faster as we all know. So, it's a complex relationship. I guess the bigger issue folks know is that larger cities suffer most since the number of cars per stations is a lot higher. Time will tell, but let's hope issues won't arise.

 

[Corndart]

Yea, Costco is insane and it happens daily.

Oh Cali...

 

[Midnightsun]

How much are these people actually saving by going to Costco and waiting for at least an hour compared to going to any other station? $3?

 

[kabin]

Because... lines do not ever form at gas stations, like that never happens daily at a costco.

Obviously there's a significant difference in the time it takes to charge and fill with gasoline.

 

[Silicon Desert]

How much are these people actually saving by going to Costco and waiting for at least an hour compared to going to any other station? $3?

Good point. Maybe some people benefit. Just last week I was telling the wife that she saves no money by driving 6 miles down the road to Costco to get gasoline as compared to driving down the street to get it. Her savings are wasted by the distance to drive down there. Now if it just happens to be on the way to somewhere she is going then I guess she saves a little. Our Costco is never that busy.

 

[thesmokingman]

How much are these people actually saving by going to Costco and waiting for at least an hour compared to going to any other station? $3?

I don't think that's really what drives them. Though they will use that reason to justify it. I kind of think it's a fomo thing as it's not logical.

Pretty sure if Costco offers lower EV charging rates like they do for gas, there will be line ups at Costco. It's the price that has people lining up to save a few dollars not because they have no choice like EV charging stations.

Again it's not price. You spend an hour to fill up to save a buck and change. How much does one make for an hourly wage, bam how much is your time worth? And there are superchargers at Costco.

 

[Sandor]

Because... lines do not ever form at gas stations, like that never happens daily at a costco.

Obviously there's a significant difference in the time it takes to charge and fill with gasoline.

Not anymore as of right now, not as long as we're talking Costco vs Supercharger. I'd say on a weekend afternoon, may be a lot faster to do a 10 to 90% on a v3 SC than the same fill-up at the Costco gas station. At least where I live in SoCal...

 

[Midnightsun]

I don't think that's really what drives them. Though they will use that reason to justify it. I kind of think it's a fomo thing as it's not logical.

I look at it like being stuck in traffic for an hour, complete waste of an hour of one's life. The EV is a blessing, no more scheduled waste of time with trips to the dealership for maintenance and no more going to the gas station and being suckered into buying something at the counter stuck behind the guy validating his stack of lottery tickets (sorry, pet peeve of mine) Literally a 10 second plugin upon arrival home or at work. My wife even commented a couple of days ago on how nice it was not having to go the the gas station any more and she has only been driving the Y for 5 weeks now.

 

[thesmokingman]

I look at it like being stuck in traffic for an hour, complete waste of an hour of one's life. The EV is a blessing, no more scheduled waste of time with trips to the dealership for maintenance and no more going to the gas station and being suckered into buying something at the counter stuck behind the guy validating his stack of lottery tickets (sorry, pet peeve of mine) Literally a 10 second plugin upon arrival home or at work. My wife even commented a couple of days ago on how nice it was not having to go the the gas station any more and she has only been driving the Y for 5 weeks now.

Yeap. Nowadays I pity the fool who still has to get in line and buy gas, dump 60-100 bucks every other week... I do not miss it.

 

[ElectricAnt54]

When this happens, do everyone play nice and line up so that super chargers are first come first server? Or are there situations where this becomes like a mall parking lot during Christmas?

Depends on the layout of the superchargers. If there are multiple entrances to the supercharger area I find it can become a bit of a free for all. When there is a single entrance, ppl queue up in line.