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Michigan Superchargers (location speculation, discussion)
- Thread starter Aphysician
- Start date
Huh. I was there on May 12th and it was working a bit flaky. A few of us had to keep unplugging and moving around to a new spot. It didn't seem like there was any pattern to it. I was eventually able to get a charge out of it, but not without some effort. I thought it might have just been a "rain thing" as the area got particularly pounded the day before. Perhaps there was a real issue that they are addressing. I suppose I'm glad i came back to MI today a different way.
The flakiness continues. Charged here twice this weekend. Once on Friday when it seemed to be working normally, and once on Sunday when I had to try 3 different chargers before one would work. It was getting a fair amount of use, too. Anywhere from 3 to 5 vehicles there the entire time I was there. It could have been a pretty major inconvenience.
Rather certain that was regarding the St. Joseph location. It was working a bit wonky a while back.
It's beginning to kinda worry me that a lot of the SC in Michigan are having problems and not being repaired in a timely fashion. Traverse City has has problems for at least 6mths, Cadillac had a number of chargers malfunctioning last week when I drove through, St Joe, AA had problems in the past. I don't seem to get very good power levels ( max 60-70 Kw) out of the Grand Rapids SC. Anyone else seem to notice these issues? I don't seem to have these issues when I travel out of state with other SC.
Well anything we say here is going to be anecdotal, but in that light I can tell you that I just took a trip around Michigan on June 10th and used the SC's in Lansing, Muskegon, Big Rapids and Traverse City. They were all working fine and I got a very quick charge rate from all of them. Then on the way back I used SC's in Bay City and Auburn Hills. Again those were working just fine and I had no issues and got a very quick charge rate. Then just this past weekend I used the ones in Livonia, Marshall and Ann Arbor. Same results. Very fast charge. No issues.
So that means in this month alone I've used more than half of all the SC's that we have in this state (just missed Gaylord by one week). All of them were working fine and there were no issues with any of them.
I will also say that we're not alone in Michigan with there occasionally being problems at a particular SC. I've been around Indianapolis and seen an entire SC site offline. Same thing was true for a couple of them when I was out in California.
The only one I've had any issue with was the one in St. Joseph, but it did eventually give me a good charge, and that might even be fixed now. The map in the car does seem to be very good at knowing when an entire site is down...so you can generally avoid those..and Michigan is starting to get enough coverage where we have some good overlaps in some areas (not all of course). Bottom line, I guess i'm more optimistic about how things are working here based on my recent experience.
So that means in this month alone I've used more than half of all the SC's that we have in this state (just missed Gaylord by one week). All of them were working fine and there were no issues with any of them.
I will also say that we're not alone in Michigan with there occasionally being problems at a particular SC. I've been around Indianapolis and seen an entire SC site offline. Same thing was true for a couple of them when I was out in California.
The only one I've had any issue with was the one in St. Joseph, but it did eventually give me a good charge, and that might even be fixed now. The map in the car does seem to be very good at knowing when an entire site is down...so you can generally avoid those..and Michigan is starting to get enough coverage where we have some good overlaps in some areas (not all of course). Bottom line, I guess i'm more optimistic about how things are working here based on my recent experience.
All I know is when I called Tesla to report problems with the SC in TC and Cadillac over the past month, that the tech on the other end of the phone said at each site that there were 4 chargers "not responding" and that there were numerous tickets placed for their repair. It just seems like nothing has improved. Are they waiting to put in newer SC's, V3 maybe?
Think Tesla needs to increase the spots at the St. Joseph SC or add another one further south in say Michigan City. Today I arrived and 4 of us were waiting. It is a popular route in the Summer. Lots of people from Chicago area head to the Western coast of Michigan. Have never seen so many Tesla's in one spot before. I arrived and was 1st in line then 3 more right after me. They kept coming as well. Line never got deeper then 4, but I can see as more people get Teslas this will be very common.
Tesla does have data on SC usage and they do indeed use that to determine if they need to expand a site. I think it's always a fine balancing act for them as to whether they make a new site where they know they've got a lot of traffic or if they expand an existing location. Personally I usually try to avoid that particular charger as I always seem to be going through there after 10PM. No lines at that time, but nothing in the area is open.
Take a trip out to California... I've been to SC's there with 24 stalls and 22 of them in use. I've had to wait at places with 16 stalls. Totally different world compared to Michigan.
jgs
Active Member
Yeah, a few weeks ago I went through there on a Sunday afternoon and I had to wait (I was the first of two waiting). It's the first time I've ever had to wait for a stall (yes I know the Californians are laughing at this point).
The first place I ever had to wait was in Lusk, Wyoming. But I had just left the Tesla rally in Custer, SD and so did a bunch of other people in their cars. Four stalls in the parking lot of a tiny little motel. Very strange place to have to wait.
But I agree. St. Joseph is on a very heavily traveled corridor and it could use an expansion. That is the oldest SC in Michigan though. Built all the way back in 2013. So it's served us well for a long time (relatively speaking).
Understood and yes I know in CA it is an even bigger issue. It is a minor issue now, but it will be a bigger issue month by month as Tesla sales continue on an upward trajectory.
scottf200
Well-Known Member
I was there last night and 1A would not start charging on my X or a 3 that pulled up.
4A and 4B had to be added later? I ended up on 4B with a soccer mom and her son pulling up on 4A (traveled to a soccer tournament).
Here is what the layout looks like from left to right as I recall when facing the front of the cars charging.
4B 4A -- 3B 2B 1B -- 3A 2A 1A. Note that it would appear that 4B and 4A were added to the left after 3,2,1,3,2,1 were added. Obviously an odd layout and confusing for people use to looking for an every other pedestal charging situation so you are on a unique number.
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