My Supercharging experience... Is this right?

[fishacura]

First long trip this past week. M3LR. Did 2 different charges at two different supercharger locations. Both times I charged from 17% to 95%. Both times this took ~50 minutes. I had planned on it but is this really right? Their own literature says 175 miles in 15 minutes. I got less than half of that. Is this normal? Thx.

 

[RayK]

My guess would be that you hit 72kW Superchargers. Or were at 150kW stations but sharing with somebody else. We'll need more info such as:

• Power (kW) of stations you visited (if unknown, then their locations; we'll figure it out)
• Whether or not somebody else was there (but really we'd need to know if another car was currently charging at a paired station)
• Temperature

I was recently at a station in Fairfield, CA. Was getting around 105kW when a lady plugged into a station that was paired with mine (about 8 out of 12 were free IIRC). Power dropped to around 50kW and I told my wife that I was moving to another station. I had explained how some Superchargers work like this and she asked if everybody else knows this. I said they should but maybe they don't care. Anyway, at the new station I was getting >100kW and that let me complete my charge in 5 minutes instead of 10-15.

BTW, 175 miles in 15 minutes is probably the absolute best case conditions. Like using a dedicated 250kW station and starting from 2-5% state of charge (SoC). And topping off to 95% is going to eat more time. You probably should go to only 90% unless you really need the extra 5% to make it to your destination (or next charge).

 

[Big Earl]

17-95% in 50 minutes sounds about right. I almost never charge to 95%. I rarely charge over 80%. It just so long that it’s only worth doing if you really need the range.

Instead of trying to skip over superchargers, try charging to 60 or 70% and stopping more frequently - you’ll save a considerable amount of time overall.

 

[Nosken]

Yes, better to charge until the charge rate slows down, then move on, unless there are no other Superchargers on the way.
On longer trips, plan your meals at Superchargers to save time.
Check out and learn ABetterRoutePlanner.com

 

[KenC]

First long trip this past week. M3LR. Did 2 different charges at two different supercharger locations. Both times I charged from 17% to 95%. Both times this took ~50 minutes. I had planned on it but is this really right? Their own literature says 175 miles in 15 minutes. I got less than half of that. Is this normal? Thx.

As others have noted, use ABRP to test some simulations using real world data. It'll help you develop an understanding of trip charging strategy.

Below is a screenshot I took. So, I was getting 145kW, though the image cuts off, so you only see the 45.0kW. The gray shadow is the charge rate. Obviously a 150kW supercharger. After about 50% SOC, the charge rate starts tapering. At 74%, you can see it's saying 61kW, and my target is 75%, so I can go off to my next stop. As you can see, it took 15mins, which is fairly typical. The green line seems to indicate I started at 23%, and charged up to 75%, in 15mins. Of course, it wasn't optimal, since I started at 23%. It would be better to have started when I was close to 10%, then more of my charge would have been at the fastest rate 145kW.

ABRP will let you know the optimal charging strategy for the fastest trips. What you will find is that once you get into the 65% to 75% range, the charge taper will have dropped enough that you shouldn't waste your time charging, but you should head off to the next stop on your trip.

 

[Lindenwood]

I do a lot of driving around the American Southwest, where there is only roughly one charger every 100ish miles along most of my routes. I have only found 2 reasons to charge above ~65% at a Supercharger:

1) I have planned my trip such that I skip the 12-minute charge at some random hotel so I can charge for 50 minutes at the restaurant or Outlet Mall, or

2) I have reached my destination city and need a full charge so I can survive on 110v charging for the rest of the trip. In these cases, I will put >95% in the tank at the SC in said city (while I eat or shop or whatever), which allows me to get to my first stay (AirBnB, friends house, parents house, etc), and comfortably survive on the 10% I’ll gain on overnight 110v charges until I head home.

Otherwise, it really only adds about 10% to the time of my previous typical ICE trips to charge about 12 minutes every ~100 miles, and actually makes the trip much more pleasant.

 

[jjrandorin]

Both times I charged from 17% to 95%. Both times this took ~50 minutes.

This right here means you are thinking about this like a gas car ("I drive it down, then fill it back up") which is not how you travel "the fastest" in a tesla EV. It likely would have been quite a bit faster for you to make 3-4 stops and charge from 17% to 55-60%. That would have likely taken you about 15 minutes at each stop.

Their own literature says 175 miles in 15 minutes.

17% of 358 miles (rated range of a model 3 long range) = 60.86. Lets call that 61.

65% of 358 miles (rated range of a model 3 long range) 233.

233 - 61 = 172.

That (17% to 65%) at a V2 supercharger with a warmed up battery would have taken 15-20 minutes. Your problem was trying to "fill it back up", because you thought making fewer stops would be faster, and it isnt.

 

[RichAZ/CapeCod]

As others have posted, it's the charging to 95% that got ya! Just did an AZ to Cape Cod ride (2800 miles) in our model Y. Liked to keep the lower SoC to around 20% and not go much over 70% SoC on the top end. Rarely there for more than 25 minutes at a charge site.

Rich

Here's the whole trip record of charging. Sorry for the lousy formatting, just the way it comes out of MS Word:

AZ to MA June 4th~8th 2022 (15,745~18,566)​

SC=Supercharger EA=Electrify America

Date: Sat June 4th

Site Start/Stop SoC kW Rcvd

SC Wilcox AZ 0805-0810 60%~70% 109~81

EA Deming NM 1111-1140 19%~80% 184
(Lunch break!)

SC ToC NM 1305~1318 45%-75% 166~136

SC Alb. NM 1548-1600 16%~58% 210

EA Santa Rosa NM 12 min 17%~? 132

EA Tucumcari NM 1950-2006 37%~70% 151



Date: Sun June 5th

Site Start/Stop SoC kW Rcvd

EA Amirillo TX 0955-1015 29%~75% 140

SC Shamrock TX 1152-? 38%~69% 143~87

EA Weatherford OK BAD CHARGER!!

SC Weatherford OK 1357-1407 29%~58% 142~105

SC OK City 1507-? 24%~84% 172-50

SC Catoosa OK 1747-1757 34%~55% 132-59



Date: Mon June 6th

Site Start/Stop SoC kW Rcvd

SC Rollo MO 1050-1108 28%~73% 142

SC Collinsville IL 1301-1323 28%~80% 190-54

EA Terre Haute IN 1701-1725 22%~79% 184`



Date: Tues June 7th

Site Start/Stop SoC kW Rcvd

SC Cambridge OH 1115-1138 12%~71% 143-74

SC Tridelphia 1240-1252 47%~72% 131-78

SC Somerset PA 1457-1511 35%~71% 158-72



Date: Wed June 8th

Site Start/Stop SoC kW Rcvd

SC Boontown NJ 1023-1040 37%~74% 69

SC Darien CT 1149-1208 51%~83% 124-50

SC Madison CT 1306-? 66% 90

SC Wareham MA 1518-? 29%~51% ?

SC Orleans MA 1630-1700 33%~89% ?
(end of trip food shopping)

 

[RickCRNA]

Using the recommended SC stops based on Tesla navigation will likely result in fewer stops but longer charge times in my road trip experience. Definitely not the most efficient use of time. My next long trip, I plan to use ABRP and enter the recommended SC stops manually into Tesla navigation and see how it goes.

 

[Watts_Up]

If you travel in an area with a low density of SuperCharger, I never go below 30% of Soc.
As I often experienced having to make detours because of an accident, mud slide, fire, or constructions.
Better safe than sorry.

 

[Lindenwood]

If you travel in an area with a low density of SuperCharger, I never go below 30% of Soc.
As I often experienced having to make detours because of an accident, mud slide, fire, or constructions.
Better safe than sorry.

I have never had to go 50+ miles out of my way for any detour, but I do understand your caution in keeping a little extra. It can be a little unnerving being 80 miles from your next stop with no chargers along the route and have your car predicting 4% SOC on arrival due to an unexpected headwind! Indeed, if I can swing it, I do prefer no less than a 15% predicted arrival SOC, but that is just as much for potential delays while running the AC, and to account for a few extra “passing maneuvers.” Still, a 65% charge going 100 miles will more than do that, even in my M3P with wider tires at 80mph.

 

[Effopec]

When it is very hot out I have been at SC's that have maxed out at around 38kW. That makes for some very slow charging. Again this is dependent on
1) Temp
2) v2 or v3 SC
3) How crowded the charger is

 

[Big Earl]

When it is very hot out I have been at SC's that have maxed out at around 38kW. That makes for some very slow charging. Again this is dependent on
1) Temp
2) v2 or v3 SC
3) How crowded the charger is

For V2, wrapping the charge wand with a wet rag will boost your charging speeds back up. Overheating equipment is a problem, particularly on hot days and in direct sunlight.

 

[fishacura]

Thank you ALL. So very helpful. Between this and additional time with the vehicle I am learning a lot and now understand the charge rate and how it slows....appreciate the education.