Only 36 kW at ~15% SoC at Salem, OR Supercharger at Tesla sales and service center?

[3sr+buyer]

On a recent road trip, I used the in-car navigation to the Salem, OR Supercharger in front of the Tesla sales and service center, arriving at about 15% state-of-charge after more than an hour of driving. Ambient temperature was in the 70s F or low 20s C. There were no other cars charging at the Supercharger at the time.

When I plugged the cable into the car, it would only charge at 36 kW, saying that the battery needed to be warmed up. However, at other times on the road trip, starting a charge at about 15% state-of-charge generally initially started at about 160+ kW, slowing down to about 90-100 kW as it reached about 50% state-of-charge (this is a 2022 Model 3 with the nominal 60 kWh LFP battery).

What would be different at this particular Supercharger that makes it that slow relative to others?

 

[RTPEV]

First to directly answer your question:

What would be different at this particular Supercharger that makes it that slow relative to others?

very simply, it could have been broken/degraded. Sometimes equipment breaks. The 36kW spped, being a multiple of 18kW, is especially suspicious since the charger modules are 18kW (or at least they used to be), so if you see an even multiple of 18kW, it is probably the charger that's limiting you (much more common at V2 sites).

I have to ask, did you try any different stalls (particularly on a different charger cabinet)? This is a good way of telling whether a particular charger is experiencing problems.

Also, did you navigate to the Supercharger by name, or by address? Navigating by name informs the car that you are planning to supercharge and it can condition the battery. Even though you were driving an hour, there will be a difference between keeping the battery at ideal temps for normal driving/longevity, and pre-conditioning for fast charging. Because the car even told you that the battery was being heated at first, it's pretty clear that in this case it was not at the proper temperature. I have had this happen when I navigated to a Supercharger ADDRESS rather than calling it out by the name of the Supercharger.

 

[3sr+buyer]

Navigated to it by name. But also, there were times on the trip (during local driving at the destination) when I just drove up to a Supercharger without using the navigation to it and got a much higher wattage upon plugging in.

Did not try different plugs. Though surprising that a Supercharger at a Tesla sales and service center (as opposed to a random strip mall parking lot) would be broken and not quickly noticed and fixed.

 

[MP3Mike]

When I plugged the cable into the car, it would only charge at 36 kW, saying that the battery needed to be warmed up.

The fact that the car said the battery needed to be warmed likely means that there isn't a problem at that Suprecharger site.

Navigated to it by name.

Any chance that you navigated to the Sales/Service Center instead of the Supercharger? (As that would result in it not pre-conditioning.) Did you click on the red pin with the number of available stalls in it to navigate to?

 

[3sr+buyer]

Any chance that you navigated to the Sales/Service Center instead of the Supercharger? (As that would result in it not pre-conditioning.) Did you click on the red pin with the number of available stalls in it to navigate to?

Didn't click on the red pin.

However, at some other Superchargers, when I just drove to them without using the navigation to direct to them, I got much higher charge rates than 36 kW (at least 100 kW).

 

[MP3Mike]

However, at some other Superchargers, when I just drove to them without using the navigation to direct to them, I got much higher charge rates than 36 kW (at least 100 kW).

It all depends on the temperature of the battery pack. Like was it "cold" overnight and this was a charging stop early in the day? (So the pack wasn't even near the ambient temperature.)

If you want to ensure as fast of charging as possible you always have to navigate to an actual Supercharger pin. (Just driving for hours won't do it.)

 

[avs007]

70 degrees is still pretty "cold" in terms of battery temperature for optimum fast charging. The battery needs to be closer 120 degrees F for optimum charging.. While driving to Canada, when I started one of the treks, the ambiemt outside temperature was 93 degrees. The car/app still popped up a message saying it was heating the battery for optimum charging speed.

With that being said, 36kW seems rather low even on a cold battery. In my experience when the battery is cold, I usually start somewhere around 50kW, but I also don't have an LFP battery...