Packed Superchargers

[Soua]

Yesterday I had to help a lady at the Exeter SuC. She approached me asking for help because she could not plug in the cable. I had a look at it and she tried to connect the old Tesla connector to a new Model 3 ;-)

Sometimes you have to charge up to over 80% (At least with an SR+). We are going to Southampton from Exmouth and there are no SuC on the way. I will have to charge up the car the night before and it seems I am losing up to 10% overnight in a public car park at the moment (the car hasn’t slept since we left home on Monday. It seems overly excited to finally get out ;-) and I need at least 80% of charge leaving here if I want to leave a bit of safety. So while the main routes seems to be covered some areas are still a wasteland when it comes to SuC.

I had my first 10% overnight phantom drain in an underground car park last week. Turned off sentry (as it's a locked garage) and lost 1% in next 10 days - that's better!

 

[cezdoc]

There's still a couple of weeks of holiday for English schools, and a bank holiday weekend coming up, it'll be busy next weekend and monday.

This year is clearly exceptional due to travel restrictions, but I would point out that so far the posts above all reference getting one of the last spots, no one yet has said they had to wait hours to charge. Say an 8 stall SuperCharger like Gordano is full, it's most probable that someone will finish within 5 minutes (say 40 mins average charge). You would need to be 12th in a queue to have a likely one hour wait.

I don't really see a problem, as new cars are sold new SuperChargers open, if the ratio is maintained we will be fine. I'm not really sure I believe the stuff about opening SuperChargers to everyone, people seem to be putting a lot of faith in Elon's casual comments. I think it will be one car from a startup in the US that did a deal, and then maybe some SuperChargers where governments have sponsored the creation in Norway. I won't care as it's given in 'Elon time' my car will be self-driving to charge itself before we see any change in the UK.

Exactly. In the olden days, when some Superchargers on key routes were two-bay, the risk of a 30-60 minute delay due to queuing/sharing power was arguably much greater (offset by less cars using the network). Bigger (8+) sites should smooth out and reduce the chance of a long wait as pointed out by @GRiLLA . Plus I find the latest Nav updates which show stalls available/estimated wait time quite helpful and no doubt allows anyone with a choice of when/where to charge to wait/divert elsewhere. For many long UK routes there are now a number of alternative Superchargers and so far in my experience this has offset the risk of longer charging stops.

No doubt in the UK we benefit from lessons learned in high usage regions elsewhere in the world (California, NL, Norway). Supercharging continues to be several years ahead of any other rapid network and Tesla have consistently adapted to retain the excellent charging experience in terms of reliability and ease of use.

 

[Mrklaw]

wonder if Tesla can update nav software for when a local charger is generally high usage, to reroute to an alternative? I understnad load is often transitory but if its been busy at the time you're due there for previous days then eg it could route you to Cribbs Causeway instead of Gordano as they're close.

btw, where is Cribbs Causeway chargers? that whole area is a bit of a maze for parking

 

[phil4]

wonder if Tesla can update nav software for when a local charger is generally high usage, to reroute to an alternative? I understnad load is often transitory but if its been busy at the time you're due there for previous days then eg it could route you to Cribbs Causeway instead of Gordano as they're close.

btw, where is Cribbs Causeway chargers? that whole area is a bit of a maze for parking

You raise a good point. Past two journeys I've done, I've known I need to charge en-route, and so set the Supercharger as the destination. As I'm doing that 3+ hours in advance of getting there, it may look just fine when I set off, but be very busy indeed by the time I get there. And from that charger to another isn't always sensible/possible (eg. Kings Lynn... do I drive across Norfolk to Thetford? Or back to Northampton, St Neots, Cambridge, Grantham etc? All taking me quite a way from my destination... and would have been better if route had been via them in the first place.

 

[Jason71]

wonder if Tesla can update nav software for when a local charger is generally high usage, to reroute to an alternative? I understnad load is often transitory but if its been busy at the time you're due there for previous days then eg it could route you to Cribbs Causeway instead of Gordano as they're close.

btw, where is Cribbs Causeway chargers? that whole area is a bit of a maze for parking

They are in the shopping centre carpark across from the ground floor entrance to John Lewis. The in car nav will take you straight to the right car park but does not understand 3 dimensions. It took me to a location on the first floor and told me I had arrived when I was directly over head. So long as you know they are on the ground floor they are pretty easy to find from there.

 

[kelvin 660]

wonder if Tesla can update nav software for when a local charger is generally high usage, to reroute to an alternative?

The other day it routed me to an early stop at Cribbs Causway. It was becuase Exeter Darts Farm was out of action due to being upgraded... However as you might be arriving at a charger in 1 to 2 hours time, Tesla won't know how many cars will be arriving/using the super charger...

 

[GRiLLA]

Exactly. In the olden days, when some Superchargers on key routes were two-bay, the risk of a 30-60 minute delay due to queuing/sharing power was arguably much greater (offset by less cars using the network). Bigger (8+) sites should smooth out and reduce the chance of a long wait as pointed out by @GRiLLA . Plus I find the latest Nav updates which show stalls available/estimated wait time quite helpful and no doubt allows anyone with a choice of when/where to charge to wait/divert elsewhere. For many long UK routes there are now a number of alternative Superchargers and so far in my experience this has offset the risk of longer charging stops.

No doubt in the UK we benefit from lessons learned in high usage regions elsewhere in the world (California, NL, Norway). Supercharging continues to be several years ahead of any other rapid network and Tesla have consistently adapted to retain the excellent charging experience in terms of reliability and ease of use.

Agreed, it was definitely worse when I got my Model 3 in 2019 than it is these days, even though there are far, far, far more cars.

I do find that when I'm navigating to a SuperCharger the symbol changes to the route-end marker and I can't see the number available anymore, which is dumb.

 

[radicalwipeout]

They are in the shopping centre carpark across from the ground floor entrance to John Lewis.

Yes, in the lower 'underground' car park for JL. For reference, if you happen to have a roof rack and bikes on the roof, they don't fit under the height restriction!

do find that when I'm navigating to a SuperCharger the symbol changes to the route-end marker and I can't see the number available anymore, which is dumb.

You can press on the end location if it is a Supercharger whilst in the nav and it will bring up the count of stalls available. I've also noticed that in 'some' situations if you're navigating to a Supercharger or if you are navigating to a destination that the car thinks you don't need to charge to get to, it won't show you the surrounding Superchargers en-route (which it will if you're going somewhere else).

 

[Dunstan]

If I were Tesla I'd put someone "front of house" or marshall at the busiest sites at the times when they are expected to be busy (e.g. holiday routes). Managing the queues, helping people decide how high to charge, suggesting drivers at 50% continue their journeys ... not a year round job, but might suit a student/recent retiree.

 

[CMc1]

If I were Tesla I'd put someone "front of house" or marshall at the busiest sites at the times when they are expected to be busy (e.g. holiday routes). Managing the queues, helping people decide how high to charge, suggesting drivers at 50% continue their journeys ... not a year round job, but might suit a student/recent retiree.

Sure they do this over the pond during certain seasons.

This weekend will be interesting

 

[CMc1]

Not just UK or superchargers for that matter. Here’s one from France on “usual Saturday”

Felix Hamer on LinkedIn: #alwaysbecharging #ionity #blacksaturday #france #fastcharging #evroadtrip… | 26 comments

Your average IONITY station on a Saturday in August in France, thanks to Jochen De Smet. Most people charging to 90%, 95% SoC. Many chargers and vehicles not… | 26 comments on LinkedIn

www.linkedin.com

 

[adsheff]

This was Albington services when we stopped to charge up at lunchtime a few weeks ago. Only 1 of the Ecotricity charger was working, imagine if you just rolled up in a £100k+ Taycan expecting to charge.....and how quickly you will trade in the Taycan for a petrol 911/Panamera.

Anyone who wants to see mass EV adoption happen has to realise scene like this is the best advertisement for BP/Shell interms of staying with combustion cars!!

Frankly the lack of legislation to force rapid charger capacity at Mway services is a joke. Without better Mway rapid charging people will be trading in their EVs as quickly as they buy them, and a large percentage of car buyers will never want a Tesla regardless of the Supercharging network.

Yeah I totally agree with you. We've heard a lot of nice things from Gridserve and they are doing work, but I don't think it's enough nor in the right places. The Gridserve-only sites (only one so far) aren't on the major motorway routes, and the upgrade of the ecotricity chargers needed to be much more ambitious. They need to have a plan to upgrade all the major motorway services with large-scale hubs as soon as possible, and government needs to help them get the power connections up to speed at the same time.

Clearly Tesla have had a lot of trouble with power connections and planning permission with some of there motorway sites - and have abandoned a lot of them and turned to retail parks etc. This shouldn't be the case, if we had a half-decent government. I'm fed up of seeing all these headlines of new chargers opening up and you look at it and its in a random pub car park on the B573. It's handy if you're going there but not much use for long trips.

 

[nufan]

I’ve done a fair few road trips recently - M1/M40 Oop North to Scotch Corner. Never had to queue - shared a couple of times - but never had to queue even at times I’d consider peak.

I start off full of course - and those routes are not badly served by Superchargers.

If you’re considering buying a Tesla - it’s not a massive problem IMHO. The in-car nav helps by telling you how many chargers are available at each site, and whilst a bit laggy with the data, helps you make charging decisions en-route - I.e. whether to get that extra +30% you need early - or wait until later. Well, that and your bladder…

 

[Jason71]

Not just UK or superchargers for that matter. Here’s one from France on “usual Saturday”

View attachment 700863

Felix Hamer on LinkedIn: #alwaysbecharging #ionity #blacksaturday #france #fastcharging #evroadtrip… | 26 comments

Your average IONITY station on a Saturday in August in France, thanks to Jochen De Smet. Most people charging to 90%, 95% SoC. Many chargers and vehicles not… | 26 comments on LinkedIn

www.linkedin.com

they have the additional problem that the chargers will get clogged up with cars like that kia that don't change very quickly. Upto a 65kwh battery but only charges at 50-77kw max or Zoes with a 50kw hour battery and only charges at 50kw max etc

 

[interbear]

Just back from our vacation in Scotland. My supercharger experience for this trip:

Journey north - charged at Keele, Gretna and Perth. No waiting required.

Journey south (yesterday)- charged at Tebay and Hilton Park. Tebay was packed, but only had to wait 10 minutes to get a slot. Was automatically limited to 80% but I was able to adjust to 90%. No wait required at Hilton Park, only 4 of the chargers were occupied including mine. With Tebay I think the issue is twofold - firstly, it services both south and northbound so has double the potential drivers looking for a charge. Secondly, it’s a massively popular service station generally, one of the more pleasant ones to use, so people actively seek to stop there. Never mind Tesla, there was barely a parking space to be had anywhere yesterday.

On the trip generally I‘d booked a cottage in the highlands that had an EV charge point which removed any issue for me while exploring the Cairngorms. The only charging anxiety I faced was in the Borders, stayed for a few days visiting family. I used Chargeplace Scotland (CPS). None of the chargers in Hawick (where we were staying) were operational, so we went to Galashiels for a shop and a charge. CPS in Gala was occupied by a Leaf on one side, the other side didn’t work. Went to Tesco and plugged into the free Podpoint. Started charging but while shopping some smarta*se unplugged my cable from the podpoint charger so charging stopped. Drove over to Tweedbank, the CPS charger worked fine but was super slow. I saw on the CPS map (which is pretty good) that the rapid CPS charger in Melrose was freed up, so dashed there and plugged in. This worked fine. However, a chase around the Borders wasting time to find a suitable charger was not a pleasant experience.

 

[Jason71]

They need to have a plan to upgrade all the major motorway services with large-scale hubs as soon as possible, and government needs to help them get the power connections up to speed at the same time.

I think this is the biggest issue. given the volume of EV's now I think companies would happily install chargers on motorways if they could get the power at a reasonable installation cost.
I have mixed feeling about the Gridserves virtual monopoly on motorways On the one hand they seem like a good company but can they handle the expansion needed at all motorway services quickly enough? Opening it up to competition in theory would be good. normally that is good for price but in this case I fear we would end up with Ionity at 70p/kwh in many places rather than Gridserve at 30p. The best thing would be multiple brands at each location plus superchargers as well of course.

 

[Jason71]

They need to have a plan to upgrade all the major motorway services with large-scale hubs as soon as possible, and government needs to help them get the power connections up to speed at the same time.

I think this is the biggest issue. given the volume of EV's now I think companies would happily install chargers on motorways if they could get the power at a reasonable installation cost.
I have mixed feeling about the Gridserves virtual monopoly on motorways On the one hand they seem like a good company but can they handle the expansion needed at all motorway services quickly enough? Opening it up to competition in theory would be good. normally that is good for price but in this case I fear we would end up with Ionity at 70p/kwh in many places rather than Gridserve at 30p. The best thing would be multiple brands at each location plus superchargers as well of course.

 

[Stuart1714]

I used to use Burtonwood services which is on the M62 north of Warrington on the odd occasion to use up my free supercharging miles and it comes up in the app all the time as it’s very close to where I work and live.

This one is often quite busy, but I’ve only had to wait the once and not for very long. On the way out a lot of cars seem to head towards Liverpool as I often head out of the services the same way, but don’t go onto the motorway. Liverpool really needs one closer so it will be interesting to see if it makes a difference to Burtonwood if/when the Liverpool one eventually opens.

 

[AnthonyLR]

The other day it routed me to an early stop at Cribbs Causway. It was becuase Exeter Darts Farm was out of action due to being upgraded... However as you might be arriving at a charger in 1 to 2 hours time, Tesla won't know how many cars will be arriving/using the super charger...

They kind of will as the Tesla Satnav can report back to the mothership who is incoming when and for roughly how much charge

 

[Adopado]

The only charging anxiety I faced was in the Borders, stayed for a few days visiting family.

As mentioned in another thread Selkirk (on the A7) is always worth a shot for their CPS charger. I've always got access and it's always worked.