Alfafoxtrot1
Member
Conservative approach sounds great, but its not much of an option in a 60kwh. We have to commit to the SC. Most likely, we'll find somewhere nearby to get some juice, but no SC is always going to throw our plans off the rails.
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Reliability of Superchargers?
- Thread starter TeslaSinHR
- Start date
Let's talk real world. How often have you driven to a Supercharger station and none of the Superchargers were operating?
I have never heard a report of a Supercharger station being completely down. I have heard of Supercharger congestion. So maybe you have to wait occasionally for a free Supercharger stall to become available. However, do you really think that in the majority of cases driving somewhere else and charging on a painfully slow public charger is a better alternative if you have to travel long distances?
In the absence of tools to notify you in advance of Supercharger availability, realistically being conservative by doing maximum range charges and driving closer to 60 than 70 may be the best option in a 60kWh Model S.
Larry
Alfafoxtrot1
Member
Right. Under "standard" conditions, I'll consume at rated range at 67 mph. So, at most, that would mean 50 miles of range remaining when I reach a SC. MY sole point is that if I couldn't charge at SC, that day is going to be very different than planned. I haven't used many SCs, but I plan to do so more, as more pop up. I haven't encountered any problems at SC, and I will continue to assume there won't be problems. However, an app sure would be nice. Ideally, the app could also have some predictability feature such that we would indicate our target arrival time and based on reports from others it could indicate expected availability/wait times, or maybe a simple red, yellow, green - like traffic display on gps.
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Personally, in line with the first part of your post, I'd rather just plan on the SC being operational. I've not heard of them all being down either, and only seen congestion personally at Gilroy and Hawthorne. Regardless, it wasn't much of a problem to wait a bit. I'd rather just plan for them to be working since the reliability seems to be pretty impeccable than drive slowly in my 60 all the time because of a pretty baseless concern of the upcoming SC not working. I'd rather deal with the problem in the extremely unlikely event that I happen upon it than stress myself out every road trip for no reason. Just enjoy the drive!
On a long road trip a even 85 kWh Model S would be greatly inconvenienced IF it couldn't charge at a Supercharger station. Your earlier posting suggested that a conservative approach is not of much use to a 60 kWh Model S. My point is that, in the absence of perfect availability information a conservative approach is best for both battery sizes, particularly the smaller size.
Let's say you have another 100 miles to go on your trip, regardless of the size of your battery pack if your only other alternative is finding a public charger (assuming there is even one nearby) that's going to be a 5 hour wait. In response to the original poster's question there is no information to support the concern that a Supercharger station will be completely down. There is a chance that there will be Supercharger congestion at certain chargers.
In the absence of availability information, my contention is that regardless of the size of your battery, if you are taking a long road trip, you are better off charging and driving conservatively, even if you have to wait at a Supercharger station for an available stall. I certainly don't disagree that an availability application would be nice, but it doesn't exist yet. Even calling Tesla before embarking on a long trip is not going to assure you that a Supercharger stall will be available when you arrive.
The question you and the original poster have to ask yourselves is "Are you going to refrain from driving your Model S on a long road trip if a Supercharger availability application doesn't exist, or are you gong to mitigate possible delays by charging and driving conservatively?".
Larry
One man's conservative is another's reckless abandon. You might want enough juice (by driving slowly and range charging whenever possible) to skip a station if necessary. Another might be willing to risk having to wait an extra hour at an SC because of a long line (perhaps caused by several bays being out of order).
Personally, in line with the first part of your post, I'd rather just plan on the SC being operational. I've not heard of them all being down either, and only seen congestion personally at Gilroy and Hawthorne. Regardless, it wasn't much of a problem to wait a bit. I'd rather just plan for them to be working since the reliability seems to be pretty impeccable than drive slowly in my 60 all the time because of a pretty baseless concern of the upcoming SC not working. I'd rather deal with the problem in the extremely unlikely event that I happen upon it than stress myself out every road trip for no reason. Just enjoy the drive!
You make a good point. This is obviously a matter of personal preference and the degree each of us deals with risk.
In my initial remarks I stated for the time being I agree with a conservative approach. By that I meant until there is an established track record in your region it makes sense to be conservative. (Here in Florida we've only had Superchargers for a few months.) I didn't say to drive slowly all the time. I suggested to charge and drive conservatively on long road trips. The longer the trip the slower. As I pointed out in previous postings the reason for being conservative is not based on the likelihood of all Superchargers being down. It is simply to give you more options if the Superchargers are congested. For example, rather than waiting it might be possible to continue to the next Supercharger station or on to your destination.
Larry
TonyWilliams
Active Member
Wow, just WOW ! Many of the issues I posted are actually REAL life situations... they happen, trust me, and I've lived them. Supercharger stations aren't immune. Also, I've actually driven plenty of long distance trips in cars that are NOT nearly as capable as the Tesla Model S or Roadster.
The shotgun stuff was obviously bad humor for those forum posters who are also tea drinking shotgun owners who blow up car charging stations; for that I apologize for my insensitive statements about those folks.
By the way, I've owned guns my entire life, and in the U.S. Marine Corps, I was a multi-time expert with both the M16 and 1911 ACP. I drink tea occasionally, too. Guys need to lighten up, me thinks.
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surfingslovak
Member
Pardon my ignorance, but is there a reason why TM would not expose the state of each of their superchargers through a smartphone companion app for the Model S or through an owner online portal? While it's nice that this information is available over the phone, this is often not particularly convenient or useful. I think that the utility of the supercharger network would be greatly increased if owners were able to access this type of information. I am wrong thinking this aloud?
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The good news is that the superchargers are modular. The Normal, IL superchargers had a glitch the first couple of weeks or so where two of the four went offline and wouldn't charge. A call to Tesla got someone to fix it right away, but the other stalls remained active. You might have to hang around a little longer if you came upon a situation like this, but at least you won't be stranded with none of them working (unless they fall into complete disrepair, widespread disaster, or full-scale vandalism).
I also agree it would be nice to get current utilization information published.
The use of the gun, tea, and anti-Obama qualifiers was a bit unfortunate, but Tony has a point. There will be those who smash up stuff just because it's fun to do so, no matter their military status, political party, or otherwise, and we're in a bit of a transition phase over the next couple of years. The resiliency isn't where it needs to be so that you might be able to skip a station that's offline, similar to when you arrive at a gas station and all the pumps are bagged. In a few years, though, when the ranges of the supercharger stations clearly overlap, that problem will largely be fixed except for global vandalism of the system.
I also agree it would be nice to get current utilization information published.
The use of the gun, tea, and anti-Obama qualifiers was a bit unfortunate, but Tony has a point. There will be those who smash up stuff just because it's fun to do so, no matter their military status, political party, or otherwise, and we're in a bit of a transition phase over the next couple of years. The resiliency isn't where it needs to be so that you might be able to skip a station that's offline, similar to when you arrive at a gas station and all the pumps are bagged. In a few years, though, when the ranges of the supercharger stations clearly overlap, that problem will largely be fixed except for global vandalism of the system.
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artsci
Sponsor
I think you tacit assumption of vandalism is very misplaced. The superchargers are in locations where vandalism is not likely to occur and they're in plain sight. And I don't think there's any evidence of vandalism so far.
As for ICEs blocking the spaces I think your fear is exaggerated.
hans
P631
They might not park there again, but they might also key the other Tesla's in retaliation. This just does not sound like a battle that anyone would want to start. Escalating an inconsiderate act into vandalism is not a good way to go. I keep a few printed notes in my glove box to put on the windshield of ICE vehicles parked incorrectly. I resisted the urge to include the URL to http://www.youparklikean*******.com in the note and made it very pleasant and assuming that they are first offenders who are just confused about where to park.
About four months ago, Harris Ranch was down entirely for six-eight hours.
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My experience, also.
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My experience, also.
Mike_Schlechter
Model S - P457
I've noticed that in the Northbound Darien, CT rest stop the four chargers seem to have different rates of charge (I charge there a few times a week). Of course, the one with consistently the highest rate of charge is also the one almost always ICEd in. Last night when I arrived the two in back were ICEd in, as was my preferred one in front, leaving me with the slowest of the lot, and the one furtherest from the free WiFi, making it hard to work from the car.
It is not an uncommon problem in Darien in either direction, and on nights where the traffic is really bad it is almost inevitable.
It is not an uncommon problem in Darien in either direction, and on nights where the traffic is really bad it is almost inevitable.
DFibRL8R
Active Member
I am taking an 875 mile road trip from Northern Virginia to Orlando, Fl Starting Wednesday in my 60kWh Model S. Apparently there is a freak ice storm barreling down on the Southeast supposed to hit Tuesday night. From previous experience, I'm a bit nervous about the effects of snow and ice on travel south of Virginia and particularly the potential for power outage on the supercharger. I agree a real time status of the superchargers would be very helpful for planning since I would prefer to find alternate sources of electrons prior to arriving at a dead supercharger!
Cottonwood
Roadster#433, Model S#S37
Tesla does not have on-line or in-car status displays, but they do have real time monitoring in their control center at 877-798-3752. I have called this before to check on Supercharger status before heading out, when I really wanted to make sure that it would be working. The folks there are very cooperative and will look up current status for you. :biggrin:
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