San Diego: Where are the Superchargers?

[Rocky_H]

Its funny that I was chastised rather thoroughly in one of the Model 3 threads for suggesting that while the Model 3 is closer to mainstream, there are a lot of regular drivers who won't want to put in the extra planning effort to travel with one long distance (especially in TX). Many concluded that I was nuts and that people don't just drive off on 3-4 hour trips without making PLANS or that driving around in a Model 3 long distance won't be more planning than you do for an ICE car.

While I would normally say that idea has some merit and would agree with it, I don't see this exemplifying that idea.

The OP here has demonstrated that even in charger-saturated California, you still can't just pull over to get "fuel" at the next exit when you get low (the extent of planning most ICE drivers do). Until the charging network is much more fleshed out, even driving Teslas long distance will require more planning than your average ICE car.

No, I don't think the OP demonstrated that at all. San Diego DOES have a Supercharger. If you're going to the San Diego area, touch the San Diego Supercharger on your nav--done. He even said it was only 10 miles from where they stayed for multiple days, but that was considered too much of a burden. This does not seem to be about this trip requiring extensive planning.

 

[dgpcolorado]

...No, I don't think the OP demonstrated that at all. San Diego DOES have a Supercharger. If you're going to the San Diego area, touch the San Diego Supercharger on your nav--done. He even said it was only 10 miles from where they stayed for multiple days, but that was considered too much of a burden. This does not seem to be about this trip requiring extensive planning.

I agree. I plan to make a trip to SD in a month or two and that Mira Mesa Supercharger Station makes the trip a lot easier: I'll drive direct to the Supercharger from El Centro, fill up, and then go to my friends' house, where I will likely be parking on the street. By contrast, a trip to Kirkland (Seattle area) in May required extensive planning for an L2 charge because there aren't any Supercharger Stations in or near Seattle. San Diego is way easier to visit.

 

[markb1]

I agree. I plan to make a trip to SD in a month or two and that Mira Mesa Supercharger Station makes the trip a lot easier: I'll drive direct to the Supercharger from El Centro, fill up, and then go to my friends' house, where I will likely be parking on the street. By contrast, a trip to Kirkland (Seattle area) in May required extensive planning for an L2 charge because there aren't any Supercharger Stations in or near Seattle. San Diego is way easier to visit.

Beware, though, there have been a lot of reports recently of slow charging speeds at the San Diego supercharger. Hopefully it will be fixed by the time you take your trip!

 

[dgpcolorado]

Beware, though, there have been a lot of reports recently of slow charging speeds at the San Diego supercharger. Hopefully it will be fixed by the time you take your trip!

Thanks for the warning. Regardless of how slow it is I'll just deal with it. My S60 is rather slow to Supercharge anyway so I am used to longer times. Never had to deal with waiting for a charge slot though. That may be a first for me.

 

[franklandfield]

I charge in Temecula......... great place to charge

 

[BrokerDon]

Consider staying at the La Quinta Inn - Mission Bay since it has two FREE Tesla HPWCs. Only problem is one was "out of service" last weekend (no power)... and the other one inside the parking structure frequently gets ICE'd. I suggest you call the hotel Manager ahead and ask them to block off the parking structure's Tesla HPWC space with a big traffic cone and/or yellow CAUTION tape until your arrival.

We arrived early on Thursday afternoon and pulled right in the HPWC space... But it was ICE'd on Friday evening. YMMV but this Tesla HPWC produced 80A / 200V ~ 48 MPH charge rate which filled our P85D to 90% in just a couple of hours.

We also stopped at the San Diego Supercharger at the Qualcomm office complex Sunday afternoon and it was busy but no waiting... and the charge rates seemed fast. Actually too fast since we found the 0.6 mile hiking path through the Qualcomm office park absolutely stunning and really relaxing. Definitely recommend you get out of your Tesla at this SC and enjoy your charge time. Healthiest & most relaxing SC stop we've ever had.

 

[Joey26]

Tesla has forgotten about the San Diego market (heavily satuarated with model s/x) and has only one super charger. Would make sense to put another one near the 5 in Oceanside or Carlsbad. Obviously they have other priorities.

 

[Buddy]

Tesla has forgotten about the San Diego market (heavily satuarated with model s/x) and has only one super charger. Would make sense to put another one near the 5 in Oceanside or Carlsbad. Obviously they have other priorities.

Maybe they figure that the one charger there is for people traveling to that area from out of town. If you travel feom that area you would use a supercharger somewhere else.

I see your location is Carslbad. Do you plan on using a supercharger locally?

 

[dgpcolorado]

Maybe they figure that the one charger there is for people traveling to that area from out of town. If you travel feom that area you would use a supercharger somewhere else...

I agree. It is very easy to get from the San Diego (Mira Mesa) Supercharger Station to the Orange County Supercharger Stations (San Juan Capistrano, Fountain Valley, Santa Ana, Buena Park) or Temecula. It is also easy to go east to El Centro. Unless the San Diego Supercharger Station gets saturated, which might be alleviated by the idle fee and the coming pay-for-charge for newer cars, there really isn't a need for another one.

Since El Centro westbound to San Diego can be difficult due to strong headwinds and mountains, it might be better for the next San Diego Supercharger Station to be placed closer to I-8. The only reason for another one in north San Diego would be to take the pressure off of San Juan Capistrano and SJC is no longer critical for getting to/from San Diego with all the other Orange County locations, IME.

 

[leighb]

I 100% agree that an I-8 supercharger, near La Mesa, would be ideal. Perhaps in Grossmont Center area.

 

[caltechkid]

Tesla has forgotten about the San Diego market (heavily satuarated with model s/x) and has only one super charger. Would make sense to put another one near the 5 in Oceanside or Carlsbad. Obviously they have other priorities.

As you know it's not intended to meet the charging needs of local owners, but rather to facilitate long distance travel. The SD SC has to take the take in terms of the % of frequent local resident chargers (with garages) who come here to "top off."

 

[Cosmacelf]

While locals are an issue, do remember that there are valid use cases for locals using a supercharger. A friend of mine uses his 90 kWh Model S to drive to and back from Los Angeles in one day (along with assorted side trips). He can do this all on one charge, but if he will need to drive that night, he feels he needs to do a quick top up. So he charges up in San Juan Capistrano on the way back sometimes. If he lived further south, he would use the San Diego Supercharger.

The point being that sometimes locals have valid uses for Superchargers.

And bottom line, we really need another Supercharger somewhere in North County San Diego...

 

[caltechkid]

Oh I don't dispute that at all, I've been in the exact same boat. All I'm saying is that it's been the usual cast of characters lately, definitely not topping off but rather doing full charges. Anyway, it is what it is.

 

[davewill]

...
And bottom line, we really need another Supercharger somewhere in North County San Diego...

Why? I still don't see it at all. Mission Valley, sure, but North County, no.

 

[Cosmacelf]

Why? I still don't see it at all. Mission Valley, sure, but North County, no.

Because we need it for the very highly travelled Los Angeles to San Diego route. I'm sure we also need another one along the 8 somewhere...

Tourists who are staying in San Diego overnight really should be looking for places they can charge overnight. There are lots of options.

 

[Cosmacelf]

So I happened to be near the San Diego Supercharger, 11 am Friday. It was full with one car waiting. Come on Tesla, we need more in the San Diego region!

 

[aronth5]

So I happened to be near the San Diego Supercharger, 11 am Friday. It was full with one car waiting. Come on Tesla, we need more in the San Diego region!

Not just San Diego but how about California? Supercharger.info show no permits for the entire state. That hasn't happened for a long time!

 

[Joey26]

This past weekend we took our first road trip in our new model S, from Los Angeles to San Diego. We were disappointed by what seemed to be the absence of a SC infrastructure in San Diego.

We rented a house in La Jolla and spent what seemed to be a significant amount of time on PlugShare trying to locate a nearby supercharger. As we were not in a hotel, we could not plug our S into an EV charger overnight. The closest SC location was about 10 miles away, in a Qualcomm office park.

On the day of departure I had to go to the Qualcomm location at 6:00 am to recharge for our trip back to Los Angeles, as we did not have enough power for the 40-50 mile drive to the SC in either San Juan Capistrano or Temecula.

(For the record, the first SC experience in the Qualcomm parking lot was impressively fast!)

All this raises some questions:
-- did we miss other SC locations in San Diego that were closer to La Jolla?
-- are we the only Tesla owners who have experienced SC issues in metro San Diego?

This first experience -- a "short drive" from LA to San Diego -- has forced us to reconsider some of our plans for future road trips in the S.

Our thanks for whatever information and assistance the Forum can provide.

Oh...but they are "working on adding more......" well it's been 2 years and nothing!

 

[Joey26]

There are also free J1772 chargers in the park at Mission Bay, not far from La Jolla. But they're slow and I think you have to be registered with Blink to use them.

Yes, a North County supercharger is long overdue.

Lots of empty promises from Tesla on this subject....

 

[Harleycw]

There hasn't been an update here for a while. It sure look like from the coming soon map in San Diego area there are many coming to the area. However, I can't figure out a way to zoom into the map enough to get a better idea. I'm sure it's only a general proposal so the number and exact areas in actuality will be quiet different. However, I'm really anxious to get more in the area and up through L.A. area especially before all the new cars start arriving. I am wondering what the general consensus is on the projected usage of superchargers is for model 3. I'm guessing that in that price range and because it's not free, it will be quite a bit lower for those that charge up locally but many more will be travelling and using them. Oh and the supercharger.info site doesn't work anymore.