Secret Supercharger at SC?

[AEdennis]

It wouldn't be the first Service Center with a "Secret" Superharger for Service Center use...

Last year, I used one in Ohio on our trip Coast to Coast (Here, There, and EVerywhere – Day 07)

 

[K-MTG]

Which, I was told, they are supposed to disclose.

It wasn't one time, they did it wrong, and it cost me a day's worth of amateur B-roll canyon video footage some of which took me 2 days to get to. Now I have to remember to disconnect it myself and to tell them to kindly not touch it. So frustrating but cheaper than the alternative.

How did they delete footage?

 

[TaoJones]

How did they delete footage?

Hrm? They didn't. Although to your point there isn't much difference between that and not reconnecting the camera correctly, which is what they, unlike during the previous 12 appointments, managed to accomplish.

All it takes is once. Kinda like washing/drying the car with a dirty chamois in circular motions, dropping a tool on a soft metal bezel... Et voila - hundreds of dollars of damage not noticed until after leaving the premises.

Accidents happen. I'm just not in the habit of paying $175/hour for unnecessary carelessness that tends to kill the word of mouth.

Yes, we all pay for every service experience, folks. Whether covered by warranty or ESA or not.

This is partly why I thank every early Model S owner I meet, and every shop foreman and service advisor who doesn't screw anything up (the majority, so far). Without them leading the way, there'd be no car to buy when I did, and no hope to stay ahead of the oncoming exponentially increasing deliveries.

One way or the other, everything seems to get dumped on Service's plate the moment the car is delivered/accepted - unless Ownership support can resolve the issue quickly over the phone.

To that end, we have to assume that every new SvC will get internal and external SCs and HPWCs - the former to save employees' time, and the latter to help with density since they'll generally have the real estate anyway (see Buena Park, Costa Mesa, hopefully Van Nuys if they can find a good parcel, I guess Burbank...). Pretty brilliant move - similar to selling Teslas out of Solar City and Nordstrom locations.

 

[EV-lutioin]

They unplug dashcams while cars are at service center.

Do dash cams continue to run when the car is powered down?

 

[TaoJones]

Do dash cams continue to run when the car is powered down?

Yes, presuming they are powered via unswitched 12V.

The draw from my dashcams, radar detector, and medium-sized fridge (a swing compressor being the only moving part) is generally less than 1kW/day.

What does draw? The heater for sure. The espresso maker? Not so much, which was surprising at first, and most appreciated to this day.

 

[ohmman]

The espresso maker? Not so much, which was surprising at first, and most appreciated to this day.

Please expand on this or link me. You're pulling shots out of your Model S? I'd love to take my Quickmill with me on the road, but I get the feeling my wife would finally realize I'm beyond repair.

 

[EV-lutioin]

Yes, presuming they are powered via unswitched 12V.

The draw from my dashcams, radar detector, and medium-sized fridge (a swing compressor being the only moving part) is generally less than 1kW/day.

What does draw? The heater for sure. The espresso maker? Not so much, which was surprising at first, and most appreciated to this day.

"Medium sized fridge".... is that code for mini-bar?

 

[TaoJones]

Please expand on this or link me. You're pulling shots out of your Model S? I'd love to take my Quickmill with me on the road, but I get the feeling my wife would finally realize I'm beyond repair.

The domestic harmony thing was tough with the original idea, yeah. I thought I'd be clever and mount a Nespresso aft, powered by an inverter. Well, it turned out the the surge amperage for the 19 bar pump in the (reasonably modest)
Nespresso model was so high that I'd need a 4kW sine wave inverter the size of a long shoebox with substantial cabling on top of that.

Sooooo happily at about that time, Handpresso decided to release a new model that enabled the use of one's own coffee instead of just those infernal pre-packed pods. Add a few extra autopods and the religious use of distilled water, and all is good. I found the customer service (French company) and shipping time for the accessories to be excellent. Be sure to get the "Auto" model, which accommodates both the pre-filled pods *and* one's own coffee.

The unit will produce a double shot from a single pod and it takes about 3 minutes for both shots. It has a 16
bar pump instead of a 19 bar pump. Easy peasy.

It can be hardwired, but I just use the 12V port and then stow the unit and the various accessories/water/coffee in a basket that fits behind the seat. Refill the autopods once a week and that's that. The whole thing pays for itself in about 3 months versus a daily coffeehouse habit.

Here's the link: Ese or ground coffee espresso machine for the car - Handpresso

Also seen at Amazon and others Stateside.

 

[TaoJones]

"Medium sized fridge".... is that code for mini-bar?

Hehe - well, funny you should mention. The next size up has both a fridge and a freezer in the same unit. Which is to say, chilled glasses on the fridge side for ale, and ice cubes on the freezer side for those who choose to dilute their (insert alcohol of choice here).

It's either that (60-quart size) or an ice maker to go along with the smaller fridge.

I figured for either solution I'd need to transition to a Model X. So for now I slum it with a smaller model fridge that fits better in the Model S and leave the ice maker at home. Besides, I prefer my whiskey neat and this leaves more room for chilled glasses and proper ale anyway.

Lest anyone get the wrong idea, the majority of the fridge space is reserved for salad fixins. But there's still room for 2 chilled glasses and 2 large bottles of ale at any given time. Just no ice.

I've never seen Cigar Guy in his lawn chair at any of the SoCal SCs, but if I do, at least I'll have ale to offer in trade.

 

[Ampster]

San Rafael also has one. It's not necessarily secret, but it's certainly not for public use.

I called them one to me when I needed a charge and they drove my car around back to the "non customer area". I was visiting my sister and needed enough charge to pic up my daughter in San Francisco and make

 

[ohmman]

Be sure to get the "Auto" model, which accommodates both the pre-filled pods *and* one's own coffee.

This would be a must as I roast my own. But we're getting very, very off topic now... unless you consider getting your espresso shots as a form of secret Supercharging.

 

[TaoJones]

This would be a must as I roast my own. But we're getting very, very off topic now... unless you consider getting your espresso shots as a form of secret Supercharging.

Ah, nicely done.

One thing I've noticed about the SvCs that have SCs or HPWCs for after-hours use: There ain't much around in the way of amenities. Now, one nice touch is that at a few locations (West Palm, Monterey for sure but I don't know about Blue Ash or Palm Desert) a code appears so one can use the rest room at the host SvC after hours. But that's about it, which is partly why I appreciate being somewhat self-contained with the espresso. I don't need food to drive, but I tend to do better when I'm awake.

 

[thecloud]

I don't find superchargers at Tesla Service Centers a big surprise.
As one of those service courtesies, I would expect that I would get may car back fully charged and ready to go.
But if were a public watering hole (for free!) it would be constantly occupied when the Service Centerfolk would need it. Not a good thing.

Yup. When I stopped at the Monterey (Seaside) service center on a weekday, coming back from a trip, all the supercharger stalls were taken, and another Model S had pulled up right behind me. One of the Centerfolk ran out and unplugged two Model X's from the chargers, moving them to the rear of the parking area so we could charge. While it was appreciated, I can imagine that routine gets old fast.

 

[* Powered]

My app also notified me my car was supercharging at the Costa Mesa Service Center last week. I have never seen one there so I assume it is for internal use only.

 

[modamoda]

There could be secret/private superchargers which is not shown in map.
I always see supercharger in nearby shopping center parking lot (it is starting point of test drive) but I don't know if any Tesla owner can use it.

I'm pretty sure service center must have one for testing purpose.
(After maintenance/fixing the car, SC engineer should make it sure if the car works with supercharger)

 

[mf66]

The SC near downtown Chicago ( Grand Ave) has several HPWC placed in an adjacent lot. In the alley next to the building there are two supercharger stalls. They are used a lot by locals ( many people in chicago live in buildings that don't have charging or park in lots that don't have power), taxi and uber use them a lot as well. I've been there a handful of times and they are always full. They don't shop up on tesla maps but apps like super chargers for tesla show them.

They posted signs when I picked up my car that they weren't available to the public during business hours until after the quarter. They are pumping cars through there right now.

 

[Dakkor]

They did not told me and I realised it 1 week later when I wanted to saved something that I just saw, camera was unplugged.