Some California Superchargers not providing maximum charging rates

[tinanbran]

we just completed a 5000km trip from Toronto to South Florida and back. Had great charging rates all the way there, hitting 103-106kw at almost every charger and charging almost faster then predicted at every stop...... then we went home and noticed rates slowing down... a lot, would only peak at 56kw and hold, switch chargers and might peak to 60kw. To keep the kids happy and moving we ended up hitting more stops and taking an extra day due to the slow charging. Called Tesla and they could see it and asked me to preform a hard reboot and we had the numbers spike back up at that one charger to 103kw. Next stop same *sugar*, 57kw...... all these chargers where providing very strong numbers just a week before.

 

[ecarfan]

I just completed a drive from San Mateo CA to Tustin CA charging at Gilroy, Atascadero, Buelton, Oxnard, and Hawthorne. I got charging rates that I consider normal based on 3 years of Model S ownership and over 52K miles of driving.

Also, based on my driving that route multiple times with my Tesla starting in 2014, it appears to me that all the charging cables at those locations are not the original type but are a newer style because the button at the business end of the cable is the new type without the visible outline around the button area.

 

[apacheguy]

I just completed a drive from San Mateo CA to Tustin CA charging at Gilroy, Atascadero, Buelton, Oxnard, and Hawthorne. I got charging rates that I consider normal based on 3 years of Model S ownership and over 52K miles of driving.

Also, based on my driving that route multiple times with my Tesla starting in 2014, it appears to me that all the charging cables at those locations are not the original type but are a newer style because the button at the business end of the cable is the new type without the visible outline around the button area.

Did you stay with the car or monitor the charge rate via the phone app? I found that on my most recent trip I wouldn't see the limiting kick in until after 5-10 min above 100 kW.

 

[bro1999]

Hmm....so the SC peak charging rates are well over double current CCS charging rates, yet it seems those 100+kW rates are only realized for a little bit. So much for the SC network being "2 to 3 times" as fast as CCS!

 

[rypalmer]

Hmm....so the SC peak charging rates are well over double current CCS charging rates, yet it seems those 100+kW rates are only realized for a little bit. So much for the SC network being "2 to 3 times" as fast as CCS!

When Superchargers are typically half your battery range apart, aggressive tapering at the top end doesn't matter as much. SC rates hold on pretty well until more than half your state of charge. Don't forget every CCS/CHAdeMO station out there advertises its kW rating in terms of fairly high battery voltages, that only exist with higher states of charge, if at all depending on the voltage of your pack. Don't expect more than 35kW from a CCS/CHAdeMO station when you are really discharged.

Bottom line: saying SCs are "2-3x faster" is pretty accurate in practice.

 

[bxr140]

And...tapering is a battery thing, not a charger thing. CCS, chademo, and any other magical tbd charging standard will always taper.

 

[TexasEV]

Hmm....so the SC peak charging rates are well over double current CCS charging rates, yet it seems those 100+kW rates are only realized for a little bit. So much for the SC network being "2 to 3 times" as fast as CCS!

CCS and CHAdeMO rates are also peak rates. I typically get 35kW from a supposedly 50kW CHAdeMO.

 

[bro1999]

So "Your electrons may vary" is definitely applicable.

 

[bxr140]

You seem to think electrons are somehow partisan.

 

[MITE46]

Perhaps it is handle temperature combined with resistance measurement? I've also experience many very good sessions where the handle was very hot...

Or maybe the temperature tolerance narrows as power increases? I could see a case when a stable 90kW session would be faster than 110kW=>50kW=>110kW...

 

[Benjamin Brooks]

Visited Harris Ranch, Bakersfield, and Buttonwillow SCs a few times past few days.
Except for Buttonwillow, all unpaired charger sessions started at ~115kW then quickly dropped to a 60kW cap (within a few minutes).
The replug "trick" into adjacent unpaired charger brought the charge rate back well above 90kW each time.
So annoying. This never used to happen in the past 4 years that I've used the SCs for Bay Area <-> SoCal trips.

 

[AMPd]

Took a trip to the mountains yesterday and charged at no more than 45kw both times.
Moved stalls and same thing.
First time charged at the Rocklin SC
Coming back at the Roseville SC

Car would charge at 45kw for a bit and then drop to 21 then ramp up to 45, rinse and repeat.

I was beyond disappointed

My fiancé said one more trip like that and we're going back to using ice cars for road trips.

What made this even more annoying is the announcement from Elon about 350kW+ charging speeds coming soon... they can't even do the advertised 130kW.

 

[StoXto3toY]

At Fountain Valley right now..nobody else here..57 degrees outside can't get over 58KW on any charger..tried them all. Called service and they said they show full power on their end no issues. Told me just to be patient.....

 

[caltechkid]

At Fountain Valley right now..nobody else here..57 degrees outside can't get over 58KW on any charger..tried them all. Called service and they said they show full power on their end no issues. Told me just to be patient.....

I've observed the exact same thing (and received the exact same response) across 6 SCs from SD to LA over the last week...frustrating. Prior to this week I averaged ~90kW before tapering.

 

[ddimit]

Took a trip down to southern ca on 12/25 late night 9pm got taper at Fresno 45 degrees outside no other cars at charger moved to multiple stalls to finally get consistent rate above 100kw. Ran into same issue at Tejon 11pm. Trip back yesterday hit both of these chargers no taper at all, sustained rates at 116kw and normal taper temps in the 50s outside. I have no clue, its not heat related i know that much for sure.

 

[Merrill]

I have yet to see anything over 100kW in the last few months.

 

[apacheguy]

At Fountain Valley right now..nobody else here..57 degrees outside can't get over 58KW on any charger..tried them all. Called service and they said they show full power on their end no issues. Told me just to be patient.....

What was your battery level? It's really frustrating when Tesla refuses to acknowledge the issue.

 

[apacheguy]

Took a trip to the mountains yesterday and charged at no more than 45kw both times.
Moved stalls and same thing.
First time charged at the Rocklin SC
Coming back at the Roseville SC

Car would charge at 45kw for a bit and then drop to 21 then ramp up to 45, rinse and repeat.

I was beyond disappointed

My fiancé said one more trip like that and we're going back to using ice cars for road trips.

What made this even more annoying is the announcement from Elon about 350kW+ charging speeds coming soon... they can't even do the advertised 130kW.

Hmm. That sounds like there could be a serious issue. Cycling between 21 and 45 kW is not normal under any circumstance.

 

[StoXto3toY]

What was your battery level? It's really frustrating when Tesla refuses to acknowledge the issue.

Was at 80 miles when I arrived.

 

[StoXto3toY]

I've observed the exact same thing (and received the exact same response) across 6 SCs from SD to LA over the last week...frustrating. Prior to this week I averaged ~90kW before tapering.

Very frustrating.