Some California Superchargers not providing maximum charging rates

[AMPd]

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

Did the same trip again today (we are really loving all the snow up in the sierras) and same thing on the same stalls.

Moved to a different stall on the other side (Rocklin service center) and charged at 112 kW before going down to 80 and stayed there until normal taper.

Arrived at the SC with 12% battery charge.

There's definitely something wrong with the stalls but last time the same thing happened at the Roseville SC, so this issue is affecting 2 different locations.

 

[wdolson]

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

I had a stall at Gilroy bounce back and forth between 8 and 50 Kw back in October. The next day I met a Tesla tech at the Manteca SC who said he had done some major repairs on one stall at Gilroy the afternoon before (after I had been there).

 

[hmmm]

PSA:

San Mateo is crazy slow right now...1 stall is down and the others are crawling...I am pulling 9Kw at a 20% SoC. Add all these and there were 9 cars waiting 20mn ago.

Tesla is aware.

 

[Benjamin Brooks]

PSA:

San Mateo is crazy slow right now...1 stall is down and the others are crawling...I am pulling 9Kw at a 20% SoC. Add all these and there were 9 cars waiting 20mn ago.

Tesla is aware.

9kW!! That's basically UMC charger speed. Dang, that's terrible.
Are there any CHAdeMO stations available nearby to use?

 

[trils0n]

9kW!! That's basically UMC charger speed. Dang, that's terrible.
Are there any CHAdeMO stations available nearby to use?

Yes, there is CHAdeMO below Whole foods in the same parking area as the Superchargers.

 

[Scannerman]

Burbank at 4:30PM today had 5 chargers in use (1 out of order) and 4 people waiting. Temperature was 102F (39C).

I was told at the Service Center:
1) Max supercharge rate is guaranteed only at temps of 28C or less.
2) The superchargers can only be cooled by fans.
3) If one person leaves on a hot day when a supercharger is busy, it has no chance to cool off before the next person pulls in.
4) Therefore the new arrival's charge rate will be severely slowed down because of the heat. I was told in the 90-110 amp range.

I've had my car since April 2. I've had only two hot weather supercharges, one in Fresno June 2 and one in Inyokern June 12. In both cases I was the only car at the supercharger and it was at its usual speedy rate.

I interpret this as meaning you can expect slow charging if you hit any popular charger on a hot day. One more reason to bypass Tejon for Buttonwillow, which hopefully will have some empty chargers with time to cool down.

Are you considering the difference in air temp between Tejon, and Buttonwillow?

Scannerman

 

[Scannerman]

Jeff - I don't understand why my charging rate is throttled down 50-60% at Harris ranch when I'm the ONLY person there at 10:30pm on a Monday night. Both Harris Ranch and Tejon were after peak demand times (8pm and 10pm) and I was the only person charging both times. If they can't get 1 single car 100kw, I don't know how they are blaming the utilities.

I'm frustrated because I had a nightmare trip from Anaheim to Oakland, I didn't get home until 2am when I shoudl ahve made it home by 11:30pm at the latest, including reasonable charge and waiting times. I encountered issues at 3 out of 4 superchargers, and had to visit 4 superchargers instead of 3, maybe even 2, because of slow charging rates.

Burbank was the worst, they only have 6 stalls (5 working) and can only provide 35kw to those 5 stalls? You can't blame the utilities for that.

I'll limit my rants to this thread and stop posting on the other thread.

Could some of your experience relate to the heat in the San Joaquin Valley?

You might be happier using 101. LA to SF, you would be looking at about 30 additional miles, with a much more interesting drive.

Scannerman

 

[wdolson]

Though this time of year the San Joaquin Valley is in the 40 F.

 

[MonsterCarter]

Not terribly slow but I'm getting 80kW from the Fresno SC today. Rolled in with 18% remaining and one other car

 

[chillaban]

Not California, but Las Vegas definitely seems to be throttled during the day. I'm filling up right now after two day trips and pulling a measly 40kW from any of the stalls I've tried. There's only one other Tesla here which I think has been left here for quite a while. I'm talking with a tow truck driver who just stopped by... says he's seen it there for a few hours already and will tow it.

So umm. Yeah.... if you have a pre-AP silver S at Las Vegas downtown, you might wanna come get it.

 

[markb1]

I'm talking with a tow truck driver who just stopped by... says he's seen it there for a few hours already and will tow it.

So someone actually called a tow truck? Or is this opportunistic towing?

 

[chillaban]

So someone actually called a tow truck? Or is this opportunistic towing?

It looked to me like opportunistic towing. Not clear to me whether the truck was contracted by Tesla or the building owner.... didn't bother asking

 

[4SUPER9]

You can't tow away a Tesla without unplugging it (or damaging the supercharger). You also cannot legally tow without posted signage with all the legalese (at least in California. I do not know about NV).

 

[aesculus]

You can't tow away a Tesla without unplugging it (or damaging the supercharger). You also cannot legally tow without posted signage with all the legalese (at least in California. I do not know about NV).

I wonder then if Tesla did contract the towing company and if so, they can probably release the charger cable on demand.

Interesting test case. @chillaban did you actually see the vehicle get towed?

 

[chillaban]

I wonder then if Tesla did contract the towing company and if so, they can probably release the charger cable on demand.

Interesting test case. @chillaban did you actually see the vehicle get towed?

Nope. I finished charging maybe 20 minutes after chatting with the tow truck driver. He was still there watching the car at the time.

 

[whttiger25]

Could some of your experience relate to the heat in the San Joaquin Valley?

You might be happier using 101. LA to SF, you would be looking at about 30 additional miles, with a much more interesting drive.

Scannerman

Coming from orange county at rush hour, it wouldn't make sense to cross LA to try to get to the 101. I am a socal and norcal native having spent about half my life in each locale, so I'm well aware of the 5 vs 101 considerations. It's a nicer drive but there is rarely any situation where it is faster. I was anxious to get home.

Yes my trip was in summer, but issues I had were in the evening when the heat had died down and as mentioned, I was the only vehicle at these chargers.

 

[FlatSix911]

A cool new tool ... New Tesla Supercharger tool is best way to calculate and visualize cost of using the network

Tableau Public

 

[AMPd]

Ive hit the jackpot!
This morning we were on our way to Truckee, had to charge at Roseville where I've had nothing but issues in the past, I was able to charge normally!

It stayed charging normally til I left.
I was the only one there.
Temp in the 40s

 

[aesculus]

A cool new tool ... New Tesla Supercharger tool is best way to calculate and visualize cost of using the network

Tableau Public

I can't believe that Maine actually beat out California for the most expensive charging. Way to go Maine.

 

[JasonA-EV]

Anybody seem to know the reasoning why the stalls bounce up and down from 0 to xx amount when there are issues? I know Burbank has it's fair share of troubles all the time and just had another 2 stalls down hard.

Was curious if anybody has talked to the SpC techs on why this happens?