Some California Superchargers not providing maximum charging rates

[Tony8489]

I am pleased to see these threads go dormant for over a year, especially since that period included a scorching midsummer of 2018.

Perhaps Tesla has solved this problem. I would hazard a guess that they have figured out how to monitor by software the state of each charger and fix as necessary rather than wait for us owners to report slow charging.

If so, that's a very positive development as we see the surge of Model 3's on the road.

 

[wdolson]

I am pleased to see these threads go dormant for over a year, especially since that period included a scorching midsummer of 2018.

Perhaps Tesla has solved this problem. I would hazard a guess that they have figured out how to monitor by software the state of each charger and fix as necessary rather than wait for us owners to report slow charging.

If so, that's a very positive development as we see the surge of Model 3's on the road.

Back when it was happening I talked to a Tesla tech at a supercharger at Manteca. He was on the road every day fixing superchargers and not able to keep up. They were moving him to Vancouver, WA to support NW superchargers who had nobody local to service them. But I think they hired more techs to support the network.

I've been hearing the biggest problem now are lines at some California superchargers.

 

[Ulmo]

Back when it was happening I talked to a Tesla tech at a supercharger at Manteca. He was on the road every day fixing superchargers and not able to keep up. They were moving him to Vancouver, WA to support NW superchargers who had nobody local to service them. But I think they hired more techs to support the network.

I've been hearing the biggest problem now are lines at some California superchargers.

By your news, the problem was insufficient staffing before, and now they seem to have solved that. That bodes well for the company overall: they seem to fix many problems within a few years.

 

[No2DinosaurFuel]

Back when it was happening I talked to a Tesla tech at a supercharger at Manteca. He was on the road every day fixing superchargers and not able to keep up. They were moving him to Vancouver, WA to support NW superchargers who had nobody local to service them. But I think they hired more techs to support the network.

I've been hearing the biggest problem now are lines at some California superchargers.

Supercharger problems are still there at least for those that are heavily used.

This should not be a huge problem for those on road trips outside the major cities but it is something to consider.

 

[brucet999]

I am pleased to see these threads go dormant for over a year, especially since that period included a scorching midsummer of 2018.

Perhaps Tesla has solved this problem. I would hazard a guess that they have figured out how to monitor by software the state of each charger and fix as necessary rather than wait for us owners to report slow charging.

If so, that's a very positive development as we see the surge of Model 3's on the road.

Not so sure about problems being fixed. Last Sunday I charged at Truckee - Brockway. No other cars charging, yet I tried one each of the four pairs of chargers and got no higher than 56 kW even though I plugged in with 23% SOC. Tesla tech support tried to blame it on cold temps, but 46 degrees is not very cold and after 8 miles driving, my battery would not have been cold.

 

[ka9q]

I still think a viable explanation is Tesla limiting peak utility demand to control costs. In case people haven't heard, they're not making a profit right now.

 

[EVCarGUy]

Last Sunday I charged at Truckee - Brockway. No other cars charging, yet I tried one each of the four pairs of chargers and got no higher than 56 kW even though I plugged in with 23% SOC.

That one is frustrating. I have seen the same even when I was the only one there. I visited after the recent expansion and got 114kW and thought they'd fixed it. Guess not.

FYI, the nearby Brockway SC has always delivered full power for me

 

[GHammer]

Not so sure about problems being fixed. Last Sunday I charged at Truckee - Brockway. No other cars charging, yet I tried one each of the four pairs of chargers and got no higher than 56 kW even though I plugged in with 23% SOC. Tesla tech support tried to blame it on cold temps, but 46 degrees is not very cold and after 8 miles driving, my battery would not have been cold.

Your battery was definitely cold. Need at least half an hour driving or temps above 60 to get full power.

 

[trils0n]

Tesla tech support tried to blame it on cold temps, but 46 degrees is not very cold and after 8 miles driving, my battery would not have been cold.

My guess from my 5 1/2+ yrs of Tesla ownership and extensive road tripping would be that your battery was indeed cold. Battery heating seems to be needed below 55 degree F, and 46 is signif below that. Will take more than 8 miles of driving to heat. Battery was probably heating while supercharging for at least 15 mins at that temp.

Tesla could, and should easily fix these situations by providing a more informative energy or charging screen that shows the breakdown of energy use, but they seem to be all about giving owners minimal info.

 

[Tony8489]

I've been hearing the biggest problem now are lines at some California superchargers.

That problem is temporarily relieved. The huge superchargers at Baker and Kettleman City are wide open any time I look them up on my screen. The Burbank mall and Glendale Americana chargers opened in the last year have cured the former logjam at the Burbank Service Center.

There are also additional new chargers in the past year in Santa Clarita, Thousand Oaks, San Clemente, Downey, Riverside and finally in San Diego and Carlsbad La Costa. Look at your maps when driving through SoCal. The West Side, central Orange County and Qualcomm should be avoided. But there are good alternatives now.

I assume this extra capacity has been built in anticipation of Model 3. I would not be surprised to see the supercharger crowding situation worsen again. My new referral in Colorado is seeing lines at the Lone Tree charger, one of only two in metro Denver.

I have not done so many roadtrips in the past year, so have no personal experience with the overheating/throttling of superchargers. But these threads were buzzing throughout the summers of 2016 and 2017 but have been quiet this year.

 

[wdolson]

I still think a viable explanation is Tesla limiting peak utility demand to control costs. In case people haven't heard, they're not making a profit right now.

We don't know what Q3 will bring, it looks like it will probably be profitable but they are trying to make the superchargers pay for themselves. Having batteries that smooth out the demand at their more expensive locations would probably help.

 

[No2DinosaurFuel]

Qualcomm campus chargers are still a mess. Continuous going out. And always giving less than ideal charge rate and keep in mind this is from a neutered 90Kwh pack. Road trip up to the bay area was a non issues in terms of charge rate.

I am sure tesla is working hard to fix supercharging problems but I feel like they need a feature on the app to report these charging problem. It is a long phone wait to report these. Sometime not really worth it for many if they can simply move to the next available slot.

 

[brucet999]

Your battery was definitely cold. Need at least half an hour driving or temps above 60 to get full power.

Why didn't the tech know that?

 

[brucet999]

FYI, the nearby Brockway SC has always delivered full power for me

There is no SC at Brockway, just two in Truckee, one on old US 49 next to Safeway and the other one, about which I was writing, called Truckee Brockway because its is on Brockway road near Tahoe Truckee Airport.

 

[PLUS EV]

There is no SC at Brockway, just two in Truckee, one on old US 49 next to Safeway and the other one, about which I was writing, called Truckee Brockway because its is on Brockway road near Tahoe Truckee Airport.

I think it's pretty clear which one he was referring to!

HINT: not the one near the Safeway.

 

[GHammer]

Tesla tech support tried to blame it on cold temps

Why didn't the tech know that?

Sounds like they did.

 

[brucet999]

Sounds like they did.

When I said 46º isn't very cold, he went off line for a bit, then said there was nothing wrong with my car and they would check out the Supercharger site. If temperature were the problem, and he knew that, I would have expected him to have explained how the charge rate is reduced below some certain threshold temperature.

 

[PLUS EV]

Not so sure about problems being fixed. Last Sunday I charged at Truckee - Brockway. No other cars charging, yet I tried one each of the four pairs of chargers and got no higher than 56 kW even though I plugged in with 23% SOC. Tesla tech support tried to blame it on cold temps, but 46 degrees is not very cold and after 8 miles driving, my battery would not have been cold.

This is your original post on the topic.

 

[ka9q]

It might be useful to note the times that people get low charging power without being caused by sharing. If it’s between 4-9 pm then utility charges may be the cause. That’s peak time.

 

[johnr]

I'd really like to compare what everyone's supercharging speeds peak at. It seems different year model vehicles and different pack sizes are both factors. Is there a thread about that? I've searched all over but haven't been able to find anything. If not, could someone create a wiki so we can share that important data?