Some California Superchargers not providing maximum charging rates

[Ingineer]

I've posted this before, but people go right on spewing WAG's and spread more misinformation. There is NO MECHANISM FOR UTILITY THROTTLING!

The only thing a utility does in the event of an overload is a load shed, which means they turn off segments, AKA "Rolling blackout".

 

[mblakele]

Agreed. Every time someone posts about the local utility possibly limiting power to a Supercharger site, I wonder how the utility could remotely monitor how much power a site was drawing and then remotely control and reduce that power draw. I am not aware that an electric utility has installed (at least in the US) the equipment needed to do that.

Outside the USA some utilities use Load management - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia to reduce demand when the grid is stressed, without fine-grained monitoring. Here in California I see Load Management Standards Proceeding - Docket #08-DR-01 but I think they've only gone as far as offering "interruptible rates": "a user commitment to reduce demand on request". PG&E offers this option, but I don't know if any Supercharger sites participate.

 

[brucet999]

…it means the problem is somewhere distal to the supercharger cabinet.

Yes, but would it be ventral or dorsal?

 

[brucet999]

At Fountain Valley yesterday I talked to a couple of guys who were discussing how one guy's S was charging slowly for almost an hour and showed at only around 20kW. I jokingly said, in my best computer tech support voice, "did you try rebooting?" We laughed and then he said, "worth a try" and sat at the steering wheel and rebooted his Tesla. Charge rate immediately went up to 70+kW.

Go figure.

 

[Khatsalano]

But you don't know how much usage that stall had gotten that day, nor do you know how many heating and cooling cycles it's been through. When I was there the tech was working on 1A and 1B. He had just finished 1A when I arrived, but it had problems and he found something he missed. He switched me to 1B when he was finished with it and it ran at 120Kw.

I was the only car there. But I don't need to know how the sausage is made. I just need the product to work.

 

[Ingineer]

So much misinformation it hurts to read this thread. The CID has no role in charging other than to schedule start/stop and adjust parameters. Rebooting it is not "rebooting the car" and more than rebooting your iPhone reboots your brain.

 

[NOLA_Mike]

I suspect that at some point during your "reboot" it interrupted the charging process and when it restarted it had cooled off enough to go back to 70 kW.

I suspect you would have accomplished the same thing had you just stop charging and then restarted. After a period of time charging at 20 kW it likely cooled off enough that when it interrupted and restarted it was good to go to 70 kW.

 

[apacheguy]

So much misinformation it hurts to read this thread. The CID has no role in charging other than to schedule start/stop and adjust parameters. Rebooting it is not "rebooting the car" and more than rebooting your iPhone reboots your brain.

You know, I used to totally agree because it is the gateway and the individual micro controllers that regulate charge rate and thermals etc. However, I noticed once that the louvers had lowered once in my garage and the car was generating considerable fan noise. I sat in the car and with climate control off, I rebooted the CID. The fans immediately went to idle AFTER the CID reboot. Explain that please.

 

[Ingineer]

You know, I used to totally agree because it is the gateway and the individual micro controllers that regulate charge rate and thermals etc. However, I noticed once that the louvers had lowered once in my garage and the car was generating considerable fan noise. I sat in the car and with climate control off, I rebooted the CID. The fans immediately went to idle AFTER the CID reboot. Explain that please.

Rebooting the CID does not reboot the gateway despite it being in the same box. The reason the fans change is because rebooting the CID resets the climate control mode, as it's controlled from the CID. Same thing happens if turn off the climate control and turn it back on.

 

[apacheguy]

@Ingineer - Nope. Climate control was off. I was sitting in the car. It was definitely the battery fans. I checked after and the battery was at 40 C further confirming this.

 

[whttiger25]

Fremont, unpaired charger Monday night (around 10pm), temperature not an issue, couldn't get over 65kw sustained with 10% battery on a 90D. Started at stall 1A (unpaired) and got 110kw for a minute but then it started dropping....to zero. I could not restart charging through the interface and unplugged and replugged, only got 40kw. I called customer service and was told that "the whole site was due for servicing, but tray 6A or 5B". Moving stalls 3 times (always unpaired) did not fix the problem and I couldn't get any sustained charge over 65kw. Talked to a 2013 Uber driver owner who was local charging there who told me the charge was fine but didn't know the mph reading was an average, not instantaneous.

Anyway...seriously Tesla, the whole site is due for servicing? This is your FACTORY! You have hundreds of thousands of KW just powering the lighting in that building. There is no excuse for your FACTORY not delivering advertised charge rates. COME ON

 

[Khatsalano]

30 kW at Vacaville ... normal temps. I think we need a name change soon and drop the Super out of superchargers ...

 

[NOLA_Mike]

^^^This... 100% this...

Jeff

I gotta say this is not a good look for Tesla. The Supercharger Network is the crown jewel of the Tesla ecosystem - it's what sets them apart from anyone else that puts out an EV right now.

New owners just experiencing a supercharger for the first time expecting charge rates as advertised on the Tesla website are going to be sorely disappointed when they have to spend 30+ mins longer at a supercharger than advertised.

It's happening all over the country.

 

[jeffro01]

I gotta say this is not a good look for Tesla. The Supercharger Network is the crown jewel of the Tesla ecosystem - it's what sets them apart from anyone else that puts out an EV right now.

New owners just experiencing a supercharger for the first time expecting charge rates as advertised on the Tesla website are going to be sorely disappointed when they have to spend 30+ mins longer at a supercharger than advertised.

It's happening all over the country.

Indeed... However, as with most things Tesla, I wouldn't get your hopes up that they'll acknowledge the issue much less take actions to correct it... I know that sounds pessimistic but...

Jeff

 

[jeffro01]

30 kW at Vacaville ... normal temps. I think we need a name change soon and drop the Super out of superchargers ...

Curious, did you call Tesla and complain during that? Just wondering what the tech support response was...

Jeff

 

[apacheguy]

Jeez. If Tesla doesn't step up their maintenance team and fix this issue fast, then the road trip worthiness of the Model S/X will suffer tremendously. Ultimately, this will have a detrimental effect on sales. It's unbelievable to me that they have largely been ignoring this issue.

 

[thecloud]

@Khatsalano: if you didn't call Tesla at the time, then you should probably email [email protected] and send them that photo, along with the time you were there and the charger stall number (if you made a note of it).

 

[wdolson]

Outside temps affect how fast a supercharger stall cools down, but the real heating problem is inside the cabinet. Supercharging heats up the equipment and repeated supercharging throughout the day doesn't allow the equipment to cool off and the equipment ages faster and equipment fails from overheating.

I think what the tech told me fits the pattern, the superchargers in CA are having the most problem with slow charge rates (though some other locations have had problems around the world too, it's more common in CA than anywhere else). The CA SpCs get more use, on average, than anywhere else.

On my way back from CA I did get a slow charge in Grants Pass, but every other SpC I've been at in the NW has been full speed. Most of the SpCs in CA were slow, the only one that was full rate was the one that had just been repaired by the tech at Mantecca.

It isn't a good thing with 10X more cars a year coming soon. Tesla needs to rebuild their SpCs in heavily used areas to provide more effective cooling. They probably need to go to a liquid cooled system.

 

[apacheguy]

The charging units inside the cabinet are liquid cooled. The fan exhausts the heat sapped away by the cooling loop. Please correct if I am mistaken but I'm quite certain of it.

 

[aesculus]

I think what the tech told me fits the pattern, the superchargers in CA are having the most problem with slow charge rates (though some other locations have had problems around the world too, it's more common in CA than anywhere else). The CA SpCs get more use, on average, than anywhere else.

Perhaps there is a lifespan to these chargers versus just transient effects from recent use. The California chargers could be wearing out quicker than lightly used chargers elsewhere.

I am not sure what goes on to maintain a supercharger anyway. Once they are set up it would seem they would just need a bit of inspection on the cables/connectors. It's not like there are moving parts inside. Perhaps some filters in the ventilation that need cleaning/swapping and to make sure the fans are working? These are manly solid state devices, no?