Wiki Starlink equipped Superchargers

[israndy]

Tesla starts deploying Starlink satellite internet systems at Supercharger stations

I thought it would be a good idea to have a place to post when new sites are discovered and what peoples reactions and questions are in relation to having high-speed Starlink internet at Superchargers. Perhaps this first post could be made a wiki so we can update a list of them here (until that becomes ridiculous):

Date Opened	Supercharger
11/14/2021	Lake City, FL Supercharger | Tesla

 

[Ostrichsak]

I'm sure they've already thought of this but I sure hope they require a session pass opened via the Tesla app or Tesla-attached account. I'd hate to have a bunch of icing going on from people just leaching off of the free WiFi's because Elon decided it would be a good idea to just open them to the free world.

 

[DblOSmith]

I'm sure they've already thought of this but I sure hope they require a session pass opened via the Tesla app or Tesla-attached account. I'd hate to have a bunch of icing going on from people just leaching off of the free WiFi's because Elon decided it would be a good idea to just open them to the free world.

I don't think it'll be just general open wifi like at a mall. I imagine Teslas will likely connect automatically.

 

[israndy]

Just like at the Service Center

 

[tinkererguy]

See also Starlink at Lisbon Connecticut, a similar arrangement, but with no visible ARUBA 270 SERIES OUTDOOR ACCESS POINT, with a bunch of other site pics I took too:

Supercharger - Lisbon, CT

I can confirm it's operational... charged there yesterday.

teslamotorsclub.com

 

[tinkererguy]

 

[AlexHung]

It’s also possible that the Starlink is used by the SC station for its own purpose, thus skipping the need to rely on 3rd party cellular service. Especially useful for SC in less well covered area.

 

[Ostrichsak]

It’s also possible that the Starlink is used by the SC station for its own purpose, thus skipping the need to rely on 3rd party cellular service. Especially useful for SC in less well covered area.

This was my initial reaction too but it seems others have taken the SC hotspot idea and run with it. This makes the most sense given that currently Superchargers are reliant on local ISP's to call home before allowing a Supercharging session to begin. If they're building their own internet that isn't dependent on local providers it would help to have control over more aspects of the overall solution.

 

[israndy]

Interesting, I always thought the calling home was done via the car, but I am pretty sure Superchargers could have communications with the mothership, especially those that have cameras mounted. Just seems superfluous what with ever car having that communication built in (well, until they open the chargers to non-Teslas).

 

[Ostrichsak]

Interesting, I always thought the calling home was done via the car, but I am pretty sure Superchargers could have communications with the mothership, especially those that have cameras mounted. Just seems superfluous what with ever car having that communication built in (well, until they open the chargers to non-Teslas).

There's a comm port in the connection pins so I assumed that the Supercharger is what handled the handshake authorization with the mothership. Otherwise you wouldn't really need that as the car itself has LTE/4G so it could authorize itself before even plugging in.

 

[RTPEV]

Interesting, I always thought the calling home was done via the car, but I am pretty sure Superchargers could have communications with the mothership, especially those that have cameras mounted. Just seems superfluous what with ever car having that communication built in (well, until they open the chargers to non-Teslas).

Well, who knows what kind of pricing terms & conditions the cars have. Do they have limited amount of data? Do they pay by the GB? Given the other moves Tesla has made to try to offload the cellular communication onto WiFi in the car that there is some financial incentive for them to not use the car's data unless necessary.

But what I really want to talk about is your comment about Superchargers with cameras mounted. I have not heard of this before...can you elaborate? Are the cameras used for security, or some other purpose?

In researching non-Tesla DC fastcharger sites, I have noticed that on Plugshare, some sites (particularly EVgo) show "Blocked" as the status (vs. Unavailable). I am wondering if this literally means the charging station is blocked, and whether they are determining that by camera, or if it's just that a car has completed charging, but has not yet unplugged.

Wouldn't it be great if Supercharger sites could visually determine if a stall was in fact blocked and mark the stall as being unavailable.

 

[israndy]

They could just use all those radar units they no longer put in cars to see if the stalls are blocked. No idea what EVGo is doing.

Yes, the cameras are at some sites, but not most or even many, just a few sites I have seen cameras peering at me and wondered what they thought.

 

[AlexHung]

Interesting, I always thought the calling home was done via the car, but I am pretty sure Superchargers could have communications with the mothership, especially those that have cameras mounted. Just seems superfluous what with ever car having that communication built in (well, until they open the chargers to non-Teslas).

I was thinking more on the station calling home for management purpose. Reporting its status, usage, diagnoses, etc which wouldn’t work if it relies on a car connection.

 

[MP3Mike]

Interesting, I always thought the calling home was done via the car, but I am pretty sure Superchargers could have communications with the mothership, especially those that have cameras mounted. Just seems superfluous what with ever car having that communication built in (well, until they open the chargers to non-Teslas).

I think it all used to be done via the car. But with the plans to open up the Supercharger network, and stall activation being done via the app, the Superchargers are going to need their own Internet connection going forward.

 

[Tyl]

Ref: Supercharge.info. Will starlinked Supercharger sites be identified on Supercharge.info and Tesla’s websites?

 

[MP3Mike]

Ref: Supercharge.info. Will starlinked Supercharger sites be identified on Supercharge.info and Tesla’s websites?

I would expect that the Tesla site would say something under the WiFi section of the Supercharger details when it is officially offered. (But none of the sites that I checked have said anything about Tesla/Starlink WiFi yet.)

 

[mociaf9]

Ref: Supercharge.info. Will starlinked Supercharger sites be identified on Supercharge.info and Tesla’s websites?

Not likely.

 

[tinkererguy]

As of Dec 4, the Starlink hardware had been removed from the Lisbon Connecticut Supercharger:

https://twitter.com/x/status/1467262833238892553

 

[israndy]

Odd, I was hoping to report on all the new ones going in, but just because Elon works at both places doesn't mean they are going to share product, there isn't a single parent company that would allow the dollars to flow between them making it advantageous to use each others products, although it was a line of Tesla's take took the astronauts to the launchpad.

I was hoping to see more StarLink hardware at the latest charger to open near me:

Nope, looks like it's a temp site with only 4 250kW chargers, but it is the first 250kWs in the area despite the large number

 

[AlexHung]

Odd, I was hoping to report on all the new ones going in, but just because Elon works at both places doesn't mean they are going to share product, there isn't a single parent company that would allow the dollars to flow between them making it advantageous to use each others products, although it was a line of Tesla's take took the astronauts to the launchpad.

I was hoping to see more StarLink hardware at the latest charger to open near me:

View attachment 743513

Nope, looks like it's a temp site with only 4 250kW chargers, but it is the first 250kWs in the area despite the large number

There are quite a lot of technology cross over between Elon's companies. Especially between Tesla and SpaceX.