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Supercharger - Bethesda, MD (Permanently Closed, Oct 2016)
- Thread starter airj1012
- Start date
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- Mid-Atlantic USA
This location is turning into a joke. It should be removed from Tesla's website. The SCs are now blocked 40 minutes to an hour by shoppers. We used to have to worry about ICEing. Not here, it is the inconsiderate S owners who let their cars sit there long after they are fully charged. I should know, I sat there for 50 minutes on Friday, and still could not charge. On our way back on Saturday, the same problem - sat there for 40 minutes before someone came out. IF YOU HAVE MARYLAND PLATES YOU SHOULD NOT BE HOGGING THIS SC.
Is this Elon's way of generating sales by getting the poor 60 owners to trade in their cars for 90s?
Is this Elon's way of generating sales by getting the poor 60 owners to trade in their cars for 90s?
They also need to remove it from the Trip Planner. You can't pull in expecting to be there for 30 minutes, and then waste several hours. Here is a picture of the car with dealer plates that was fully charged when we arrived on Saturday. Not only did they not appear in the 50 minutes we were there, they also encroached on the neighboring parking space, forcing us to park in the road, and run a cord out to our car, charging at 24 mph.
CHRGIT
Member
In the world of Superchargers, are Newark (only 4 stalls), Bethesda (2 stalls) and Woodbridge (reports of 30 minutes on & off highway) the worst 3 consecutive Superchargers?
I'm going to be down there on Thanksgiving day. Hoping I can find an odd time to hit the SC and charge up. Assuming with the mall closed (I hope!), it shouldn't be too bad and most people will be AT their destinations. Forget Black Friday and charging. . .
The idea of having an SC at a mall is great, lots to do. But, Tesla probably thinks it's an honor to have us parking up-front and in view. Probably worst idea possible. I'm HAPPY to walk to the SC between a mall, etc. PLEASE put us in the back row so no one notices us and doesn't take our spots!
Bethesda is a slightly different issue and it's disappointing to see fellow Tesla owners leaving their cars for hours on end when others depend on these spots. I can only assume it's a matter of not knowing any better, and maybe some signs would help ("Move your car when you're done charging, the rest of us need to charge!")
The idea of having an SC at a mall is great, lots to do. But, Tesla probably thinks it's an honor to have us parking up-front and in view. Probably worst idea possible. I'm HAPPY to walk to the SC between a mall, etc. PLEASE put us in the back row so no one notices us and doesn't take our spots!
Bethesda is a slightly different issue and it's disappointing to see fellow Tesla owners leaving their cars for hours on end when others depend on these spots. I can only assume it's a matter of not knowing any better, and maybe some signs would help ("Move your car when you're done charging, the rest of us need to charge!")
Tesla is well aware of this, almost every other Supercharge is located in the back of the parking lot. The Bethesda one is a unique situation.
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Newark and Woodbridge are fine. Newark could use another couple of stalls, sure. I've charged there many times and never had an issue though. Woodbridge isn't bad either, its really not far from the off ramp, but mall traffic can be awful sometimes.
The real problem with putting the superchargers in shopping centers is in December many of them will be unusable.
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Newark and Woodbridge are fine. Newark could use another couple of stalls, sure. I've charged there many times and never had an issue though. Woodbridge isn't bad either, its really not far from the off ramp, but mall traffic can be awful sometimes.
The real problem with putting the superchargers in shopping centers is in December many of them will be unusable.
True re: Bethesda. Though the other SC I frequent is Newark (Also on the hated list I guess.) Parking is front and center, doesn't get any closer to the front door of the service plaza.
Is that the Bethesda mall supercharger? When I was there last some time ago, it was two spots with a temporary "pallet mount" supercharger serving 2 spaces, and no Tesla art on the wall...
Looks like maybe they expanded the parking some with the Gallery there?
I disagree. Newark gets packed very fast, 4 cars charging at once happens often enough, and thankfully I've never seen a line form, I have read about it here.
In addition it's only 90kw, if you're the 2nd car in the pair, expect longer than average charge times
Thetigerfans,
A couple of quick thoughts:
Did you happen to talk to the owner who was parked so long? Did they see a reduced charge current, and if so how low was it? With the single, reduced rate (90 kW) charger there, under normal conditions, with two cars plugged in, charging from 10 to 140 miles will take just over one full hour. It is quite possible that someone would be parked there for an hour and not be "HOGGING" the spot.
Also, that charger has has had a number of issues, some that were causing it to put out less than 30kW, meaning with two cars charging, it would take almost 3 hours to charge from 10 to 140 miles. If this is happening again, it's important to understand so we can get Tesla to come look at it again.
And finally, I just noticed that the tag on the car says "Dealer". Was this an extended test drive for a customer that doesn't own the car? I know that Tesla will give a potential customer a car for a weekend to try a trip over if they are interested. If so, I feel bad for both them (for now thinking the Bethesda is how most Superchargers are) and for you having to wait, as I'm sure that no-one explained to them etiquette at a Supercharger with so few spaces.
Peter
A couple of quick thoughts:
Did you happen to talk to the owner who was parked so long? Did they see a reduced charge current, and if so how low was it? With the single, reduced rate (90 kW) charger there, under normal conditions, with two cars plugged in, charging from 10 to 140 miles will take just over one full hour. It is quite possible that someone would be parked there for an hour and not be "HOGGING" the spot.
Also, that charger has has had a number of issues, some that were causing it to put out less than 30kW, meaning with two cars charging, it would take almost 3 hours to charge from 10 to 140 miles. If this is happening again, it's important to understand so we can get Tesla to come look at it again.
And finally, I just noticed that the tag on the car says "Dealer". Was this an extended test drive for a customer that doesn't own the car? I know that Tesla will give a potential customer a car for a weekend to try a trip over if they are interested. If so, I feel bad for both them (for now thinking the Bethesda is how most Superchargers are) and for you having to wait, as I'm sure that no-one explained to them etiquette at a Supercharger with so few spaces.
Peter
If you've never seen a line form how can you say its bad? Expecting a supercharger to never ever have a line is unrealistic. Its cerintly going to be bad in a little while as more and more Teslas hit the road, but right now its fine. Hopefully the rumored expansion hits in the next couple of months and its never an issue.
I've charged there a few times before I got my HPWC installed. If you go off hours, you'll probably be able to charge. I've been there alone @ 10pm at night and also been second person on the charger that late, so it's hit or miss. Do not bother any time during the day. You're just asking to be frustrated if you do.
I've never seen a forest fire either, but I know they're bad :scratches head:
Because I've been there many times when there are 3 other cars and I'm last. Or sometimes I'm first, and by the time I'm done there are 3 other cars charging. And I travel at off-peak times (it's easier to travel very early or very late due to kids sleeping in the car). I can easily extrapolate that peak times are just as bad if not worse.
Couple being paired with a 90kW SpC and it adds a decent amount of time to what's supposed to be a short stop. When I travel north from home, I do my best to avoid DE so I can stop in NJ with a lower SoC. Traveling back home, I don't have that luxury.
I've been to about 15 other SpC up and down the east coast, and Newark is by far the most crowded.
There's one SpC in CT (Greenwich, IIRC?) that shares the spots with ICE cars, and I've had to "wait" there, but I'm not complaining about it. I love the fact that it's on the highway, and the rest area is tiny, so I understand why they couldn't dole up slots just for Tesla parking. But DE is definitely a bottle neck.
The SC is 90kW, that's true. There are also 2 14-50's and 2 HPWCs. I believe the HPWCs are ~16.5kW (208V 80A). The gallery does have a number of cars there for test drives, and they are generally plugged into the HPWCs.
I wonder if that Pennsylvania car with dealer tags is owned by Tesla. It would be odd if it wasn't, but it's also a bit odd that it was in Maryland. I guess someone drove down...
We're all in agreement: it's not a proper long-distance traveling supercharger location, and we need something better.
I wonder if that Pennsylvania car with dealer tags is owned by Tesla. It would be odd if it wasn't, but it's also a bit odd that it was in Maryland. I guess someone drove down...
We're all in agreement: it's not a proper long-distance traveling supercharger location, and we need something better.
Cottonwood
Roadster#433, Model S#S37
Only one Supercharger Cabinet with two stalls is a reliability concern. If the one Supercharger Cabinet fails, there is no fall back.
The statistics of queueing theory also mean that the average charging capacity with very low probability of a queue (I used 2% as a threshold) mean that four and eight stall Supercharger Sites have dramatically higher service capacity than a two stall site. See Capacity of Superchargers Using an Erlang-B Model. A four stall site has over 5x capacity of a two stall site, and an eight stall site has about 18x the "2% queue" capacity of a two stall site.
chickensevil
Active Member
Last I had heard they couldn't up the charging there any further due to power issues at the mall. At least that is the rumor... Never heard anything official.
As for Woodbridge, I would recommend it depending on the time of day. It is fine if you aren't passing through during peak traffic times (which for 95, is a lot of time... sadly). I would avoid Bethesda at all costs if it can be helped.
Newark, from what I heard, also cannot get any more charging or increase their rate of charge due to power constraints. There was supposed to be a charger going in between Baltimore and DC (last I heard it was stalled out though in picking the location), and it looks like they are planning another one just south of the beltway although I can't tell if the dot is on Alexandria or over near where that Casino is going in... So I would expect there to be more options in the coming future. It just isn't here now... sadly
As for Woodbridge, I would recommend it depending on the time of day. It is fine if you aren't passing through during peak traffic times (which for 95, is a lot of time... sadly). I would avoid Bethesda at all costs if it can be helped.
Newark, from what I heard, also cannot get any more charging or increase their rate of charge due to power constraints. There was supposed to be a charger going in between Baltimore and DC (last I heard it was stalled out though in picking the location), and it looks like they are planning another one just south of the beltway although I can't tell if the dot is on Alexandria or over near where that Casino is going in... So I would expect there to be more options in the coming future. It just isn't here now... sadly
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