Welcome to Tesla Motors Club
Discuss Tesla's Model S, Model 3, Model X, Model Y, Cybertruck, Roadster and More.
Register

Supercharger - Burbank, CA (Service Center, no longer on nav map)

This site may earn commission on affiliate links.
Line 4 cars deep at Burbank at 11am on Sunday. A little disappointing with a car full of kids.

I was there late Sunday morning. Second in line.

First car left after ~35 min.
Second car left after 45 min (then I pulled in)
Third car left 10 min after I plugged in and inexplicably drove to the Starbucks parking lot.
Fourth car (a family, presumably on a trip) swapped out sometime during my charge, so at least 45 min for them.
Fifth and sixth car were there when I left, so at least 1:10 charging. One of them had no sign of the owner, the other was a family (definitely on a trip).

I get that locals could give a *sugar* and just want the free electricity, and I get that every once and a while people have a crazy route planned and need to top off (Its a rare route out of Burbank that doesn't have a supercharger--let alone multiple superchargers--within a 30 min charge, even when paired) but I find it hard to believe that two different road tripping families were in that situation...especially the one that charged for over an hour.

Supercharger education has a long way to go...
 
I have charged a few times at Burbank and have had my X serviced there a number of times and can see the charging patterns. Yes, locals definitely leverage this location. Heck, I've charged there myself a couple of times. Best times are late in the evening after 10pm or early morning (not Friday/weekend mornings though). Also, each time I have charged there, it's been a max of 75kw, so charge times are extended for everyone.

Avoid busy times if possible.
 
Being that Burbank is the the entry point to San Fernando Valley and that's the ONLY Supercharger, next closes would be El Segundo ....

They having 7 charging stations...completely sad....Burbank should have like 20+ giving it is the entertainment studio area too...
 
Being that Burbank is the the entry point to San Fernando Valley and that's the ONLY Supercharger, next closes would be El Segundo ....

They having 7 charging stations...completely sad....Burbank should have like 20+ giving it is the entertainment studio area too...

While I agree Burbank is always crazy busy, it's still better than not having one at all. Even if I have to wait in line, it's still an at least an option. The problem with busy Superchargers is the wait time get even longer then busier they get. If all stalls are used, the power is shared and charging is slower than normal which adds even more time.
 
Burbank is a decent location geographically, but there's definitely less positives than negatives.

There's plenty of stores and markets nearby; Trader Joes, Ralph's, Starbucks, etc.

It's a service center, so during business hours you have access to the lounge and wifi.

LOTS of construction going on nearby, and getting into the lot will most likely require you to do a u-turn.

IKEA's largest store in California is being built right next door, so more traffic and potentially more Tesla drivers will be drawn to the location.

I really hope Tesla builds a supercharger in the San Gabriel valley area just to fill the gap between Burbank and Rancho Cucamonga...
 
  • Like
Reactions: MikeC
Any reason why you'd skip Tejon or Buttonwillow?

Jeff
I simply do not want to risk having to wait another hour again for a stall to become available. Now that I am finally connected to a charger I'm going all the way full despite the tapering off of the charge current.

With such long wait times, it's better to minimize the number of charging stops. I should be able to make it to Harris Ranch and then Sunnyvale.
 
  • Disagree
Reactions: bxr140
You should charge the minimum necessary to get to Tejon and get out of there.

1) you're not being reasonable. I waited an hour for my spot! It would be silly to then just charge 15-20min (given the very low charge rate) just to get to Tejon Ranch!
2) Tejon Ranch is undergoing
maintenance/upgrades and has a warning on Tela's site!!!
3) You are penalizing the wrong person! I'm not a Burbank local getting free electricity. There was a black airport limo next to me actually spending more time in the spot than I was!
4) If Tesla would have proper hardware, I would have spent much less time at the charger. I'm at Harris Ranch now and am gaining 340miles/hr (!!!), didn't have to wait and there are no locals here
5) I would be happy to pay for the electricity I use. After all, I pay for it at home also
 
  • Disagree
Reactions: bxr140
I think the lesson here is to avoid Burbank whenever possible. @Gra55h0pper , I think you should write to TM and complain about the difficult wait, and report how limo drivers and locals are spending inordinate amounts of time there, preventing people who immediately need it, to gain access. If Tejon was not undergoing issues, then I think it would have saved YOU time to charge there instead. Regardless, TM needs to step up their game on all these SC's: Burbank, SJC, FV, and (I think) SD.
 
1) you're not being reasonable. I waited an hour for my spot! It would be silly to then just charge 15-20min (given the very low charge rate) just to get to Tejon Ranch!
And you're not behaving rationally. You're letting the fact that you waited cause you to waste more time. I'm criticizing Tesla for encouraging this natural but inefficient behavior.

In any case, Burbank is a known nightmare. Tejon Ranch is usually fine, and probably still better than Burbank even while undergoing maintenance.
 
I stopped at Burbank Service Center (3 miles from home) 4:30PM on the way home from Zuma Beach to inquire about the 4G connectivity failure that began around noon. This was a problem on ATT's end affecting Teslas all over California.

I noticed 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 internal 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. This certainly explains the complaints about slow charging at Tejon Ranch, where today's Burbank temps are routine in summer.

I also asked about why only 6 Superchargers. This was constrained by the Burbank municipal utility. The Service Center itself is a significant draw on power, so the utility would not allow Tesla to install any more than 6 Superchargers.