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

[Az_Rael]

This location is crazy. I can see people not wanting to use it. I stopped into Burbank on Friday for my first test drive. We pulled into the parking lot north entrance to try and park to go into the showroom (never been there before). Completely jam packed with delivery cars and only a narrow 1 car wide path through the lot. At the other end someone was blocking the only exit path waiting for a supercharger slot. We pulled into the handicapped spot and did a 6 point turn around to get back out the other entrance then drove around and parked at Ralph's.

Walked by the supercharger before and after our test drive and it was jam packed both times with people waiting.

Hopefully it will get better after the end of the quarter as the extra delivery cars stacked up out front was just making the supercharger situation worse it seemed as there was no where to queue without blocking traffic.

I did vow to avoid the place like the plague once I get my car and I am not even an owner yet.

 

[KJD]

Six of us have been waiting for more than an hour for the four available slots. The four cars "supercharging" have been abandoned by their owners. They appear to be just there for long term parking. This is ridiculous. The service center next to the chargers says it's a general problem and tesla customer service says they can't do anything-- surely there's a solution to this?? I have no option but sit here waiting as I don't have a ought charge to make it to any other supercharger and have to get back to the bay area tonight!

How long did you have to wait for one of these dipsticks to come move their car?

 

[LEKTRON]

FOLLOW UP

So I finally got a spot after close to an hour and a half wait, and hadn't yet reached sufficient charge to make it to the next charger, tejon ranch, when I noticed a bunch of the drivers forming a pose outside giving me glaring looks and then a guy with a dog came toward my vehicle and made an agitated rolling motion sign to "hurry up"! I stared at him shocked (should have just flipped him off) and then he walked over and motioned me to roll down my window to tell me to "hurry up" since the sign says "30 min parking". Okay...One, it was clear that all of these people were actually locals who don't charge at home. Two, parking means parking, as in abandoning your vehicle when not CHARGING anymore. Three, charging to reach the next supercharger often takes more than 30 minutes, especially when driving over mountains like I had to! (Which apparently these people never do since they just charge for local use). I will need to avoid the Burbank Superchargers from now on which will be difficult--if not impossible --because it is the only supercharger in North LA and convenient to the facility where my dad is housed, which I often visit on day trip to LA.

 

[No2DinosaurFuel]

FOLLOW UP

So I finally got a spot after close to an hour and a half wait, and hadn't yet reached sufficient charge to make it to the next charger, tejon ranch, when I noticed a bunch of the drivers forming a pose outside giving me glaring looks and then a guy with a dog came toward my vehicle and made an agitated rolling motion sign to "hurry up"! I stared at him shocked (should have just flipped him off) and then he walked over and motioned me to roll down my window to tell me to "hurry up" since the sign says "30 min parking". Okay...One, it was clear that all of these people were actually locals who don't charge at home. Two, parking means parking, as in abandoning your vehicle when not CHARGING anymore. Three, charging to reach the next supercharger often takes more than 30 minutes, especially when driving over mountains like I had to! (Which apparently these people never do since they just charge for local use). I will need to avoid the Burbank Superchargers from now on which will be difficult--if not impossible --because it is the only supercharger in North LA and convenient to the facility where my dad is housed, which I often visit on day trip to LA.

I think with the 90D you can probably fully charge at tejon ranch and make it to Burbank and back without charging. Now if you travel within the city then you might need another stop to charge. If you are staying over night maybe head to Burbank supercharger at around 12AM or later.

This is one of the reasons why I chose to get the 90D because not only does it give me more range but the ability to skip hassle supercharger if need be.

Best of luck! Hopefully you figure something out with your situation.

 

[bmah]

FOLLOW UP

(snip)

Wow I am really sorry to hear about this. Telling you to "hurry up" is especially stupid, it's not like you have any control over how much energy you need to reach the next Supercharger or how fast it's going into your car. :-(

It sounds like they need an attendant there who can provide some adult supervision.

Bruce.

 

[ecarfan]

How long did you have to wait for one of these dipsticks to come move their car?

No Tesla has ever had a dipstick. We need a new euphemism...

Seriously, the Burbank Supercharger situation is getting dangerously close to being out of control. I am sure that Tesla is aware of the problem but we have no visibility into what their plan is to solve the problem.

While in general I think that the Tesla Supercharger team is wise not to disclose future Supercharger locations in advance of their opening, I think in this case Tesla needs to make an announcement about what the plan is for relieving congestion at Burbank and take immediate concrete steps to better manage the Burbank location before there is an ugly incident that will result in very bad publicity for Tesla.

 

[LEKTRON]

I'm thinking now valet service for charging, with 15 min grace period to pick up your vehicle and then local parking rates thereafter (which are like $50/hour...)?

 

[4SUPER9]

I'm thinking now valet service for charging, with 15 min grace period to pick up your vehicle and then local parking rates thereafter (which are like $50/hour...)?

This is actually a good idea for this location. Mandatory valet. You can choose to stay with the car or not. I would be more generous though, using the exact same model as many parking structures. First 2 hours free. $2.00/15 minutes after. Maximum $25. Owners can get lunch and not worry about how long they are gone and potentially tying up a spot as the Valet can move them at the designated charge level. I guess the issue is whether they have the space.

 

[LEKTRON]

This is actually a good idea for this location. Mandatory valet. You can choose to stay with the car or not. I would be more generous though, using the exact same model as many parking structures. First 2 hours free. $2.00/15 minutes after. Maximum $25. Owners can get lunch and not worry about how long they are gone and potentially tying up a spot as the Valet can move them at the designated charge level. I guess the issue is whether they have the space.

Well, except those kind of generous parking rates--like at malls--are subsidized by the retail businesses they serve. Tesla itself isn't making any money while people patronize local business waiting for supercharging to finish. I would think the model would have to be closer to office building style parking, which is usually much higher...

 

[AMPd]

FOLLOW UP

So I finally got a spot after close to an hour and a half wait, and hadn't yet reached sufficient charge to make it to the next charger, tejon ranch, when I noticed a bunch of the drivers forming a pose outside giving me glaring looks and then a guy with a dog came toward my vehicle and made an agitated rolling motion sign to "hurry up"! I stared at him shocked (should have just flipped him off) and then he walked over and motioned me to roll down my window to tell me to "hurry up" since the sign says "30 min parking". Okay...One, it was clear that all of these people were actually locals who don't charge at home. Two, parking means parking, as in abandoning your vehicle when not CHARGING anymore. Three, charging to reach the next supercharger often takes more than 30 minutes, especially when driving over mountains like I had to! (Which apparently these people never do since they just charge for local use). I will need to avoid the Burbank Superchargers from now on which will be difficult--if not impossible --because it is the only supercharger in North LA and convenient to the facility where my dad is housed, which I often visit on day trip to LA.

Wow, just wow.
I can't believe someone actually said "hurry up"
What a dumb thing to say

 

[LEKTRON]

I think with the 90D you can probably fully charge at tejon ranch and make it to Burbank and back without charging. Now if you travel within the city then you might need another stop to charge. If you are staying over night maybe head to Burbank supercharger at around 12AM or later.

This is one of the reasons why I chose to get the 90D because not only does it give me more range but the ability to skip hassle supercharger if need be.

Best of luck! Hopefully you figure something out with your situation.

I have an 85, so not far off, but was coming up from a meeting in Irvine, so Burbank is a reasonable place to charge up and not spend a lot of time charging to get over the mountains...I'll have to plan differently next time. Noticed a charger in Hawthorne I might try next time (Culver City is already out as it is nearly as crowded as burbank and is inexplicably slow (I could only get 46mph there last time).

 

[LEKTRON]

Wow, just wow.
I can't believe someone actually said "hurry up"
What a dumb thing to say

I think it is because most people charging there are not charging out of necessity--not travelling anywhere, but convenience...its close by.

 

[4SUPER9]

I have been to Culver City several times. Never had a wait and always had a good charge. Redondo is a good place to charge too, but a little more crowded. Again, I never had a wait. Hawthorne, though huge, is ridiculously out of the way. I have not heard a single comment on that SC in a very, very long time.

 

[KJD]

... First 2 hours free. $2.00/15 minutes after. Maximum $25. Owners can get lunch and not worry about how long they are gone and potentially tying up a spot as the Valet can move them at the designated charge level. I guess the issue is whether they have the space.

I like this idea, but I would say first one hour free and then start making them pay after that.

 

[AMPd]

I think it is because most people charging there are not charging out of necessity--not travelling anywhere, but convenience...its close by.

I agree, I had the displeasure of having to use it on my trip to LA
Didn't have enough to reach culver city, otherwise I would have went there, waited over 2 hours to get a stall, 2 of which were out of service.
Charged enough to get to buttonwillow (this was during the time Tejon Ranch was being renovated, I didn't want to get there only to find out its temporarily closed, so I went straight to buttonwillow)

As it is now, I will NEVER go back there!

 

[rfmurphy81]

FOLLOW UP

So I finally got a spot after close to an hour and a half wait, and hadn't yet reached sufficient charge to make it to the next charger, tejon ranch, when I noticed a bunch of the drivers forming a pose outside giving me glaring looks and then a guy with a dog came toward my vehicle and made an agitated rolling motion sign to "hurry up"! I stared at him shocked (should have just flipped him off) and then he walked over and motioned me to roll down my window to tell me to "hurry up" since the sign says "30 min parking". Okay...One, it was clear that all of these people were actually locals who don't charge at home. Two, parking means parking, as in abandoning your vehicle when not CHARGING anymore. Three, charging to reach the next supercharger often takes more than 30 minutes, especially when driving over mountains like I had to! (Which apparently these people never do since they just charge for local use). I will need to avoid the Burbank Superchargers from now on which will be difficult--if not impossible --because it is the only supercharger in North LA and convenient to the facility where my dad is housed, which I often visit on day trip to LA.

PLEASE tell me that you're going to email [email protected] about this experience. It's not fair to you or anyone in a similar situation. I hope they have a plan for this location.

 

[whttiger25]

I had a similar nightmare experience here in August, waiting 1 hour with 4% charge left so no options, getting only 35kw, needing to get to Tejon to proceed to have more slow charging.

 

[shokunin]

I have an 85, so not far off, but was coming up from a meeting in Irvine, so Burbank is a reasonable place to charge up and not spend a lot of time charging to get over the mountains...I'll have to plan differently next time. Noticed a charger in Hawthorne I might try next time (Culver City is already out as it is nearly as crowded as burbank and is inexplicably slow (I could only get 46mph there last time).

Pretty soon both Buena Park and Santa Ana superchargers will be online. Both are right off the 5 freeway and it's roughly 120 miles from Irvine to Tejon. Though you'll need 150 as a buffer. Burbank's supercharging layout is awful and the spaces are so tightly packed. Only good thing is you're right next to a Starbucks and a Habit burger for quick bite or bathroom break.

 

[BrokerDon]

We stopped by the Burbank Superchargers this past Saturday around 4:00 PM with about 20% remaining charge on our way back from Santa Barbara before returning home to Newport Beach. All the Superchargers were full and 2 Tesla were waiting... and only 2 of the 6 Teslas in the Superchargers were occupied. I watched one of the occupied Teslas leave and the 1st Tesla in line plug in... AND LEAVE IN A CAR DRIVEN BY ANOTHER PERSON.

I asked the Tesla owner waiting ahead of me if that was normal and he said unfortunately YES, this supercharger is frequented by locals who plug in and don't come back when their Tesla is done charging... sometimes for HOURS. OUCH.

He asked where I was going and if I was in a hurry... and insisted I go ahead of him since he'd passed me on the way to this Supercharger because I pulled in the wrong Tesla driveway. THANKS !!! I got a Supercharger space after ~15 minutes when the only other occupied Tesla left. The next SC slot emptied when another Tesla owner was dropped off and left ~10 minutes later.

I stayed in our Tesla and when 2 more Teslas pulled up to charge, I went up to the next Tesla owner in line who was pacing outside his car and offered up our spot since we had enough to make it to Pasadena then home. Yes simple courtesy + thinking of others still exists... and should be the rule at Superchargers since we're all in this together.

 

[jeffro01]

Yet I keep getting told locals aren't the problem... Hm...

Jeff