Supercharger experiences of eclipse travelers?

[jsmay311]

Given the highly unusual and heavy traffic patterns on highways near the path of totality on August 20-21, I'm curious about what the experiences were like for folks driving Teslas to/from the eclipse path and charging at SC stations along the way.

• Where and when did you stop to charge?
• How many stalls were occupied?
• Did you have to wait for a stall? If so, how long?
• How were the charging rates once plugged in?

(I saw a handful of Teslas on I-55 in Illinois on the way to/from the St Louis area, and I'm personally/selfishly mostly interested in how things were at the central Illinois SC locations. But any info is good info.)

 

[kingjamez]

I stopped at Nashville, Knoxville, Bristol, Wytheville, and Lexington(VA).
The Saturday before the eclipse was quiet. I ran into 1 or two others while charging but it was super easy.
Yesterday and today were different matters. Every charger we stopped at today along I81 was full. However we never had to wait more than 5 minutes.

Bristol, which was recently completed was wonderful. Lots to do around and easy to get to.

While the stations were packed, I honestly think I spent more time talking to "locals" about the Model X than I did waiting for a station... Or perhaps even charging.

"What is that thing!"
"Cool Doors!?!?!?"
"So this is that Elon Musk car?... I don't like that guy"
From hotel clerk asking car details: "Tesla? How do you spell that?".

-Jim

 

[bonnie]

I stopped in Pendleton, Baker City, Twin Falls, Pocatello, Idaho Falls on Saturday (reverse for the trip home today) - never full, no wait -- in fact I only had to drop the trailer one time.

I did run into @MikeL in Idaho Falls (we were the only two there) & he ended up coming over to our site for eclipse watching before heading back to SLC.

 

[kort677]

while I wasn't traveling to see the "show" the local news station here did a report from the SpC at Santee SC in the morning around 8:30am, there were 2 cars there, one of whom slept in his car and blocked a charger for the night.

 

[Derek Kessler]

Traveled from Cincinnati to Nashville and back. Stopped at Louisville and Bowling Green on the way down, saw nary a soul. Got a full charge at Bowling Green, topped up off the CHAdeMO at Opry Mills (stayed with a friend nearby), and then headed back to Cincinnati immediately post-totality.

Was third in line at Bowling Green at ~5PM on the return trip, only had to wait ~15 minutes for a stall to open. Grabbed a $6 18" sandwich from Meijer to eat half of while charging.
Took back roads off of back roads most of the way to Louisville, arrived there at around 10PM. Fourth car among eight stalls.

 

[Az_Rael]

The worst reports I saw were for the Corning and Mt Shasta SC's which were reporting up to 4 hour waits during peak traffic.

 

[TallPaulS]

We drove 280 mi from Colorado Springs to Glendo State Park in Wyoming. When we hit the supercharger at 7am in Cheyenne, we were able to charge right away at one of the four stalls. When we left there was a line of 4 cars waiting. On the way home we hit Loveland which had plenty of open spaces.

 

[mka]

We drove 560 miles from San Jose, CA to Corvallis, OR on I-5. Left 3am on Sunday morning. No wait at Corning SC, 30 min wait at Mt. Shasta SC. Then at Grants Pass SC suddenly a line of 10 cars waiting and only 4 stalls. Luckily there was an Aerovironment Chademo next to the Tesla SC and I had my adapter with me. So I skipped the line. Arrived in Corvallis, OR at 2pm. We left Corvallis right after the totality at 10:30am on Monday. I expected long lines at SC, but surprisingly no wait on the return trip. Charged at Grants Pass, Mt. Shasta, skipped Corning and charged in Vacaville. Great trip. 1150 miles, 22 hours driving for 2 minutes of darkness. Was well worth it.

 

[GSP]

We had no traffic driving north on I-24 the morning before the eclipse. We stopped where we crossed the line of totality, in Vienna, IL. Afterward I-57 north was totally jamed. The nav system routed us on IL37 (one lane each direction) to avoid traffic, but it was worse.

When we finally reached the Mt. Vernon supercharger one of eight stalls was open. We plugged in (plug was still hot from previous car) and grabbed a quick bite at McDonalds, which was mobbed, but still fast service. When we returned to the car there were five cars waiting. We had enough range to get to our next stop, so we unplugged and left pronto.

Eclipse was worth the trip, for sure.

GSP

 

[TaoJones]

Not a problem insofar as cars being stacked up *at SCs* - more so with poorly-performing pedestals/towers at various SCs, but that was largely mitigable with a phone call to know which were good and bad in advance. Then there was the moving traffic jam southbound from Idaho Falls to SLC, but that was simple to wait out during dinner and a nap prior to hitting the road.

Arrived Southeastern Idaho from Los Angeles Sunday afternoon and departed Monday night. 22 hours on the way up, and 22 hours on the way back. Easy peasy.

Rancho --> Primm --> St. George --> Nephi --> Tremonton --> Idaho Falls, and the reverse. Avoided S. SLC and Pocatello, for example.

 

[kort677]

Not a problem insofar as cars being stacked up *at SCs* - more so with poorly-performing pedestals/towers at various SCs, .

I think that the growing issue of poor performance found at many SpC locations is a bigger issue than overcrowding on a unique day like the day of the eclipse. this SpC issue seems to be a growing problem that needs to get addressed.

 

[TaoJones]

I think that the growing issue of poor performance found at many SpC locations is a bigger issue than overcrowding on a unique day like the day of the eclipse. this SpC issue seems to be a growing problem that needs to get addressed.

Funny you should mention... At the risk of committing a faux pas by quoting the other voices in my head, this was from earlier this afternoon (see post #23):

Supercharger network needs work

 

[Sparky]

I did SoCal to Idaho Falls in my day-old Model X (I didn't even know how to operate AP2 when I left).
Stayed at my sister's house in Park City. Three cars with 10 people and 2 dogs to a camp site along the Snake River just south of Idaho Falls.
Tremonton->Pocatello->Idaho Falls. I charged Sunday night in Idaho Falls and the place was pretty full, maybe 2 stations empty.
Monday, we got out ahead of the traffic crush and only charged in Tremonton to reach Park City; 5 hours driving was only a bit longer than normal. Tremonton was full with one car waiting. It was like a party there on the return since we were all recounting the amazing sky-show just witnessed. Good time.

 

[kingjamez]

The nav system routed us on IL37 (one lane each direction) to avoid traffic, but it was worse.

Eclipse was worth the trip, for sure.

GSP

Yours and my experiences were very similar. We had MASSIVE traffic on the drive home and the nav routed us through small winding backroads that nearly made the whole family sick from motion sickness. Definitely worse than just sitting in traffic. It took us 21 hours to do what normally was a 10 hour drive.

But even so, "Eclipse was worth the trip, for sure."

-Jim

 

[voidptr]

We stopped at Lumberton, NC Sunday afternoon, all 4 slots were occupied; three left shortly after we got there and one more showed up. Two of the stalls were charging at ~30kW with nobody on the paired pedestal.

The Myrtle Beach supercharger only had a couple other cars there both Sunday morning around 11 and around 5pm later that day on our way home.

 

[Newstart]

Fort Worth, Texas to Hebron, Nebraska. 1,294 miles in 19.2 hours. Average speed 62 MPH. Charged at Ardmore, Perry, Wichita, Salina. Never saw more than 2 other cars at the Super Chargers.

 

[f-stop]

I drove from Vancouver BC, heading south on I-5 on Sun Aug 20 morning, stopping at the new Arlington WA Supercharger (only 2 other stalls occupied of 16 ), then Centralia where all 10 spots were full when I arrived but one cleared immediately and after I plugged in, perhaps another 2 or 3 arrived in line. Early Monday 21st am headed to Woodburn OR SC where at 5am all 8 stalls were already occupied, but I was first in line and only waited a few minutes for a spot to clear. Drove ~45min further south of there to watch the eclipse.

After the eclipse we avoided I-5 northbound as it was swamped but we took back roads to Woodburn SC (about 1.5hr drive) - all spots again occupied but again first in line and only had to wait perhaps 5 min max. A short line of 3-4 cars formed behind me but turnover seemed good. Chatting with some other Tesla owners there I heard some horror stories of massive SC lineups in California on the way up here, was glad things seemed ok for us. The next leg was the worst of the trip, just trying to get past Portland and north out of Oregon. We eventually made our way to the 205 and escaped OR but it took 5hrs to get back to Centralia SC where there was one free stall when I arrived (and again a short line started to form after me). Last stop Burlington where only 2 of the 8 stalls were occupied.

Beforehand I was worried about crazy SC lineups, but overall the Supercharging stops were not a problem for me, charge rates seemed good, and I guess I was lucky just staying ahead of the crowd and never really waiting for a plug. Lots of passers-by at the full Superchargers taking photos, having never seen so many Teslas in one spot before I guess. Lots of friendly Tesla owners at each stop too. Overall, the stops broke up the drive, AP1 worked well and reduced the stress, and even though it was total 10.5hrs driving (plus charging) to get home, it was well worth it to experience totality in person.

 

[AB4EJ]

Eclipse weekend: We charged at Chattanooga SC and Knoxville SC on the way from Tuscaloosa to Gatlinburg (TN); on the way back, Chattanooga and Steele (AL). Except for one other MS at one stop, we were the only SC user in each case. BTW, got some stunning eclipse photos with Nikon & 300 mm telephoto.

 

[yeahsci]

We left the Bay Area for Oregon at 5:30am Saturday morning--two days before the eclipse:

• 6:15am Vacaville: one stall open, no wait
• 7:30am Corning: 6th in line. Over 2 hours total
• 11:00am Mt Shasta: 11 ahead of us on waiting list. Over 5 hours total

I was expecting the worst for Sunday, so we got a head start at 5am but breezed through Grants Pass, Springfield, and Woodburn with 1-2 vacant stalls at each.

Overall, everyone was in good spirits and taking the long waits in stride. We met many friendly fellow owners along the way. We basked under totality on a country road just north of downtown Salem and then continued up to Vancouver: