Supercharger - Lone Pine, CA (LIVE 28 Jan 2015, multiple expansions, 16 V3 stalls)

[abasile]

I guess I am a rarity, but if I know a supercharger is overloaded, I will do my best to avoid it. It's not just you that has to wait, it's the other people that come in after you. I have been there and understand that Inyokern is a post-apocalyptic hellscape, but I'm happy to just read articles on my phone for 20-30 minutes while I charge at a place like that.

While it may work for you to hang out on your phone for 20-30 minutes at Inyokern, it's another thing when you've got a whole family in the car. When the car is stopped, people want to get out and move around. Avoiding Lone Pine isn't really a good option for us, congestion or not. That may change when there are Superchargers in Bishop and Kramer Junction.

 

[PLUS EV]

While it may work for you to hang out on your phone for 20-30 minutes at Inyokern, it's another thing when you've got a whole family in the car. When the car is stopped, people want to get out and move around. Avoiding Lone Pine isn't really a good option for us, congestion or not. That may change when there are Superchargers in Bishop and Kramer Junction.

It's a tough life but I make it through somehow!

 

[4SUPER9]

While it may work for you to hang out on your phone for 20-30 minutes at Inyokern, it's another thing when you've got a whole family in the car. When the car is stopped, people want to get out and move around. Avoiding Lone Pine isn't really a good option for us, congestion or not. That may change when there are Superchargers in Bishop and Kramer Junction.

I agree. If by myself, and nothing else to do, I wouldn’t mind going to Inyokern and sit and catch up on emails or just play some games. Again, on the way down, Lone Pine is only a 5 minute stop. On the way up, definitely a long break.

 

[ka9q]

How about destination chargers in Bishop? On my one trip up US395 (from San Diego to Reno), Bishop was the natural overnight stop. But the hotel where I stayed with some friends had no charging facilities.

 

[JasonA-EV]

The one hotel right near Schatt's has a TON of L1's scattered all around it. Was perfect for an overnight stay and helped keep the battery up abit and warm.

Nice Sushi place right down the street also.

 

[remlemasi]

How about destination chargers in Bishop? On my one trip up US395 (from San Diego to Reno), Bishop was the natural overnight stop. But the hotel where I stayed with some friends had no charging facilities.

For an overnight stop, I would rather stay in Mammoth.

 

[4SUPER9]

For an overnight stop, I would rather stay in Mammoth.

Right, though not everyone is going to Mammoth, and the motels right of the strip in Bishop are more affordable. More importantly, there are the occasional blizzards that make the climb up the hill either untenable or impossible for some, making Bishop a necessary stop.

 

[remlemasi]

Right, though not everyone is going to Mammoth, and the motels right of the strip in Bishop are more affordable. More importantly, there are the occasional blizzards that make the climb up the hill either untenable or impossible for some, making Bishop a necessary stop.

Good point. Even though the town is only a two-mile detour off of 395, the climb from Bishop could become difficult with snow.

 

[PLUS EV]

For an overnight stop, I would rather stay in Mammoth.

Even if you were driving through? It's a few miles off the highway and there isn't much to do here for a non-skier. Everything closes super early. I'm actually in Mammoth right now and I come here every year for a conference so I have a lot of experience with this place!

I realize Bishop is not really that great a town, but definitely more convenient than Mammoth for someone driving LA to Reno/Tahoe or whatever.

 

[remlemasi]

Even if you were driving through? It's a few miles off the highway and there isn't much to do here for a non-skier. Everything closes super early. I'm actually in Mammoth right now and I come here every year for a conference so I have a lot of experience with this place!

I realize Bishop is not really that great a town, but definitely more convenient than Mammoth for someone driving LA to Reno/Tahoe or whatever.

Yep, even if I were driving though, but I am a skier

As far as Bishop being more convenient, I would argue only marginally so. Mammoth is only a couple miles off 395 so really a non-factor.

However, @4SUPER9 above raised a good point about snow on the roads. Bishop is at a much lower elevation and gets significantly less snow in the winter, which could be an important factor if it's late and dark.

 

[Daniel in SD]

Had to wait 25 minutes at the Lone Pine supercharger on Sunday. One stall was out. For some reason people were charging there on the way back from Mammoth? Having a charger in Bishop would have been extremely useful as it would have not had a wait and allowed me to get the full 120kW. I had to charge past the taper in Lone Pine because I was worried about the weather in Mammoth. I ended up arriving in Mammoth with 26% charge.
I easily made it to the Inyokern supercharger on the way back despite having chains on for the first 30 miles and only starting with an 85% charge. The restrooms next to the burger place were fine. I also had a burger there last night and it was pretty good.
They really need to get that Kramer Junction supercharger done! I had to charge at San Bernardino on the way up and it's only 72kw though I probably wouldn't be able to do much more due to the SoC.
It does seem like if they add superchargers in Bishop and Kramer Junction and I did everything absolutely perfectly with perfect weather and traffic I could have done the 400 mile drive in 7 hours (it was about 7:30 up and 7:40 back this time).

 

[4SUPER9]

I just can't understand why both Mojave and LP have stalls that have been out for so long. Adding just one stall (= repairing one) at both of these locations would make a huge difference.

 

[PLUS EV]

I just can't understand why both Mojave and LP have stalls that have been out for so long. Adding just one stall (= repairing one) at both of these locations would make a huge difference.

Mojave is showing as Reduced Service in the Nav today. Perhaps they are repairing it?

 

[MountainRatMat]

Had to wait 25 minutes at the Lone Pine supercharger on Sunday. One stall was out. For some reason people were charging there on the way back from Mammoth? Having a charger in Bishop would have been extremely useful as it would have not had a wait and allowed me to get the full 120kW. I had to charge past the taper in Lone Pine because I was worried about the weather in Mammoth. I ended up arriving in Mammoth with 26% charge.
I easily made it to the Inyokern supercharger on the way back despite having chains on for the first 30 miles and only starting with an 85% charge. The restrooms next to the burger place were fine. I also had a burger there last night and it was pretty good.
They really need to get that Kramer Junction supercharger done! I had to charge at San Bernardino on the way up and it's only 72kw though I probably wouldn't be able to do much more due to the SoC.
It does seem like if they add superchargers in Bishop and Kramer Junction and I did everything absolutely perfectly with perfect weather and traffic I could have done the 400 mile drive in 7 hours (it was about 7:30 up and 7:40 back this time).

While I agree with most of what you wrote, I think supercharging "past the taper" (I'm assuming this means over 80-90%?) at Lone Pine on the way to Mammoth is part of the problem. It is only 100 miles (99.7 to be exact) with a warm battery and give or take 5000ft elevation gain. Very comfortable to make that on 80% charge in a Model 3 even in severe weather. I know the Lone Pine supercharger is a choke point so I always do a quick 5-10 min bathroom stop at Inyokern to save some time at Lone Pine.

 

[Daniel in SD]

While I agree with most of what you wrote, I think supercharging "past the taper" (I'm assuming this means over 80-90%?) at Lone Pine on the way to Mammoth is part of the problem. It is only 100 miles (99.7 to be exact) with a warm battery and give or take 5000ft elevation gain. Very comfortable to make that on 80% charge in a Model 3 even in severe weather. I know the Lone Pine supercharger is a choke point so I always do a quick 5-10 min bathroom stop at Inyokern to save some time at Lone Pine.

I charged to 235 miles and arrived with 76 miles. I didn't feel comfortable cutting it closer than that given what they were saying about the weather. A charger in Bishop would have made it no problem and I wouldn't have had to charge at less than 120kW. I wish they would put 120kW superchargers along the 215. Maybe they should add stalls that stop charging after the rate drops below 120kW to get more throughput for people who aren't taking long breaks.
There were people parked at the Lone Pine supercharger for more than an hour while I was there!
This was actually the first trip that I've used the supercharger network. I enjoyed trying to optimize things to try get my travel time as close as possible to an ICE vehicle but I can imagine it will get old if every trip has some sort of problem.

 

[4SUPER9]

The issue with large charges at Lone Pine are multiple:
- The climb up the hill is significant. Even with a big charge, I tend to arrive in Mammoth with little remaining.
- The weather in Mammoth can be quite cold, resulting in major vampire losses overnight.

I often try to grab a quick charge immediately upon arrive at Mammoth for both of these reasons, especially if the battery is warm. Sometimes though, I am in a hurry to hit the slopes and do not have the time (and those I am traveling with are annoyed by all the stops). BTW, the new restaurant Bleu (the old Charthouse) is directly across from the Mammoth superchargers and is excellent, with a gourmet wine and cheese market inside)

Then, since most people do need a good charge at LP, they might as well walk to the nearby restaurants. By the time they walk to the Pizza Factor, order, eat and walk back, that's about a full hour. Personally, I like to leave as soon as I have a sufficient charge with a decent safety margin. Given my points above though, I am not in a hurry to leave, as the bigger the charge I get in LP, the better. My biggest pressure to to make room for others. Not everyone is as concerned as most of us here are.

 

[Daniel in SD]

The issue with large charges at Lone Pine are multiple:
- The climb up the hill is significant. Even with a big charge, I tend to arrive in Mammoth with little remaining.
- The weather in Mammoth can be quite cold, resulting in major vampire losses overnight.

The few people I talked to were all coming back from Mammoth (it was Sunday). Someone mentioned that the Mojave supercharger was a complete disaster on Friday so maybe people were trying to skip it on the way back.

 

[4SUPER9]

The few people I talked to were all coming back from Mammoth (it was Sunday). Someone mentioned that the Mojave supercharger was a complete disaster on Friday so maybe people were trying to skip it on the way back.

Going to West LA, it is not possible for me to skip Mojave from LP, unless I stop at Inyokern. In which case, I wouldn't need to stop at LP at all.

 

[AlanSubie4Life]

I think supercharging "past the taper" (I'm assuming this means over 80-90%?) at Lone Pine on the way to Mammoth is part of the problem.

Significantly less than 120kW charge rate is what he meant, and that happens pretty soon...

Very comfortable to make that on 80% charge in a Model 3 even in severe weather.

This is an NWS warning for around the time he was traveling, so some caution (overcharging) was advised...perhaps a bit dramatic on the weather service's part, but there have been only 6 or so Blizzard warnings in the last 10 years in Mammoth, so some caution was advised:

"A Blizzard Warning has been issued for the Sierra overnight tonight as a potent wave moves into the Sierra. Forcing associated with the wave will be sufficient to produce 3-4 inch per hour snowfall rates over several hours. Coupled with wind and drier character of snow, expect life threatening conditions with zero visibility. Even a short walk could be deadly since it would be easy to become disoriented. Vehicular travel would be beyond foolish, but if you choose so, have a plan to be able to survive being stranded for many hours as first responders will not be able to reach you quickly."

It turns out he beat the storm, but it's hard to predict these things sometimes. Would be nice to be able to stay warm if they had closed the road (which in fact I don't think they did between Bishop & Mammoth during this storm - or at least not on any of the times I checked - maybe it was closed for a few hours at some point).

 

[Daniel in SD]

Going to West LA, it is not possible for me to skip Mojave from LP, unless I stop at Inyokern. In which case, I wouldn't need to stop at LP at all.

It's 210 miles so it could be done in a Model 3. I can understand why people would do it if they had waited an hour at Mojave a couple days earlier. The bottom line is they need enough superchargers so that when one is crowded or down it doesn't clog up the whole system. It's very unfortunate that Li-ion batteries charge so slowly at high SoC. Tesla should consider charging by the minute instead of by the kWh in all states.
Super troll suggestion is to charge people with "free supercharging" by the minute as well. The power is free but you have to pay for parking