Supercharger - Mammoth Lakes, CA (8 V2 stalls)

[MarcG]

I was the only one there and checked all 4 pairs, never exceeding a measly 18kW. It took 35 minutes to go from 218 to 250 rated miles. I called Tesla roadside service to complain. The rep said maybe it's slow because it was 34F. I pointed out that's a normal temperature for Mammoth and that I had charged at Mammoth 36x in prior seasons with normal charge rates. Hopefully they will send someone out to inspect.

Perhaps it wasn’t an issue with the chargers but your battery being very cold? Had you left your car outdoors at close to freezing temperatures for a while before attempting to charge?
Short of a CAN bus reader that shows battery temps, you could tell that the battery couldn’t take much power while charging by noting how much regen is being limited while driving (dashed line on the power meter).

 

[Tony8489]

Cold battery might make the charging slow for 5-10 minutes but not 30. By the time I left the charge rate was 26kW, still horrible.

 

[MarcG]

Cold battery might make the charging slow for 5-10 minutes but not 30. By the time I left the charge rate was 26kW, still horrible.

I once spen over an hour at an SC in Idaho after my car sat outside a hotel overnight with close to freezing temperatures. Max power I ever got was 29kW. And this was in my S, which is more closely matched with your X in terms of battery chemistry than my 3.

 

[Doug Martoccia]

This doesn't seem to be a SC issue. Would pre-conditioning the battery help?

 

[ucmndd]

Cold battery might make the charging slow for 5-10 minutes but not 30.

This just isn’t a true or reasonable expectation. A cold soaked battery near freezing is going to take a solid 30-60 minutes to heat up to optimal charging temperature (which I believe is ~85F on recent firmwares).

Newer firmwares have also more seriously limited cold charging speed, presumably in an effort to improve battery longevity, so you’re likely seeing the result of changed behavior of the CAR vs. previous years, not the supercharger.

I’m not surprised at all that you got 18-26kw with a cold battery at a relatively high SoC.

 

[jboy210]

Ah, the culinary delights of Inyokern! However can one choose among the many fine eateries there?

Hey. When we lived in Ridgecrest Inyokern was the spot for fine dining!

 

[Tony8489]

Newer firmwares have also more seriously limited cold charging speed, presumably in an effort to improve battery longevity, so you’re likely seeing the result of changed behavior of the CAR vs. previous years, not the supercharger.

I can believe that. The Raven Model S also won't regen when the battery is cold. I was at Snowbird March 7-14 and took the car down the canyon 3x. Once I turned the climate on for 20 minutes before driving; it gobbled 8 rated miles but the regen worked. The other times I had to use the brakes driving all the way down Little Cottonwood Canyon.

 

[Tony8489]

I'm charging at Mammoth now, not paired. It's been at 45kW and 3 miles/minute the whole time starting at about 50% SoC.

At 50% SoC I average 6 miles/minute at 150kW chargers.

 

[bradhs]

Battery was probably cold soaked. Your charge rate is low because power is being diverted to heating battery. Next time try pre-heating your car before going to the charger, this should get the batteries warmed up a bit which will allow for much faster charging.

P.S. Recent (like last week started installing) software updates improves cold weather efficiency.

 

[4SUPER9]

No. Mammoth superchargers just suck, and have always sucked, since they went live.

 

[4SUPER9]

I am up here now. I gotta say the obvious, and that there is nothing better than having destination charging. I found the Supercharger here has always been terrible. I am staying at Juniper. They have 4 Tesla HPWC's and one J-1772. It is so nice to just plug in and forget it. I was also able to skip Lone Pine and make it to Mojave with about 6 miles to spare.

The only problem has been that several owners have left their cars in after they finished, as much as 2 days. One guy unplugged and just left his car there. Fortunately, the cables are long and I was able to park next to him. I am asking the management to put up signs requiring owners to move their cars when done. Let's hope they are motivated enough.

 

[Tony8489]

No. Mammoth superchargers just suck, and have always sucked, since they went live.

They are certainly the slowest of any I use with frequency, though this seems to be a recent development in the 2020 and 2021 ski seasons. Max charge rate on April 13 was 90kW. The reality now is that you can expect it to be like an urban charger. It's fine if you're having dinner and can leave it for 45+ minutes. That's my usual scenario as I'm nearly always staying there as opposed to passing through.

Lone Pine and Bishop are the ones that need to be fast, and they usually are.

 

[Sabre Man]

Mods, please delete if my post is considered inappropriate.

I am in creating a video series for the Irish EV Owners Association YouTube channel, documenting a road trip I did in 2019 in a rented Model 3 from San Francisco to Los Angeles, Las Vegas, The Grand Canyon, Page, AZ, Death Valley, Mammoth Lakes and Yosemite National Park.

I took lots of photos but because I wasn't thinking about making a video at the time, I am missing photos of most of the superchargers we visited, which is something I'd like to talk about in the video.

If anyone has any photos of this supercharger that I can use, please send them to [email protected].

This is part 1:

 

[tierneyalvin]

How do people handle chains on Teslas with AWD when heading up to this charger in the winter? Are they required anyway, do you typically not bother?

 

[miimura]

How do people handle chains on Teslas with AWD when heading up to this charger in the winter? Are they required anyway, do you typically not bother?

The general rule in CA is that you have to carry chains, but if you have snow tires with 3PMSF logo and AWD you don't need to put them on to pass chain controls.

 

[Cosmacelf]

The general rule in CA is that you have to carry chains, but if you have snow tires with 3PMSF logo and AWD you don't need to put them on to pass chain controls.

That’s good to know! I’m glad CA has a snow tire exception. Of course, folks visiting from LA or San Diego don’t know what a snow tire is, but at least those in the know can do it right. I hate chains/cables, finding them worse that new all season tires in most situations. The only problem with snow tires is that they reduce range by up to 10%.

 

[miimura]

That’s good to know! I’m glad CA has a snow tire exception. Of course, folks visiting from LA or San Diego don’t know what a snow tire is, but at least those in the know can do it right. I hate chains/cables, finding them worse that new all season tires in most situations. The only problem with snow tires is that they reduce range by up to 10%.

CalTrans technically has a higher level of chain controls that requires AWD + Chains, but in reality, CHP just closes the road when it gets to that point.

 

[cpa]

The general rule in CA is that you have to carry chains, but if you have snow tires with 3PMSF logo and AWD you don't need to put them on to pass chain controls.

OK, for those of us who never drive in the snow...

I have seen tires on vehicles that have metal studs protruding from the tread.

(1) I always thought these are unlawful in California.

(2) Is this 3PMSF logo supposed to take the place of these studded tires?

(3) If the road is not snowy but has a thick coat of ice, do these 3PMSF allow traction on ice? It seems to me that a studded tire will do much better on ice that a smooth tire.

Sorry for the ignorant response.

 

[miimura]

OK, for those of us who never drive in the snow...

I have seen tires on vehicles that have metal studs protruding from the tread.

(1) I always thought these are unlawful in California.

(2) Is this 3PMSF logo supposed to take the place of these studded tires?

(3) If the road is not snowy but has a thick coat of ice, do these 3PMSF allow traction on ice? It seems to me that a studded tire will do much better on ice that a smooth tire.

Sorry for the ignorant response.

Studded tires are common in Alaska and Northern Europe. They are illegal in California. The 3PMSF logo means that it is a proper snow tire. There are now All Weather tires like the Michelin CrossClimate and Vredstein Quatrac Pro that are All Season plus Severe Snow (3PMSF) rated and don't completely melt in Summer driving conditions. Nokian was the first manufacturer that I know of that made a tire like that.

Clearly, a studded tire is better than a studless snow tire on ice, but in California, chains are your only option if your snow tire doesn't have enough traction on ice.

https://www.tirerack.com/winter/tech/techpage.jsp?techid=125

 

[cmarshack]

This car does very well with good all terrain tires. I am a big fan of the Continental DWS 06 (now 06+) and have run them on my last two Model S's and my Audi Q7. As long as the tread still shows the "S" (DWS=Dry, Wet,Snow) it does very well and I have never had to put on chains in California (Mammoth or Big Bear area). My kids were on the ski team in Big Bear and we drove up every weekend. Below is one example of a day we drove up and I saved the clip because of one aggressive Audi who thought 35-40MPH was too slow in these conditions. The car handles very well in those conditions and never faltered in deeper snow (but you need to use good judgement as there is not a ton of ground clearance):