Supercharger - Mountain View, CA (12 V2 stalls)

[No2DinosaurFuel]

How late at night were you there?

Also, how could you tell a car was "done charging" when still plugged in?

Just trying to understand the situation at that charger. I live about 15 miles away and have never charged there, nor do I plan to.

1) arrived around 10-11PM.

2) when I plugged in right beside one unoccupied tesla I got the full charge rate right away. 110KW is max what these new chargers are giving anyways. It stayed there pretty much the whole time until I tapered due to heat or my SOC.

One car was there before I got there at around 15% SOC and when I was at 97% I unplugged. I needed the high SOC because I was not local and needed the full charge for the next day running about. The same unoccupied car was still there when I left. Keep in mind there was charger issues so I was struggling to charge fast after around 50%. So total I was there around 1.25 hours at least if not more.

Safe to say that owner was eating out nearby and taking their sweet time treating the charging slot as a free parking spot. The least they could do is say I need to move my car and move their car to a non charging parking spot within the same parking lot. It is at night and hardly any non tesla cars were their parking.

 

[ecarfan]

Thank you. I agree with what you posted.

 

[TEG]

That Supercharger location is across the street from a movie theater. It wouldn't surprise me if someone thought to watch a 2 hour movie while their car was charging (then parked) there.

 

[Benjamin Brooks]

That Supercharger location is across the street from a movie theater. It wouldn't surprise me if someone thought to watch a 2 hour movie while their car was charging (then parked) there.

Theoretically it could take about 2 hours to charge a P100D from 0% to 100% on a SuperCharger

 

[Khatsalano]

... it takes 2 hours now to charge any Tesla due to the reduced charge rate problems.

 

[huberc]

Charging at 73kW in stall 5A at 3pm with 20% soc. Currently 7 cars waiting in line.

 

[SFOTurtle]

Charging at 73kW in stall 5A at 3pm with 20% soc. Currently 7 cars waiting in line.

And probably 6 of those 7 cars are owned by locals who come to this SC just to get a free charge rather than plug in to their garage. I feel sorry for the 7th who actually needs to use this SC because they're on a real road trip.

 

[EVie'sDad]

That Supercharger location is across the street from a movie theater. It wouldn't surprise me if someone thought to watch a 2 hour movie while their car was charging (then parked) there.

It is also in the Computer Museum parking lot, which closes around 6pm I think and the Starbucks across the street before 11. So unless they were hanging out at the 7/11, they were either watching a movie or off downtown having a late date while the car charged (presumably).

o/t hueberc.. Monday was a holiday, if I recall it was Observed New Years day, so many were off work enjoying the extra day and being the bay area, many I am sure were out on local road trips. Welcome to the new Supercharger reality. Worst hours are those where most are off work, travelling.

 

[mustafazr]

Arrived at Friday 3 PM, 12 cars in front of me. Waiting around 45-60 mins, and then charged for 45 mins. It can get really bad here at peak hours. Does anyone know of SC plans in South Bay? Either augment Mountain View or something else? I know about Fremont but that's a bit out of general San Jose area, and that seems to have been held up for a few months too.

 

[mustafazr]

I mistakenly skipped San Mateo SC, should've stopped there on my way south. I really wish the navigation system guided you or provided usage at a SC, would really help in trip planning.

 

[Khatsalano]

Err ... the San Mateo SC is just as crowded-- sometimes worse.

 

[Cascadian]

Have enjoyed a lot of road trips in the last couple of years with our S, and never had to wait at a Supercharger until this afternoon. Hilarious! We were in a line of 3 waiting, which grew to 5 by the time we were able to get in about 20 minutes from arrival time. Almost an hour later, after a short but terrific visit to the adjacent Computer History Museum, we were on our way -- and I counted SEVEN Teslas waiting. I was actually laughing about this new experience, but then again, we weren't in a hurry. Yikes -- for anyone who might be. Of course, maybe Sunday afternoons are busier than normal?

 

[ecarfan]

Of course, maybe Sunday afternoons are busier than normal?

If you read the posts in this thread you will see many reports of people waiting in line at this location on different days of the week.

 

[FlatSix911]

Have enjoyed a lot of road trips in the last couple of years with our S, and never had to wait at a Supercharger until this afternoon. Hilarious! We were in a line of 3 waiting, which grew to 5 by the time we were able to get in about 20 minutes from arrival time. Almost an hour later, after a short but terrific visit to the adjacent Computer History Museum, we were on our way -- and I counted SEVEN Teslas waiting. I was actually laughing about this new experience, but then again, we weren't in a hurry. Yikes -- for anyone who might be. Of course, maybe Sunday afternoons are busier than normal?

Unfortunately, this is the new normal for most Super chargers in the Bay Area ... get ready for the Model 3 tsunami

 

[TexasEV]

Unfortunately, this is the new normal for most Super chargers in the Bay Area ... get ready for the Model 3 tsunami

Most people charging there are likely doing so because it's free. That won't be true for the Model 3 (after the first 400 kWh) or the S or X being ordered now either, so I don't think it will be a tsunami or anything close to it.

 

[FlatSix911]

Most people charging there are likely doing so because it's free. That won't be true for the Model 3 (after the first 400 kWh) or the S or X being ordered now either, so I don't think it will be a tsunami or anything close to it.

Except that 400,000 Model 3 vehicles charging free 10 times per year (40kWh x 10) will have a significant impact ...

 

[TexasEV]

Except that 400,000 Model 3 vehicles charging free 10 times per year (40kWh x 10) will have a significant impact ...

Except that most Model 3 owners will probably save their free supercharging for road trips. You know, the thing supercharging was intended for.

 

[Gizmotoy]

I'm local to this Supercharger, but my charging circuit at home failed last week and I've been unable to charge effectively. I'd also been wanting to visit the Computer History Museum's new Make Software exhibit, so I thought I could take care of both issues simultaneously this weekend.

There were 12. TWELVE! Cars in line waiting to charge. This site has 12 stalls, so the wait time must have been absolutely immense. I've seen a few cars in line before, but nothing like this. The entire parking subsection in which the Superchargers live was filled by the charging line all the way back to the street.

So I didn't charge and hope my 120V hopefully holds out until the circuit is repaired (I'm down to 60 mi remaining and charging with 120V ). The CHM's Software exhibit is pretty good, though. Definitely worth checking out.

 

[ecarfan]

There were 12. TWELVE! Cars in line waiting to charge. This site has 12 stalls, so the wait time must have been absolutely immense. I've seen a few cars in line before, but nothing like this. The entire parking subsection in which the Superchargers live was filled by the charging line all the way back to the street.

The Mountain View Supercharger is the most heavily used location in the world, according to the screen display at the Hawthorne Supercharger that I saw this morning. Security guy told me I couldn't take a photo fo the screen, which I thought was absurd.

 

[HankLloydRight]

. Security guy told me I couldn't take a photo of the screen, which I thought was absurd.

Go back with a pair of Google Glass. Or an old fashioned spy camera pen.

Yeah, absurd. Did he work at United previously?