Supercharger neglect: Shape up, Tesla

[azred]

I am not a frequent Supercharger user but the last couple experiences have sucked. A couple months ago I used Flagstaff and found two or three chargers slow or broken. That was bad, but today was ridiculous.

This afternoon I stopped at the urban Supercharger on Camelback road in Phoenix, which allegedly has 12 stalls. Allegedly. About half were broken. Luckily two were working and open because one of the two was “ICEd” by a limo-tinted, unplugged Model 3!!

Supposedly this site is being expanded and though no work was apparent today, the end stalls out of service might be related to that project. maybe. But there were other stalls in the middle of working stalls also out of service.

As for the Model 3, you are lucky you didn’t get your car vandalized by someone who couldn’t charge due to your asshat move.

 

[TehBRD]

Agreed on the point that they shouldn't ICE the space, but it's probably less luck and more the knowledge that his cameras will be recording the encounter...

 

[justsomeguy]

If the majority of the stalls were in disrepair how do you know he parked in a working stall?

He's lucky you managed to control yourself and behave like an adult and not vandalize his property?

 

[Wennfred]

If the majority of the stalls were in disrepair how do you know he parked in a working stall?

He's lucky you managed to control yourself and behave like an adult and not vandalize his property?

Sorry bro but this was the last guy that ICED my Supercharger.

 

[toolman335]

How do you know when a SC isn't working? Are there signs on it or do you plug-in and hope for the best?

 

[Wennfred]

How do you know when a SC isn't working? Are there signs on it or do you plug-in and hope for the best?

You don’t know until you plug in, lucky for me every one of the stations I used between San Diego to Las Vegas and back have worked fine.

The Nav station will tell you if those SC are in maintenance and offline when you tap on it to select it on the screen.

Fred

 

[toolman335]

If you plug in and it's out of service, what does it say on the touchscreen in the car?

 

[Matsayz]

If you plug in and it's out of service, what does it say on the touchscreen in the car?

The screen might say "check cable" or "unplug and replug"... There's no "This SuperCharger is straight up broken" message. I drove between Colorado Springs, CO and Las Vegas twice in October and most chargers were working but sometimes the car wouldn't get above 5kW or it would go up to 30 then right back down to 2 and again and again.... This would be a "broken" charger.

The Las Vegas blvd SC at Town Square had multiple "broken" chargers and someone had kind of tied the cable in a knot. It'd be nice if there was a "light" that was in the SC indicating if it was good to go or not.

Also, why is there not a way to ping Tesla about a down SC from the screen? I understand they're "networked" and real-time but damn the lack of maintenance is crazy.

 

[toolman335]

Wow that's brutal. I don't take many long road trips, but now I'm going to be stressing about the stupid things not working lol.

 

[ewoodrick]

Did you report the inoperative pedestals to Tesla?

 

[Matsayz]

Did you report the inoperative pedestals to Tesla?

Yes, usually by email as calling the 800 number is useless as I've sat on hold for 20mins before I hung up. Emails aren't always returned btw.

 

[cpa]

If those stalls are not repaired by Thanksgiving week, there will be a lot of angry owners out there.

There is also another thread floating around that has addressed this issue.

Tesla really needs to improve in this area. The suggestion above to show a broken or malfunctioning stall is a good start. The conditions of the stalls should be apparent on the touchscreen as we approach, and we definitely need a way to report stalls that are out of order from the touchscreen, or phone app, and not through some generic email (I don't have email when away from home).

 

[Matsayz]

If those stalls are not repaired by Thanksgiving week, there will be a lot of angry owners out there.

There is also another thread floating around that has addressed this issue.

Tesla really needs to improve in this area. The suggestion above to show a broken or malfunctioning stall is a good start. The conditions of the stalls should be apparent on the touchscreen as we approach, and we definitely need a way to report stalls that are out of order from the touchscreen, or phone app, and not through some generic email (I don't have email when away from home).

I recommend emailing them, [email protected] whenever a charger is down or acting up. At least we can ping them about it and let them know we’re annoyed. I’m out of free miles so I’m getting charged and coming up on broken chargers is annoying especially when you have to start a line...

 

[ucmndd]

Luckily two were working and open because one of the two was “ICEd” by a limo-tinted, unplugged Model 3!!
.

Whenever I see this I feel bad for the poor person that forgot to plug their car in and is going to come back to an uncharged car, so I plug it in for them. It’s the neighborly thing to do.

Just hope they don’t end up with any idle charges!

 

[ucmndd]

I recommend emailing them, [email protected] whenever a charger is down or acting up. At least we can ping them about it and let them know we’re annoyed. I’m out of free miles so I’m getting charged and coming up on broken chargers is annoying especially when you have to start a line...

Emails are so very easy to ignore. If you really want to do something about this, you need to call the roadside assistance number. Every time.

 

[mpmeyer]

I am not a frequent Supercharger user but the last couple experiences have sucked. A couple months ago I used Flagstaff and found two or three chargers slow or broken. That was bad, but today was ridiculous.

I was at Flagstaff last week, many stalls were not working, see: Supercharger - Flagstaff, AZ

 

[SilverSp33d3r]

Tesla used to pride themselves on providing a good charging experience...not sure if the care as much about that.
Thought I could top off during lunch to hit the road right after work....definitely not the case. Whopping 6kW with the car next to me pulling 60 kW.

 

[cpa]

According to Supercharge.info, there are currently 77 sites in varying stages construction in the US of A and another 51 in other parts of the world. These numbers are the largest in memory. In addition, there are 55 sites (USA) and 28 everywhere else in some stage in the permitting process. These locations are those that are known. There could easily be another half dozen or more that are not on anyone's radar.

Tesla may be spending more of its cash on installing or expanding Supercharger sites rather than repairing existing ones. (This is just idle speculation.) For one reason, the number of Teslas on the road is increasing at a rapid pace. Another reason is the anticipation of the Model Y coming next year; maybe the pickup cannot be far behind. A third reason is that many of these sites are finally filling in neglected highways over the years like I-94 between Billings and the Twin Cities and the Trans-Canada highway through Alberta to Ottawa. A smaller reason might be the fact that Tesla wants to show profits: Spending money on capital expenditures does not directly affect the bottom line while repairs and maintenance does. While in the overall scheme of things the costs to maintain Superchargers is not that material, every little bit helps.

 

[sperkin]

Tesla takes about 6 weeks to fix a broken Supercharger and then others around it will break. I'm seeing about 2 out of 10 urban chargers are broken. Some are half speed or very slow.

I haven't seen this once outside of the city though. I think they over heat in the city due to constant use.

 

[azred]

Tesla takes about 6 weeks to fix a broken Supercharger and then others around it will break. I'm seeing about 2 out of 10 urban chargers are broken. Some are half speed or very slow.

I haven't seen this once outside of the city though. I think they over heat in the city due to constant use.

If your info is accurate and it takes six weeks, the problem is going to get really severe. I understand that Tesla is juggling a lot of balls but they are risking their most distinctive advantage over competing car manufacturers. Talk to a Leaf owner about the frustration of dealing with broken chargers. I am sure more than a few have dumped their Leafs and purchased Teslas largely for the Supercharger network. If it gets a reputation for being unreliable, Tesla will have blown it big time.