Supercharger - Newark, DE

[CatB]

This is worrisome for July 4th weekend - a time when I would think Tesla would not want bad experiences leading to bad press. Newark has been down for days, Laurel does not seem likely to open on time and they're going to decommission Bethesda on the 30th...
I really think they need to send out a notification to travelers to plan accordingly (which for many means taking an ICE - hard core resourceful early adopters will do as Lanny and Andrew suggested, but recent purchasers who aren't used to having to plan might be very disappointed, inconvenienced and vocal)

 

[kort677]

This is worrisome for July 4th weekend - a time when I would think Tesla would not want bad experiences leading to bad press.

some things are just out of Tesla's control. that said, they should consider keeping Bethesda operational until Laurel is operating.
read through the thread for the the many alternatives available. in you're driving an 85 or a 90 this is a non issue other than needing to do a full charge in order to skip the Newark SpC.

 

[TexasEV]

I really think they need to send out a notification to travelers to plan accordingly (which for many means taking an ICE - hard core resourceful early adopters will do as Lanny and Andrew suggested, but recent purchasers who aren't used to having to plan might be very disappointed, inconvenienced and vocal)

Even those who aren't early adopters need to know that they need to plan long distance trips, and know how to find backups. Or they surely will be disappointed one day.

 

[Max*]

Even those who aren't early adopters need to know that they need to plan long distance trips, and know how to find backups. Or they surely will be disappointed one day.

I agree with the general statement (both you and vdiv made), I disagree about the terminology.

Early adopters will plan, mainstream buyers won't. How many ICE drivers plan a gas station stop in advance and know where the backups are if that particular station is closed?

We're not mainstream yet, but we're probably not early adopters either. Once the Model 3 comes out and Tesla becomes mass market/mainstream, there can't be one supercharger which can potentially take out the NE corridor.

 

[CatB]

Sorry if I missed this - but is there a known reason for why Newark is down? I saw a picture of the damaged stall, but if another vehicle was successfully charging right next to it, that seems to indicate that the whole system wasn't disabled due to that.

 

[jdo]

When you triple the number of stalls, line Newark did, you increase capacity by 6x

Capacity of Superchargers Using an Erlang-B Model

I'm not a queuing theory expert, I only visited it a high level. So if he made a mistake in the nitty gritty, I'll take an experts word on it.

Good stuff. Thanks for the link.

 

[jdo]

Sorry if I missed this - but is there a known reason for why Newark is down? I saw a picture of the damaged stall, but if another vehicle was successfully charging right next to it, that seems to indicate that the whole system wasn't disabled due to that.

No official reason from Tesla, which is a huge part of the problem.

 

[andrewket]

I'm in NoVA and have two chademo adapters that I'm happy to loan to anyone driving by who expects to return this direction within a few days. With an 85 or 90 you should be able to skip Newark with a bit of planning.

 

[Lanny]

I'm in Maryland near Washington, DC with 158 rated miles of charge. This afternoon I typed in a destination well north of here. The Tesla Trip Planner on the Nav directed me to drive to the Newark Supercharger with instructions that 10 minutes of charging is required there. I took a photo of the screen as seen above. The little red icon on the map (but not in the Trip Location list) is different but that's the only indicator that something might be amiss.

I wonder what would have happened if I wasn't already aware of the closure and just headed up I-95 following the Trip Planner instructions. I presume that I'd have pulled into the Newark Welcome Center and then found out that the Supercharger is offline. At that point I wouldn't have enough to get to the next closest Supercharger which is Hamilton.

I'm concerned that this bug might be creating similar situations for unsuspecting drivers. I have reported this to Tesla.

Can others in the Mid-Atlantic test the Trip Planner from your location and see if the Nav is telling you to charge at Newark?

 

[Max*]

Uhhh... Newark is gone from the map... There is no supercharger pin at all now

 

[Lanny]

Uhhh... Newark is gone from the map... There is no supercharger pin at all now

That's one way to squash that bug. ;-)

 

[Max*]

Image attached

 

[Max*]

FTR when I took the photo (now) I was near Fairfax city with 182RM, and if I navigate north, it tells me to charge at Bethesda and then one of the Jersey SpCs

 

[Lanny]

@Max*, I still see Newark on my screen, even after I reboot.

 

[Max*]

@Lanny that's so odd... When I get back to the car, I'll try a reboot and see if it comes back, but in the past it's never been "missing".

 

[Max*]

Still gone...

 

[ggnykk]

You guys should be calling Tesla like mad and ask to talk to a regional manager or senior manager. Not the little guy that is receiving the call. The little guy will just give you a standard answer every time without doing anything to accelerate the re-opening.

 

[kort677]

You guys should be calling Tesla like mad and ask to talk to a regional manager or senior manager. Not the little guy that is receiving the call. The little guy will just give you a standard answer every time without doing anything to accelerate the re-opening.

calm down! it has been reported the this outage is out of the control of tesla, try venting your anger at whomever supplies the power to the SpC.

 

[TexasEV]

When there were power problems at Harris Ranch (a crucial N-S stop on I-5) a year or so ago I remember reading Tesla brought in a portable generator. I guess if it's the main east coast highway Tesla doesn't think it's as important as if it's the main west coast highway?

 

[Reba]

The nav system not routing to Newark has been my standard situation since the relocation from the 4 stall to 12 stall. Makes me think it is a car software/ firmware or data version not centrally controlled.