Supercharger newbie

[lefyl]

First time at a supercharger today.

Stopped off at Grantham, parked up (badly) and car (M3) was too far to the left of the space so cable wouldn't reach (does anyone else find it really hard to judge where the car is going using the reversing camera?)

Moved car a bit to the right so that it was within cable reach. However the only cable that could be released was the wrong type. The right type (CCS) was stuck in its holder. No amount of tugging, twisting, pressing the button on top would release it. Next door supercharger CCS cable was the same, but the one after that came free with a simple tug. Moved car again, plugged in and car started charging. Went back to check the CCS cables on the first two superchargers and still couldn't get them free. Is this normal? Were they broken or is there some magic incantation that will release them?

 

[Big Earl]

It just takes a little practice using the steering lines on the camera keeping an eye on your distance. You have to back all the way up in order to plug in because the cables are short.

I recommend driving around in an empty parking lot backward and practicing some parking and general reverse maneuvers.

To get the cables to release, push it in and up, then pull. There's a little hook on the bottom of the connector, so just pulling straight out won't release it.

 

[pacman65]

Glad it's not just me !

I've reversed shockingly badly at both superchargers I've visited.
Taken a couple of goes at forwards and back to get into what are quite generous spaces.

At the last one as soon as I had plugged in the driver of the S in from two bays down came over quite quickly and I wondered if he thought I was drunk, but he was just excited to see a model 3 and wanted to know all about it.

I may take Big Earl's advice - I've not felt this incompetent since I was learning 36 years ago.

Other big surprise at superchargers is the bangs from the battery as it charges - I assume >100KW creates thermal expansion and somethings got to give, but it's a bit scary when you first hear it.

 

[WannabeOwner]

Glad it's not just me !

Definitely not just the two of you. I line up perfectly and then when i jump out I find I am parked at 45 degrees - like everyone else there! Car's that arrive seem to do lots of back-and-fill

Other big surprise at superchargers is the bangs from the battery as it charges - I assume >100KW creates thermal expansion

Bjorn did a video about that (might even have been a non-Tesla brand with the same issue, can't remember now ...)

 

[Roy W.]

Other big surprise at superchargers is the bangs from the battery as it charges - I assume >100KW creates thermal expansion and somethings got to give, but it's a bit scary when you first hear it.

That’ll be those nice shiny cells exploding

 

[tj333]

Definitely not just the two of you. I line up perfectly and then when i jump out I find I am parked at 45 degrees - like everyone else there!

Glad to have seen these posts! I had a fantastic test drive a few weeks ago (I ordered the next day) but got back to the multi storey park and made a complete mess of trying to reverse park. Think at various points I was inches away from hitting both cars either side and a column behind me! I thought it was just me!

 

[LukeT]

Me too on the reversing thing. There is something a little disorientating about the camera. We have to reverse along narrow lanes between high hedges a lot to the next passing place around here (Devon) and I find I tend to go back to wing mirrors for that. For some reason if I use the camera I'm a bit prone to wandering off line, where I'm not with mirrors, despite the lines. I wonder whether it's because you have the length of the side of the car in the mirror view where in the camera there's no suitable bit of car in view for reference and the mind doesn't put as much trust in the lines.

And you don't have to wander far off line with a wide car in a narrow lane before a gentle correction won't cut it!

Love the camera for reversing up to an object though.

Superchargers could be a nice opportunity for autopark, given tesla has some control over the layout of the environment as well as the car. Maybe they'll do something about that?

 

[BCrider]

Well I tried to connect to a Supercharger for the first time today at Warwick services north. Parked in the bay, opened the port and inserted the cable - nothing happened. Light turned blue suggesting the car recognised the charger was attached, but no charging took [place.
Thought I would move to another charger which had a Tesla CCS connector - same thing!
The car charges okay at home no problem - can anyone educate me as to what I am doing wrong??
Many thanks

 

[NorfolkMustard]

What car do you have?

 

[Asterix187]

The model s literally has the worst turning circle of any car I have ever owned!

 

[BCrider]

What car do you have?

M3 SR +
Does this make a difference?

 

[NorfolkMustard]

This may be the proverbial teaching granny to suck eggs, if so apologies, but just in case

If you had a Model S/X then you'd use the bottom cable (Type 2, which looks the same as the cable you have at home for AC charging).
But at the supercharger, the Model 3 uses the top cable (CCS Combo 2, for DC charging)

good comparison/explanation here

 

[BCrider]

This may be the proverbial teaching granny to suck eggs, if so apologies, but just in case

If you had a Model S/X then you'd use the bottom cable (Type 2, which looks the same as the cable you have at home for AC charging).
But at the supercharger, the Model 3 uses the top cable (CCS Combo 2, for DC charging)

good comparison/explanation here

Thank you! Will go and have another go tomorrow. I did notice different connectors

 

[Rooster6655]

M3 SR +
Does this make a difference?

Don’t know if it’s this but have you setup a payment card for supercharging?

 

[BCrider]

Thanks for the responses - went to another site today, plugged in to the CCS connector and immediate charging. Quick and easy - phew!
Just a little disappointed though that we cannot access normal Tesla connectors as there are far more pf those than ours at present

 

[Tony Hoyle]

You do need to give the CCS connector some welly to remove it. First time I charged I did the same thing... thought it was stuck. I guess at least there's no chance of it coming out..

 

[Roy W.]

Thanks for the responses - went to another site today, plugged in to the CCS connector and immediate charging. Quick and easy - phew!
Just a little disappointed though that we cannot access normal Tesla connectors as there are far more pf those than ours at present

Tesla plan to make all Superchargers dual-cable in time, so that will only be a temporary thing.

 

[Rooster6655]

Tesla plan to make all Superchargers dual-cable in time, so that will only be a temporary thing.

They also plan to answer the phones and emails haha

 

[NorfolkMustard]

They’ve been very good at answering the phone this week. Mr Musk has had a word and moved some sales staff over to deliveries/support

 

[WannabeOwner]

Just a little disappointed though that we cannot access normal Tesla connectors as there are far more pf those than ours at present

"far more" ?

Of the 51 Superchargers sites in the UK Tesla has already retro-fitted all sites with at least 2 stalls with CCS, 9 of which have more than 2 stalls done and a further 33 sites have had all stalls converted. More than 75% of all stalls have already been converted, and none of that started in earnest until February