Supercharger - Oakhurst, CA (LIVE Feb 2022, 8 V3 stalls)

[IanHahn]

Cannot imagine Tesla WANTS this story out there, they would rather fix them ASAP and not put any notions into people's heads. I'm kinda sorry I posted about it, yet I was so aghast that I didn't really know what to do, and there is where I come where I have Tesla questions.

Just offering a journalist's perspective here. I think questions regarding station security are important to broach, especially with the network expanding so quickly. It's legitimate to, at the least, be curious about Tesla's ability to monitor its stations for shenanigans.

That said, I tried to balance that with a lighter, quirkier tone. In a human interest sense, it's just a fun story. It doesn't need to be sensationalized.

So I made sure to include in the fact that, despite visiting hundreds of stations, you have never seen anything like this before. I'll throw a link into the forum once the story is posted here in a few hours. Would love feedback.

 

[ucmndd]

Hi, Ian here again from EEPower. Any chance I could use the middle image here in the article I mentioned to Randy earlier in the thread?

Appreciate you asking, you're the only one that did. By all means go ahead

 

[IanHahn]

Appreciate you asking, you're the only one that did. By all means go ahead

Thank you!

Any chance you'd be comfortable with providing your name? If not, I can always attribute the image to "TMC forum user ucmndd."

Again, my number's 986-910-5812, and my email's [email protected]. Just shoot me your name at one of those, if you want me to use it.

 

[IanHahn]

For anyone interested: Tesla “Supercharger Hunter” Discovers Severed Cables at a New Station in Rural California

 

[ucmndd]

Thank you!

Any chance you'd be comfortable with providing your name? If not, I can always attribute the image to "TMC forum user ucmndd."

Again, my number's 986-910-5812, and my email's [email protected]. Just shoot me your name at one of those, if you want me to use it.

No attribution necessary

 

[ucmndd]

FYI, four stalls out of order here tonight, not lit. They do have cables still.

 

[israndy]

Article in the local paper:

I wonder who the "Souther California driver" was who had the same experience as me at this charger, perhaps the author thought Alameda is in SoCal.

 

[SDM44]

Been charging here for the past few days while visiting Yosemite. All of the stalls have cables on them, and the security camera trailer is still there.

Only issue I’ve been running into is that you can’t pull more than 60 kW from any of the stalls. I’ve tried all 8 stalls just to see (since it’s usually empty there), and sure enough it’s all the same. People have also reported this on different charging app review sections as well, since this station is supposed to be 250 kW.

I was still able to charge my car just fine so I didn’t really care in the end, but just a FYI to anyone who’s expecting a 250 kW experience.

 

[newjacka]

Been charging here for the past few days while visiting Yosemite. All of the stalls have cables on them, and the security camera trailer is still there.

Only issue I’ve been running into is that you can’t pull more than 60 kW from any of the stalls. I’ve tried all 8 stalls just to see (since it’s usually empty there), and sure enough it’s all the same. People have also reported this on different charging app review sections as well, since this station is supposed to be 250 kW.

I was still able to charge my car just fine so I didn’t really care in the end, but just a FYI to anyone who’s expecting a 250 kW experience.

state of charge?

 

[SDM44]

state of charge?

Usually around 45-55%

 

[Mrbrock]

Usually around 45-55%

Can you check the label on the transformer? It should be 1000KVa for 8 V3 stalls, but if it is less, maybe Tesla had to turn down the power to match available power. Or there is something else going on causing them to limit power.

 

[1100MCM]

It’s a 750 kVA at Oakhurst which is the right size for 8 V3s.

It isn’t common for Tesla to throttle power. Patterson has a 500 kVA transformer and 8 V3 stalls there consistently pull 700 kW when full. The utility is the one that chooses the transformer so any under sizing causing transformer durability issues would be on the utility.

 

[newjacka]

Usually around 45-55%

you will never get 250kw at 50% state of charge, you need to be between 10% and 20%

 

[STS-134]

Usually around 45-55%

You aren't going to get more than about 150kW at that SoC. And you'll never seen 250kW unless you're below 25%, usually below 20%. The taper usually begins somewhere between 20-25%.

 

[SDM44]

you will never get 250kw at 50% state of charge, you need to be between 10% and 20%

I was initially getting 180 kW at 42% SOC this afternoon in Tejon at their 250 kW superchargers (before it throttled down about 5 min later), so I would've expected something much higher in Oakhurst than 60 kW with the same SOC.

 

[ucmndd]

I charge here all the time, 4-5 times a week, at normal/expected speeds. Much higher than 60kw.

 

[Mrbrock]

you will never get 250kw at 50% state of charge, you need to be between 10% and 20%

He’s not asking for 250kw at that soc. He’s asking for more than 60kw. So there is some issue somewhere if that’s all he’s getting. A 21 MYP should be pulling 120-150kw at that soc.

It’s a 750 kVA at Oakhurst which is the right size for 8 V3s.

It isn’t common for Tesla to throttle power. Patterson has a 500 kVA transformer and 8 V3 stalls there consistently pull 700 kW when full. The utility is the one that chooses the transformer so any under sizing causing transformer durability issues would be on the utility.

So in your example the max charging rate when full is 90kw. Far below 250kw max.

Yes, the utility sizes based on the available capacity in the area and Tesla throttles to not exceed that capacity. The utility doesn’t control the programming on Teslas side. Tesla knows all this through the application and design process. If you look at most SC designs, they are around 125kva per stall. Watts will always be less due to power factor. A 500kva transformer will put out around 400-450kw. For 4 stalls this means more than 2 cars at low soc will cause throttling. Patterson pulling 700kw on a 500kva transformer is 50% over design.

 

[ucmndd]

He’s not asking for 250kw at that soc. He’s asking for more than 60kw. So there is some issue somewhere if that’s all he’s getting. A 21 MYP should be pulling 120-150kw at that soc.

I’m guessing cold battery or other car-side limitation. Like I said, I’ve charged at this site probably 20 times in the past month. It works as intended.

 

[ucmndd]

Normal speeds again this evening. This is exactly what I expect at this SoC from my dinosaur Model S.

 

[Dave EV]

Been charging here for the past few days while visiting Yosemite. All of the stalls have cables on them, and the security camera trailer is still there.

Only issue I’ve been running into is that you can’t pull more than 60 kW from any of the stalls. I’ve tried all 8 stalls just to see (since it’s usually empty there), and sure enough it’s all the same. People have also reported this on different charging app review sections as well, since this station is supposed to be 250 kW.

I was still able to charge my car just fine so I didn’t really care in the end, but just a FYI to anyone who’s expecting a 250 kW experience.

I charged here not long before you posted this (within 24 hours) and got a pretty normal charge:

~250 kW at 21%
~140 kW at 50%
~110 kW at 60% when I left.