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Supercharger power varies significantly

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vickh

Active Member
Dec 16, 2018
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Supercharger power varies significantly at one of the stalls here in PHX. I moved over and confirmed it's not the car or a neighbor. It happened again when I returned a week later, but there were no stalls available so I stayed put because car was still charging.

Are power fluctuations bad for the battery?
 
Supercharger power varies significantly at one of the stalls here in PHX. I moved over and confirmed it's not the car or a neighbor. It happened again when I returned a week later, but there were no stalls available so I stayed put because car was still charging.

Are power fluctuations bad for the battery?
No issue for the battery. Might argue that lower is better.

Not good for the schedule or nerves....
 
Supercharger power varies significantly at one of the stalls here in PHX. I moved over and confirmed it's not the car or a neighbor. It happened again when I returned a week later, but there were no stalls available so I stayed put because car was still charging.

Are power fluctuations bad for the battery?

Call Tesla and report it! This is bad for everyone and is difficult to troubleshoot. It may be not obvious to Tesla that the stall is broken.

Also, put a sign on the pedestal describing it like “Inconsistent charging speeds”. That can warn others to avoid that unit and perhaps the next on site tech will notice it and look into it.

That sounds like some component is cutting in / out (overheating or something).
 
Supercharger power varies significantly at one of the stalls here in PHX. I moved over and confirmed it's not the car or a neighbor. It happened again when I returned a week later, but there were no stalls available so I stayed put because car was still charging.

Are power fluctuations bad for the battery?

You don't seem to be describing power fluctuations, you seem to be describing different charging speeds at different locations. Very different think. During a normal charge, the power will fluctuate, actually decrease, as the battery fills.
Charging at non-supercharger location charges at different speeds, by definition. So no, no harm occurs.

But you will be much happier if you charge at home and don't have to waste time at a Supercharger. In my book free Supercharging is a disservice that Tesla does to EVs. It makes filling one up worse than ICE.
I filled mine up last night, didn't spend any time doing it.
 
Call Tesla and report it! This is bad for everyone and is difficult to troubleshoot. It may be not obvious to Tesla that the stall is broken.

Also, put a sign on the pedestal describing it like “Inconsistent charging speeds”. That can warn others to avoid that unit and perhaps the next on site tech will notice it and look into it.

That sounds like some component is cutting in / out (overheating or something).

Yes. Will do. It's some component is cutting in / out because it's gyrating speeds up and down, not the gradual decrease as you fill up.

I think they might know about it since only a few stalls (like 1,2 ) show up as available, even though there are plenty when you get there.
 
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Supercharger power varies significantly at one of the stalls here in PHX. I moved over and confirmed it's not the car or a neighbor. It happened again when I returned a week later, but there were no stalls available so I stayed put because car was still charging.

Are power fluctuations bad for the battery?
I was wondering the same. I have noticed twice now issues at a stall in Utica NY. We plugged in and went across the street for a slice and I looked at the phone and it was going from 0 to 78 (nowhere near the 588 that I got last time). In 20 minutes it had only charged 15 miles so I went and pulled over to the stall next to it and BAM up to almost 600. I am going to report stall 3A but was also concerned w/ the weird noises it was making and if it would hurt my battery.
 
What are the current charging speeds that should be expected at various states of charge? I've had issues at the supercharger in Casa Grand with my model 3 performance. A friend and I went to a concert in Phoenix the better route planner suggested stopping in Casa Grand on the way. I think for 10min to have enough juice for a round trip. Plugged the car in and went across the street to grab a quick bite to eat. After placing my order I checked the app and noticed the car was only charging at 4kw and would bounce up to 30 occasionally. So it was basically charging at the same rate as my 14-30 at home. By the time we finished eating I didn't have time to try another stall.

After the concert since it didn't get a significant charge I had to stop at casa grand again. The car said it needed 20 minutes of charging to make the trip. I was at about 18% battery and mistakenly thought the sweet spot for max charging speed was 20%-60% SOC. It started charging at 60kw and I thought it would pick up above once it got above 20% state of charge. We went across the street for a burger and shake. After ordering I checked again. It stayed at 60kw for charging. I went back and tried another stall and it jumped up and started charging faster but not much faster. Maybe 90kw (not sure) but it was slower than the other times I supercharged. My friend had to get up early in the morning so we only charged just enough to get home. After dropping him off I noticed that my SOC was estimated to be at 0% when I reached my house. There was a supercharger a couple of miles from his place so i swung by there. At the supercharger in Tucson it had no issues charging at 143kw this time. I'm still trying to figure out what is normal and what isn't as far as charging speeds. I've checked multiple posts but they are either pretty old or mixed with info about charging speeds in Europe.
 
What are the current charging speeds that should be expected at various states of charge? I've had issues at the supercharger in Casa Grand with my model 3 performance. A friend and I went to a concert in Phoenix the better route planner suggested stopping in Casa Grand on the way. I think for 10min to have enough juice for a round trip. Plugged the car in and went across the street to grab a quick bite to eat. After placing my order I checked the app and noticed the car was only charging at 4kw and would bounce up to 30 occasionally. So it was basically charging at the same rate as my 14-30 at home. By the time we finished eating I didn't have time to try another stall.

After the concert since it didn't get a significant charge I had to stop at casa grand again. The car said it needed 20 minutes of charging to make the trip. I was at about 18% battery and mistakenly thought the sweet spot for max charging speed was 20%-60% SOC. It started charging at 60kw and I thought it would pick up above once it got above 20% state of charge. We went across the street for a burger and shake. After ordering I checked again. It stayed at 60kw for charging. I went back and tried another stall and it jumped up and started charging faster but not much faster. Maybe 90kw (not sure) but it was slower than the other times I supercharged. My friend had to get up early in the morning so we only charged just enough to get home. After dropping him off I noticed that my SOC was estimated to be at 0% when I reached my house. There was a supercharger a couple of miles from his place so i swung by there. At the supercharger in Tucson it had no issues charging at 143kw this time. I'm still trying to figure out what is normal and what isn't as far as charging speeds. I've checked multiple posts but they are either pretty old or mixed with info about charging speeds in Europe.

July 2019 Supercharging profiles for Model 3 LR

These are perhaps not entirely up to date (it is possible to get at least 149kW from a V2 Supercharger) but if you look at @Zoomit's other posts I am sure you'll find some updated versions. And they are close enough.
 
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