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Supercharger question
- Thread starter Attica
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howardnj
Member
The PlugShare app will tell you
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I made a list of over 70 Tesla charge stations for myself between NJ and Fort Lauderdale, Florida. You enter the next charge station stop in your navigation and not your final destination so the vehicle preconditions (warms) the battery for faster charging.
There are often signs on the tops of them in that circumstance.
Additionally, the cables on the 250kw are actually thinner because they have internal liquid cooling.
And last, the pedestals are numbered differently. 150kw are 1A, 1B, 2A, 2B, etc. where as the 250kw are numbered 1A, 1B, 1C, 1D, 2A, 2B, 2C, 2D, etc.
The 150kw share a power source with their neighbor, so if someone is next to you, you'll both get 75kw until one car's battery can't accept that much and the extra gets sent to the other car. The 250kw are dedicated 250kw so you should always have that available, unless there's something wrong.
But in reality, you'll probably only charge above 150kw for a couple minutes before it tapers off.
Have fun! Try not to get disappointed with the charge times
Additionally, the cables on the 250kw are actually thinner because they have internal liquid cooling.
And last, the pedestals are numbered differently. 150kw are 1A, 1B, 2A, 2B, etc. where as the 250kw are numbered 1A, 1B, 1C, 1D, 2A, 2B, 2C, 2D, etc.
The 150kw share a power source with their neighbor, so if someone is next to you, you'll both get 75kw until one car's battery can't accept that much and the extra gets sent to the other car. The 250kw are dedicated 250kw so you should always have that available, unless there's something wrong.
But in reality, you'll probably only charge above 150kw for a couple minutes before it tapers off.
Have fun! Try not to get disappointed with the charge times
If you tap your nav screen, to display the four icons on the upper right, then choose the lightning bolt icon at the bottom of that list, it will display the Supercharger stations nearby. The list includes whether it is a 150kW or 250kW station. Tap on of the pins on the screen, or on the list, for details about the station, including max charging speed.
Even if you set the nav for your final destination, it will precondition the battery for maximum charging speed as you approach your next Supercharger.
If you arrive with around 20% remaining, charging is very fast up to around 60% before tapering off.
Even if you set the nav for your final destination, it will precondition the battery for maximum charging speed as you approach your next Supercharger.
If you arrive with around 20% remaining, charging is very fast up to around 60% before tapering off.
ucmndd
Well-Known Member
Seems only @LoudMusic actually read OP’s question. 
I routinely use 2 sites that are like the one the OP mentions - 8 x 150kW v2's and 8 x 250kW v3's (Brattleboro VT and West Lebanon, NH). Neither have signs showing 150kW or 250kW - you have to look at the cables to know which is which.
But the only time it really matters is if the station is crowded and you can't get an unshared 150kW pair, or if someone shows up and plugs in to the other side of the pair. The car can't sustain >150kW for very long, so 250kW peak doesn't save much time.
Unless it's changed, you're only guaranteed 1/4 of the available power (37.5kW) if you are the second to plug in at an A/B pair at a v2. As the first car tapers down, the current available to the second will increase. If the first car is using more then 3/4 of the capacity (112.5kW), it will drop to 112kW max when the second car plugs into the pair.
But the only time it really matters is if the station is crowded and you can't get an unshared 150kW pair, or if someone shows up and plugs in to the other side of the pair. The car can't sustain >150kW for very long, so 250kW peak doesn't save much time.
Actually, @RedTesY has the right answer. On the car's screen, tap the lightning bolt. On the SC's thus displayed, tap the red "pin" on said icon and it will tell you the power level.
Alternatively, on the app, go to "Location". On Location, select the Charging tab (on the right bottom). Around where you are, a bunch of those same red "pins" will appear for local Superchargers. If you tap one of the pins, (and I'm looking at the display right now) it'll tell you the power level, how many stalls are available, how busy the SC is likely to be at the moment, and how much it'll cost you at what time of day, in cents per kW-hr.
If you want to find out the details on SC's where you don't happen to be, "X" out of whatever SC you happen to be looking at, use your fingers to size/move the map around to where you're interested, and the SCs there will pop up.
With a selected Supercharger one can also find out if there's wi-fi, bathrooms, eateries, coffee, or shopping in the area. On the car, the icons for those things are at the bottom of the pop-up window on a Supercharger; on the app, scroll to the bottom and the icons are there.
Alternatively, on the app, go to "Location". On Location, select the Charging tab (on the right bottom). Around where you are, a bunch of those same red "pins" will appear for local Superchargers. If you tap one of the pins, (and I'm looking at the display right now) it'll tell you the power level, how many stalls are available, how busy the SC is likely to be at the moment, and how much it'll cost you at what time of day, in cents per kW-hr.
If you want to find out the details on SC's where you don't happen to be, "X" out of whatever SC you happen to be looking at, use your fingers to size/move the map around to where you're interested, and the SCs there will pop up.
With a selected Supercharger one can also find out if there's wi-fi, bathrooms, eateries, coffee, or shopping in the area. On the car, the icons for those things are at the bottom of the pop-up window on a Supercharger; on the app, scroll to the bottom and the icons are there.
The OP is trying to understand how you differentiate between 150 kW and 250 kW chargers at the same location once you are there. The map pins don't tell you that.
Quick and dirty way to tell. If you see letters C or D in the numbering scheme, it's a 250K. If you only see A and B (like 1A, 1B, 2A, 2B, etc) it's 150k.
ucmndd
Well-Known Member
There have definitely been changes to this behavior over the years and right now it seems there may be some variability between sites.
Some sites here in California now immediately split power 50/50 if two cars plug in and are both requesting >75kw. Others report a continuance of the behavior you describe above. Takeaway - don't share stalls if you can at all avoid.
But it did change several years ago. That is the way it originally worked, but then Tesla seems to have switched it some years ago to immediately doing a half and half split as soon as another car hooked up, instead of first car getting a majority as it used to. I don't think we've seen a report of any of the sites doing it the old way in the past few years.
Learn something new everyday. I don’t think I’ve had to share an A/B pair in years, or if I had, it was in the nerfed 85kWh days when I wouldn’t have noticed.
Not this one. 11 stalls of 16 available. At least one stall offers 250kW. There's nothing here to tell you that 8 (or for that matter, any) of the stalls at Brattleboro are only 150kW, or how to tell which ones are 150kW and which are 250kW.
fholbert
Active Member
Because your Tesla charges at home is no guaranty it will charge at a Supercharger. Suggest you stop at a local SC and make sure it works before hitting the road. A couple of people here had issues the first time they stopped at a SC.
OK. 250 kW max.
So, near my place, there's a Wa-Wa that, at one time had 150 kW SC's. And a couple years later, the Supercharger Fairy came by and graced the other side of the building with 8 250 kW stalls.
So, yeah, that's a proof of concept that a location may have more than one charging rate. But pretty much every other SC that I've visited had 72kW only, 150kW only, or 250kW only. Um. Are different rate chargers typical at Supercharger locations?
Admittedly, of the half-dozen Electrify America locations I've seen over the years, those locations had different rate chargers all over. But not the Tesla ones?
This is my understanding:
V2 is slightly bigger cable and has a silver band connecting handle to cable, and V3 is slightly smaller cable with a black band connecting handle to cable.
Does that show 2 pins, one for each rate? Or 1 pin, 250kW max?
Brattleboro, VT and West Lebanon, NH are the same - both started out with 8 x 150kW stalls. Later (after 250kW v3's were commonplace) they were upgraded with an additional 8 x 250kW stalls.
Are you asking if they were built with different rates? I've never heard of a site that started with a mix of 150/250. The only mixed 150/250 sites that I know of were v2 sites that were later expanded after v3 was released.
I know that the West Lebanon, NH EA site was built with 150 and 350kW stalls (plus one 50kW chademo)
EVer Hopeful
Active Member
Interesting but . . .
Why don't they just put the kWh on the handle?
Or better still right on the pedestal where you can see it?
Why does it have to be such a mystery?
ICE vehicles at least get this (not exactly the same I know, but still . . .)
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