Supercharger - San Juan Capistrano, CA (7 V2 stalls)

[AMPd]

I would tend to agree with this philosophy in the long run. That would be ideal when there are hundreds of stations around and you can pull into any one of them and likely find a spot. For now, we don't have that luxury. If we arrive at SJC and see all the spots are full, we will go to the next one, let's pretend, about 10 miles further, only to find that it is also full, maybe with a bigger wait. Or, maybe not. I think key locations with LOTS of stalls now, and fill in with lots of smaller stations later.

That's why it's so important TM makes the supercharger dashboard public, it shows which stalls are in use, would be a lot more convenient than stopping at each station hoping there's a stall available.

As for charging a fee to use the SC, I would be ok with that, I'm a local user, I have no other place to charge. However I always stay with the car and have never seen anyone wait for a stall. I wish I had a more convenient place to charge, I hate having to wait 30+ minutes, but I don't, at the same time I really love the car, I would not want to go back to ICE.

 

[David99]

That's why it's so important TM makes the supercharger dashboard public, it shows which stalls are in use, would be a lot more convenient than stopping at each station hoping there's a stall available.

I know this always sounds great in theory, but if you think about it, it wouldn't help. As I'm approaching a Supercharger, there is no way of knowing how busy it will be in 15 min. Even if it's busy, how much of a wait will it be? Would it be worth taking a detour that takes longer or wait in line 7 minutes? If one station is shown full, everyone will aim for the next one which then becomes full? But even if the system would be 100% perfect and we knew exactly when a station is full, how would that knowledge help us? Driver slower to waste time? Get in line and wait anyways? Not make the trip at all?
All it can do is letting you know it's full, but there are no better alternatives. Only more stalls and more stations will help.

As for charging a fee to use the SC, I would be ok with that, I'm a local user, I have no other place to charge. However I always stay with the car and have never seen anyone wait for a stall. I wish I had a more convenient place to charge, I hate having to wait 30+ minutes, but I don't, at the same time I really love the car, I would not want to go back to ICE.

I agree. I'd be fine with a fee for local users. Might be a good idea actually.

 

[liuping]

I know this always sounds great in theory, but if you think about it, it wouldn't help. As I'm approaching a Supercharger, there is no way of knowing how busy it will be in 15 min. Even if it's busy, how much of a wait will it be? Would it be worth taking a detour that takes longer or wait in line 7 minutes? If one station is shown full, everyone will aim for the next one which then becomes full? But even if the system would be 100% perfect and we knew exactly when a station is full, how would that knowledge help us? Driver slower to waste time? Get in line and wait anyways? Not make the trip at all?

Knowing it's full and there are 8 cars waiting (Tesla knows when there are cars withing 200 ft of the superchargers that are low on charge and have not charged yet) is very useful information, and much better than we have now. If it has several open stalls 15 minute before I arrive, it's not likely to have a line that's very long when I get there.

They could also indicate how much longer the cars that are currently charging have to go. It 4 cars are 80% done, and noone is waiting, it's a good place to stop. if all 8 are full, and all are less then 50% done, maybe not.

This will all be more useful, when there are more superchargers along the routes, so we can easily skip one and take the next, etc.

 

[4SUPER9]

...Tesla knows when there are cars withing 200 ft of the superchargers that are low on charge and have not charged yet...

Whoa! Really? Is this true? I haven't heard this before. It does make total sense, but wow, how Big Brother. Not that I mind in this case. If so, then this would be ideal. 8 stalls full with no one waiting isn't terrible. I may choose to go there. Sure, another location with 3 stalls available could fill up by the time I get there. While I will agree that there are all sorts of possibilities here, and ways it may not work, I see no major downside to having this knowledge. The more information, the better.

I did write to TM well over a year ago, asking if they could post their energy screen that they used to have up at Hawthorne on their website. I got a "thank you for the idea", but obviously no real interest. Honestly, I am shocked that they don't have these stats listed. It is so cool and would garner so much interest. Maybe that's why. They don't want to hear people complaining about it. Ugh, I miss that energy screen.

 

[liuping]

Whoa! Really? Is this true? I haven't heard this before. It does make total sense, but wow, how Big Brother. Not that I mind in this case.

Sorry I should have said they "can know", not that they "do know".

They can easily have the cars "check in" when they hit a geofence around the Chargers.

 

[Cosmacelf]

Is there anywhere nearby with an all night or late night restroom?

 

[JenniferQ]

The Rite Aid across the street is open til 10pm.

Found this on a review of SC search:
Local color: Swallows Bar (live Country/Rock music)

Would think a bar would have bathrooms after hours.

https://my.teslamotors.com/forum/forums/supercharger-tips-and-reviews#CA

 

[RCOST]

You can always go down the street to the Denny's on PCH for 24 hour bathroom if you really needed one. About 5-10 minutes away.

 

[TTT]

Dropped by @4pm yesterday to charge as I had to go to the restroom. Only 2 other cars there. Thanks to whoever glued the bumper on the wall by 3A/3B? Saved my door.

 

[BrokerDon]

While we were in North San Diego we stopped by the Supercharger at Qualcomm Park at the recommendation of our Tesla friend who lives in Solana Beach. Awesome alternative to San Clemente since only one other Tesla was there... Exactly like he said it would be. MUCH better than San Clemente and puts Stone Brewing in Escondido on our route back... AWESOME place to get food & beer... Growlers to take home in our case.

 

[roopesh]

Was that at Qualcomm in Sorrento Valley or is there an unpublished Supercharger at Qualcomm Park?

 

[markb1]

Was that at Qualcomm in Sorrento Valley or is there an unpublished Supercharger at Qualcomm Park?

Sorrento Mesa (at one of the Qualcomm office locations) is the only supercharger in San Diego. I guess you are referring to Qualcomm Stadium, which doesn't have any superchargers.

 

[BrokerDon]

The Supercharger I went to was the San Diego Supercharger shown on Tesla's supercharger website map as:

Qualcomm Incorporated
10155 Pacific Heights Blvd
San Diego, CA 92121

Sorry for the confusion. Not being from San Diego I didn't know this would be confused with Qualcomm STADIUM. "So much to learn Grasshopper"

 

[ShotgunF15E]

Is this SC busy after 10pm at night? (Trying to plan a trip)

 

[Cosmacelf]

From my limited experience, after 10pm, you should be OK.

 

[David99]

Is this SC busy after 10pm at night? (Trying to plan a trip)

Yes definitely. After 8 pm you are fine!

 

[ShotgunF15E]

Finally made it to this SC today. Cool Valet concept. This station really seemed to be struggling with the summer heat. Amps dropped down to around 60. Others were complaining theirs was slow too. One guy was showing 20amps. He disconnected and restarted and got a better charge, but at over 100degrees outside they all seemed to be having a hard time putting out full power.

 

[garygid]

A SpC user said that they called Tesla about the low power charging being experienced in SJC, and were told that SDG&E puts that location on a reduced power ration on days where high power usage is expected in the region.

So, that might explain part of the problem being experienced there ... possibly?

 

[TaoJones]

The Rite Aid across the street is open til 10pm.

Found this on a review of SC search:
Local color: Swallows Bar (live Country/Rock music)

Would think a bar would have bathrooms after hours.

SUPERCHARGER TIPS AND REVIEWS | Tesla Motors

The SC Tips & Reviews doc at the TM fora referenced above is excellent and is continually updated from comments left in the thread.

 

[jeffro01]

Was there today around 5:00PM'ish and couldn't get anymore than 58kWh... Had to wait almost 10 min but that's another matter... Pulled in with 12% charge so I know it wasn't the taper... Got 109kWh on the other two we stopped at today as well...

Jeff