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Supercharger - Santa Ana, CA (12 V2 stalls)

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#501
maximizese said:
It's a shame about all the negative experiences with this location (and many other heavily used SuC). I prefer the "Urban" chargers because they seem to be a lot more reliable.
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Yes, I'm starting to think that too. I haven't had any major slowdowns at an urban charger yet, plus they're not shared. Next time I'm in the area I'll probably just stop at an urban charger and charge just enough to get to Santa Clarita. A bit slower but still much better than a frustrating experience like in Santa Ana.
 
#502
We also saw low charging powers at the Santa Ana site on a late Sunday evening return from Hollywood to San Diego. The site was less than half full, so I was able to pick an unpaired stall. When I should have been getting >100 kW I was only getting maybe 38 kW. I eventually gave up and continued to San Juan Capistrano. Not one of my favorite sites (especially late at night) but I got the expected power.

One of the other drivers at Santa Ana also reported unexpectedly low charging powers, and he was in an unpaired stall on a different charger.

I can only theorize that Tesla is limiting total site power to minimize utility demand charges. They're undoubtedly a major cost of running a supercharger site, so if I were them I definitely would have assigned a team of engineers to find creative ways to limit them. And since this would involve intentionally reducing charging powers, it's not something I would readily advertise to the drivers.
 
#503
Eno Deb said:
Any recommendations by the locals which chargers along 405 or 5 usually work well?
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It's just busy almost any time of the day. All locations throughout Los Angeles and Orange county.

If you see all sites busy its best to aim for the larger sites. Even if they are full the wait times are shorter because of the faster turnaround. The two sites in Downey are usually good except on weekends.
If you are passing through northbound, charge in Carlsbad or San Clemente and skip everything until Santa Clarita. Going south, again use Santa Clarita or maybe Burbank. Then go all they way to San Clemente or Carlsbad or even del Mar heights.
 
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#504
David99 said:
It's just busy almost any time of the day. All locations throughout Los Angeles and Orange county.

If you see all sites busy its best to aim for the larger sites. Even if they are full the wait times are shorter because of the faster turnaround. The two sites in Downey are usually good except on weekends.
If you are passing through northbound, charge in Carlsbad or San Clemente and skip everything until Santa Clarita. Going south, again use Santa Clarita or maybe Burbank. Then go all they way to San Clemente or Carlsbad or even del Mar heights.
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Don't forget that all of the newer supercharging sites down here (San Diego County) are "urban" (72 kW) models. If you're on a road trip pushing past the more crowded locations, you might want to target one that can provide a full 120 (or 150) kW when you arrive with a very low charge. That includes the original site at Qualcomm, plus San Juan Capistrano and San Clemente (Orange County, but on the way to here).
 
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#505
ka9q said:
Don't forget that all of the newer supercharging sites down here (San Diego County) are "urban" (72 kW) models. If you're on a road trip pushing past the more crowded locations, you might want to target one that can provide a full 120 (or 150) kW when you arrive with a very low charge. That includes the original site at Qualcomm, plus San Juan Capistrano and San Clemente (Orange County, but on the way to here).
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I actually was planning to use the San Clemente charger originally, but it was full when I arrived. In those situations the advantage of the 150kW chargers over the urban ones is often completely negated if you end up sharing a charger with someone who arrived not long before you. The urban chargers provide only 72kW max, but at least you know what you'll get. There are also usually more of them per location so the risk of having to wait in line for a long time is lower.
 
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#506
Eno Deb said:
I actually was planning to use the San Clemente charger originally, but it was full when I arrived. In those situations the advantage of the 150kW chargers over the urban ones is often completely negated if you end up sharing a charger with someone who arrived not long before you. The urban chargers provide only 72kW max, but at least you know what you'll get. There are also usually more of them per location so the risk of having to wait in line for a long time is lower.
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You're quite right, but I like to keep an eye on the charger utilization as I drive and go for one of the 120/150 kW sites if the occupancy doesn't seem too high. A site less than half full is guaranteed to have at least one unpaired slot.
 
#508
A2C2127B-9C3B-426C-8416-42C50A4BFD98.jpeg
David99 said:
Tesla technician just told me the entire site is down today.
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I was only getting 4-6 kW on Friday here.
 
#510
The location was basically closed this Saturday due to the city setting up a temporary food bank. The lines were across several blocks in all directions. I have never seen anything like that in my life. The city had the entire area around the mall set wit cones and road blocks to deal with the massive amount of people coming. I'm not worried about not having access to this one supercharger. The massive amount of people not even being able to afford food right now is very concerning.
 
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#511
David99 said:
The location was basically closed this Saturday due to the city setting up a temporary food bank. The lines were across several blocks in all directions. I have never seen anything like that in my life. The city had the entire area around the mall set wit cones and road blocks to deal with the massive amount of people coming. I'm not worried about not having access to this one supercharger. The massive amount of people not even being able to afford food right now is very concerning.
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Saw that on local news last night...

If you needed the charge, at least the new Anaheim site is up and running...
 
#512
yes the other one is just a few miles. Not a problem. There are also a few other L2 chargers if you are really low. I was just shocked at the scale of the event. Very sad. I wish they would have let Tesla know so they could have marked the location as temporarily closed. The security of the mall is also not very bright. They coned off the supercharger! After about 2 weeks they finally moved the cones away.
 
#513
David99 said:
The location was basically closed this Saturday due to the city setting up a temporary food bank. The lines were across several blocks in all directions. I have never seen anything like that in my life. The city had the entire area around the mall set wit cones and road blocks to deal with the massive amount of people coming. I'm not worried about not having access to this one supercharger. The massive amount of people not even being able to afford food right now is very concerning.
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For anyone planning to visit the Santa Ana location, there's another one planned for tomorrow, Saturday, April 25 from 8am to 2pm.
 
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