Supercharging a Model 3

[Johnnymack2]

Might be a bit dense on some of the charts posted. Few questions?

Has anyone posted just the cost? Maybe a simple table with 'miles to fill' and the cost associated? If you are reading 200miles of charge remaining and your max is at 80%, presumably you need 40 miles of charge (cap charge at 80% x 300 = 240). Wondering what the cost is of that charge? Then maybe if you are reading 100 miles remaining, so 140 miles of charge needed. Does that make sense? Doesn't have to be exact. Just curious the ballparks. If that info is on another thread, apologies.

Is the rate/cost per kWh that is charged dependent on the area? i.e. More expensive in CA vs. TX?

 

[TexasEV]

Tesla has posted the supercharging rates here. It varies by state.
Supercharging

 

[wraithnot]

Might be a bit dense on some of the charts posted. Few questions?

Has anyone posted just the cost? Maybe a simple table with 'miles to fill' and the cost associated? If you are reading 200miles of charge remaining and your max is at 80%, presumably you need 40 miles of charge (cap charge at 80% x 300 = 240). Wondering what the cost is of that charge? Then maybe if you are reading 100 miles remaining, so 140 miles of charge needed. Does that make sense? Doesn't have to be exact. Just curious the ballparks. If that info is on another thread, apologies.

Is the rate/cost per kWh that is charged dependent on the area? i.e. More expensive in CA vs. TX?

I added 183 miles on our Model 3 yesterday at a supercharger in California and it cost $8.60 (the cost is shown on the charging screen in the car). The price depends on the location of the supercharger. This charging session would have cost about $5.60 in Texas.

Laws in many states (such as Texas) make it illegal for anyone other than the local electric company to sell electricity by the kWh. So Tesla had to charge by the minute in those states. To keep this from being too unfair at busy stations where you have to share power with other cars, the price per minute depends on the charging power ($0.16 per minute for charging at higher than 60 kW and $0.08 per minute for charging at or below 60 kW). Yesterday I charged for 12 minutes at about 35 kW and then for another 29 minutes at between 68 kW and 109 kW so I used that to figure out what the charging session would have cost in Texas.

 

[cpa]

Supercharging our Model 3 did not achieve anywhere near the rates above.

Neither of our sessions was paired.

Seaside/Monterey Service Center: 45% battery started out at 33-34kW and peaked at 42kW around 55%. Taper started back down around 65%. Unplugged at 82% at ~32kW.

Fresno: 21% battery with the blue snowflake. Initial charge rate was 30-32kW. When the snowflake vanished at around 28% battery, the rate slowly increased to 42kW and stayed there until ~65% when it started to taper. When I unplugged at 72% the rate was ~38kW.

Total charging time from 21% to 72% was over 45 minutes.

One thing that I have noticed on our 3 is that it takes a lot more effort to secure the plug in the receptacle. It is a much tighter fit than on our S.

 

[Johnnymack2]

Wraithnot, that was very helpful. Thank you. Just trying to get a compare to a gas fill up.

TexasEv, thanks for the link. I'll have to bust out the trusty Excel spreadsheet and check all the scenarios. If anyone has a good spreadsheet to leverage I would happily take it.

 

[Rogue one]

Supercharging our Model 3 did not achieve anywhere near the rates above.

Neither of our sessions was paired.

Seaside/Monterey Service Center: 45% battery started out at 33-34kW and peaked at 42kW around 55%. Taper started back down around 65%. Unplugged at 82% at ~32kW.

Fresno: 21% battery with the blue snowflake. Initial charge rate was 30-32kW. When the snowflake vanished at around 28% battery, the rate slowly increased to 42kW and stayed there until ~65% when it started to taper. When I unplugged at 72% the rate was ~38kW.

Total charging time from 21% to 72% was over 45 minutes.

One thing that I have noticed on our 3 is that it takes a lot more effort to secure the plug in the receptacle. It is a much tighter fit than on our S.

From your description if sounds like you had a cold battery, slow charging is expected with a cold soaked battery. Unfortunately batteries can’t charge below freezing and charge slow until a certain temp. See below video for tips and explanation.

 

[SageBrush]

Wraithnot, that was very helpful. Thank you. Just trying to get a compare to a gas fill up.

TexasEv, thanks for the link. I'll have to bust out the trusty Excel spreadsheet and check all the scenarios. If anyone has a good spreadsheet to leverage I would happily take it.

I think you will find it simpler to use cost/mile.

A Model 3 goes about 4 EPA miles per kWh;
A Texas Supercharger use is about 1 kwh/12 cents

You end up paying about 3 cents a mile from a Supercharger in Texas at EPA speeds

I gather that home electricity is ~ 8 cents a kWh in Tx, so if you can arrange that charging then the Model 3 is about 2 cents a mile using that route

---
EV fueling can be really, really cheap
My electricity at home costs about 2.5 cents a kWh (PV in the yard)
and ~ 90% of my miles are expected to be home charged while the remainder from a Supercharger
The weighted average cost works out to under 1 cent a mile

 

[SlicedBr3ad]

can't wait to stop paying $2.45 per gallon to go 25 miles and start paying $.75 to go 25 miles

 

[SpiceWare]

I gather that home electricity is ~ 8 cents a kWh in Tx, so if you can arrange that charging then the Model 3 is about 2 cents a mile using that route

I'm in the Houston area, mine's $0.074985 / kWh for 100% wind power.

Adding in the various taxes & fees and it varies from $0.115 (summer) to $0.125 (winter). The seasonal difference is due to using less electricity in the winter, which makes the fees a larger factor in the final total of the bill.

 

[cpa]

From your description if sounds like you had a cold battery, slow charging is expected with a cold soaked battery. Unfortunately batteries can’t charge below freezing and charge slow until a certain temp. See below video for tips and explanation.

Thanks, Rogue. But Fresno, California is a far cry from Wisconsin in the winter. Fifty-nine degrees was the temperature when I plugged in, likely a few degrees warmer in the direct sunlight. I suspected the "cold" battery may have had something to do with the initial low rate, but once the blue swath disappeared I figured that the rate would zoom up to the normal, ordinary rate. And the fact that the battery was already warmed up at Seaside when the service tech plugged me in seems to validate that on our Model 3 at least, Supercharging speed is about half of our Model S.

 

[jeffb]

Strange cpa.....I saw over 110kw at the Fresno charger on our 3 when we were coming home from Fremont a couple weeks ago. (1 other car there).

We only charged for 5-10 minutes as I was just looking for a little cushion to get home.

 

[svp6]

Would be great to have the supercharging time data from the cannonball run. I tried to freeze-frame the time-lapse youtube video, but the screen is not good enough to read the battery details. Perhaps someone with better eyes (or better computer skills).....

 

[stevezzzz]

I tried Supercharging my Model 3 for the first time today, at Loveland, CO. I was the only one using the Supercharger. I plugged in at 64% SOC and was surprised when the charging rate stabilized at a paltry 18kW! My first thought was that the ambient temperature, 24º F., had cooled the battery so much that it was perhaps limiting my charge rate. OTOH, I'd preheated the car in my garage (albeit not plugged in) and drove about 40 minutes at highway speeds to get to the Supercharger.

So I called support and talked to a tech who pulled data from my car: the battery pack was sitting at 20º C., i.e., room temperature. Hmmm: that shouldn't be too low for a higher charge rate. He also noted that there were no service notes against Loveland's Superchargers. Next I tried a different supercharger, moving from 4B to 2B: still only 18kW. I tried a third charger just before I left for home about 30 minutes later: no better. Toward the end of my charging session the charge rateclimbed to 21kW at 77% SOC, but that was the best I saw.

Does my Model 3 have a problem, or have I uncovered a limitation of Model 3 Supercharging in winter conditions?

 

[Rogue one]

I tried Supercharging my Model 3 for the first time today, at Loveland, CO. I was the only one using the Supercharger. I plugged in at 64% SOC and was surprised when the charging rate stabilized at a paltry 18kW! My first thought was that the ambient temperature, 24º F., had cooled the battery so much that it was perhaps limiting my charge rate. OTOH, I'd preheated the car in my garage (albeit not plugged in) and drove about 40 minutes at highway speeds to get to the Supercharger.

So I called support and talked to a tech who pulled data from my car: the battery pack was sitting at 20º C., i.e., room temperature. Hmmm: that shouldn't be too low for a higher charge rate. He also noted that there were no service notes against Loveland's Superchargers. Next I tried a different supercharger, moving from 4B to 2B: still only 18kW. I tried a third charger just before I left for home about 30 minutes later: no better. Toward the end of my charging session the charge rateclimbed to 21kW at 77% SOC, but that was the best I saw.

Does my Model 3 have a problem, or have I uncovered a limitation of Model 3 Supercharging in winter conditions?

View attachment 279199

Ouch that is slow and 24 isn’t that cold... keep us posted im curious, others have reported ok super charging one the cold, once the battery heats up of course.

 

[favo]

For people with slower supercharging rates, I wonder if the tight fit on the connector might mean the electrical connection is not ideal. I notice @cpa mentioned the tight fit. What about yours @stevezzzz?

 

[Sandiegodoug]

Our 3 has a real tight port too. I called service center and they said known issue and bring it in for a fix.

 

[stevezzzz]

For people with slower supercharging rates, I wonder if the tight fit on the connector might mean the electrical connection is not ideal. I notice @cpa mentioned the tight fit. What about yours @stevezzzz?

Mine is no tighter than the charging ports on other Teslas I have owned.

 

[CatB]

FWIW, just took my M3 on a little Roadtrip (DC to CT)
Sunday, 4:02pm in Edison NJ car had 108 miles, charged at 82 kW, 276 mph
4:12pm in Edison NJ car had 161 miles, charged at 71 kW, 316 mph (yes, I know that’s wacky; no, I don’t remember why/how it computes it that wacky)
4:19pm; 192 miles, charged at 58 kW, 301 mph
Tues 5:37pm in Darien CT, 176 miles, 53 kW, 216 mph
Tues 9:19pm in Newark, DE, 150 miles 87 kW, 362 mph

Although charge port might be a bit tighter than my S, didn’t have any problem plugging in.

 

[stevezzzz]

FWIW, just took my M3 on a little Roadtrip (DC to CT)
Sunday, 4:02pm in Edison NJ car had 108 miles, charged at 82 kW, 276 mph
4:12pm in Edison NJ car had 161 miles, charged at 71 kW, 316 mph (yes, I know that’s wacky; no, I don’t remember why/how it computes it that wacky)
4:19pm; 192 miles, charged at 58 kW, 301 mph
Tues 5:37pm in Darien CT, 176 miles, 53 kW, 216 mph
Tues 9:19pm in Newark, DE, 150 miles 87 kW, 362 mph

Although charge port might be a bit tighter than my S, didn’t have any problem plugging in.

If charging rate is calculated the same as Models S and X, the charge rate in kW is an instantaneous value and mph is a session average. Which makes it hard to compare the mph values across different charging sessions unless you happen to start and stop each session at identical SOC.

 

[stevezzzz]

An update to my earlier post, in which I reported seeing a maximum charge rate of 21kW during a supercharging session that started at 65% SOC.

Since then I've been back to the same supercharger (Loveland, CO) in warmer conditions (ambient temperature 59º F.); initial charge rate at 40% SOC was 67kW. Still seems low.

A few days later, I visited the Lone Tree supercharger and plugged in at 28% SOC with an ambient temperature of 68º F. The initial charge rate was 93kW, with tapering starting around 40-45% SOC. At 45% SOC I was still getting 89kW (so, much better than the 67kW I got at 40% SOC earlier in the week at Loveland).

I don't know whether we can draw any conclusions from this limited data set, but I still haven't seen the 100kW-plus that others have reported.