Supercharging Station Status

[Ketchups]

Has anyone been able to get stall status updates via an app? I'd like to be able to check stall status without having to be in the car using the MCU.

For example. Hey, the San Diego Charging Station is full, again, let me check back later..

Hmm, checking phone, says one stall is avail. LIES. There's probably a four-car line.

Oh, I'm at a restaurant right now, let me check my phone to see if there are any stalls available. Oh look, now there are four stalls avail. This must be the real deal. Waiter, check please.

 

[ucmndd]

As I recall some of the supercharger info sites had this feature shortly after it was released but Tesla wasn't keen on the whole thing and sent them C&D letters or otherwise broke the functionality. Seems for whatever reason, they only want this data available in the cars.

 

[boaterva]

I believe it was overtaxing the api but that may have been conjecture hereabouts. Right now, it’s only available in the car as you say which is a significant lesser load.

 

[bob_p]

Tesla should provide real-time status for superchargers and destination chargers - both on the car's console and in the Tesla smartphone app. They should also provide a mechanism for drivers to report issues with the chargers - such as inaccessible spots or chargers that aren't working.

Last year, when we were ordered to evacuate Houston during the hurricane, we had to leave town - and there was only ONE route of Houston going west that was still open and not under water. We had to stop at a supercharger on the way to Austin - to ensure we had enough charge to make the trip.

We called Tesla to verify the superchargers along I10 were operating - and they verified the Columbus superchargers were all available and working.

When we got to Columbus, it was pretty clear the chargers were available - because the hotel, parking lot and street were all under water - but Tesla had no way to detect it - and not easy way for drivers to report the problem.

Tesla can do much more to help customers about charger status - and a huge advantage Tesla has is their own supercharger/destination charger network. As other competitors release long range EVs - Tesla's ability to provide a lot of information about Tesla's chargers could be a significant advantage - if Tesla invests even a small amount of software resources to address this.

 

[jaguar36]

They should also provide a mechanism for drivers to report issues with the chargers - such as inaccessible spots or chargers that aren't working.

They do, there is a number on each supercharge to call (877-798-3752), or you can email them.

 

[Ketchups]

As I recall some of the supercharger info sites had this feature shortly after it was released but Tesla wasn't keen on the whole thing and sent them C&D letters or otherwise broke the functionality. Seems for whatever reason, they only want this data available in the cars.

Tesla needs to expand it to the app.

They need to expand the mobile phone apps capabilities period. There is SO much untapped potential there.

 

[brkaus]

As I recall some of the supercharger info sites had this feature shortly after it was released but Tesla wasn't keen on the whole thing and sent them C&D letters or otherwise broke the functionality. Seems for whatever reason, they only want this data available in the cars.

I feel like the app is different from the web. It requires a login, etc. maybe even limit additional details to 400 miles from current location.

When the data is in the web, it’s subject to web scraping and all sorts of automatic data collection. Grouped together, Tesla would probably consider the data proprietary info.

 

[Ataway]

I was just trying to look this up myself after having my "new" car for a month. Anyway, I was thinking it might not be too much burden if the Tesla app included your 3 or 4 closest/saved/most-frequented SC status. For example:
SC A =2 of 12 available (possible broken stalls)
SC B =12 of 16 available
SC C =0 of 8 available

 

[David99]

The problem is not too much load on the server or anything like that. We can stream HD TV to millions of users at the same time. A few bytes from 500 Supercharger locations is peanuts! The real reason is, Tesla does not want people to have a complete set of data how busy all Superchargers are at any given time. There is a comprehensive display at Tesla's headquarter in Hawthorne, showing detailed statistics about Superchargers. The security guy instantly yells at you if you try to take a photo of that screen. They really don't want data about their Supercharger network to be out in the public.

 

[bmah]

The problem is not too much load on the server or anything like that. We can stream HD TV to millions of users at the same time. A few bytes from 500 Supercharger locations is peanuts! The real reason is, Tesla does not want people to have a complete set of data how busy all Superchargers are at any given time. There is a comprehensive display at Tesla's headquarter in Hawthorne, showing detailed statistics about Superchargers. The security guy instantly yells at you if you try to take a photo of that screen. They really don't want data about their Supercharger network to be out in the public.

And yet I've seen that same display up at the Dublin (California) Service Center and the Kettleman City Supercharger lounge and nobody has a problem taking pictures there. Note there is a general prohibition of taking pictures inside the Tesla design center (as in you can't take a picture of anything else there either, and yes I know this first hand from having been there).

My completely unsubstantiated guess is that this top Supercharger display isn't particularly sensitive, but someone inside Tesla considers the complete, real-time status information to be proprietary information.

Bruce.

 

[David99]

Yes I agree. It’s the complete set and being able to log supercharger activity over time that they don’t want to be available to everyone. Even in the car you can only see the status of the supercharger within a certain radius of your position.