Tesla Supercharger network

[dgpcolorado]

WOW !!! After close to 350,000 miles I don't believe I have charged over 40 minutes - usually closer to 20.

Lucky you! I routinely charge for an hour to an hour and a half in my S-60 to do longer trip legs. And I've had to turn back three times due to headwinds when I just couldn't make it and there were zero Level 2 options enroute (very common in the Intermountain West). This is over 128,000 miles, the majority of them on road trips. Of course, the fact that I am down to 163 RM at 99%, and my car has always been very slow Supercharging, are big factors in long Supercharging sessions.

As with other older Teslas, V3 Supercharger stations make not the slightest difference, save for the lack of pairing.

A typical long trip leg will be charging to 97-99% and driving down to 3-5%, carefully adjusting speed as needed to be sure I can make it. I've Supercharged my old car more than 738 times, every one on a road trip. Road tripping in an S-60 builds character!

 

[israndy]

I wonder if they'll start buying up these old slow charging cars to free capacity at Superchargers. The new crowd doesn't wanna wait more than 15 minutes (I guess that includes me, although I am NOT the new crowd)

 

[Earl]

I wonder if they'll start buying up these old slow charging cars to free capacity at Superchargers. The new crowd doesn't wanna wait more than 15 minutes (I guess that includes me, although I am NOT the new crowd)

I don't think there are enough S-60s on the road to make any noticeable difference -- and there will never be more.
Besides, we all owe these early pioneers for jumping in and supporting Tesla's new factory.

 

[dgpcolorado]

I wonder if they'll start buying up these old slow charging cars to free capacity at Superchargers. The new crowd doesn't wanna wait more than 15 minutes (I guess that includes me, although I am NOT the new crowd)

Not likely! Simple attrition will cause the early cars to disappear. Even now the old S-85s and S-60s are just a tiny number of cars on the road and at the superchargers. Next time you are at a crowded Supercharger Station see for yourself and do a count. We aren't the problem.

I've only had to wait in line a dozen times over the years. Some of those were holiday travel in New Mexico, where stalls were few, often broken, and stations far between (since remedied with much-needed expansion and improved maintenance). The others were all locals charging and mine was the sole out-of-state license plate.

The first line I saw was in San Diego back when there was only a single Supercharger Station (at Qualcomm) for the entire county, with a population of more than 3 million!

 

[ReddyLeaf]

Supercharger - Sutherlin, OR

Ok, supercharger experts. What is this? A new model for the next decade? This is in a rural area jus about 2-3 hrs outside of Portland, OR, just about perfect distance. 12-unit prefab? Whoa.

The world's largest Prefabricated Supercharger is coming to Sutherlin, Oregon! 51 stalls (composed of 12 PSUs plus 3 additional stalls)

 

[Nani]

Great tech indeed, 4 superchargers are combined into one prefab unit, and they ship ready to install, Innovative stuff from Tesla.

 

[wdolson]

Supercharger - Sutherlin, OR

Ok, supercharger experts. What is this? A new model for the next decade? This is in a rural area jus about 2-3 hrs outside of Portland, OR, just about perfect distance. 12-unit prefab? Whoa.

Wow! Sutherlin is also the perfect distance for me when going to California. I've had to stop in Springfield and Grants Pass until that one opened. I can now skip a supercharger next time I go.

 

[RubberToe]

I was going to post this in the Harris Ranch 80 stall expansion thread, but this is more of a general question so posting here. I'll use the 80 stall site as an example though. I was wondering if the utilization rate of any given site would increase linearly with the number of Tesla's in use. You would think yes, but I believe the answer is actually no, as Tesla has some control over it...

The number of people traveling from LA to SF on any given day or holiday would certainly scale linearly based on number of Tesla's out in the wild. A site with 80 stalls will probably, at least for now, only be 100% utilized on several days a year. But I don't think that Tesla will need to expand that specific site another 80 stalls when their number of vehicles doubles. Why not?

Two reasons come to mind: 1) Much greater density of Superchargers on the route, 2) I think Tesla will further roll out dynamic pricing.

The greater density allows users to choose from a number of different sites, and they are provided quasi real time data concerning current usage, and possibly soon even estimated usage upon arrival. If you let your car navigation system pick the Supercharging site, it could take that into account. Software is cheaper than hardware.

For the rare days when any given site starts filling up, Tesla will know based on historical data and current traffic routing when any given site will hit 100%. Not necessarily exactly, but close enough. An 80 stall site is easier to predict than an 8 stall site, because a few random actions won't have as great an affect. I think that Tesla will use this knowledge to further implement dynamic pricing.

They already do this to some extent by offering discounted or free charging on Holiday weekends during off-peak hours to avoid congestion. Dynamically adjusting pricing on an hourly basis could smooth the traffic out even more. Discounted rates or elevated rates are a very good incentive to avoid peak times. Another case of software being cleverly used to avoid having to expand an already large site. This coupled with greater site density in any given travel corridor gives Tesla all the knobs they need to dial down traffic at sites that they know will get congested.

Limiting charging to 80% at busy sites is another way to increase vehicle turnover at any given site. I sometimes get the 80% message in Baker at 6am when I'm the only one there. So some fine tuning on Tesla's part is certainly in the cards.

It still has me wondering what the "end state" will be in say 5 years if 10% of the total vehicles on the road in California are Tesla's. I think by then there will be many more L2 destination chargers and home chargers that will reduce Supercharger demand. I charge in Vegas at a casino that offers free L2 charging, so I typically plan on arriving with about 15% charge.

There is evidence that Tesla can build Supercharger stations much cheaper than other providers. Given they are flush with cash there is every reason to build as much as required, taking into account the above. Even allowing other EVs to use the system at added cost.

Anything I missed?

RT

The bolded part above looks to have come to life:

Tesla navigation directs drivers to less crowded Superchargers

Tesla’s Supercharger rerouting feature would be useful, especially as Tesla starts opening its Supercharger sites to non-Tesla vehicles.

www.teslarati.com

 

[FlatSix911]

I'm ready for the next EV day at the track!

https://twitter.com/x/status/1542209230215815170

 

[FlatSix911]

Good news for smoothing the holiday weekend Supercharging demand.

Tesla offers free Supercharging to encourage off-peak charging during travels for holidays

Tesla is offering free Supercharging during off-peak hours at select locations during the 4th of July weekend to help with...

electrek.co

"It is valid from today until Monday, but interestingly, Tesla decided to only apply it to only a few stations in five states in the US:
Arizona, California and Nevada
Times Before 9 AM and after 6 PM
Locations

• Kingman, AZ
• Kingman, AZ – West Andy Devine
• Baker, CA
• Bakersfield, CA – Copus Road (Limited Amenities)
• Bakersfield, CA – I-5
• Barstow, CA
• Barstow, CA – East Main Street
• Barstow, CA – Tanger Way
• Beaumont, CA
• Buttonwillow, CA
• Cabazon, CA
• Cabazon, CA – Morongo Trail
• Hesperia, CA
• Indio, CA
• Needles, CA
• Palm Springs, CA
• Rancho Mirage, CA
• Tejon Ranch, CA
• Tejon Ranch, CA – Outlets at Tejon Pkwy
• Yermo, CA
• Primm, NV

Oklahoma and Texas​

Times Before 11 AM and after 8 PM
Locations

• Ardmore, OK
• Oklahoma City, OK
• Columbus, TX
• Denton, TX
• Flatonia, TX
• Katy, TX

Presumably, Tesla expects those stations to be the busiest this weekend ,and the incentives should help lower traffic during the day. Supercharger costs at those locations can go up to $0.58 per kWh; therefore, free Supercharging can easily save between $20 and $100 depending on the length of a road trip."

 

[FlatSix911]

Big changes are coming with the new Tesla Supercharger V4.

Tesla Supercharger V4 design revealed in new station plan

Tesla Supercharger V4's design has been revealed as part of the construction plans of a new station being deployed in Danvers, Massachusetts.

electrek.co

Tesla Supercharger V4

"We know that Tesla has been working on a new generation of Supercharger technology. In a recent earnings call, Tesla mentioned that it is pushing toward upgrading its fast-charging technology to a peak charge rate of 300 to 350 kW. Furthermore, the automaker has been talking about integrating the CCS connector to the Supercharger network in North America, like it did in Europe, in order to open its network to non-Tesla electric vehicles.

There have been rumors that the new Supercharger would come with a design refresh, and now it looks like Tesla has revealed it in a new Supercharger construction plan application in Danvers, Massachusetts (via John Harris Twitter) In the application, Tesla shows both a Supercharger V3 post and this new one called “Alternative Tesla Supercharger Post.” The automaker appears to be covering its bases and submitting both designs to have the new one accepted if it is ready in time for this particular station in Danvers. Here’s a side-by-side of the two designs in the application"

 

[Rocky_H]

Huh, interesting. What catches my eye is how the new design has a longer cable, which may be how it could deal with having a CCS plug that could reach charge port locations of other vehicle types.

 

[FlatSix911]

Huh, interesting. What catches my eye is how the new design has a longer cable, which may be how it could deal with having a CCS plug that could reach charge port locations of other vehicle types.

Spot on.

 

[FlatSix911]

I'm a bit concerned about infrastructure capacity during peak charging periods.

Tesla starts applying for funds to expand Supercharger network to non-Tesla EV owners

Tesla has reportedly started applying for more public grants to expand its Supercharger network with the requirement that it can...

electrek.co

"As for the timing of this happening in North America, everything points to something happening by the end of the year. Even the White House recently announced it on its website. Why would the White House get involved in that? The US federal government recently opened up billions in funding for EV charging infrastructure, but to get access to the funding, the charging stations need to be open to EVs from more than one manufacturer.

Therefore, another good indicator of Tesla starting to open up the network is when they start to apply for those funds on new stations. Now the Wall Street Journal reports today that Tesla has already started applying for those funds based on “recent regulatory filings and other documents”: Tesla already has a national network of fast chargers for its own drivers, but they aren’t available to other types of vehicles in the U.S. For a year, the company has said it plans to open its U.S. network to others, though details about timing and whether it would open existing stations or new ones have been sparse. Recent regulatory filings and other documents indicate that the company is applying for public funding that, if granted, would require access by other makers of EVs to the network."

 

[tmoz]

I was looking for an updated "total global kWh delivered by Tesla Superchargers", and it looks like people on this post are curious about that number too.
My 2018 photo from a Tesla Service Center's wall display.
It would be nice if Tesla quoted these numbers.
Also, I'd like to know if Tesla is breaking even with the price it charges, or if there is a profit which funds further SC deployments.
I wonder why nobody asks this question at the shareholder's meetings.

Reading the last 10 pages of this thread, I see that there was an update in 2020 or so, but the numbers went down instead of up.
Sigh.

 

[MaartenD]

I noticed today that my car is not showing the cost to charge anymore at the european superchargers. It was still displayed about a week ago. Is this also in the US?
Glitch in the back-end or would this be a concious decision by Tesla? I hope not.

 

[FlatSix911]

I was looking for an updated "total global kWh delivered by Tesla Superchargers", and it looks like people on this post are curious about that number too.
My 2018 photo from a Tesla Service Center's wall display.
It would be nice if Tesla quoted these numbers.
Also, I'd like to know if Tesla is breaking even with the price it charges, or if there is a profit which funds further SC deployments.
I wonder why nobody asks this question at the shareholder's meetings.
Reading the last 10 pages of this thread, I see that there was an update in 2020 or so, but the numbers went down instead of up.
Sigh.View attachment 833783

I remember the charging data screens in the service centers... too bad that they removed them.

 

[KJD]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1567905740022497281

 

[AudubonB]

Let me take a wild, pulling-it-out-of-a-dark-place guess:

Any number of locations in California will receive multiple times more votes than all of the North Country - from 54*N northwards, encompassing a few tens of thousands of miles of roads where you do NOT have any desire to run out of electrons - combined.

Meanwhile, SpCs continue their March through Bulgaria and Turkey - I’ve nothing but praise for Tesla doing so, AND one can Supercharge all the way to Everest base camp, but - 1.5 SpCs in all of the state that is over four times the size of California? And that number is also the sum total of ALL SpCs in that 2,750,000 square miles - ninety percent the area of the entire lower-48 states! -

I am, as all know, a very patient, very long term investor, and I likewise share the same zeitgeist with regard to the company’s structural buildout. I am willing to wait for the long term. But not for the hereafter.

 

[Rocky_H]

I am, as all know, a very patient, very long term investor, and I likewise share the same zeitgeist with regard to the company’s structural buildout. I am willing to wait for the long term. But not for the hereafter.

Yeah, when I saw the announcement about the new Supercharger site in California with over 100 stalls, my anger was rising to a simmering boil, as we are several years past when the Winnemucca to Boise route needed to have been connected with just a simple pair of stalls.