Has anyone experienced a Supercharger that was out of service due to the electrical grid failure in February of 2021? When I bought my MY, I never even considered that Superchargers might be affected by grid outages. Can people share their experiences and what they had to do because of a failed Supercharger?
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Texas Superchargers Out of Service?
- Thread starter Red rYder
- Start date
OK, now you know the car uses electricity.
When the power is out, I usually don't charge.
If I think it'll go out, I click the app and 'fill up' - same with ICE vehicles in areas with real weather.
(The gas stations with generators will have long lines, often running out of fuel to sell depending on the duration of the 'event')
If the power is out along my path or my destination I don't go.
Electric700
Active Member
Some Supercharger centers have solar panels and possibly even Powerpacks, so they may be less affected by power outages. I am hoping all Supercharger sites will get this (along with wind power too).
Yes, of course I knew the car uses electricity. That's insulting. What I meant was a person traveling from east of Texas and going west to California on a trip they planned days ago and then finding all their Supercharger options were closed due to the widespread power outage. In my scenario, the option of "not going" doesn't apply.OK, now you know the car uses electricity.
When the power is out, I usually don't charge.
If I think it'll go out, I click the app and 'fill up' - same with ICE vehicles in areas with real weather.
(The gas stations with generators will have long lines, often running out of fuel to sell depending on the duration of the 'event')
If the power is out along my path or my destination I don't go.
I guess you can fly?
I quoted your sentence verbatim, and if you read more posts here you'll understand that some people think the supercharger has no kryptonite.
The trip might have the same issues with an ICE vehicle (no power - no gas). And yes, you can 'not go' if you can not go, always applies. If you think you are that important, then you must plan better.
I quoted your sentence verbatim, and if you read more posts here you'll understand that some people think the supercharger has no kryptonite.
The trip might have the same issues with an ICE vehicle (no power - no gas). And yes, you can 'not go' if you can not go, always applies. If you think you are that important, then you must plan better.
Well yeah, he was being super-snarky. But also correct and informative. You seem to have this in your mind that if you had a gasoline car that this would somehow be a non-issue that would not affect you, and he is pointing out that's not the case.
With a gas car, sure, you could go a little bit farther in your Texas to California trip until your car was running out of gas, and then you would discover that all of the gas stations don't function without electricity, and you would still be stuck and can't go. Massive electricity outages are terrible and mess up a lot of people's lives and plans, but affect gas cars as well as electric ones.
Gas stations won't be able to pump fuel if the power is out. They also won't be able to pump fuel if the delivery trucks can't get to them even if the power is on. But the Superchargers will keep delivering power.
As for an answer to "what do you do if you can't charge?" - I'd suggest a hotel room if possible. Hopefully one that has power and L2 charging.
As for an answer to "what do you do if you can't charge?" - I'd suggest a hotel room if possible. Hopefully one that has power and L2 charging.
Needsdecaf
Active Member
Almost all of the Houston area superchargers were out yesterday. I think almost all are back up today.
mk677
Member
here in FLA gas stations are required to have generators for backup power, I am surprised the NC with their coast being a magnet for hurricanes doesn't have similar regs.
mk677
Member
please do not take this as a snarky response but if there is no power fed to a supercharger unit how would you expect it to charge your car?
what can be done?
if you have the range in the car try to find a charger outside of the blacked out area, find a hotel with backup generators and destination chargers, find a room and wait it out are the options.
I guess we have 2 different scenarios here - if you're at home during power outage, and if you're on the road during same. Obviously, with the first scenario, you'd stay home, which you would probably do if the weather was bad enough to knock out the power.
Being on the road is an interesting scenario. The situation is really the same regardless of type of vehicle - BEV vs ICE. But I think there might be a slight advantage to the Tesla, as you have the option of several features/apps that might be able to help you find fuel. I would think that the Tesla nav would show the current status of Superchargers on your route, and apps like Plugshare or A Better Route Planner would show the same for non-Superchargers (although those latter two might be more dependent on on user inputs for data). I'm not sure there is a comparable app for gas stations (I don't know if Gas Buddy would give that info, for example). I guess you just really need to keep an eye on the weather and try and stay at a high SOC as much as possible if you're on the road.
Being on the road is an interesting scenario. The situation is really the same regardless of type of vehicle - BEV vs ICE. But I think there might be a slight advantage to the Tesla, as you have the option of several features/apps that might be able to help you find fuel. I would think that the Tesla nav would show the current status of Superchargers on your route, and apps like Plugshare or A Better Route Planner would show the same for non-Superchargers (although those latter two might be more dependent on on user inputs for data). I'm not sure there is a comparable app for gas stations (I don't know if Gas Buddy would give that info, for example). I guess you just really need to keep an eye on the weather and try and stay at a high SOC as much as possible if you're on the road.
Texas has been a mess. Some areas have been without working water or power for three days. Plus the 100 car/semi pileup yesterday that left some people still trapped in cars though this morning; not to mention the five killed.
Anyone looking to go through Texas or other areas with similar issues currently is more than okay with asking current situations of other owners who are living in that area right now about charging or the drive in general might go.
Anyone looking to go through Texas or other areas with similar issues currently is more than okay with asking current situations of other owners who are living in that area right now about charging or the drive in general might go.
israndy
Supercharger Hunter
It seems like they didn't interrupt power to some commercial districts, so that you could go out and get gas or Taco Bell, even while you had frozen pipes at home. So likely there would be a supercharger in driving distance to charge up from. Then you can go home and park in the garage and keep the car warm with the stored power. Good time to have a Model Y with the efficient, though noisy, heat pumps.
I wonder what it's like to drive an electric car other than a Tesla, does your center display show where you can charge? Does it update when there is a power outage or the charger is underwater? If Tesla had a place to report snow too deep to get into the Supercharger they would have all their bases covered.
I wonder what it's like to drive an electric car other than a Tesla, does your center display show where you can charge? Does it update when there is a power outage or the charger is underwater? If Tesla had a place to report snow too deep to get into the Supercharger they would have all their bases covered.
mk677
Member
the porsche taycan will show in it's nav system where the EA chargers are and I suppose it notes the status of the units. for other chargers there is plugshare, just like in the tesla
Silicon Desert
Well-Known Member
hold on there a minute. I like your thinking, but all the Tesla SCs with or without solar modules are grid connected without backup. Grid goes down at that location, the SCs go down also. And think about this for a minute. Just to charge one car from low SOC to 100 KW will take a full day of sun (depending on location of course) on at least 30 modules to charge just that one car, and it will only happen while the grid is operating at that site. I'm guessing you may know this
How do I know this? I've been involved in setting up several SCs in the South.
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...sounds like another Donner party trip to me...
Since you already know "...due to the widespread power outage..." that access to electric power is limited, or likely nonexistent, you've already answered your own question. I truly hope the "not going" option DOES apply to you.
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