Thanksgiving 2018 Busiest Superchargers

[Dave EV]

Every holiday season the past 3-4 years has seen big lines at Superchargers, especially along I5 between the Bay Area and Southern California. Tejon Ranch was especially bad before they expanded and opened up a few more Superchargers not too far away, for example.

With a LOT of Model 3s on the road now in California, I expect to see some big lines at a lot of the usual spots even with the expansion. How bad do you think it will be this year?

Name your expectations for the busiest locations and times - and also name your ideal time to travel to avoid this congestion. Also - how many more Superchargers do you think Tesla will need to install to avoid this next year?

 

[roblab]

Tesla needs to avoid this? Those people who are aware already know that there has always been lots of charger use at Tejon. They need to charge at Bakersfield or Buttonwillow. From there, it's like 95 miles to Santa Clarita on the other side of the hill. Going down pretty much cancels going up. Tesla has already installed more chargers at Tejon and probably more at Buttonwillow, Bakersfield, and Santa Clarita. Now it's up to us to use our brains and bypass the heavy use chargers if we can, and I would guess even a 60 can. I'm wanting a 120D, myself.

Those that are able to be flexible as to travel times, the worst times are Fri PM to SunPM during the day. Drive Mon thru Thur, or Drive late or early, no waiting. Except for this Wed, of course.

Over time, Tesla will catch up. They say they plan to DOUBLE the number of chargers in 2019. They won't all be added in North Dakota or Mississippi.

 

[ucmndd]

Personally I think I-5 between LA/SF/Sac will be a non-issue this year. With Santa Clarita, Tejon Ranch expansion, Bakersfield, Buttonwillow, Kettleman, Harris Ranch, Hollister all online, you should be able to easily pick and choose where to charge to avoid congestion.

The chargers in the urban cores will be a circus like they always are, but I don't think any of the rural, long-distance-enabling stations are going to be problematic this year - certainly not to the degree of the infamous long line at Tejon Ranch a few years ago.

Next year might be a different story depending on model 3 deliveries, I guess we will see.

 

[bmah]

Not only has there been a lot of expansion on the I-5 route, but also US-101 has seen some recent expansion as well (Thousand Oaks, San Luis Obispo, Salinas). So there are two viable routes from SoCal to the SF Bay Area. My prediction is that informed Tesla travelers (aren't we all here? ) who have a little flexibility in their plans should be fine.

Safe travels all!

Bruce.

 

[ucmndd]

I did notice on the MCU that Kettleman City had 25 stalls reported in use about an hour ago, which I think is the highest I’ve ever seen it. Would be fun to be there with that station running full-tilt...

 

[Zorg]

Tejon had 4-6 stalls available around noon yesterday. BTW, on my way back to SF, saw about 10 carriers fI'll of Tesla's going south (152, 5).

 

[goldengate]

I just completed the SF - Santa Barbara drive on 101, and Superchargers were very congested this week. The hot spot is Atascadero / San Luis Obispo, so if I had to do it over again I would charge early (Salinas) or later (Buellton). I also got the best charging speeds in Salinas, though if you are approaching from the south you should ignore the NAV and take the exit 2 exits up so you don't have to cut through town.

I was monitoring the I-5 route during the same time and was envious of all the half-open chargers... definitely 101 is a more challenging route with fewer SC options. They really need one at King City and need to expand Atascadero.

( BTW Thread title should be Thanksgiving 2018, not 2019.)

 

[Dave EV]

I think that tomorrow will be the worst day to travel. Someone just posted that they noticed that Tejon and Harris we're completely full yesterday.

Good tip on recommending I5 over 101 if you have the choice.

 

[miimura]

According to its thread, Kettleman City did fill up on Saturday. Although, with 40 stalls the departure rate must be pretty high so the chances of waiting long are pretty small.

 

[Dave EV]

According to its thread, Kettleman City did fill up on Saturday.

Pretty amazing that Kettleman City filled up. The other stops must be full, too. With the number of Model 3s selling in California, Tesla has their work cut out for them just to keep up. They truly will need to double the network by next year. 40-stall Superchargers will become the new norm.

InsideEVs just posted an article about the lines, too, but this is nothing new. The Supercharger network gets load tested every year around Thanksgiving.
https://electrek.co/2018/11/24/tesla-supercharger-network-rough-test-holiday-travels/