Wiki UK and Ireland Supercharger Site News

[qwickshot]

If Welcome Break really are stopping new Tesla sites because they want to push their own then it's really short-sited. They need both / all categories of chargers at their sites if in the future all cars will be electric. Ultiimately all the sites should be like the Gridserve hubs with 20-30 rapid chargers, and then slow chargers in all the remaining parking spaces so people who are staying longer can still get a bit of charge.

I disagree, the brand is sort of irrelevant, as long as it has a CCS plug and a decent output, they work, are available and have a reasonable price, I couldn’t give two cares who operates it.

20-30 rapid chargers are not going to be enough for an MSA.

They’ll need 10+ 350kw units just for coaches at busy sites like south Mimms, then add in HGV and cars.

South Mimms already has 20 rapid chargers, admittedly they are not the best (mix of V2 supercharger, 50kw and 150kw units) but they are constantly rammed.

 

[Sean.]

I disagree, the brand is sort of irrelevant, as long as it has a CCS plug and a decent output, they work, are available and have a reasonable price, I couldn’t give two cares who operates it.

20-30 rapid chargers are not going to be enough for an MSA.

They’ll need 10+ 350kw units just for coaches at busy sites like south Mimms, then add in HGV and cars.

South Mimms already has 20 rapid chargers, admittedly they are not the best (mix of V2 supercharger, 50kw and 150kw units) but they are constantly rammed.

Agree with all that but there are still > 100 kW chargers that are either/and:

1. load sharing so you never ever get the rated speed if someone’s plugged in with you
2. output capped at 400v for us

So in practice they can rarely be much better than a 50 kW unit.

InstaVolt’s BYD units for example.

 

[Jason71]

I disagree, the brand is sort of irrelevant, as long as it has a CCS plug and a decent output, they work, are available and have a reasonable price, I couldn’t give two cares who operates it.

20-30 rapid chargers are not going to be enough for an MSA.

They’ll need 10+ 350kw units just for coaches at busy sites like south Mimms, then add in HGV and cars.

South Mimms already has 20 rapid chargers, admittedly they are not the best (mix of V2 supercharger, 50kw and 150kw units) but they are constantly rammed.

the brand is irrelevant but having only one brand at a location is not since competition will reduce price gouging. I know this is the case for petrol stations on motorway but that is also bad but range is less of an issue so if you have to buy petrol on a motorway that is probably bad planning on your part or you don't care.

 

[AnthonyLR]

I was at the Amesbury Supercharger yesterday. Plugged in and walked over to Costa and then noticed in the App that charging wasn't happening. Walked back and a fellow Tesla owner told me that 4A, 4B, 4C and 4D were out of order (I can see that in the app now.)

It would be good if the Tesla could notify me immediately if I plug into a defective Supercharger rather than letting me wander off and find out later by casually checking on the app that it isn't charging.

 

[WannabeOwner]

It would be good if the Tesla could notify me immediately if I plug into a defective Supercharger

Not sure how the car would know if there is no power to the stall? You've plugged something into the car but (without power) I don't suppose it has any idea what it is - could be the UMC in which case until that has power the car won't know "what" it is.

I think the lights are off on a stall that isn't working? Might not be very visible during the day though!

I've had slow charging stalls in the past (just moved to a different stall). So I now wait in the car until it ramps up to expected AMPs (and if not I move )

 

[Sean.]

I was at the Amesbury Supercharger yesterday. Plugged in and walked over to Costa and then noticed in the App that charging wasn't happening. Walked back and a fellow Tesla owner told me that 4A, 4B, 4C and 4D were out of order (I can see that in the app now.)

It would be good if the Tesla could notify me immediately if I plug into a defective Supercharger rather than letting me wander off and find out later by casually checking on the app that it isn't charging.

Over the years I’ve just gotten into the habit of double checking to make sure you’re charging successfully before you walk off into the sunset.

It’s the one downside of such a simple and (usually) reliable network is on the occasions when it isn’t and you come back 20-30 minutes later to nothing much.

 

[JupiterMan]

I disagree, the brand is sort of irrelevant, as long as it has a CCS plug and a decent output, they work, are available and have a reasonable price, I couldn’t give two cares who operates it.

I agree with what you say, however without competition at the motorway service sites, you are very unlikely to have the "reasonable price" part.

Things are slowly getting better, but unfortunately for now at least, the "they work" bit may also be a problem.

For me, I would like our government to make it against the law to have a monopoly on charging at any motorways services sites, with open access to all encouraged as far as is feasible.

 

[qwickshot]

I agree with what you say, however without competition at the motorway service sites, you are very unlikely to have the "reasonable price" part.

Things are slowly getting better, but unfortunately for now at least, the "they work" bit may also be a problem.

For me, I would like our government to make it against the law to have a monopoly on charging at any motorways services sites, with open access to all encouraged as far as is feasible.

I get it but the reality is that Welcome break/Moto/Xtra/Roadchef/Euro Garages own/lease those sites and their view is that they get to decide who or what operates on those sites. They would say they ultimately don’t have a monopoly on motorway services, if you don’t like welcome break, you can go to the next one that will probably be something else.

I’m not entirely sure that ‘competition’ on the sites between charge networks will actually make much difference or is entirely sensible given there are very practical limitations on what can be installed due to grid limitations. Having a bunch of different networks trying to secure a chunk of capacity for separate banks of chargers that can’t share capacity is sub optimal.

The part of the solution is probably to have more distributed charging and a move away from huge MSA’s like we have now to smaller sites at more junctions to help spread the load.

There is a risk that our larger MSA’s will struggle to survive with their current monolithic business model because they simply can’t get enough power to serve the volume of vehicles that may need to service. Customers will ultimately go elsewhere if they can’t.

Edit: I can see the main way ‘in’ to these sites for the likes of Tesla is that I doubt Welcome break etc. has the capital needed to add thousands of rapid chargers to their sites and probably need outside investment from the lines of Tesla to stay relevant.

 

[petit_bateau]

Edit: I can see the main way ‘in’ to these sites for the likes of Tesla is that I doubt Welcome break etc. has the capital needed to add thousands of rapid chargers to their sites and probably need outside investment from the lines of Tesla to stay relevant.

The existence of these sites is (imho) evidence of perpetuation of an old planning/business model in the UK that has never evolved. Once it came into existence it got locked into stasis.

Even if I have to pull into one of these sites I do the absolute minimum to get back on the road. Apart from the handful of decent ones (two : Gloucester & Westmorland) every purchase is a grudge purchase.

The advent of BEVs is a serious threat to their business model as it makes it far more interesting to run fewer/smaller HV feeds to more sites in the UK and thereby undercut their monopoly. Hence the site owners going down the minimum investment until status quo locked in. And hence grid planners also hanging back. However it seems the deed has been done, and they've Conned their way into another generation of abysmal non-service.

Tesla should be going just off motorway in my opinion, for the UK market.

 

[NewbieT]

The existence of these sites is (imho) evidence of perpetuation of an old planning/business model in the UK that has never evolved. Once it came into existence it got locked into stasis.

Even if I have to pull into one of these sites I do the absolute minimum to get back on the road. Apart from the handful of decent ones (two : Gloucester & Westmorland) every purchase is a grudge purchase.

The advent of BEVs is a serious threat to their business model as it makes it far more interesting to run fewer/smaller HV feeds to more sites in the UK and thereby undercut their monopoly. Hence the site owners going down the minimum investment until status quo locked in. And hence grid planners also hanging back. However it seems the deed has been done, and they've Conned their way into another generation of abysmal non-service.

Tesla should be going just off motorway in my opinion, for the UK market.

On the contrary, with BEV more people have to stop and stop for longer = increase in demand for services. I certainly don’t want to venture from my route more than I have to.

 

[petit_bateau]

On the contrary, with BEV more people have to stop and stop for longer = increase in demand for services. I certainly don’t want to venture from my route more than I have to.

mmmmm..... There is a 'potential' increase in demand for services.

But those services need to be better than the awful grot and sh1te to be foubd in most UK service stations.

I often go without (or pack a sandwich) rather than suffer anything more than splash and dash in these places (exceptions of Gloucester and Westmoreland)

Tesla has a chance to disassociate themselves from that dreaful experience. If the price is just down the off ramp, into the Telsa, and back up the on ramp then worth doing.

It is a complex area given the formal and informal restrictions around site planning and grid access and public policy in the UK.

Just imho

 

[Adopado]

Interesting chat folks but it’s not really for this thread. This is specifically to pass on news about actual Supercharger changes and additions.

 

[AnthonyLR]

Not sure how the car would know if there is no power to the stall? You've plugged something into the car but (without power) I don't suppose it has any idea what it is - could be the UMC in which case until that has power the car won't know "what" it is.

I think the lights are off on a stall that isn't working? Might not be very visible during the day though!

I've had slow charging stalls in the past (just moved to a different stall). So I now wait in the car until it ramps up to expected AMPs (and if not I move )

Well, let's think about that. Tesla knows the Supercharger isn't working because they have posted this information on the app. They know that before I arrive. So for starters, as they know I am heading towards that Supercharger location, they could give me a notification on screen that certain chargers are not working and to avoid them.

Also, when I attempt to plug my car into a defective charger (which, remember, Tesla knows to be defective) the car and the app should notify me immediately: "Oi, dopey, we told you this one isn't working!"

Tesla controls the whole software ecosystem. It can't be that hard?

 

[Fursty Ferret]

Well, let's think about that. Tesla knows the Supercharger isn't working because they have posted this information on the app. They know that before I arrive. So for starters, as they know I am heading towards that Supercharger location, they could give me a notification on screen that certain chargers are not working and to avoid them.

To be fair, if you tap on the Supercharger pin on the map it tells you if any are out of service.

I loop the charge cable around the top as a signal that it’s out of service if it hasn’t been flagged up in the car.

 

[JemF]

Swansea West is open.
I popped into Swansea West services on Saturday. I was in an EQV so couldn’t test the chargers. However a MY turned up and was charging for the duration I was there (20 min)
I might be passing again later, I’ll check again if I can.

SuC not showing on the app map.

Exact Location:

51°40'43.3"N 3°59'38.7"W

maps.app.goo.gl

 

[AnthonyLR]

To be fair, if you tap on the Supercharger pin on the map it tells you if any are out of service.

I loop the charge cable around the top as a signal that it’s out of service if it hasn’t been flagged up in the car.

Sure. But all input is error according to Elon so that tap is an error. (That's why they removed the gear shift from the new S and X.)

https://twitter.com/x/status/1481724767363338246

 

[squarepeg77]

Surely Tesla Vision will Autopark into a working supercharger bay?

 

[cezdoc]

Swansea is now fully open with a Tesla website listing and showing on the Nav/App.
I saw some reports of successful charges on part-commissioned stalls on the weekend but I'm guessing some last-minute niggles had to be ironed out before it was fully opened.

Swansea, UK | Tesla

Schedule a Tesla test drive at a time and date that is convenient for you.

www.tesla.com

 

[NikoV6]

Swansea is now fully open with a Tesla website listing and showing on the Nav/App.
I saw some reports of successful charges on part-commissioned stalls on the weekend but I'm guessing some last-minute niggles had to be ironed out before it was fully opened.

Swansea, UK | Tesla

Schedule a Tesla test drive at a time and date that is convenient for you.

www.tesla.com

View attachment 924785

Whereas, in North Wales

 

[JemF]

Q2 Supercharger location voting has started.

Supercharger Voting | Tesla United Kingdom

Learn more about voting for new Supercharger locations.

www.tesla.com