Wiki UK and Ireland Supercharger Site News

[cezdoc]

I called in here intending to charge on the way home from mountain biking in Keswick - only to find all chargers down. It looked like 5 or 6 Teslas were waiting parked up, implying some of the chargers were coming back on. I'd got around 160 miles of range so I set off thinking I'd use Charnock Richard, only to remember you can't access north bound from south bound these days.

So I headed off again starting to feel a bit nervous - I think this is the only time I've ever started considering third-party chargers other than when pre-planned. Fortunately I remembered Keele southbound has 4 chargers and plodded there relatively cautiously, arriving with about 8%. Had I not kept some contingency when leaving Keswick, it might have got "interesting". That'll also teach me to check the supercharger status in future, quite a shock to roll up and nothing is working

My woes aside, the new set-up at Tebay looks good.

Sounds like you were unlucky - I guess the fact it caught you out shows how reliable Superchargers usually are. The app is showing normal availability at Tebay so hopefully a temporary glitch. Reminds me of the old days when I would "fill up" at Gretna to be able to get all the way to Keele in my MS70. These days I don't consider Gretna as there is always a queue for the Superchargers and it's difficult to park for queueing there. There is plenty of third party provision now but I still have free supercharging so I look for Supercharger alternatives as a first preference. The same goes for Keele S but in contrast it's a tiny detour to drive past and have a look to see what the queue is like, and queueing there is much easier.

I was at Charnock Richard (northbound) in April and the barrier preventing access from the service road appeared to be down. However I don't like using it because it has been closed periodically in the past so I can't rely on it. Besides, it is clearly a popular rat run and I don't want to be associated with that sort of behaviour!

 

[WannabeOwner]

I guess the fact it caught you out shows how reliable Superchargers usually are

I've had Satnav re-route me for a Supercharger going off line (in that instance it was a power cut over a large area). So even then still pretty reliable

 

[cezdoc]

A planning application has been submitted for a 16 x V4 supercharger at Gretna Caledonia Park. Link courtesy of a recent post on the TOUK Facebook Group:
Dumfries & Galloway Council, ref 23/1025/CLP

23/1025/CLP | INSTALLATION OF 16 TESLA ELECTRIC VEHICLE CHARGING POINTS, 4 EQUIPMENT CABINETS AND 1 SUBSTATION | Caledonia Park Glasgow Road Gretna

eaccess.dumgal.gov.uk

Tesla have a coming soon marker for this site (added in February) with a Q1 2024 target opening date.

This is the third V4 planning application in Dumfries and Galloway that I've come across, following on from recent submissions for Stranraer and Moffat.

 

[spon88]

@spon88 you can access from southbound - I do it all the time

Is the service road open now? I read that there was a barrier and that the hotel staff were refusing access via the intercom?

 

[spon88]

Sounds like you were unlucky - I guess the fact it caught you out shows how reliable Superchargers usually are. The app is showing normal availability at Tebay so hopefully a temporary glitch. Reminds me of the old days when I would "fill up" at Gretna to be able to get all the way to Keele in my MS70. These days I don't consider Gretna as there is always a queue for the Superchargers and it's difficult to park for queueing there. There is plenty of third party provision now but I still have free supercharging so I look for Supercharger alternatives as a first preference. The same goes for Keele S but in contrast it's a tiny detour to drive past and have a look to see what the queue is like, and queueing there is much easier.

I was at Charnock Richard (northbound) in April and the barrier preventing access from the service road appeared to be down. However I don't like using it because it has been closed periodically in the past so I can't rely on it. Besides, it is clearly a popular rat run and I don't want to be associated with that sort of behaviour!

Yes, poor timing I guess. Indeed that's the first time in nearly four years where I've struggled for a supercharger. The only slight inconveniene was a borked unit at the Calais side when I was running slightly late, but easily solved by switching bays. Overall, the Tesla chargers have been excellent.

 

[Overworked]

Is the service road open now? I read that there was a barrier and that the hotel staff were refusing access via the intercom?

Never seen the barrier up but seen many other Tesla’s coming in from S side too!

 

[spon88]

Never seen the barrier up but seen many other Tesla’s coming in from S side too!

Thanks, good to know.

 

[cezdoc]

Blyth latest

https://twitter.com/x/status/1658182132320067594

Looks like the wrappers are off & groundworks complete at Blyth. Now it's a case of finding out how long the piece of string is that ends with these getting powered on.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1663612479979626498

 

[cezdoc]

It turns out the piece of string was very short: Blyth went live earlier today.

By my reckoning there are now as many V3 as V2 superchargers in the UK (56 each + 5 sites with both).

 

[adsheff]

Anyone ever noticed the following issue with navigate and supercharging:

I set off from Northumberland headed Bristol direction in the afternoon. The car has enough charge to get to Hopwood Park, which I always drive past. However, at the time I'm setting off (3pm) Hopwood Park, Woodall, Mansfield are all super busy with queues, so the sat-nav reroutes me down the M6 with a stop at Hilton Park (or sometimes central B'ham) to charge. This route is longer, and much more prone to traffic around Manchester etc.

However, the satnav doesn't seem capable of taking into account that it will be well over 3 hours by the time I get as far as Hopwood, by which time it will be a ghost town, with loads of free chargers. So I ignore the satnav, and just drive down to Hopwood and sure enough, by the time I'm there around 7 it is really quiet.

I just think it's a really simple bit of logic that's missing in the software - it re-routes you to different chargers based on how busy they are now, rather than how busy they'll be when you arrive (and this information is available to the car, because it has a chart for each charger showing when they get busy). Can someone tell the Tesla folk plz?

 

[NikoV6]

I also wish it would give you the alternative charger at the press of a button when it warns you on route that the one you are traveling to is busy! Instead of just suggesting you charge elsewhere! Tell me where please!

 

[GRiLLA]

Anyone ever noticed the following issue with navigate and supercharging:

I set off from Northumberland headed Bristol direction in the afternoon. The car has enough charge to get to Hopwood Park, which I always drive past. However, at the time I'm setting off (3pm) Hopwood Park, Woodall, Mansfield are all super busy with queues, so the sat-nav reroutes me down the M6 with a stop at Hilton Park (or sometimes central B'ham) to charge. This route is longer, and much more prone to traffic around Manchester etc.

However, the satnav doesn't seem capable of taking into account that it will be well over 3 hours by the time I get as far as Hopwood, by which time it will be a ghost town, with loads of free chargers. So I ignore the satnav, and just drive down to Hopwood and sure enough, by the time I'm there around 7 it is really quiet.

I just think it's a really simple bit of logic that's missing in the software - it re-routes you to different chargers based on how busy they are now, rather than how busy they'll be when you arrive (and this information is available to the car, because it has a chart for each charger showing when they get busy). Can someone tell the Tesla folk plz?

When it becomes less busy wouldn't it reroute you ? Actually I don't know if it reroutes when places are no longer busy.

 

[Roy B]

When it becomes less busy wouldn't it reroute you ? Actually I don't know if it reroutes when places are no longer busy.

The problem is that by the time it becomes less busy, you may be pretty much committed to the alternative route - or at at least you may taken an unnecessary detour.

I agree with @adsheff - it makes no sense for it to avoid a SuC you will be using hours in the future just because it is busy now. It needs to look at the predictions of how busy it will be at your arrival time - and only switch to using live data once you get closer.

EDIT: I had a suspicion that I'd seen this behaviour but wasn't really sure - so thanks for the confirmation that it really is that dumb!

 

[adsheff]

When it becomes less busy wouldn't it reroute you ? Actually I don't know if it reroutes when places are no longer busy.

It does re-route you when they become less busy, but as Roy B said, you could have already committed to it's alternate route by that point and it would not be en-route any more.

 

[Jason71]

It does re-route you when they become less busy, but as Roy B said, you could have already committed to it's alternate route by that point and it would not be en-route any more.

The app litterally has a graph on it showing the busiest times at each charger so you would think it could use that data to make an educated guess as to how busy it will be at the time you get there.
I would also be nice if it would try to avoid the 4 peak hours altogether but no evidence here it is trying to do that either unfortunately

 

[NewbieT]

The 4 peak hours are when electricity is expensive not necessarily when demand to charge is high - look at the graph for Tebay as an example.

 

[GRiLLA]

The app litterally has a graph on it showing the busiest times at each charger so you would think it could use that data to make an educated guess as to how busy it will be at the time you get there.
I would also be nice if it would try to avoid the 4 peak hours altogether but no evidence here it is trying to do that either unfortunately

Do you think that would really be a good experience if it starts avoiding SuperChargers because on average it's busy in that 1 hour slot? I feel it would be far worse than what we have. Guaranteed to be wrong half the time. Also where would it route, other SuC are likely to be predicted to be busy.

I get that the experience above isn't great, but I can't see this is a solution.

 

[adsheff]

Do you think that would really be a good experience if it starts avoiding SuperChargers because on average it's busy in that 1 hour slot? I feel it would be far worse than what we have. Guaranteed to be wrong half the time. Also where would it route, other SuC are likely to be predicted to be busy.

I get that the experience above isn't great, but I can't see this is a solution.

No - we're saying it should do the opposite - i.e. NOT rerouting you away from a supercharger on your route, because it knows that it will not be busy when you arrive.

 

[GRiLLA]

No - we're saying it should do the opposite - i.e. NOT rerouting you away from a supercharger on your route, because it knows that it will not be busy when you arrive.

In this specific case that's what you are saying.

So what should it do in the opposite case, where the averages show that the SuC is likely to be full by the time you reach it? That would be far worse than the current logic.

 

[langy]

Anyone ever noticed the following issue with navigate and supercharging:

I set off from Northumberland headed Bristol direction in the afternoon. The car has enough charge to get to Hopwood Park, which I always drive past. However, at the time I'm setting off (3pm) Hopwood Park, Woodall, Mansfield are all super busy with queues, so the sat-nav reroutes me down the M6 with a stop at Hilton Park (or sometimes central B'ham) to charge. This route is longer, and much more prone to traffic around Manchester etc.

However, the satnav doesn't seem capable of taking into account that it will be well over 3 hours by the time I get as far as Hopwood, by which time it will be a ghost town, with loads of free chargers. So I ignore the satnav, and just drive down to Hopwood and sure enough, by the time I'm there around 7 it is really quiet.

I just think it's a really simple bit of logic that's missing in the software - it re-routes you to different chargers based on how busy they are now, rather than how busy they'll be when you arrive (and this information is available to the car, because it has a chart for each charger showing when they get busy). Can someone tell the Tesla folk plz?

I've had similar experiences and have done the same as you, or part way along the route, stopped the route and entered it again. Not ideal but it's a get around.