Now that I have Tesla solar, I am considering purchasing a Model X, Y or Cybertruck. I assume the Supercharger network currently supports today's Tesla vehicles, but what happens when when there are significantly more Teslas on the road? Is Tesla expanding the network faster than vehicles being delivered?
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Will Supercharger Network Support Anticipated Growth?
- Thread starter mstgkillr
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I'd say the Supercharger network is outpacing *typical* demand, but there are certainly times where the busy sites are overwhelmed. The same can be said for fuel stations, though. There is also the CHAdeMO adapter and hopefully they'll be producing a CCS adapter soon as well which would dramatically increase the options for fast charging a Tesla vehicle.
Your location says "Cape Coral", and it looks like south Florida has excellent coverage, with many more in permit and construction stages.
Are you asking for your own concerns or for the general population?
Your location says "Cape Coral", and it looks like south Florida has excellent coverage, with many more in permit and construction stages.
Are you asking for your own concerns or for the general population?
The general idea is you're suppose to charge at home, although cities with limited off street parking and high rates of home rental are going to require much greater investment in L3 charging stations. As for road trips, Tesla put in a ton of superchargers last year (especially in California), but there are still a lot of places you simply can't get to without lengthy L2 charging stops or major detours.
I think the "L2 only" places have gotten pretty few and far between. Using the supercharge.info map with circles set to 100 miles, you can see the areas that are reasonably inaccessible without being able to reach another supercharger (200 miles total trip). If you slide it up to 150 miles (300 miles total trip between SuCs, drive slow!) all of the 48 states are covered.
You forgot that geography, winter, 80mph interstates, headwinds, battery degradation and return trips are things. I consider my SR+ to have a usable range of 300km (travel speed 115km/hr) in the summer and I'd guesstimate I lose 4km of range for every 1C below 15C (less if sunny).
As an example (when the border opens), I'd like to take another trip to Texas to see Starship fly, but as of right now there are 4 gaps:
Fort Macleod to Great falls (347km) - Must L2 >1hr
Great Falls to Billings (355km) - Detour to Big Timber (+45km, 20mins)
Trinidad to Amarillo (363km) - Must L2 >1hr
Amarillo to Sweetwater (401km) - Must L2 >2hr
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There are definitely some North<->South gaps, especially connecting all of the middle of Canada to the USA. But a couple of those have alternatives that seem reasonable. Second one through Bozeman, last one through Childress. But yes it's still a ways out before that's a direct path.
Probably why people who know they may want to take 3,800km road trips in winter (or summer, for that matter) should really opt for the LR model. Though, I know this isn't possible for everyone. And I agree with your underlying point that it's still going to take a long time before supercharger or DCFC station coverage is so complete that this (or occasional, forced detours along sub-optimal routes) isn't an issue somewhere along many such long trips.
Unfortunately for the specific gaps on your list, I think this year there's only hope for a supercharger in Clayton, NM (Trinidad to Amarillo).
Having a CHAdeMO adapter would help. And a NEMA 14-50 adapter for the mobile connector would probably come in quite handy as well.
But really, SR is a hard sell for that kind of road trip. It's a fantastic option for a daily driver / commuter, but even my MYLRAWD is a mild pain on road trips, especially through the plains, and I've done several already. I hope to trade it in for a 500+ mile range car at some point. Longer range and faster charging. Yay!
ChadS
Last tank of gas: March 2009
As LoudMusic points out, past growth has not been perfect. Heck, in late 2012 you could only use superchargers in southern California.
But overall, supercharger growth has matched the greatly expanding number of cars for 8 years so far. Of course that could stop at any time - there can never be a guarantee that it won't - but I don't see anything that makes that more likely now than it has been up until now. In fact Tesla is much better capitalized now than it has been for the last eight years, so I would think it is less likely now.
But overall, supercharger growth has matched the greatly expanding number of cars for 8 years so far. Of course that could stop at any time - there can never be a guarantee that it won't - but I don't see anything that makes that more likely now than it has been up until now. In fact Tesla is much better capitalized now than it has been for the last eight years, so I would think it is less likely now.
I'll admit to being a bit naive when I bought the car and thought I would actually get something close to the 384km of advertised range. If Tesla changes their policy on FSD trade-in, I think a LR Y might replace my 3. I've been looking at the Chademo adapter since I bought the car and might grab one this year.
I've never trusted any automaker's range claims - petrol or electric
There are CHAdeMO adapter rentals, which might be a more cost effective option if you don't do a lot of road trips.
CHAdeMo charging for Tesla - Adapter, Rent by the week
And depending on your route and region, waiting for a potential release of a North American CCS adapter from Tesla would also be a good idea. Hopefully we'll be seeing more about that this year.
I've never trusted any automaker's range claims - petrol or electric
There are CHAdeMO adapter rentals, which might be a more cost effective option if you don't do a lot of road trips.
CHAdeMo charging for Tesla - Adapter, Rent by the week
And depending on your route and region, waiting for a potential release of a North American CCS adapter from Tesla would also be a good idea. Hopefully we'll be seeing more about that this year.
Adapters been out of stock in last 6+ month on that website
Given that towing cuts your range in half or more and Cyber Truck coming out and MY having a hitch option, would like to see Tesla get to max Interstate gap of 100 miles. They have been making a lot of progress the last couple years (especially given COVID). Noticed they were averaging 70 sc under construction at any time but only 30 this year. There are probably 20 sites really needed to meet my 100 mile goal so could get their in a year.
I'd expect the network to grow substantially in 2021/2022 per this article saying that a new factory for building SuperChargers in China is coming online. Tesla is going to build a new factory to produce Supercharger V3 in China - Electrek
There are plenty of threads on this but it comes down to a few base things:
- SuperChargers & the assorted equipment needed
- The actual electrical power needed
- How many expected customers will traverse this area
- A willing partner to give up the space for installing a charger
A lot of people just overlook this stuff and say OMG why isn't there a charger here. It's not that simple dangit! You've gotta have the equipment and then you've gotta have the ability to even bring the massive amount of power into that area ($$$$) along with a business that's willing to give up 10+ parking spaces.
Oh yeah and PERMITS to do anything. I'd really like it if a National campaign (in the U.S. at least) of simplifying the permit process. If you visit supercharge.info and scroll down you can see the amount of days some SuperCharger locations are sitting just waiting on the permit process... and then the construction process!
There are plenty of threads on this but it comes down to a few base things:
- SuperChargers & the assorted equipment needed
- The actual electrical power needed
- How many expected customers will traverse this area
- A willing partner to give up the space for installing a charger
A lot of people just overlook this stuff and say OMG why isn't there a charger here. It's not that simple dangit! You've gotta have the equipment and then you've gotta have the ability to even bring the massive amount of power into that area ($$$$) along with a business that's willing to give up 10+ parking spaces.
Oh yeah and PERMITS to do anything. I'd really like it if a National campaign (in the U.S. at least) of simplifying the permit process. If you visit supercharge.info and scroll down you can see the amount of days some SuperCharger locations are sitting just waiting on the permit process... and then the construction process!
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