You pull in to Supercharge and... what do you see?

[Checkerboard]

Howdy all- awaiting delivery of our white/white/FSD Model Y sometime in June, according to Tesla. We plan to drive from the Sierra Foothills near Yosemite (Sonora) to Long Beach to visit family often.

Two recharge stops are called for. My question is this - when you pull in to the Tesla Supercharging station, is it ever filled to capacity? If so, do Tesla drivers queue up single file so the next available charger gets connected to the car in the front of the line?

My second question: real-world freeway speeds on the I-99 and I-5 freeways are between 75 and 85 mph. Is there a way to input a preferred freeway speed of say 80 mph, so your recharging stops are recalculated? I can't stomach the idea of "crawling" along at 55 or 65 mph just because ABRP or the Tesla software says it's the most efficient tradeoff speed...

Thanks, Peter

 

[Rocky_H]

My second question: real-world freeway speeds on the I-99 and I-5 freeways are between 75 and 85 mph. Is there a way to input a preferred freeway speed of say 80 mph, so your recharging stops are recalculated? I can't stomach the idea of "crawling" along at 55 or 65 mph just because ABRP or the Tesla software says it's the most efficient tradeoff speed...

Here's the thing about that. Whoever programmed the parameters of the "Beta Trip Planner" that the in-car navigation uses picked something really REALLY stupid. They set it to try to calculate for the least number of stops. Period. That means sometimes extremely long charging times (to nearly 100%) to try to skip over Superchargers and squeezing it down to the last few single percent (which sometimes leads to that kind of panic and slow driving to make it work). That is an insane and really nerve-wracking and actually even slower and more irritating way to travel with an electric car.

I recommend not just setting the end destination and letting the car pick your charging stops, because it will do that bull$#&^. Maybe do that at the start if you want to get an idea of the overall trip, but I don't just blindly go with its recommendations. Just display the map, and pick the next Supercharger along the highway and go that way. (Given some common sense, like not if it's only 30 miles away or something.) Then, you get to charge really quickly up to about 60-70%, where charging is really fast and then go. You will be less bored, less stressed, and just more time effective, as you're not getting up into the slow-charging top end of the battery.

 

[jcanoe]

In ABRP under settings you can set the speed you plan to drive at while driving the route. More than just setting your desired speed you can also set ABRP to use Real-Time Traffic for the first part of the trip;

Reference Speed (speed factor relative to the speed limit or the estimated driving speed of the road. Example: You can set the Reference Speed to 110% and that will add 10% above the posted speed limit to the ABRP trip planner);

Maximum Speed (maximum speed you will drive even if the speed limits allow a higher speed along the route);

Adjust Speed (allows ABRP to lower the maximum speed for individual trip legs to reach the next Supercharger or charger location.)

 

[NeverGoingBack]

All your Supercharging questions should be answered here ....... mine were!

 

[Uncle Paul]

Most of the time you will pull into a Supercharger with many open spots. Since pillars are paired up, you will want to select a paired stall with both being empty. This way you will not need to share a charge with your neighbors.

If all stalls are filled, you will notice a line that has formed. Get in line and wait your turn.

You can drive as fast as you wish, but realizing that 80 mph+ will burn electrons quicker and your trip may actually take longer than slowing down to a more efficient pace. Your computer and display will show you in real time your electrical usage and a suggested time to recharge at each stop.

You will quickly learn how to efficiently travel long distances, and usually arrive much more relaxed than in your previous ICE tours.

 

[RichardL]

In your particular situation, on I-5 with Firebaugh having 50 outlets, Harris Ranch 22 (going to 100?) and Kettleman City having 50, it is unlikely to all be full, except maybe the day before Thanksgiving. Also the display now shows open slots as you drive, so you know what to expect.

I did Sacramento->San Diego last week and there were always plenty of spaces available.

 

[Checkerboard]

Thank you all for the essential and helpful info... and wisdom. Regards, Peter

 

[Mr. Wonderful]

I've only had my Y for 3 weeks.
I pulled out of the parking lot of the health club where there is a Supercharger across the street.
They began with 8 chargers, and about a year ago, added an additional 8.
So out of 16 chargers, only 1 was in use.

 

[iamnid]

They're typically busier in metropolitan areas. As far as not parking next to the person next to you, that only matters on the ones that are numbered (1A, 1B, 2A, 2B, etc.). If they aren't numbered, they're Gen 3 and it doesn't matter. Likewise, if they are the smaller urban chargers, it doesn't matter either as you're locked into a lower max charge rate anyway. I've attached a photo of the urban superchargers -- they look much different than the Gen 1-3 chargers.

Last, your car will show you on the map screen how many chargers are available at the station before you pull up.

 

[jsight]

They're typically busier in metropolitan areas. As far as not parking next to the person next to you, that only matters on the ones that are numbered (1A, 1B, 2A, 2B, etc.). If they aren't numbered, they're Gen 3 and it doesn't matter. Likewise, if they are the smaller urban chargers, it doesn't matter either as you're locked into a lower max charge rate anyway. I've attached a photo of the urban superchargers -- they look much different than the Gen 1-3 chargers.

The V3 stations are usually numbered as well, just as 1A, 1B, 1C, 1D. This is because each cabinet serves 4 stalls.

 

[SucreTease]

Here's the thing about that. Whoever programmed the parameters of the "Beta Trip Planner" that the in-car navigation uses picked something really REALLY stupid. They set it to try to calculate for the least number of stops. Period. That means sometimes extremely long charging times (to nearly 100%) to try to skip over Superchargers and squeezing it down to the last few single percent (which sometimes leads to that kind of panic and slow driving to make it work). That is an insane and really nerve-wracking and actually even slower and more irritating way to travel with an electric car.

I recommend not just setting the end destination and letting the car pick your charging stops, because it will do that bull$#&^. Maybe do that at the start if you want to get an idea of the overall trip, but I don't just blindly go with its recommendations. Just display the map, and pick the next Supercharger along the highway and go that way. (Given some common sense, like not if it's only 30 miles away or something.) Then, you get to charge really quickly up to about 60-70%, where charging is really fast and then go. You will be less bored, less stressed, and just more time effective, as you're not getting up into the slow-charging top end of the battery.

I have never seen the behavior you describe. The in-car navigation has always planned my charging stops very conservatively, with a considerably safety margin, leading to me to decide to skip stops. Its behavior may be dependent upon the region and supercharger load.

 

[RichAZ/CapeCod]

In April did a 2,800 mile trip from Tucson area to Cape Cod in my MY. Kept the speed to around 75mph and figured out the stops based on my wife's and my comfort level, not for efficiency.

You'll find long distance travel in the Tesla very comfortable.

Rich

 

[Rocky_H]

I have never seen the behavior you describe. The in-car navigation has always planned my charging stops very conservatively, with a considerably safety margin, leading to me to decide to skip stops. Its behavior may be dependent upon the region and supercharger load.

In February 2008, I did a huge 5,000+ mile cross country trip. I had decided to let it try picking my stops, so I was in Grand Junction, CO and picked a place way out in Kansas to see how it would pick the way through Colorado. It had me charging there in Grand Junction for a really long time, all the way up to the top, and it said my next stop would be in Silverthorne, CO. Arrival % said it would be all the way down to 4%. That is 181 miles, ALL uphill, in Winter, with below freezing temperatures. I looked all along the route, and there appeared to be no other Superchargers in between. So I put my extra jacket over my legs, turned off the heat and white knuckled and drove really slowly, like 55 mph on I-70 to make it work. I was feeling pretty good when I got to Silverthorne, having overcome a really challenging area with a lack of Superchargers. But then I opened up the map again, and now that it wasn't in the middle of routing, it SHOWED the Supercharger halfway in the middle in Glenwood Springs!!!!!!! It had hidden it, because of decided that I shouldn't need to use it! I had specifically looked for one in the middle before departing, because I couldn't believe they would have such an awful gap in Supercharger coverage, but Navigation had hidden it from the display. F&^$ that every which way, so I won't trust that "Beta Trip Planner" anymore.

Maybe they have changed the parameters some since then so they don't tell people to drive from 100% down to 4% to skip a Supercharger, but I'm not going to risk getting burned again.

 

[jsight]

Maybe they have changed the parameters some since then so they don't tell people to drive from 100% down to 4% to skip a Supercharger, but I'm not going to risk getting burned again.

I think this comes from already being really close to a supercharger. It seems like it has a really weird algorithm that likes to route you to that charger instead of sending you somewhere more convenient. I've had it want me to go past 90% in a really inefficient way at the start of a trip for exactly this reason. One I left town, and had it replan it made a much more sensible route.

ABRP is basically always better for reasons like this, but, tbh, the builtin is probably ok for someone that wants the simplest possible solution.

 

[Pianewman]

Rocky_H: Nope, the onboard NAV still doesn't always show ALL the superchargers on the route, at least on my just completed R/T DFW to Bradenton, FL. I was cross-checking between onboard NAV and ABRP, and was able to plan my OWN distances. Only once did I get below 12%, and then the onboard NAV gave me wrong directions for the Supercharger in Shreveport. Fortunately, it only cost me 2% range, and never got to the white-knuckle place.

First road trip complete, looking forward to many more (post MPP coilover install). Car was flawless, averaged 290wh/mi, doing 75mph almost the entire time.

 

[SucreTease]

In February 2008....

Uh, Tesla had only released the original Roadster then, which didn't even support Supercharging. Moreover, Tesla hadn't even invented Supercharges yet, which didn't come until after the Model S was first delivered in 2012.

 

[Rocky_H]

Uh, Tesla had only released the original Roadster then, which didn't even support Supercharging. Moreover, Tesla hadn't even invented Supercharges yet, which didn't come until after the Model S was first delivered in 2012.

Whooops. I messed up a number there. 2018, rather than 2008.

 

[DanDi58]

I've only taken a couple of road trips, with one coming up this weekend, but I typically will put the parameters I want into ABRP prior to leaving and then have a good idea of where and when I want to stop, then use the Tesla nav to compare. So far, the Tesla nav has had me do the same charging stops as ABRP, with some differences in charging times since you can't indicate what SOC you want to arrive at with the Tesla nav, and they also don't have waypoints. I really wish they would add an arrival SOC option.

 

[Checkerboard]

In April did a 2,800 mile trip from Tucson area to Cape Cod in my MY. Kept the speed to around 75mph and figured out the stops based on my wife's and my comfort level, not for efficiency.

You'll find long distance travel in the Tesla very comfortable.

Rich

Fantastic, Rich - you've mightily reinforced my purchase decision! I can't to drive to Long Beach. of course, I need a VIN, and a delivery date, and the Y... at least I have a 240V / 50A outlet in my shop/garage ready for the Tesla charger...

 

[drtimhill]

Howdy all- awaiting delivery of our white/white/FSD Model Y sometime in June, according to Tesla. We plan to drive from the Sierra Foothills near Yosemite (Sonora) to Long Beach to visit family often.

Two recharge stops are called for. My question is this - when you pull in to the Tesla Supercharging station, is it ever filled to capacity? If so, do Tesla drivers queue up single file so the next available charger gets connected to the car in the front of the line?

My second question: real-world freeway speeds on the I-99 and I-5 freeways are between 75 and 85 mph. Is there a way to input a preferred freeway speed of say 80 mph, so your recharging stops are recalculated? I can't stomach the idea of "crawling" along at 55 or 65 mph just because ABRP or the Tesla software says it's the most efficient tradeoff speed...

Thanks, Peter

You can actually check on the screen in real time to see supercharger usage at each location. In the event of all spots being used, the etiquette is to try to wait in line - just try to figure out Teslas that are waiting (or ask), so you can keep track of where you are in line. there were a couple of attempts to setup some kind of smart waiting app to track who was inline, but they dont seem to have got critical mass (Tesla .. are you listening? hint hint).

ABRP is pretty flexible, you can set speed preferences. I tend to let ABRP work out the stopping points using a reasonably conservative charge strategy (max = 80%, min=25%). That gives me leeway should an SC be really backed up with I arrive. Also, it means time at each charger is shorter .. I prefer more but shorter stops .. get out of car and stretch. Also, remember that you get max charge rate in the middle of the range.

And though I use ABRP to plan my route, I use the Tesla nav system to take me from point to point (so it will precondition the battery ready for the SC before I arrive).