Slowwww supercharging?

redline0316 · May 4, 2014

Just got to Harris ranch in CA. 5/6 spots taken...loud fans from the switch gear...I am only getting 28kw, not exactly the speed I was looking for. There is someone in the adjacent slot so I am aware I am sharing with them. Is there some sort of cap for the whole station?

Earlier during the week when I was here alone it was 3 times faster.

cwerdna · May 4, 2014

How low was your battery to start with? What about that that previous time?

I have heard of some power sharing topology which might not be totally obvious...

Cottonwood · May 4, 2014

redline0316 said:
Just got to Harris ranch in CA. 5/6 spots taken...loud fans from the switch gear...I am only getting 28kw, not exactly the speed I was looking for. There is someone in the adjacent slot so I am aware I am sharing with them. Is there some sort of cap for the whole station?

Earlier during the week when I was here alone it was 3 times faster.

As has been explained by several people, there are 3 Supercharger Cabinets serving 6 Stalls. Each Cabinet services 2 stalls, has a limit of 90, 120, or 135 kW depending on generation, and give priority to the first car to arrive. The Stalls are numbered 1A, 1B, 2A, 2B, 3A, 3B, etc.

As an example, let's say Harris has 120 kW Cabinets, you arrive at Stall 2B and Stall 2A is occupied by a car charging at 92 kW. All that is left for your car is 120 - 62 or 28 kW. As the car in Stall 2A tapers its charging (or leaves), you will get more and more until you hit your taper limit.

BTW, there is a lonely, old, original, 90-kW Stall across the parking lot to the SW of the other six stalls that is one Stall on its own Cabinet at Harris.

Go enjoy a good steak and watch the status on the App! :wink:

meloccom · May 4, 2014

Look for the other Supercharger "Pair", that is if you are plugged into 3B look for 3A etc. When the car on the other pair finishes, 3A in this example, unplug your car and re-plug to re-start the negotiation between your car and the supercharger and you should get a faster rate. Good luck.

Cottonwood · May 4, 2014

meloccom said:
Look for the other Supercharger "Pair", that is if you are plugged into 3B look for 3A etc. When the car on the other pair finishes, 3A in this example, unplug your car and re-plug to re-start the negotiation between your car and the supercharger and you should get a faster rate. Good luck.

I don't think that there is a need to unplug/replug. When the first car with primary status leaves, the car that has secondary status automatically rises to primary status.

dirkhh · May 4, 2014

Cottonwood said:
I don't think that there is a need to unplug/replug. When the first car with primary status leaves, the car that has secondary status automatically rises to primary status.

I can confirm that from the one time I was at a busy supercharger. Once the other car unplugged it took about 30 seconds and my charging power started to climb.

Kraken · May 4, 2014

Cottonwood said:
As an example, let's say Harris has 120 kW Cabinets, you arrive at Stall 2B and Stall 2A is occupied by a car charging at 92 kW. All that is left for your car is 120 - 62 or 28 kW. :wink:

Sweet. I see you've cracked the code to Tesla-math... Please teach me. :tongue:

VolkerP · May 5, 2014

I don't think the supercharger can split power in arbitrary relations. Each of the 12 charger units in one supercharger stack either works for one or for the other vehicle, matching its output voltage to the battery voltage. Switching over to the other car should happen in increments of one charger, maybe 3 chargers at a time.

Cottonwood · May 5, 2014

VolkerP said:
I don't think the supercharger can split power in arbitrary relations. Each of the 12 charger units in one supercharger stack either works for one or for the other vehicle, matching its output voltage to the battery voltage. Switching over to the other car should happen in increments of one charger, maybe 3 chargers at a time.

You are correct. It appears that the granularity of output control is in units of charger modules. With that constraint, the concept of the first car to arrive having priority, and the second car to arrive getting what's left, still applies.

There is no need to switch the modules in groups of three. As long as the three power line phases are all used in reasonable balance, there is no need to balance a single car across all phases.

Owner · May 5, 2014

From the horses mouth Charger Test 4, 5 QA | Tesla Owner

5. if I am using station 1A and 1B is occupied for the entire time, how is my charging effected? How much is this dependent on where the other car is in the charging cycle? If the other car also just started charging, he will be pulling more power. So the best case scenario at a busy supercharger would be to choose a charging “partner” that is almost complete?
You are correct that since hardware is being shared between pairs of charging posts, and the rate of charge generally decreases as the battery of each model S becomes charged, choosing a charging “partner” that is at the highest state of charge, or is more close to ending the charge is a good strategy to minimize your total time spent charging. There is a priority given to the car that has been plugged in the longest out of A or B. As the first car completes charging the second car will be allowed to take more power.

redline0316 · May 5, 2014

when I arrived only 2B and 3A were available. I looked at the cars in 2A and 3B, but was unable to tell how much current they were drawing. I also looked at the charge port light and a couple of them were not illuminated. Unfortunately, I picked 3A which only gave me 28kw. Seconds later, another MS pulled into 2B and was able to get 60kw. When the 3B person left, I was able to get 60kw or so.

I pulled in with 20 miles left, so it should have been easily been able to do 100kw+.

BTW, I did try to go to that lonely 90kw in the gas station, but there was tape over it...I guess it was decommissioned.

Tesla needs to get more chargers here ASAP.

- - - Updated - - -

I was under the impression that 3A and 3B would have been equally balanced if it was supply limited instead of car limited. I guess the priority is to finish charging the primary car as soon as possible, which actually makes more sense. Just sucks for the secondary car if you arrive shortly after the primary.

GuyHall · May 5, 2014

how do you know how the stations are paired? The new chargers at Roseville California are not labeled. Also, I've seen some locations that have an odd number of stations. How is the odd one handled?

Thanks for the great info!

EarlyAdopter · May 5, 2014

I do wish Tesla would leave the charge port indicator lights on the whole time while charging. It would make situations like this and shared chargers at offices easier to manage.

Who should I park next to at the busy Supercharger? The car with the slowest pulsing green. Who can I disconnect from the J1772 shared between parking spaces at work? The car with the solid green (or off) charge port light.

I still don't fully understand Tesla's decision to have the lights shut off after a few minutes.

andrewket · May 6, 2014

EarlyAdopter said:
I do wish Tesla would leave the charge port indicator lights on the whole time while charging. It would make situations like this and shared chargers at offices easier to manage.

Who should I park next to at the busy Supercharger? The car with the slowest pulsing green. Who can I disconnect from the J1772 shared between parking spaces at work? The car with the solid green (or off) charge port light.

I still don't fully understand Tesla's decision to have the lights shut off after a few minutes.

My guess is that in the future a software release will provide drivers with telemetry from the superchargers. As you approach the super charger the car will tell you which pedestal to plug into to optimize speed. If all slots are taken, it will put you into a queue. All the data is there. It's just a matter of software and education.

And if Tesla is reading this, I'd love to have a discussion about building this capability

Cottonwood · May 6, 2014

andrewket said:
My guess is that in the future a software release will provide drivers with telemetry from the superchargers. As you approach the super charger the car will tell you which pedestal to plug into to optimize speed. If all slots are taken, it will put you into a queue. All the data is there. It's just a matter of software and education.

And if Tesla is reading this, I'd love to have a discussion about building this capability

Send e-mail to [email protected] with your suggestions!

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Slowwww supercharging?

redline0316

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cwerdna

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Cottonwood

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meloccom

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Cottonwood

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dirkhh

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Kraken

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VolkerP

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Cottonwood

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redline0316

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GuyHall

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Cottonwood

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