My solution for busy superchargers

the only real solution is for tesla to update each car to show how many stalls occupied/not occupied at each SC location.

that, and build more SC's of course

I'd assert that a majority of present and future Tesla S,X and 3 owners will have absolutely no idea about the charger pairing issue until the car tells them exactly what to do.

bluenation said:

the only real solution is for tesla to update each car to show how many stalls occupied/not occupied at each SC location.

that, and build more SC's of course

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I don't know that this will really help that much, because presumably you'll be making the decision about going to or skipping that supercharger two hours before you actually get there, and the backups are likely to be transient in nature - especially if everyone else sees the backup an hour or two ahead and tries to dodge it (this leading to an unforseen backup at the next Supercharger down the line.)

The only way I can see to effectively avoid it is to have some knowledge of what level of traffic is coming in the future - which might not be as impossible as it sounds. If Tesla rolls out an updated road trip navigation package that incorporates guidance through Superchargers, it could talk to a central computer when you start driving the route and make 'reservations' for you.

The Superchargers would still be first come first served, of course - but if most of the cars have plans laid out, the central computer can start to see where the capacity pinches, and suggest alternatives like a traffic enabled nav system does.

Ideally, the road trip Nav update would also give you charge needed for the next leg (based on driving it at your speed limit alarm offset and real time weather and elevation,) and possibly even an estimated time to charge when you plug in.
Walter

cpa said:

Bear with me here, trying to post a photograph, and it is a struggle:



Thought I would use this ad hoc method until Tesla develops a solution for clogged Superchargers.

I would not use this at sketchy isolated locations like Kingman or Quartzsite, but popular ones like Rancho Cucamonga, Oxnard or Ft. Tejon seem to fit the bill.

This way, newcomers will have an idea when I will return and the stall will be available, or will know not to use the paired stall if my return time is 30-40 minutes away, and there are other stalls.View attachment 65432

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This is brilliant! So simple.

The issue is that it's difficult to predict how much time I will need to charge. I might plug in as a second car on a shared spot and then the other one leaves. Or the other way around. After having charged at SC 50 times I still don't know really how much time it will take to go from 23 miles to 190. Even Tesla isn't giving us an estimated time to finish charging when charging at a Supercharger because there are many unknowns.

The idea of a networked navigation giving the diver predictions and redirecting will also never work as the majority of people don't use their navigation system so the car doesn't know where you are going. The only solution to full Superchargers is to have more Superchargers. Not adding more stalls, but more locations.

The only thing we can do is be considerate and use the Superchargers only when we need it and only spend as much time as we need.

David99 said:

Even Tesla isn't giving us an estimated time to finish charging when charging at a Supercharger because there are many unknowns.

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Yes they do....I don't use Superchargers very often so I'm working from memory but the phone app does show "time remaining".

NigelM said:

Yes they do....I don't use Superchargers very often so I'm working from memory but the phone app does show "time remaining".

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Not really...here are screen shots with AC charging and Supercharging. The AC charging has time remaining, but the Supercharging does not.

@cpa - great idea. Beats leaving a note on the dash.

The ChargePoint phone app does show all their chargers and which ones are not occupied. Handy when coming to an area where there are multiple charging locations. Not the case with Superchargers. Although, it would be nice if there was some of that technology available for us as we head into Superchargers to know that there may be a wait.

Cottonwood said:

Not really...here are screen shots with AC charging and Supercharging. The AC charging has time remaining, but the Supercharging does not.

View attachment 65485 View attachment 65486

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There are a couple reasons for this:
1) the supercharger "curve" is a lot more variable - it declines based on how full the battery is (although this is very predictable) and it can also vary dramatically if someone plugs into the paired supercharger next to you.
2) the AC charging, on the other hand, is assumed to be a very constant amount of power - there's almost no such thing as "shared charging" when plugged into AC power. Plus since the max you can realistically provide to the car is about 19kw, the car battery can take this much power until it's very very close to 100% full. This makes calculating the finishing time a lot easier.

I'll also contend that Tesla doesn't really want to show how much the charge rate shows down as the battery fills up, but hey, that's my bias. If you want an accurate reference of "how long it will take to get from charge level A to charge level B" on a super charger, that data is in the spreadsheet linked above.

Blu Zap said:

@cpa - great idea. Beats leaving a note on the dash.

The ChargePoint phone app does show all their chargers and which ones are not occupied. Handy when coming to an area where there are multiple charging locations. Not the case with Superchargers. Although, it would be nice if there was some of that technology available for us as we head into Superchargers to know that there may be a wait.

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Totally agree. Is there a reason that they can't show the SC's available space?

What I'd like to see are simple Green, Yellow and Red lamps on the top of each Supercharger stall.

Of course:

Green: Full Charging available
Yellow: Split/Shared Charging available
Flashing Yellow: Split/Shared Charging available, but very limited (due to other car pulling a full charge)
Red: Inoperable

HankLloydRight said:

What I'd like to see are simple Green, Yellow and Red lamps on the top of each Supercharger stall.

Of course:

Green: Full Charging available
Yellow: Split/Shared Charging available
Flashing Yellow: Split/Shared Charging available, but very limited (due to other car pulling a full charge)
Red: Inoperable

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Yes please!! I lost count how many times I switched spots on a SC only to get the best charging speed.

Except for an OA, I've yet to meet a a Tesla employee who's also an owner. Based on conversations with some employees, this appears to be by design.

Letting a DS drive a MS for a week during training is way different from an owner's every day carry perspective. Maybe that'll change once the CPO program kicks off.

But to be honest, I've never met a Toyota, Lexus, BMW, MB or Audi sales/service employee that was also an "enthusiast", for that matter.

cpa said:

Bear with me here, trying to post a photograph, and it is a struggle:



Thought I would use this ad hoc method until Tesla develops a solution for clogged Superchargers.

I would not use this at sketchy isolated locations like Kingman or Quartzsite, but popular ones like Rancho Cucamonga, Oxnard or Ft. Tejon seem to fit the bill.

This way, newcomers will have an idea when I will return and the stall will be available, or will know not to use the paired stall if my return time is 30-40 minutes away, and there are other stalls.

Click to expand...

Thanks for the idea. Ordered one just now.

Atebit said:

Except for an OA, I've yet to meet a a Tesla employee who's also an owner.

Click to expand...

Perhaps that is because Tesla does not offer employee discounts as traditional American car companies do.

Does anyone know if Tesla will be launching an app so we can actually see if there are available stalls?...just like how Chargepoint is set up?

There is no indication from Tesla that what you describe will happen, but many people on these forums have suggested the same thing. It would be useful.

As the SCs are getting overcrowded nowadays, I find myself driving in only to turn around and leave because of the long lines. This is something that Tesla needs to address. I've had some close calls with having enough range to get home, so having to reroute wastes quite a bit of energy had I known the line up at Tesla