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A not so happy surprise about charging!!

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C

Caroline Altman

New Member
Apr 1, 2015
2
0
Los Angeles CA
#1
:cursing: We have lived in Los Angeles most of our lives and I have a 3 year old Tesla that I love. Since we have traveled all over the world we decided this pre Easter week we would take a drive locally. We decided that we would take a 300 mile trip to Death Valley and stay at the Furnace Creek Inn. I went to have the car looked over because it would not be very good if we were trapped in 102 degrees somewhere -nowhere. Well the service center informed me that there were new Tesla Charging stations on the shortest way from Los Angeles. So today off we went. We stopped twice, once in Mohave where we had a heck of a time finding the charging station even though we had an address. Then we went on and before we went up and down into Death Valley we stopped in Lone Pine and to recharge at The cow Boy museum which had hidden chargers but at last were found and proceeded to Furnace Creek Inn.

Before we went to the Resort I had called the Inn and found that they have an RV Parking Lot that had chargers. After same confusion if they had them and how much it would cost, we gaily arrived at the Resort, went to have dinner at the Furnace Creek Ranch next to the RV Park. They volunteered to take us back to the resort which is about 2 miles above the Ranch. When we drove up to the charging stations we were horrified to see that there were no charging cables. We have 128 miles and Lone pine where we last charged is 106 miles back. left so here we were. You do the math.

I called Service and they said they would send us a cable or bring one. However the ETA was not printed in stone.

The Lesson is. ALWAYS TAKE YOUR CHARGING CABLE WITH YOU!!! AND YOUR NEMO PLUG!!!

The other thing is Tesla, if the charging stations are not next to the highways where the driver can see them then it would be really nice if there were a sign pointing to the entrance of the property to guide you.
 
#3
Caroline Altman said:
The other thing is Tesla, if the charging stations are not next to the highways where the driver can see them then it would be really nice if there were a sign pointing to the entrance of the property to guide you.
Click to expand...

If you're referring to Tesla Superchargers, all those locations are built into the Nav system and the turn-by-turn directions (assuming you have tech package) generally take you right up to them. If you're referring to RV park 240v plugs, those aren't actually charging stations or associated with Tesla. Your best bet is to look on plugshare to see if others have charged there before and where the plugs are located.

Agree with the above comment. Never leave home without the UMC (at least not on any road trips).
 
#4
I'm sympathetic that this happened to you, but honesty you didn't do your homework. No RV park has EVSEs, what you are referring to as "the cable". They all have 14-50 plugs because that's what RVs use. They are not charging sites. It would be smart of them to install some J1772s, as they have the infrastructure and it could be another source of income, but none of the major camping chains (KOA, for example) have gone there despite letters from this community asking them to consider it.

I agree with your recommendation- always bring a UMC with you and adapters on trips. Personally I keep one in the car at all times. Last year when I drove cross country I brought two UMCs just in case one failed. I was driving in an area where the nearest charger (SC or J1772) was more than 250 miles away, and was relying on RV parks. In the event of a failure I was not willing to accept a minimum of 24 hour delay waiting for Tesla to ship a replacement.
 
#5
I am just trying to clarify...

You were under the impression that the RV park was going to have Tesla cables for your car?

Honestly, the longer you have this car the more you will understand how public charging works... What types of charging requires cables and which ones have them attached. It isn't all obvious at first.

Welcome to the club!
 
#6
You're not alone in not having done your homework. Made the same embarrassing mistake earlier this winter in southern Arizona....a blitz email to all the Tucson forum members I could find and in about thirty minutes we had over a half-dozen responses with people begging me to let them use their cable. I was overwhelmed even more than I was ashamed!
 
#7
mwulff said:
This is the reason why I am going to order a HPWC for my home. I would never feel comfortable leaving home without the UMC in the car.
Click to expand...

This is why I did order a HPWC for my home. I didn't need it (single charger in the car) but I like leaving the UMC in the car. I don't know if the problem will ever come up for me, but I'd rather have the peace of mind.

Hope you can get home OK, OP!
 
#8
mikeash said:
This is why I did order a HPWC for my home. I didn't need it (single charger in the car) but I like leaving the UMC in the car. I don't know if the problem will ever come up for me, but I'd rather have the peace of mind.

Hope you can get home OK, OP!
Click to expand...

Ditto x 2. I ordered the HPWC (even though I'm on a single charger) instead of ordering another UMC because I want to have a UMC in my car 100% of the time.
 
#9
Yep, we've all made some early mistakes. Props to you for coming on the forum and telling what happened ... you may very likely prevent another owner for making the same mistake. :)

And what a great community to be part of - kudos to Tesla for doing their best to get a cable to you quickly (I used to live in Death Valley, I know it isn't the easiest place for quick deliveries...). I still remember when a certain Tesla employee, Jake (hey!), drove 100+ miles to get an adapter to a Roadster owner who was stranded when an HPC had been unexpectedly converted from Roadster to J1772.
 
#10
I'm continuously amazed at Tesla's willingness to bend over backwards for their customers. I don't think any other company would have helped out like this. Kudos to Tesla and hopefully you made it home safely.

As others have said, one of my primary reasons for getting a HPWC was to be able to keep the UMC in the car all the time "just in case". You never know when you might need it.
 
#11
The first thing my DS told me when I was picking up the car is to have UMC in the car all the time when I am taking a road trip.

I don't have HPWC and am planning to get one soon. Does anyone have thoughts if HPWC will drop in price? It was originally offered at $1500 and now it is $750..( hopefully I am right with the numbers)
 
#12
I never leave home without charging cables and adapters. I am sorry this happened to you.

If there is decent cellular data service (most Superchargers), a nice way to find the exact location of the Supercharger is to zoom all the way in on the nav screen and turn on satellite (aerial view) mode. That will show you exactly where the Supercharger is relative to buildings, curbs, trees, etc.; I find this level of detail much more helpful than the street view in those last few 100 meters of searching a new site.
 
#13
Caroline Altman said:
:cursing: We have lived in Los Angeles most of our lives and I have a 3 year old Tesla that I love. Since we have traveled all over the world we decided this pre Easter week we would take a drive locally. We decided that we would take a 300 mile trip to Death Valley and stay at the Furnace Creek Inn. I went to have the car looked over because it would not be very good if we were trapped in 102 degrees somewhere -nowhere. Well the service center informed me that there were new Tesla Charging stations on the shortest way from Los Angeles. So today off we went. We stopped twice, once in Mohave where we had a heck of a time finding the charging station even though we had an address. Then we went on and before we went up and down into Death Valley we stopped in Lone Pine and to recharge at The cow Boy museum which had hidden chargers but at last were found and proceeded to Furnace Creek Inn.

Before we went to the Resort I had called the Inn and found that they have an RV Parking Lot that had chargers. After same confusion if they had them and how much it would cost, we gaily arrived at the Resort, went to have dinner at the Furnace Creek Ranch next to the RV Park. They volunteered to take us back to the resort which is about 2 miles above the Ranch. When we drove up to the charging stations we were horrified to see that there were no charging cables. We have 128 miles and Lone pine where we last charged is 106 miles back. left so here we were. You do the math.

I called Service and they said they would send us a cable or bring one. However the ETA was not printed in stone.

The Lesson is. ALWAYS TAKE YOUR CHARGING CABLE WITH YOU!!! AND YOUR NEMO PLUG!!!

The other thing is Tesla, if the charging stations are not next to the highways where the driver can see them then it would be really nice if there were a sign pointing to the entrance of the property to guide you.
Click to expand...
We traveled to Death Valley last month. Charged at Lone Pine SC. Drove to Furnace Creek Ranch and they were very nice and gave us access to a 14-50 RV socket where we charged. Easy.
I can't believe you didn't bring your mobile charger cable with you on a road trip. It was very nice of Tesla Service to send you a cable. Above and beyond the call of duty.
The SuperChargers are usually located in the less trafficked portions of parking lots so they will be less likely to get ICEd. The Nav system is very accurate and if you follow the directions and look at the map, it will take you to the exact location. Lone Pine is a small town and the SC station is easily visible from the road at the side of the film museum (not the cow Boy museum).
 
#14
Cottonwood said:
If there is decent cellular data service (most Superchargers), a nice way to find the exact location of the Supercharger is to zoom all the way in on the nav screen and turn on satellite (aerial view) mode. That will show you exactly where the Supercharger is relative to buildings, curbs, trees, etc.; I find this level of detail much more helpful than the street view in those last few 100 meters of searching a new site.
Click to expand...
That is a good tip.

You could also put this in your phone to get down to the lat/long or just drill down. Going there will get your current location and show the close ones.
Find Us | Tesla Motors --- http://www.teslamotors.com/findus?type=supercharger

AudubonB said:
You're not alone in not having done your homework. Made the same embarrassing mistake earlier this winter in southern Arizona....a blitz email to all the Tucson forum members I could find and in about thirty minutes we had over a half-dozen responses with people begging me to let them use their cable. I was overwhelmed even more than I was ashamed!
Click to expand...
That was a great post!
 
#16
Yea, if I was going to get a home charger, for the $100 more... I'd also get the HPWC. It just makes more sense.

If I only I knew what 2017 held for when I can trade in my S on a X... will I have dual chargers? Will it matter since you can add them later now more easily?
 
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