Wouldn't that be nice. My louver alert was logged 6 months before I complained about charging speed.
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Wouldn't that be nice. My louver alert was logged 6 months before I complained about charging speed.
A year ago I took a road trip down to California and saw low charging speeds at a number of superchargers. I ran into a Tesla tech replacing cables at one supercharger and we got talking. He said they had been having lots of headaches with heavy use causing premature aging of the equipment at California superchargers. It only really started becoming a problem in 2016. He said it wasn't happening anywhere else because the superchargers weren't getting as much use, but it started cropping up in California as the fleet there hit a critical mass. The problem is much worse in warm weather locations, with the ambient temperature high, the equipment can't cool down very fast between uses.
Superchargers in other parts of the US are seeing heavier use now as the fleets grow in every state. Some may be seeing premature aging too. The tech said Tesla was actively working on long term solutions, but in the meantime the techs in California were running around constantly patching up the superchargers.
Tesla might know when equipment is beginning to show signs of wear and might be throttling them to keep them operational longer. I expect some of the southern superchargers got heavy use in the last couple of months with hurricane evacuations. Something may be up with your car too. There are a lot of variables with these things.
Superchargers in other parts of the US are seeing heavier use now as the fleets grow in every state. Some may be seeing premature aging too. The tech said Tesla was actively working on long term solutions, but in the meantime the techs in California were running around constantly patching up the superchargers.
Tesla might know when equipment is beginning to show signs of wear and might be throttling them to keep them operational longer. I expect some of the southern superchargers got heavy use in the last couple of months with hurricane evacuations. Something may be up with your car too. There are a lot of variables with these things.
SeminoleFSU
Voluntaryist
LOL! So if I call them up it sounds like they should be able to check for me remotely without me having to bring it to a service center?
Yeah, that matches my observation. I experienced the 60 kW drop in 2016 for the first time.
One more theory. I was watching the below new video from Bjorn discussing Range Mode. Apparently, one of the features of Range Mode is to heat up the battery while driving. With Range Mode off, the battery is being cooled.
Has anyone tested this PRIOR to arriving at a SpC? What if you arrive at a SpC with Range Mode having been on and a hot battery, versus arriving with it off and having a much cooler battery?
Forward to the 10:00 point for Range Mode and Temp discussion.
Has anyone tested this PRIOR to arriving at a SpC? What if you arrive at a SpC with Range Mode having been on and a hot battery, versus arriving with it off and having a much cooler battery?
Forward to the 10:00 point for Range Mode and Temp discussion.
rpo
Member
I never use range mode and experience the 60kW limiter often. Also, the outside temps do not seem to be a factor since this happens up and down the WA/OR/CA coastline when the ambient temp is in the 50's. I just went through it again. The ONE consistent factor is that the plug gets insanely hot if I leave it on a charger limited to 60kW for more than 10 minutes. It seems to be a bad connection.
This is my experience as well. With over 15,000 miles of Supercharging charging this year at stations from coast to coast and from Northern PA to the southern tip of FL, I can have a pretty good idea of my expected charge rate just by looking at how scuffed up the connectors are. Old worn connectors will pretty much guarantee a very rapid drop in charge rate. New connectors provide good sustained charge rates.
I had one particular empty charge stop that really made this obvious. The first spot had the normal rather worn handle and dropped from 116 kW to 60 kW within minutes. Moving a few spots resulted in starting again at 116+ kW to under 50 kW in even less time. I then checked the handles at the remaining spots and found 4 spots that had handles that looked brand new! Next move resulted in a charge rate that stayed above 100 kW for quit some time.
gavine
Petrol Head turned EV Enthusiast
Great information. Sounds like Tesla either needs to replace handles more often or redesign the handles to be more robust.
Joking: They should color-code handles for the year of installation like the little tab on loaves of bread so you can avoid the older ones and scout-out the newer ones.
Ambient temperature is a contributing factor to the premature aging, but the real problem is the supercharger system does not get a chance to cool down between uses. Hot weather compounds that problem.
I did but they wouldn't check it until I brought it in. Consider if they did, then it's a guaranteed trip to the service center. But if they don't, then I might be too lazy to bring it in for a problem that has no visible warnings.
Lasttoy
Active Member
I have been in 20 states, every charger is different. I was in Orlando yesterday, got 150. Today in st augustine, got 40. I have been in full sites, alone, it makes a difference sometimes, not. I have a log of 7 months , 20 states, there is NO way to figure it out.
SeminoleFSU
Voluntaryist
There must be... One hundred and fifty ways to lose your charger... hop on the bus, Gus.
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