Directions to Supercharger - Need Improvement

[popgodazipa]

Is just me or does the navigation to superchargers need a serious upgrade? It usually gets you in the vicinity but rarely puts you on top of it. Sort of like it cuts off right when you need it most and gives you the "it's over there somewhere" hand gesture.

I visited one in Centerville, TX yesterday and I'm sure people have missed it due to it being tucked behind an 18 wheeler rest stop.

 

[RTPEV]

My feeling is that it's better than it has been. At a few Superchargers, it used to direct you well past the entrance to the shopping center, have you do a U-turn and then double back into the parking lot, even though there was a left turn into the lot. Now it at least doesn't put you through all that.

Once in the parking lot, however, yeah, it's anybody's guess. A particularly bad one is the Destiny USA mall in Syracuse, NY. Navigation dumps you into the mall parking lot, but after that you are on your own to find out where in the entire ring of the mall the Superchargers are located (I haven't visited this one recently to see if it's any better at this now).

Navigating around parking lots is no doubt a challenging thing. It's understandable that it wouldn't direct you directly through a parking lot and to the charging station. That said, I think the solution is not necessarily turn by turn directions on the nav, but a combination of better signage on site, and also maybe have the on-screen map automatically zoom in far so you can ascertain the precise location once on site.

 

[ChadS]

Yeah, what RTPEV said. I only use the nav to get me close; once close I zoom in with the map in satellite mode. So far that has always worked for me to figure out exactly where the Superchargers are.

 

[EVSince2011]

I have used Plugshare and Google Maps to help find stations when navigation doesn't get me there. Plugshare allows comments and photographs from users.

 

[ewoodrick]

Is just me or does the navigation to superchargers need a serious upgrade? It usually gets you in the vicinity but rarely puts you on top of it. Sort of like it cuts off right when you need it most and gives you the "it's over there somewhere" hand gesture.

I visited one in Centerville, TX yesterday and I'm sure people have missed it due to it being tucked behind an 18 wheeler rest stop.

Most of the time they are right on. Behind gas stations are pretty common.

Bu load PlugShare on your phone. It's great for locating those hard to find locations. It has driver entered hints as well as pictures that make it nearly impossible to not find. Even in parking decks, PlugShare will tell you what floor and what corner it is.

 

[RTPEV]

Good point on the parking deck situation. It would be practically impossible to actually navigate turn by turn to the station inside a deck!

Rockville, MD is particularly challenging as well. It's in a parking deck with several entrances (or are they two separate decks? I never did figure that out!) and you have to get the right entrance. I think there is a sign on the outside of the correct entrance, but if you happen to go to the other entrance without the sign, you might go in and try it anyway because you don't that there is a sign on the correct one!

 

[popgodazipa]

What's interesting is when you use the app to find your car it will at least show you if you are headed in the general direction. I would hope something like that can be incorporated into the SC.

 

[Rocky_H]

Is just me or does the navigation to superchargers need a serious upgrade?

It's not a Tesla issue though. It's just a fundamental limitation that navigation systems have. Navigation generally only goes as far as when you turn off of an actual street. It's like trying to navigate to one specific parking space in a mall parking lot. Navigation directions don't really guide you within parking lot aisles.

So yes, it's a limitation, but navigation directions aren't going to get better with that. I agree with others that the pin location on the map is very specific, so zooming in there will let you see where it is more specifically within a mall or shopping center or rest area region.

What's interesting is when you use the app to find your car it will at least show you if you are headed in the general direction. I would hope something like that can be incorporated into the SC.

Now that would be funny--voice prompts:
"Warmer, warmer, warmer, oh, you're getting hot, sooo hot..."

 

[Sophias_dad]

Even in parking decks, PlugShare will tell you what floor and what corner it is.

I'll second this. I recall seeing on here somewhere a tale of someone looking for a new-ish supercharger, and it wasn't in the spot on the map it was supposed to be. Instead, it was two levels below ground in a completely hidden parking structure!

 

[RTPEV]

My feeling is that it's better than it has been. At a few Superchargers, it used to direct you well past the entrance to the shopping center, have you do a U-turn and then double back into the parking lot, even though there was a left turn into the lot. Now it at least doesn't put you through all that.

Okay, I COMPLETELY take this comment back. It's gotten FAR, FAR worse. I just visited the Supercharger that I was referring to (first time back in awhile--it's a V2 site and there is a new V3 site one exit away, but this one has better amenities so we stopped there this time). Check out the navigation it wanted me to do:

You can see the Supercharger on the map (the '5' pin). The car icon is at a light where there is a legal, protected left turn into the parking lot to get to the Supercharger. In the past, navigation would "simply" have you go up to the next light, pull a u-turn, and then turn right into the same intersection the car is at now. But now, it's having me go up 2 or 3 more lights (another 1/2 mile), take the left onto Magnolia Ridge Dr, go around the block basically, get back to the road I'm on, and then finally take the right into the shopping center where the Supercharger is.

WTF Tesla navigation?

BTW, I've noticed several instances in the last few days where it simply refuses to take left turns where one is possible (not Supercharger related). Instead, it has you go past your left turn, do a u-turn, and then come back and turn right. Somehow the map system that Tesla is using is unable to recognize that these left turns are legal/possible.

 

[bmah]

I'll second this. I recall seeing on here somewhere a tale of someone looking for a new-ish supercharger, and it wasn't in the spot on the map it was supposed to be. Instead, it was two levels below ground in a completely hidden parking structure!

The nav usually has some helpful information for multi-story carparks, like what level it's on. That, plus helpful posts here on TMC, were the only way I was able to find Superchargers in some parking garages on a recent road trip.

(Extra fun: At least in the United States, garages don't always number their levels in the same way. Usually level numbers increase as you go higher, but a significant minority are numbered the opposite way.)

Bruce.

 

[Sophias_dad]

(Extra fun: At least in the United States, garages don't always number their levels in the same way. Usually level numbers increase as you go higher, but a significant minority are numbered the opposite way.)

Are those ones numbered in the opposite way below-ground?

 

[bmah]

Are those ones numbered in the opposite way below-ground?

Sorta? The specific example I'm thinking of (Mission Viejo, CA - Crown Valley Plaza) is in a garage with levels both above and below ground. It was confusing as heck. Nobody was using the Superchargers when I finally got to them, and I was wondering if that was because nobody else could find them either.

Bruce.

 

[brkaus]

It's not a Tesla issue though. It's just a fundamental limitation that navigation systems have. Navigation generally only goes as far as when you turn off of an actual street. It's like trying to navigate to one specific parking space in a mall parking lot. Navigation directions don't really guide you within parking lot aisles.

Tesla could map these locations in more detail. It's possible to go down to parking lot rows and have navigation follow it.

The one in Alvaredo, TX suggest going 2-3 miles out of your way because on of the entrances to the parking lot isn't mapped.

Attention to detail (or lack thereof).

 

[Falcon73]

Sorta? The specific example I'm thinking of (Mission Viejo, CA - Crown Valley Plaza) is in a garage with levels both above and below ground. It was confusing as heck. Nobody was using the Superchargers when I finally got to them, and I was wondering if that was because nobody else could find them either.

Bruce.

It doesn't help that the superchargers/destination chargers on one level (P2?) *still* weren't online last I looked a couple weekends ago and the map seems to think they still aren't online, at least as of a few days ago. I will post on that thread again. It was still just the Urbans on the lower level (P3?) that work. I will have to check my notes.

But, overall, I agree that the mapping needs work. I had some "fun" with that on our road trip a month and a half ago. Yes, PlugShare is a requirement for all EV drivers.