Given that I just hit 40 total supercharges over the weekend (not 40 superchargeRs - I've hit 18 unique ones), I figured I'd do some data crunching to figure out what affects the average power delivered by a supercharger based on different variables.
To spare you the details, I'll jump right to the conclusion that the highest two variables that affect average power from a supercharger are: state of charge (SoC) at the start of the charge cycle, and the amount of energy delivered during said cycle.
And since a picture is worth 1,000 words, I'll share a graph in which I've sorted average power from lowest (on the left) to highest (on the right):
Now, there is strong evidence and it's common wisdom that the lower start SoC is, the higher initial power output will be. Also, because of the strong tapering effect above a certain SoC, lower amounts charged (and hence staying below higher SoC's) helps keep a higher power output. Of course, a higher end SoC is sometimes needed to arrive at the next supercharger or the destination.
However, it seems there's a sweet spot to hit about 80 kW of average power where start SoC is around 10%, and end SoC is 70% (hence charged amount is 60%, which is about 45kWh in an 85kWh battery since the usable amount is around 75kWh).
So it appears that the best "bang for the buck" in terms of getting the most out of a supercharge is to arrive with ~10% and only charge to ~70% (if that's enough to make it to the next destination, of course). This will minimize the amount of time spent waiting for a charge: around 34 minutes.
By contrast, arriving at a supercharger with 30% and charging to 90% will only charge at an average power of about 55 kW, which will take around 49 minutes, or ~1.5 times longer than the "ideal" supercharge scenario.
So, over to you: what has been your experience with supercharges at different start/end SoC and amounts charged?
To spare you the details, I'll jump right to the conclusion that the highest two variables that affect average power from a supercharger are: state of charge (SoC) at the start of the charge cycle, and the amount of energy delivered during said cycle.
And since a picture is worth 1,000 words, I'll share a graph in which I've sorted average power from lowest (on the left) to highest (on the right):
Now, there is strong evidence and it's common wisdom that the lower start SoC is, the higher initial power output will be. Also, because of the strong tapering effect above a certain SoC, lower amounts charged (and hence staying below higher SoC's) helps keep a higher power output. Of course, a higher end SoC is sometimes needed to arrive at the next supercharger or the destination.
However, it seems there's a sweet spot to hit about 80 kW of average power where start SoC is around 10%, and end SoC is 70% (hence charged amount is 60%, which is about 45kWh in an 85kWh battery since the usable amount is around 75kWh).
So it appears that the best "bang for the buck" in terms of getting the most out of a supercharge is to arrive with ~10% and only charge to ~70% (if that's enough to make it to the next destination, of course). This will minimize the amount of time spent waiting for a charge: around 34 minutes.
By contrast, arriving at a supercharger with 30% and charging to 90% will only charge at an average power of about 55 kW, which will take around 49 minutes, or ~1.5 times longer than the "ideal" supercharge scenario.
So, over to you: what has been your experience with supercharges at different start/end SoC and amounts charged?