I remember this thread from 2017: https://teslamotorsclub.com/tmc/threads/15-cars-in-line-2-hour-wait.96550/. The OP of that thread had to wait almost 4 hours to start charging.

 

Is this a Thanksgiving holiday travel charging situation?

Keith

 

This was indeed on Thanksgiving in San Luis Obispo, CA, as reported here: https://jalopnik.com/heres-the-main-problem-with-teslas-supercharger-network-1840110802. Since there were as many chargers (plugshare reports 20x120KW, although the checkins reported slower charge rates) as there were cars waiting, I imagine that the line probably kept moving reasonably quickly. One of the checkins reported the SC truck was there as well:

Tesla has a portable Supercharging truck available in addition to the permanent chargers for the Thanksgiving. Lots of Tesla’s charging but no waiting. Hats off to TESLA for accommodating the Holiday travelers!

 

I looked around on Plugshare and it doesn't look like there's much CHAdeMO in the area either. So, only a few folks at a time could've been helped by the $450 CHAdeMO adapter if they brought one along.

 

With the Cybertruck coming with free supercharger access and Tesla Model 3s (assuming they are willing to pay to use the supercharger) selling into the 48k+ already this year from another thread I read (#3 in California behind Honda Civic and Camry I think), there is definitely a charging problem during the holidays if you plan to travel and need a Supercharger at peak travel times...at least this Thanksgiving from those videos.

I've seen some other thread in Fremont? with the same problem.

 

Well, at least the cars are "not" spewing pollution while waiting.

Wonder if this is where GP&E shut off people's power - and they're there to recharge their car to being power back home.

BTW, guess this mobile station test did not make it to that spot.

https://ww.electrek.co/2019/11/29/tesla-mobile-supercharger-megapack/

 

Well, at least the cars are now spewing pollution while waiting.

Dāmn that federal emissions override!! They weren't supposed to put it on the California cars, but I think Tesla may get federal toxic-emissions credits if they do.

[update]
@p7wang updated the post to:

Well, at least the cars are "not" spewing pollution while waiting.

Yes, that's right, “Tesla” is totally “not” installing the “federal emissions override” in “California”. “Californian Teslas” totally “don't” have a “secret” “hidden” “tailpipe”.

(“I don't even know anymore.”)

 

Just like the line of cars getting gas at Costco!

 

Wow! Thank goodness Tesla folks aren't using the third-party charging networks. I use the EvGO fast-charger twice in SLO this holiday weekend. No line and no wait.

 

Good point, I guess most do not have that $500 CHAdeMO to Tesla adapter. It's only a matter of time before a CCS to Tesla adapter comes out.

However, Tesla owners using non Tesla DCFC might actually be good news for non-Tesla EV owners... the more the DCFC station gets used, the more stations will be deployed. It's all supply and demand.

 

I've been thinking of buying a CHAdeMO --> Tesla adapter and renting it out. Deposit would be 110% of a new one, and I'd rent it for $35/weekend, $70/wk. I'd probably break even after a year renting it to Tesla owners I know (many of who are M3 owners without free supercharging).

 

Some day, if/when non-Tesla EV adoption takes off in the USA, this is our future, except worse. No one is going to be bringing mobile charging trailers to CCS sites. Tesla cares about Tesla-driver experience, and about doing cool stuff just 'cos. EA and EVgo don't have the same level of investment in customer satisfaction.

 

My hope is that by the time this happens, EVs will have range in the 450-500 mile area, at which point at lot of us can dispense with fast-charging entirely.

 

While this scenario certainly exposes the Achilles heel of supercharging, I hope those less informed don't go away thinking this is typical or even common. It's an outlier situation that occurs rarely and for a small percentage of stations. All part of the growing pains which will over time become less and less of a black eye (hopefully).
These few locations should be prioritized with both V3 as well as the mobile megapack(s), ASAP.
As mentioned above though, it's interesting to imagine how investment in 3rd party DCFC's would be affected if they could show use data similar to the typical supercharger but I agree that it would be a rare instance where a Tesla owner would opt for the Chademo kiosk. They would have to be pretty desperate.

 

Two Bolt FB groups had this video posted of the lines at Kettleman City, CA (on I-5) over Thanksgiving.



More Teslas on the Road Meant Hours-Long Supercharger Lines Over Thanksgiving (which I learned of from TMC) also pointed to it. I don't know off the top of my head what the real wait time was but if it was only 30 minutes, I guess it's not so bad vs. how bad the lines look. Per https://www.tesla.com/findus/location/supercharger/kettlemancitysupercharger, that location has 40 stalls. I don't know how long the wait was for folks in the back.

https://teslamotorsclub.com/tmc/thr...-live-15-nov-2017-with-lounge-24-v2-stalls-and-16-v3.94032/page-57#post-4253741 confirms 40 cars in line.

 

It does look worse than it really was. If the wait to charge was only 30-40 minutes which seems reasonable considering the average charge takes about that long and there are 40 stalls, (1 car/minute leaving) plus the megacharger if it was there.
Compare to other holiday clusters such as airports, border crossing, bus stations, shopping lines, parking lots, etc.
Should we build additional airports to handle the overload on the 2-3 times a year?
Using the mobile megapacks seems like a reasonable solution to handle these surge demand scenarios without overbuilding for the 99% typical needs.
The advantages I enjoy the other 363 days of the year, more than make up for a minor inconvenience that if it bothers me so much, I adjust my schedule accordingly. Just as I do on my daily commute.

 

So, to summarize the implied views of those who are gloating over the holiday travel misery of Tesla owners, "We are so much better off owning a Bolt/Leaf/Ioniq because our DCFC stations are never crowded. May the good Lord help us on the day that non-Tesla EV sales outstrip those of Tesla because while Kettleman City has 40 charging stalls, our typical EVgo/EA/ChargePoint/Greenlots sites have between 2 and 8 charging stalls."

 

Not going to gloat, but I read some Tesla charge locations during the Thanksgiving weekend had 3-4 hour charge wait times. Personally, as I mentioned in my one of my other post, that's just unacceptable on a trip for me.

Yes, it's Thanksgiving weekend travel time, but that's one of the selling points of the Tesla Supercharger network when someone actually needs to drive > 200 miles that 1-2% of the time a year.

We used an ICE during the holiday trip and stopped for gas/food/biobreak in < 10m each time. I know it's not for everyone, but I like going non-stop and as great as it is to shop, see some sites near a charge site, etc...most of the places you need to stop doesn't have much there (esp late at night like this video).

 

I'm sorry. But if I can't have everything I want, when I want it, your grandchildren will just have to suffer.

 

If the average EV takes over 5 times longer to fill than an ICE, then in an all-EV future we could imagine needing to replace each gas pump with 5 charge spots. We wouldn't need pump islands, just rows of parking spots. 20 at a small station or 60 at a major freeway station. That's a lot of real estate.

(If you're going to argue it doesn't equate to 5 times as long, I won't believe you, as EVs only charge to 80% and will need to stop 25% more often, and I usually fill up in around 3 minutes.)

The mobile megapack idea is laughable. What is a megapack? A million-dollar 40-ton trailer that can charge 50 Bolts before it's a megabrick? Or a figment of Musk's imagination to stave off the pump line scare for now?

The real issue is where all those megawatts are going to come from. Tens of megawatts at a major freeway station. Not wind and solar, that's for sure. The answer is 3rd/4th generation nuclear, clean and safe.

 

Your analogy is ignoring the fact that most (based on Tesla's data, 90% of total miles, if I remember it correctly) charge at home. It's also stacked against Tesla since their EV's are the most road trip worthy EV along with the free supercharging on some models. This would make on average, probably closer to 92% charge at home. ICEV's generally don't fill up at home, they have to drive to the refueling station every time.

Based on your reasoning (and I do agree that EV's take longer to refuel but how much longer has a lot to do with the circumstances as have been discussed here ad infinitum), it should only require 1/10th as many charging stations as gas stations. But that's not really how this works. Rather than flooding the countryside with portals, location and density for most effective use is almost the opposite of the gas station model. Locating them between metropolitan centers seem to be most effective for long distance travel and that's really what we're talking about here,

They do have urban chargers with 72kW output intended for, well, urban charging that can also enable apartment dwellers to charge close to home.
The issue is primarily a demand spike around the holidays which will probably always be problematic. Even using the megapack (which is a utility scale battery storage product successfully used to replace peaker power plants and can charge 100 cars), certain supercharger sites will be congested due to special constraints.
Unfortunately, I don't see the problem going away any time soon as the cars are being delivered at such a high rate that the build-out struggles to keep up even with the latest accelerated pace.
https://supercharge.info/map