Tesla Superchargers

[HazardLights]

I went back to Dundee the day after my slow charging and was getting over 100kW. I had used a supercharger as far as possible from the previous days slow charging. Purely superstition I know. I haven't tried the throwing chips all over the car thing and I am not sure I will.

 

[Rolfe]

I think it depends on the version, the ones with the "hole" in the middle are a lot slower then the solid white box ones. At Trentham gardens they have both, so when I realized it was a bit slow I moved over to the newer ones and it was really fast.

I can't remember which sort I used at Trentham gardens, but it was fairly quick. Though given that I was stuffing my face with Victoria sponge and coffee at the time I couldn't entirely swear that I timed it. However, in my SE SR I don't really care, I can get the maximum charge rate out of the ones with the hole in the middle anyway.

Except that evening at Perth.

 

[Rolfe]

I went back to Dundee the day after my slow charging and was getting over 100kw. I had used a supercharger as far as possible from the previous days y slow charging. Purely superstition I know. I haven't tried the throwing chips all over the car thing and I am not sure I will

I charged at Dundee back in April and it was absolutely fine. I didn't even eat chips there, never mind throw them all over the car.

 

[Coulomb]

I can't remember which sort I used at Trentham gardens, but it was fairly quick.

Ah, of course! The type of chips to throw on the floor is probably important! As is the speed at which you spill them: the quicker the better it seems. Were they fries or proper chips? Or perhaps even crisps?

Impatient EV chargers want to know ??!

 

[HazardLights]

I and going to Livingston today and it's my first trip where charging is troublesome. I drive past Edinburgh where the Superchargers are not open to all. I drive past lots of stupidly expensive chargers and my destination is on in area of Livingston without chargers. The only reasonably priced chargers that work seem to involve driving another 9 miles to Tesla Heartlands then doubling back. Most frustrating. Tesla are there only large network with reasonable prices but they need Edinburgh open to all. Do you guys just cough up the circa 78p per kWh that others want for charging?

 

[Archev]

I had an odd experience at Perth, the only time I've used the site. I was sitting in the car with a drive-through McDonald's on my lap, as the chargers are a bit away (and up a hill) from the restaurant, and it was dark. I was only getting 37 kW and I thought, I'm going to be here all night, dammit. I wondered about shared power, although I wasn't right next to anyone else. I thought I'd wait till the battery was over 20% and if it hadn't speeded up then I'd unplug and try a different charger. Over 20%, still no difference. I was going to move.

Then I managed to tip my bag of chips all over the floor of the car. I sighed and started to gather them back up into their little paper poke. By the time I'd done that the car was at 22% - and charging at over 70 kW. So I stayed put.

Still not the 87 kW I was getting at Fort William, at a much busier site, but good enough. I don't know what happened. There was a Tesla two along from me, but the guy didn't arrive to take that away until about five minutes after the speed increased.

Aha the old warm the battery with a layer of chips ploy ?

 

[Pryde]

I and going to Livingston today and it's my first trip where charging is troublesome. I drive past Edinburgh where the Superchargers are not open to all. I drive past lots of stupidly expensive chargers and my destination is on in area of Livingston without chargers. The only reasonably priced chargers that work seem to involve driving another 9 miles to Tesla Heartlands then doubling back. Most frustrating. Tesla are there only large network with reasonable prices but they need Edinburgh open to all. Do you guys just cough up the circa 78p per kWh that others want for charging?

No option sometimes

 

[wandle MG4 trophy]

An few observations

I recently did 2 x 420 mile return trips and charged exclusively at Tesla chargers. My monthly subscription meant I saved about £2.40 against non member pricing. I also got 1% cashback on my Santander debit card for EV charging. Had I used Gridserve it would have cost about £50 more.

Charging speeds were generally very good - peaking at about 135 and dropping to about 60 as my battery approached 80%. There was one disappointing session when I charged after driving 100 miles in 9 degrees temp and only got about 57 in an almost deserted charging site.

Prices vary massively according to time of day and location. The cheapest I got was an amazing 23p per kWh around midnight.

It was no real inconvenience driving 2 or 3 miles off the motorway to get to the Tesla charging sites
The charging process was very simple and efficient. I am not planning other long trips for a while so cancelled my subs with a simple button press on the app.

If Tesla can operate a very efficient network with sensible prices why can’t other companies do the same. Rip Off Britain I’m afraid.

 

[siteguru]

You only saved £2.40 with the membership? Really? Hardly seems worth it.

 

[wandle MG4 trophy]

You only saved £2.40 with the membership? Really? Hardly seems worth it.

Yep, savings for me were minimal. I won’t rush to resubscribe unless I know I am going to do a lot of miles and need public charging.

 

[wattmatters]

You only saved £2.40 with the membership? Really? Hardly seems worth it.

In Australia you need to consume about 50-65 kWh at superchargers before recovering a monthly subscription fee.

So if you don't expect to use that much supercharger supplied energy during a month then it's not worth it.

On our last three trips to Sydney, we've used 113 kWh, 150 kWh and 110 kWh of Tesla Supercharger energy respectively, so for us if we are making that trip then a monthly subscription is worthwhile, provided you cancel it once you've paid for the month. Other DC fast charger options are no cheaper and typically less reliable/available.

 

[T1 Terry]

With all the drama Tesla is going through at the moment, how long will the superchargers be available? If someone buys that section, will it still be a good value think to add to the longer journey list of requirements?

T1 Terry