Charging Stops While Pulling a Trailer

[That Beast Mode]

Yep, which is why it's important to pre plan your route using ABRP and other methods.

Also, I REALLY wish Tesla would implement a double-price fee for anyone taking up a pull in or pull through spot with others are available.

With all the tech they have there's got to be a way that a pull through would refuse to charge or reject it if no trailer is detected - unless no others are available. They could probably use that queue system they are working on somehow.

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[kpanda17]

I’ve towed and charged a lot at Tesla superchargers and yes, wish more pull through existed

my experience without pull through, 1300 miles down the east coast

try to charge midday when the chargers are usually empty
pull in and loop from the left to right end, then a sharp right in front of the charging pedstal
You’ll only block to the left typically empty
You won’t block any pedestals besides the one to the right of your charging

risk
Someone charges at the third pedestal on the left blocking your exit
This happened frequently but people were nice and moved once I was done charging

the above seems crazy, but it works
1300 miles and never had to unhook

good luck

 

[mongo]

Yep, which is why it's important to pre plan your route using ABRP and other methods.

Also, I REALLY wish Tesla would implement a double-price fee for anyone taking up a pull in or pull through spot with others are available.

With all the tech they have there's got to be a way that a pull through would refuse to charge or reject it if no trailer is detected - unless no others are available. They could probably use that queue system they are working on somehow.

Which would help, but still results in the edge condition where all the other spots are busy so the most recent arrival takes the pull through spot. Then the other vehicles leave and the pull through is occupied by a non-trailer combo.

The thing I'm more worried about (since my 32' trailer would probably block a lane anyway) is dealing with congestion fees when I need more than 80% to get to the next stop.

 

[pae1andonly]

Thought the congestion fee would not start until the limit you specify is met?

 

[That Beast Mode]

Which would help, but still results in the edge condition where all the other spots are busy so the most recent arrival takes the pull through spot. Then the other vehicles leave and the pull through is occupied by a non-trailer combo.

It's not flawless by any means, but it would certainly help out. Besides if you arrive at a charge station that is full with the exception of the drive through, you should be able to charge there instead of leaving it empty for a trailer that may or may not show up. In that instance the person towing will have to wait, but also Tesla could queue them up to be next for the drive through and skip the rest of the line. Not a perfect system, but it could work.

 

[MisterChilidog]

The NEED for trailer-friendly Superchargers is VERY REAL. And with the advent of real tow-capable EVs, we need to fill the >100miles Supercharger gaps. Yes - it's going to be a long, daunting task. BUT I would argue that filling those gaps will ALSO contribute to easing congestion at many of the Superchargers that are currently being supplemented by new Superchargers very near the existing, congested ones. I'm not talking about expansions to existing SCs, or new SCs being installed within a mile, or 25+ miles from others. I'm talking about new SCs being installed 5-20 miles from existing ones. In the past few years, I've noticed a lot of new charging capacity going into these areas that aren't far enough away from existing capacity to really expand coverage (by shrinking gaps between SCs) but are too far to really expand the capacity of existing SCs.

Admittedly, I'm pretty far removed from the days when I lived in an apartment, without access to home charging. Maybe I just don't fully appreciate what that's like for an EV owner, since I didn't drive an EV when I still lived in an apartment. But I've been towing my travel trailer with my Cybertruck for coming up on two years, and I still have to carefully plan my trips around charging infrastructure, and I still see a lot of areas on the map that are effectively off limits due to charging sparsity.

 

[Gigahorse]

The NEED for trailer-friendly Superchargers is VERY REAL. And with the advent of real tow-capable EVs, we need to fill the >100miles Supercharger gaps. Yes - it's going to be a long, daunting task. BUT I would argue that filling those gaps will ALSO contribute to easing congestion at many of the Superchargers that are currently being supplemented by new Superchargers very near the existing, congested ones. I'm not talking about expansions to existing SCs, or new SCs being installed within a mile, or 25+ miles from others. I'm talking about new SCs being installed 5-20 miles from existing ones. In the past few years, I've noticed a lot of new charging capacity going into these areas that aren't far enough away from existing capacity to really expand coverage (by shrinking gaps between SCs) but are too far to really expand the capacity of existing SCs.

Admittedly, I'm pretty far removed from the days when I lived in an apartment, without access to home charging. Maybe I just don't fully appreciate what that's like for an EV owner, since I didn't drive an EV when I still lived in an apartment. But I've been towing my travel trailer with my Cybertruck for coming up on two years, and I still have to carefully plan my trips around charging infrastructure, and I still see a lot of areas on the map that are effectively off limits due to charging sparsity.

If the truck shipped with 500mile range pack the 100mile gap would not be an issue, would have been MUCH easier logistically to just ship the 65k CTs with significantly larger packs which would result in a 200mile+ towing range and SC distances would have not been an issue.
Not much can be done with the aero for towing etc, but the larger capacity batteries would have made it a viable towing machine for people who tow heavy and tow long.

 

[kpanda17]

If the truck shipped with 500mile range pack the 100mile gap would not be an issue, would have been MUCH easier logistically to just ship the 65k CTs with significantly larger packs which would result in a 200mile+ towing range and SC distances would have not been an issue.
Not much can be done with the aero for towing etc, but the larger capacity batteries would have made it a viable towing machine for people who tow heavy and tow long.

It’s interesting how the newest EVs:
Volvo EX60 and BMW iX3
Both ship with 112kwh batteries, SUVs ?!?
Vs our 123kwh

must have been a space/design problem in the CT

 

[Gigahorse]

It’s interesting how the newest EVs:
Volvo EX60 and BMW iX3
Both ship with 112kwh batteries, SUVs ?!?
Vs our 123kwh

must have been a space/design problem in the CT

Tons of space.
Smugglers bay
Extra "half full" battery compartment
etc

Was simply cost. Tesla decided 280 miles of range or 100 when towing was enough.
Which is fine, but gotta give me superchargers that are less than 100mi apart, with some pull through stalls.

 

[HighTechJoe]

The thing I'm more worried about (since my 32' trailer would probably block a lane anyway) is dealing with congestion fees when I need more than 80% to get to the next stop.

Thought the congestion fee would not start until the limit you specify is met?

Edit: No longer accurate.

There is no congestion fee until you hit your charge limit. It will automatically lower you to 80%, if you manually raise it higher, congestion fees do not start until you've completed the charge.

 

[PungoteagueDave]

If the truck shipped with 500mile range pack the 100mile gap would not be an issue, would have been MUCH easier logistically to just ship the 65k CTs with significantly larger packs which would result in a 200mile+ towing range and SC distances would have not been an issue.
Not much can be done with the aero for towing etc, but the larger capacity batteries would have made it a viable towing machine for people who tow heavy and tow long.

The issue with this is the weight trade-off conundrum. Adding 50% more battery might have achieved 400 miles, but not the implied 150 more miles because every additional cell adds weight, detracting marginally from the incremental range benefit. Tesla would likely have had to double the battery size in order to move the needle from 325 to 500 miles. And that’s rated, not real world.

In the process they would have created another Hummer EV, a much more inefficient EV with way more battery than is needed for everyday use. We would be burning 50% more wh/mi for worse results and no benefit except for the days we are towing.

This is all because the 4680 battery tech didn’t live up to its promise of higher density, lighter weight, and faster charging, at least out of the box. The CT was to be the showplace for a step change in battery technology that turned out to be more incremental, and in some respects, regressive (charging speed and cost). Tesla knew this objective was lost, so came up with the stopgap range extender battery idea. Given the constraints discovered during production engineering vs prototype, this was reasonable.

The combination of overall CT take rate, related lack of towing customers, and high cost then killed the option. Tesla ended up acknowledging market realities and is going to have to think hard about the CT’s future. The cold hard reality is that absent an unforeseen battery improvement, 500 mile range isn’t a thing when combined with everyday usage efficiency requirements.

 

[mongo]

Thought the congestion fee would not start until the limit you specify is met?

There is no congestion fee until you hit your charge limit. It will automatically lower you to 80%, if you manually raise it higher, congestion fees do not start until you've completed the charge.

You're both thinking of the old idle fee where you are connected but not charging at a busy site. That could be avoided by setting the charge limit to 100%.
The new congestion fee kicks in at 80% at a busy site, even when still charging.
Only hack is unplugging every 5 minutes to (possibly) reset the grace period .
https://www.tesla.com/support/charging/supercharger/fees

Congestion fee is a fee you pay only when a Supercharger site is busy and one of the following applies:

• Your vehicle’s battery is already at or above the congestion fee level of 80% battery charge; or
• Your charging session has ended

The congestion fee encourages drivers to charge only as much as is needed for their trip, rather than all the way to 100%. This increases the availability of Superchargers so that everyone has access when they need it.
If you meet the criteria for a congestion fee during your Supercharging session, you will be notified on the vehicle touchscreen and from the Tesla app that congestion fees apply. You can see the battery charge level where congestion fees apply on the vehicle touchscreen and the Tesla app. You will have a five-minute grace period to disconnect your vehicle and leave before congestion fees apply. After the grace period, you will be charged a fee for each minute you remain connected to the Supercharger.

 

[mongo]

Tons of space.
Smugglers bay
Extra "half full" battery compartment
etc

Was simply cost. Tesla decided 280 miles of range or 100 when towing was enough.
Which is fine, but gotta give me superchargers that are less than 100mi apart, with some pull through stalls.

Smugglers bay is outside the main crash protection frame (Pintoish) and lacks physical continuity.
Pack gap is only ~33mm, 46100 cells would work but reduce the venting and intrusion buffer space

A double stack with modified suspension to maintain ground clearance and a boost in GVWR would be great though.

An approved interface for adding swapable 3rd party cell banks would also work.

Supercharger additions are interesting because with large gaps, adding one midway isn't ideal, but is better than splitting the gap into thirds while only one of the new stations is active.

 

[HighTechJoe]

You're both thinking of the old idle fee where you are connected but not charging at a busy site. That could be avoided by setting the charge limit to 100%.
The new congestion fee kicks in at 80% at a busy site, even when still charging.
Only hack is unplugging every 5 minutes to (possibly) reset the grace period .
https://www.tesla.com/support/charging/supercharger/fees

That has indeed changed, thanks for pointing that out! They definitely need to adjust that based on trailer status. If you arrived at a supercharger with a trailer attached (likely has to be detached to charge) then they should allow you to go higher without congestion fees.

 

[kpanda17]

worst case trailering in the winter with the cybertruck is 100-120 miles of range
we need at least one pull thru supercharger every 100 miles for each travel corridor

SoCal to Texas
Chicago to Texas
NY to Florida 95

the nav should know we are trailering and guide us to that SC
im ok with waiting
dont want to unhook

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