Pull-through Supercharger, and leaving home without a safety net (charge cord)

[Crissa]

It's a farce and the anti-fans like to think that every charge station is the same as the others.

Every Tesla charger isn't, either.

The vast majority of of Destination chargers have a manual method of payment. 50kW urban Superchargers and 150kW 2.0 Superchargers abound. And weird parking fees and structures exist all through the Tesla network.

You can't escape the reality in the ground that the ground is owned by other people.

-Crissa

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[SwampNut]

I just got off a call with my sister in law, they have a Bolt. They are afraid to drive in to her parent's house which is just in Prescott. She wanted to know how I managed a trip to CA. She said their experience with their charge network is too "unknown." She defined that as highly variable charge rates and "sketchy places." I didn't get a further definition of that, but I do recall that a couple of the J-chargers around here are behind a building in a dark corner. Meanwhile I've never seen an SC that isn't doing 140k except that one island thing, and non are in some sketchy place. They've always been predictable for me.

 

[Ogre]

They exist and mostly work and outnumber Tesla stations. And no, they're not primarily any one network. And that's fine. I don't need a national network to buy gas, and definitely have never needed a national network to get electricity before.

Tesla did it right and does it not just best but does it well; still that doesn't mean the other option doesn't exist.

-Crissa

Just need that Tesla CCS adaptor for the US market. Then we would have the best of both worlds.

 

[Ogre]

Every Tesla charger isn't, either.

The vast majority of of Destination chargers have a manual method of payment. 50kW urban Superchargers and 150kW 2.0 Superchargers abound. And weird parking fees and structures exist all through the Tesla network.

You can't escape the reality in the ground that the ground is owned by other people.

-Crissa

The Supercharger network is not 100% stamped out clones, but it is extremely consistent and aside from one which was in a parking garage I had to pay to enter, it is extremely easy and straight forward to use.

Personally, I think destination chargers should be taken off their network since many have conditions for use. Seeing a destination charger which requires I be a hotel guest is helpful if I’m looking for a hotel but not if I’m looking for a place to charge.

 

[Bill906]

Personally, I think destination chargers should be taken off their network

Sorry, not a Tesla owner yet... I assumed the in car navigation worked like the supercharger map website. (https://www.tesla.com/findus). Where SC's are different color than destination chargers and you can turn them on and off. Is that not how the in car system works?

 

[SwampNut]

I've never seen a restricted destination SC at all. So I don't know if they don't exist in my area, or the car is smart enough to not choose them. There are destination non-SC chargers all over.

Also, how deeply do we define "destination?" Is a shopping center/restaurant one? I think it might be, but they are always just open to everyone. Or does it mean only hotels or places where you'd spend the night?

 

[Crissa]

Literally Tesla calls their AC chargers 'Destination' chargers.

https://www.tesla.com/charging-partnershttps://www.tesla.com/charging-partners

Some are on the in-car navigation, some are not. I know the Zero guys like them because they can charge a motorcycle in an hour.

-Crissa

 

[SwampNut]

Right, they don't call that an SC. I've never seen a destination SC, but have been told they exist. I've seen a ton of those little home charger things at non-home locations.

 

[Ogre]

Sorry, not a Tesla owner yet... I assumed the in car navigation worked like the supercharger map website. (https://www.tesla.com/findus). Where SC's are different color than destination chargers and you can turn them on and off. Is that not how the in car system works?

It is very similar. It also only auto-navigates to public Superchargers.

I just don’t really see the value in showing these chargers at all when you just end up tapping down to them and opening them up to see “Available to customers only”. By the time I’m sitting in my car I’ve already decided where I’m staying.

 

[Crissa]

Lots of them are at restaurants. And I've had about a 50-50 chance of a hotel letting me charge.

I leave a bad review if they don't.

-Crissa

 

[HaulingAss]

Tesla did it right and does it not just best but does it well; still that doesn't mean the other option doesn't exist.

-Crissa

True, the other stations exist but my point was they were not Rivian stations, which is how the map was presented. My original comment was to not hold your breath on Rivian building out an awesome network of water filling/waste disposal stations.

It would be nice if they could and would do that, but they have enough trouble getting their auto production into sustainability. It's fortunate they have the backstop of third-party charging, third party water filling/waste disposal stations, even if the charge stations are inferior to what Tesla has built.

 

[Crissa]

....but my point was they were not Rivian stations, which is how the map was presented.

No, that is not how they were presented.

-Crissa

 

[Ogre]

Lots of them are at restaurants. And I've had about a 50-50 chance of a hotel letting me charge.

I leave a bad review if they don't.

-Crissa

I’ve had similar results. But you can’t rely on a 50/50 charger.

I also have a personality thing where I don’t like dealing with that sort of situation. My wife has no trouble, but me? I hate it. I know it’s unreasonable but *shrug*.

 

[SwampNut]

I hate dealing with random humans and would avoid it also. But everywhere I go, I'd have to try hard to find myself stuck with a hotel charger on purpose.

 

[Ogre]

I hate dealing with random humans and would avoid it also. But everywhere I go, I'd have to try hard to find myself stuck with a hotel charger on purpose.

It is uncommon. We’ve had to chase down chargers in smaller towns on 4 occasions and had good luck 3 of the 4 times. The 4th time it was a mess.

Hard to complain much about getting free charging 75% of the time. It’s just frustrating when you can’t rely on it.

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