Tesla Christmas charging queue

[bigdom]

Whilst we have a plug-in hybrid amongst the cars (company one), we haven't gone full electric with any of the others.

The current range isn't enough for some of our longer journeys without the anxiety of enough range/time/having to charge to come back/chargers being out of operation and not being able to get back in 1 day, especially with cold weather battery range drop-off.

I assume this article is an extreme example, but how do you full electric drivers get on day to day for long journeys?

https://www.ladbible.com/news/tesla-owners-uk-chri...

[limpsfield]

That absolutely is an extreme - but clearly, it can and does happen.

Posted below from another thread was my experience over Christmas from the SE to N Wales and back. If I was in that queue and had enough charge, I would not have been waiting, and would have been off to another one. Covered 28,000 miles in mine over the last two years.



"I’ve just done a 500 mile round trip in mine over the last couple of days. I bought a Tesla due to the charging infrastructure as I do that trip every couple of months at least.

No problems on the first leg, left home with 100 % and then one 15 minute charge at Telford which was enough after stopping for the loo and coffee.

Coming back today (Boxing Day) I got the last place at Warwick services charging and, as it was busy, it had dropped to only 50kw charging. It said it would be 50 minutes to continue my journey. In a 4.5 hour trip this is a big chunk for me so I topped up for 15 minutes and stopped again at Oxford Redbridge which is quite a new one, super fast and had enough within around 10 minutes."

Edited by limpsfield on Thursday 29th December 17:12

[vikingaero]

I posted something similar in the EV sub-forum.

It's nothing new - demand at California chargers were in the news a few years ago. Tesla tell people to avoid Thanksgiving over there. Now they have changed the off peak period to 9pm on certain days to manage demand.

It's a load of lemons all turning up at once expecting to be served instantly.

[ChocolateFrog]

bigdom said:

Whilst we have a plug-in hybrid amongst the cars (company one), we haven't gone full electric with any of the others.

The current range isn't enough for some of our longer journeys without the anxiety of enough range/time/having to charge to come back/chargers being out of operation and not being able to get back in 1 day, especially with cold weather battery range drop-off.

I assume this article is an extreme example, but how do you full electric drivers get on day to day for long journeys?

https://www.ladbible.com/news/tesla-owners-uk-chri...

Wondered when this would crop up on here.

We're not stupid enough to rely on an EV alone so this wouldn't happen.

It's an issue that's only going to get worse in the short term.

[alock]

limpsfield said:

I’ve just done a 500 mile round trip

left home with 100 % and then one 15 minute charge at Telford

I got the last place at Warwick services charging

I topped up for 15 minutes and stopped again at Oxford

I thought modern electric cars had 300+ mile ranges? Having to charge more than once seems disappointing.

[limpsfield]

alock said:

limpsfield said:

I’ve just done a 500 mile round trip

left home with 100 % and then one 15 minute charge at Telford

I got the last place at Warwick services charging

I topped up for 15 minutes and stopped again at Oxford

I thought modern electric cars had 300+ mile ranges? Having to charge more than once seems disappointing.

I think mine is technically just over 300 miles but cold weather has an impact. Plus more importantly (for me) I drive it like I have driven every other car I have had before going electric, so don't sit there at 68 on the motorway.

I've never actually tested what the true range on a long trip is - next time I will try and remember to do it. The Tesla supercharger in Telford is about 190 miles from me and after 3 hours driving I am ready for a break, so it's a good stop for a charge.


Just to clarify, this journey is around 240 miles each way so that is typically just one stop for a charge on the way up, as there is little in the way of decent charging at my destination. Although I do typically plug it into a "normal" socket for a bit when I get there, which adds around 10 miles of range per hour.

I charged twice on the way back as Warwick M6 was busy and slow.

Edited by limpsfield on Thursday 29th December 17:29

[ChocolateFrog]

alock said:

I thought modern electric cars had 300+ mile ranges? Having to charge more than once seems disappointing.

Most will be 200 miles +/- 50 miles in the cold weather.

Factor in most people won't be comfortable running below 10% charge and your usable range could be half the real summer range.

[vikingaero]

The other thing to point out is that some Teslas can charge at other operators chargepoints with adaptors, so some wouldn't need to queue.

[limpsfield]

vikingaero said:

The other thing to point out is that some Teslas can charge at other operators chargepoints with adaptors, so some wouldn't need to queue.

It's a good point. I think most modern Teslas, as far as I know, can charge at third party chargers - most of them are slower than the Tesla option so I rarely use them.

I do think there is a lack of imagination when it comes to the extremes where people are queuing for hours for a charge. It's hardly thinking outside the box to try an alternative, assuming you have the range to get there. Perhaps a little like the panic buying of petrol where someone queues up and then ends up buying a tenner's worth.

[Toaster Pilot]

vikingaero said:

The other thing to point out is that some Teslas can charge at other operators chargepoints with adaptors, so some wouldn't need to queue.

The *vast majority* can charge at other chargepoints, no? A handful of S/X owners might not have paid for the CCS adaptor but I find it hard to believe that's a considerable number.

[Mr E]

vikingaero said:

The other thing to point out is that some Teslas can charge at other operators chargepoints with adaptors, so some wouldn't need to queue.

All can. Almost certainly without adaptors.

[somouk]

The fact that’s Tebay makes me think that most people have left themselves short and not got enough charge to get to one of the many other superchargers on the M6. Just bad planning and presuming a charger would be free during peak time.

[TheDeuce]

limpsfield said:

vikingaero said:

The other thing to point out is that some Teslas can charge at other operators chargepoints with adaptors, so some wouldn't need to queue.

It's a good point. I think most modern Teslas, as far as I know, can charge at third party chargers - most of them are slower than the Tesla option so I rarely use them.

I do think there is a lack of imagination when it comes to the extremes where people are queuing for hours for a charge. It's hardly thinking outside the box to try an alternative, assuming you have the range to get there. Perhaps a little like the panic buying of petrol where someone queues up and then ends up buying a tenner's worth.

The same people who claimed pet food, pasta and bog roll had 'sold out everywhere' during the early days of the pandemic. Sure, the obvious shops, like the supermarkets sold out very quickly. But we found all such items easily at local independent retailers.

I'm not sure what my alternative would have been if I was struggling to charge the EV, I can't imagine feeling the need to charge it that desperately on Christmas Day itself tbh, but odd people are everywhere! I certainly wouldn't wait for 6 hours to get it charged, I'd rather pay for a taxi or borrow a friends car if I was, for some reason, desperate to make a long journey drive on Christmas Day.

The article is also probably mostly BS anyway. I note that it reports that 'nearly 24 Tesla's were seen queing for a Waitrose charger'.. Wtf is 'nearly' 24!? The only number that can possibly be 'nearly' 24 is 23, so just say 23 or admit there were conflicting reports so actually, it might had just been 8 cars...

[giveitfish]

vikingaero said:

The other thing to point out is that some Teslas can charge at other operators chargepoints with adaptors, so some wouldn't need to queue.

Plenty on non-Tesla EVs about to fight over the other points. Short queues for non-Tesla chargers have been routine for a while.

I think we’re at the tipping point where EV take-up is outstripping charging provision temporarily, but my thought is this will be a non-issue within 2 years.

[FourWheelDrift]

Gretna - https://twitter.com/ListerLawrence/status/16085186...

[SWoll]

giveitfish said:

vikingaero said:

The other thing to point out is that some Teslas can charge at other operators chargepoints with adaptors, so some wouldn't need to queue.

Plenty on non-Tesla EVs about to fight over the other points. Short queues for non-Tesla chargers have been routine for a while.

I think we’re at the tipping point where EV take-up is outstripping charging provision temporarily, but my thought is this will be a non-issue within 2 years.

And only at particularly busy times. Makes sense really, who's going to invest in providing enough chargers for a BH weekend when they'll see little use for the rest of the year and with the rate of technology change could be de-funct in short order?

[page3]

Those three sites are well known for being particularly bad.

Gretna only has four chargers and is pretty cramped even when quiet. Busy holiday period combined with train strike and it would definitely be somewhere to avoid.

Tebay is a great site, so is always busy too but at least for a positive reason.

The Tesla navigation does give live charger stats, so they can easily be avoided if busy.

Still, it gave the usual press what they wanted - an anti EV story with Tesla involved to boot. The DM/Telegraph comments are a hoot though!

[DMZ]

I’m surprised Tesla’s nav software can’t work around this given all its cleverness. Either by warning of impending doom or charge earlier to jump the really busy ones or something.

Anyways, nothing new really. I’ve queued for the odd charger, it happens. Best to avoid peak travel with an EV in my experience.

[Whistle]

My Model 3 long range shows around 355 miles fully charged.

In the summer I did a 318 mile trip with 10 miles left when I got home.
I have used loads of 3rd party chargers although they are more expensive per
KWh than Tesla ones.

[ds666]

FourWheelDrift said:

Gretna - https://twitter.com/ListerLawrence/status/16085186...

There are 4 off IONITY chargers at Gretna - can’t Tesla use those ?? That queue is for the 50kw ones