[skwark]

So I have a confession to make.

As the P*2 will be my first EV, I decided perhaps I should acclimate myself with the EV life first and so hire a Leaf or Model3 to make sure it really would fit in to my life... however I could only get hold of a Model S (oh the pain!).

So I have been driving that for the past week and a bit. I won’t go in to any detail between the two until I step in to P*2.... however I was looking forward to making use of this great Tesla supercharger network for convenience. Except it wasn’t to be. On a return trip home northbound on the M1 from my office (2hrs / ~100 miles) the satnav conveniently added a stop at the Woodall Services Supercharger bay... except as I approached said stop I soon realised it had me heading back on myself to come off on the southbound exit, because there’s no supercharger on the northbound side... and then several miles south again to the next junction to head all the way back to where I started! Nuts. I know there were plenty of other chargers on the route that would have been far more convenient, but of course Tesla is not highlighting any of these! I couldn’t help thinking the irony of Google Maps being far more friendly in this case as it’s not precious about the charge provider. In the end I just risked it and continued on my way, arriving with 8% left (started out on a predicted 4%).

Now I appreciate this was unique to my route and specific circumstances, but it really was a huge disappointment and all those reviews hailing the supercharger network as the main reason to stick to Tesla evaporated for me. So thought I’d share that.

 

[Considered1]

thanks for the feedback, funnily all the reviews and videos and even TV documentaries i've seen this week have highlighted how rubbish the charging network is for non-Teslas, begining to think Hybrid for me, until I can get someone to dig out a huge amount of raised garden for a drive!

 

[ProfessorCook]

thanks for the feedback, funnily all the reviews and videos and even TV documentaries i've seen this week have highlighted how rubbish the charging network is for non-Teslas, begining to think Hybrid for me, until I can get someone to dig out a huge amount of raised garden for a drive!

Don't succumb to the evil!

 

[toscal353]

I know there were plenty of other chargers on the route that would have been far more convenient, but of course Tesla is not highlighting any of these!

Why would they promote the opposition when Tesla have invested millions in your own infrastructure? Our M3 came with 5000 free supercharger miles, obviously only redeemable at Superchargers so I don't blame them for only highlighting their own, but there should be a way to find the others via the satnav.
Tesla drivers should be actively encouraged, nay, forced, to only use their own 'superior' chargers anyway - the last thing we all want is thousands of damn Teslas blocking up our Ionities etc etc!!

 

[standardcode]

Ex-Tesla S owner here. I think one shouldn't buy an EV if you need to charge anywhere other than home/work on a daily basis. With that out of the way, I am pretty sure the current non-Tesla charging infrastructure is as good as the Tesla network was when I bought it in 2013, if not better. (Cost to charge being one factor I admittedly haven't considered.)

Keep in mind as well that you can buy a little thingymajingy (that's a technical term) that will allow you to charge your P2 at Tesla Destination chargers. Most road trips I undertook during my 4+ years owning the car relied on Destination chargers at hotels etc more than on Superchargers which were more for peace of mind than anything else.

 

[ProfessorCook]

Keep in mind as well that you can buy a little thingymajingy (that's a technical term) that will allow you to charge your P2 at Tesla Destination chargers.

Is this the thingymajingy?

 

[standardcode]

Is this the thingymajingy?

Yes. Disclaimer: I haven't personally tried it yet.

 

[thewallaby]

I live in Norway and i have charged on Tesla public chargers 8 times of which 5 of them i had to wait in line. I do not know what Tesla network advantage means as every gas station in Norway has electric chargers but Tesla chargers are spread apart every 30-40 km. In addition to that i only travel 2-3 times a year more than 400km per day so it makes a public charger network even less important for me... But you know, shitty news reporters need to have something to report. Last year was how much more the batteries are polluting, this year is how bad the infrastructure is. They just need to put a negative turn on everything. Thats how they make you watch and they make money from adverts... Not a science really

 

[toscal353]

Slightly confused UK ex-Tesla owner here. What is meant exactly by Tesla destination chargers and Tesla public chargers?
In the UK we have the Supercharger network but AFAIK they can only be used by Teslas because of the inbuilt Tesla account identification system which automatically bills your Tesla account. When we had our M3 we had 5000 free miles but only used a charger once or twice. I am not aware of any mechanism in the UK which will allow an EV other than a Tesla charging on their network.

 

[skwark]

Destination chargers are the same as the ones you can have installed at home.... Tesla branded but can be configured to only accept Teslas or any connection (if you two different cars at home)... I assume Tesla subsidises the installation or hardware at certain locations. Not sure what if any billing system they are tied to.

 

[toscal353]

On the road if you use a Tesla Supercharger there is software in the car which identifies you and your tesla account is billed automatically for the charge. You don't need any form of widget, keycard, etc to use one.

 

[skwark]

Yes I know that. But not sure that same system extends to Destination Chargers, small wall boxes designed for homes, offices and hospitality venues etc

 

[standardcode]

Destination Chargers are Tesla branded (and Tesla connector) chargers that Tesla gives to businesses like hotels for free so they can boast of a larger charging network. The businesses, such as hotels, generally allow their customers to charge without cost. In many cases a hotel or other business will have a Tesla destination charger but no other types of chargers simply because Tesla gave it to them free. I think carrying a $200 connector for it in your P2 makes sense.

Check out this map of destination chargers in NYC. pretty dense!

 

[ScottM]

 

[whiteco3]

Slightly confused UK ex-Tesla owner here. What is meant exactly by Tesla destination chargers and Tesla public chargers?
In the UK we have the Supercharger network but AFAIK they can only be used by Teslas because of the inbuilt Tesla account identification system which automatically bills your Tesla account. When we had our M3 we had 5000 free miles but only used a charger once or twice. I am not aware of any mechanism in the UK which will allow an EV other than a Tesla charging on their network.

There's an article here that says there is a flaw in Tesla superchargers allowing other EVs to charge for free. Not sure how true, or how widespread through Europe, or how long it will last (surely Tesla will update/upgrade them to stop it)

 

[GDank]

There's an article here that says there is a flaw in Tesla superchargers allowing other EVs to charge for free. Not sure how true, or how widespread through Europe, or how long it will last (surely Tesla will update/upgrade them to stop it)

It's only the new Version 3's ... the one can charge up to 250kW. And yes it works anywhere in the EU, as EU law is they must use CCS rather than their own Tesla Plugs.

Tesla have been very quiet over this so it's either:-

1. A software bug that will be fixed in time regarding the hand shacking.
2. A major hardware flaw in the V3's
3. A test to see if it works ... Tesla might charge 70p or more per kWh but if you need it in an emergency then at least we would have that option.
4. Part of the new EU law that says something like any company must have the ability to charge any EV car in the case of an emergency

Yes 3 and 4 are kind of the same but one is Tesla being proactive ... the other is Tesla is being forced.

My Guess is 1.

 

[JRRF]

For EVs to become pervasive, at some point there has to be a standard connection for charging the same way there's a standard nozzle for putting petrol in. Here in the US CCS is taking over and ChadMO is going away, and in the EU they've been proactive on standardizing CCS. At some point Tesla needs to get on the CCS bandwagon and it looks like slowly that's happening.