Tucson to Thousand Oaks and Back Again A Desert Hobbit's Tale

[trev5150]

On this trip to see family in the Occupied Zone, I used Tesla chargers only. I've used a Tesla charger once before and it was great. Fast, no EA hiccups. That was at the Arizona Mills Mall.

For this trip I topped off to 100% and then plotted my course to Arizona Mills again to use the Tesla chargers. EA is also there and used them many times but they are chronically glitchy and slow or outright broke.

On Friday I use the Tesla app to figure out which charger to use. It usually gives you a list of 4 or 5 chargers and they have the number in a circle at the base. Terribly small and hard to see from inside the truck I chalked that up to some Gen Z engineer with perfect vision who doesn't think past themselves. I charged to 90%. Absurdly fast and the taqueria right there is pretty good if you don't mind attacking a burrito with a fork because they're overloaded. Thence to Quartzsite, La Quinta, and Claremont before pushing to the hotel in Thousand Oaks.

On Saturday night learning occurred. I was done with visiting family for the day and went to Simi Valley to find the closest non-Tesla activated Tesla Supercharger site. There's a Tesla charger site at the mall in Thousand Oaks that has not been made available to us. The one in Ehrenberg needs to be activated as well. Bottom line is I should be able to tow with my SR and charge in network every 80-100 miles, but I digress.....

I walked all around this Tesla Supercharger site in Simi Valley trying to find a charger that was on the list per the Tesla app and frustratingly, the number in the circle was missing from most of the charging posts. I got into a conversation with a couple in an MME and they showed me that IT DOESN'T MATTER WHAT POSTS THE TESLA APP TELLS YOU THAT YOU CAN USE. If the site is available, every post there is available.

That. Changed. Everything.

Now I could pull up to any post that was available anywhere where there was enough space and charge with out wandering around the site looking like a lunatic around people sitting in their Teslas charging to see what post I'd have to wait to open up. I could just pull up, slap my adapter on, hook that cable to the truck, wait for that little digital handshake to complete, and go and get a burrito.

Was I the last person to know this about Tesla sistes? Was I the only one searching for the open post corresponding to the app?

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[On the Road with Ralph]

For about 18 different reasons, this is the strangest Lightning trip report I’ve ever read on this forum. And as someone who frequently uses Tesla Superchargers when traveling, I have no idea what you are talking about, tho’ I did recently use a charger where its ID was just a small label, not the usual number in a circle. It didn’t impact my ability to charge there.

 

[trev5150]

For about 18 different reasons, this is the strangest Lightning trip report I’ve ever read on this forum. And as someone who frequently uses Tesla Superchargers when traveling, I have no idea what you are talking about, tho’ I did recently use a charger where its ID was just a small label, not the usual number in a circle. It didn’t impact my ability to charge there.

What part confuses you?

 

[Zprime29]

Was I the last person to know this about Tesla sites? Was I the only one searching for the open post corresponding to the app?

I have not encountered anyone that thought they were restricted on which stalls. The only restriction has ever been per site (can't use any V2's for instance).

 

[Scorpio3d]

Some of them even have the “magic dock” (adapter)built in so you don’t even have to get your adapter out!

 

[PJnc284]

Was I the last person to know this about Tesla sistes? Was I the only one searching for the open post corresponding to the app?

I'm going to go with you're probably the only person ever to do that. lol

 

[trev5150]

I'm going to go with you're probably the only person ever to do that. lol

Probably. 99% of the time I'm at one of these sites and there's no one around because it's 2 or 3 am. Catching that couple in Simi Valley driving the MME who said they have had no issue just plugging into any charging post was pure luck. Had it not been for them I wouldn't have known and been doing the same crap for the 4 stops on the way back.

I'm the only one in my family or circle of friends with one of these trucks, the only one in my family with an EV at all, and I have one friend with a Tesla. That's it. Amongst all the people I know in the meat space I'm the only one out here doing all this discovery learning so there's no one to ask. YouTube people tend to leave out the RCH fine details, as do most people here. Hopefully someone can use this information.

I have not encountered anyone that thought they were restricted on which stalls. The only restriction has ever been per site (can't use any V2's for instance).

Well like I was saying, without anyone to get pointers from, looking at the Tesla app to figure out the route because no one out there is saying to trust Ford Navigation to have a complete database, and all the rest of it, when the app says out of the 64 chargers at (Quartzsite for example) you can use 1A 1B 1C or 2A and it's your first or second time using Tesla chargers at all, you're gonna have a crappy time.

 

[On the Road with Ralph]

Well like I was saying, without anyone to get pointers from, looking at the Tesla app to figure out the route because no one out there is saying to trust Ford Navigation to have a complete database, and all the rest of it, when the app says out of the 64 chargers at (Quartzsite for example) you can use 1A 1B 1C or 2A and it's your first or second time using Tesla chargers at all, you're gonna have a crappy time.

I really shouldn’t let myself be drawn back into this dumb thread, but…

I - and probably 99% of the folks on this forum - have NO IDEA what you are talking about regarding the Tesla app and the superchargers. None. At least for me, you are describing a completely nonexistent problem.

I suspect the vast majority of Lightning owners who do long distance travel (like me) use some combination of PlugShare, ABRP, Apple Maps, and the in-truck nav system (in that order) to do top-level route planning. PlugShare alone does about 80% of the work for me (and I cheerfully pay them 99¢ a month for the premium subscription).

BTW, I was recently at Tesla/Quartzsite and didn’t have a problem getting a charge. It really isn’t that hard.

 

[astrand1]

What part confuses you?

I might have to say you could be the “last person” lol. If a SC is open to non Tesla then any post is fair game to charge at. Also what do you mean by “occupied zone”?

 

[trev5150]

I might have to say you could be the “last person” lol. If a SC is open to non Tesla then any post is fair game to charge at. Also what do you mean by “occupied zone”?

The Democratik Peoples Republik of Kalifornistan.

 

[Zprime29]

@On the Road with Ralph I think he didn't know you could swipe on the screen here to select a different post. Thus limiting him to the first 4 stalls.

 

[trev5150]

@On the Road with Ralph I think he didn't know you could swipe on the screen here to select a different post. Thus limiting him to the first 4 stalls.

I actually tried that and nothing happened.

 

[Zprime29]

I actually tried that and nothing happened.

Working now though, right?

 

[trev5150]

Working now though, right?

Yes it does. All 16 chargers at the River Rd. site (for example) are there BUT for the four charging stops on the way back I didn't bother with the Tesla app at all. From now on I presume I'd only need it to verify a site's compatibility if the Ford database is in question.

Another oh-by-the-way is that Apple Maps is still only Electrify America sites in leg calculations. A lot of this past weekend's shenanigans was the desire to do the entire trip on Tesla Supercharger sites only.

The speed and reliability of each charging instance was well worth the increased cost per kWh.

 

[Zprime29]

Yes it does. All 16 chargers at the River Rd. site (for example) are there BUT for the four charging stops on the way back I didn't bother with the Tesla app at all. From now on I presume I'd only need it to verify a site's compatibility if the Ford database is in question.

Another oh-by-the-way is that Apple Maps is still only Electrify America sites in leg calculations. A lot of this past weekend's shenanigans was the desire to do the entire trip on Tesla Supercharger sites only.

The speed and reliability of each charging instance was well worth the increased cost per kWh.

In case you also weren't aware, subscribing to Tesla gives a very nice discount. You can cancel it right away to make sure you aren't charged for the next month and it will still be active for 30 days. To get that discount, however, you need to activate through the app and not BlueOval.

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