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[MikeL]

I wonder how quickly Tesla will roll out Magic Dock to additional supercharging stations and what their decision criteria is.

[DonTom]

I wonder how quickly Tesla will roll out Magic Dock to additional supercharging stations and what their decision criteria is.

I just hope they will do it in the places where most needed, instead of grouping them together in places where they already have CCS nearby.


-Don-  Reno, NV

[DonTom]

I just discovered the other place where they have a Tesla Supercharger that is ready for CCS is in Placerville, CA on Hwy 50.


Tomorrow, I will take a ride out there and try to charge my Experia on the Tesla Supercharger. The Placerville SC is only 37 miles from here via road.


I will take photos and check-in and report back here.


-Don-  Auburn, CA

[HoodRichOG]

Awesome, looking forward to it!

Be interesting to see what charge rate you are able to get too.

[DonTom]

Awesome, looking forward to it!

Be interesting to see what charge rate you are able to get too.

Only 8KW. Sometimes as low as 7KW or as high as 9KW but mostly 8KW by far. I started the charge at 55% SOC, ended it at 80%.


On normal CCS, I usually get three times that charge rate.


But it works. Weird how it works, an adapter comes out for CCS that is attached to the same Tesla hose.


When I first got there, my very first thought was Tesla was trying for the stupidity award of the year by having this at such a crowded location. Every spot was taken by a Tesla, I had to wait ten minutes for a Tesla to leave so I could connect up. Not only that, but this is also a stupid, unnecessary location. More than enough CCS chargers in Placerville, CA. I won't ever have the need for this location again. And it was somewhat of a hassle to figure out how to active it, I got many error messages. I discovered the only way to clear it was to not only disconnect, but to put everything back in the machine and start over.  More trouble than it is worth and can charge at 25KW less than a mile from there.


But even the slow rate I would find VERY useful in places such as Lake Topaz, NV. But for now, this is a stupid, useless location for me.


And if it is that busy in this mall during a late Friday afternoon, imagine how it would be on a Saturday.


But how busy it was could have only been a coincidence. By the time I was at 80% SOC, I was the only one there other than one Tesla. Most of them all left at around the same time.


-Don-  Auburn, CA

[HoodRichOG]

I wonder why it's charging so slow. Energica or Tesla's fault?

Thanks for the report! Much appreciated.

[DonTom]

I wonder why it's charging so slow. Energica or Tesla's fault?

Thanks for the report! Much appreciated.

My guess is that the Tesla SC is seeing what is not expected, so they are being extra safe, keeping the charge rate very low. That is better than the new ChargePoints that simply refuse to charge an Experia at all.


It must have to do with the communication between the bike and the Tesla Supercharger, before the charging starts, the Tesla SC saying "WTF is this?". IOW, well below the expected charge current. So to be safe, they charge extra low. But at least it works. Better than charging at 100KW and having the bike battery explode!


I assume this will improve with new Tesla charger FW someday, after they discover more and more motorcycles trying to charge on them.  I assume their superchargers didn't even think about electric motorcycles at first, but this is a great start, IMO. At least it works even if a third as fast as it really should be.


I expect it to work MUCH better by the time they have the "Magic Dock" working everywhere. I consider this a great start, just needs to be updated for motorcycles. But they picked stupid locations to start with.


-Don- Auburn, CA

[DonTom]

@Don, you should be able to use the app and add another EV with your existing Tesla account. Haven't tried it myself yet, but in out of the country for the winter.

Yep, that is true. My Tesla App was all set for the non-Tesla charging, billing and all. I was charged $2.08 to my CC on my Tesla account for yesterday's Experia charge of four KWHs.


A half buck per KWH is expensive, but I hope Tesla makes enough money on this to add the Magic Dock to all their SCs everywhere.



-Don-  Auburn, CA

[DonTom]

I see the Energica that charged at the Scott's Valley Location also charged at only 8 KW.


Also, Tesla was stupid to pick that location as well. Already seeing messages like this one:


"Could not charge all because of all the non-Teslas"


-Don-  Auburn, CA

[Specter]

I believe there is something in the protocol that unless the battery 'reports' it's capacity, that Lions will charge at around 0.5 C for safety reasons.  there are some chemistries / builds out there where 0.5 C is recommended charge / discharge rate.  one would not expect that chem on a vehicle but you never know.  So if the battery lets say, tells it.  Im a 80 Kw/hr battery pack.  unless it TELLS it, but I can take 500 amp charge rate, it's going to default to the 0.5 /C  mainly for liability reasons, so that,no they do NOT blow up your battery.

I think also, that each Manu, is going to have some sort of an official 'table' that has the data for it's specific battery.  so when you show up, it says  Oh  Chevy Bolt 2023.  XXah,  YY volt top,  ZZ soak,  KK amp/hr bla bla it's a 'data entry point' that is valid for ALL the chevy bolts.  No matter which charger it is at,  THIS... is it's charge profile.. This will also keep conformity, and also added safety to keep some problem from forcing an 'out of spec' charge profile.

They have not updated their charge tables to add the brand new experia's data to it yet, so it goes, hmm Vehicle not found. ok default to limp charge mode.

Being that everything is on the internet, Im surprised someone has not already created the 'master database' that they all dial into to look up the data.  Kind of like a central clearing house.  the car manu's put the data in there, and the chargers go there to get the specs how to charge the car that plugged into it.  Chjanges can get made / disseminated in very short time this way.

Aaron

[DonTom]

They have not updated their charge tables to add the brand new experia's data to it yet, so it goes, hmm Vehicle not found. ok default to limp charge mode.

Yep. At least it works, even if very slow for now. I assume they will all get updates soon. I consider this as their beta version of the Magic Dock.


-Don-  Auburn, CA (raining here)

[HoodRichOG]

I believe there is something in the protocol that unless the battery 'reports' it's capacity, that Lions will charge at around 0.5 C for safety reasons.  there are some chemistries / builds out there where 0.5 C is recommended charge / discharge rate.  one would not expect that chem on a vehicle but you never know.  So if the battery lets say, tells it.  Im a 80 Kw/hr battery pack.  unless it TELLS it, but I can take 500 amp charge rate, it's going to default to the 0.5 /C  mainly for liability reasons, so that,no they do NOT blow up your battery.

I think also, that each Manu, is going to have some sort of an official 'table' that has the data for it's specific battery.  so when you show up, it says  Oh  Chevy Bolt 2023.  XXah,  YY volt top,  ZZ soak,  KK amp/hr bla bla it's a 'data entry point' that is valid for ALL the chevy bolts.  No matter which charger it is at,  THIS... is it's charge profile.. This will also keep conformity, and also added safety to keep some problem from forcing an 'out of spec' charge profile.

They have not updated their charge tables to add the brand new experia's data to it yet, so it goes, hmm Vehicle not found. ok default to limp charge mode.

Being that everything is on the internet, Im surprised someone has not already created the 'master database' that they all dial into to look up the data.  Kind of like a central clearing house.  the car manu's put the data in there, and the chargers go there to get the specs how to charge the car that plugged into it.  Chjanges can get made / disseminated in very short time this way.

Aaron

First time I hear of this. Thought the whole point of having the ccs protocol was to negotiate the charge rate etc..

[DonTom]

First time I hear of this. Thought the whole point of having the ccs protocol was to negotiate the charge rate etc..

It is, but we do not live in a perfect world.


I have wondered if the software of all EVs could be improved to tell the charger exactly what rate to charge at in every case, no exceptions. But charging can get very complicated, too many variables. Battery temp, battery size, and such.


-Don-  Auburn, CA

[AsHperson]

Looking at the non Tesla supercharging map again today has me quite excited for how fast this is rolling out. 2 stations in CA and like 10 in NY.

[DonTom]

Looking at the non Tesla supercharging map again today has me quite excited for how fast this is rolling out. 2 stations in CA and like 10 in NY.

This map?


-Don- Auburn, CA