# Talk about upgrading existing Superchargers?



## Nom (Oct 30, 2018)

Was on a road trip with my LR3. Stopped at a 250kw charger and saw charge rates of > 1000 mph. Pretty cool. 

Any word about upgrades to existing superchargers to get to 250KW? Guessing all they can do to install new chargers ….


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## DocScott (Mar 6, 2019)

There have been several cases of 250 kW Superchargers opening up within a few miles of 150 kW ones, so for now the plan seems to be install new rather than upgrade.

Honestly, 150 kW is great if it's near somewhere to eat a full meal, so I might sometimes pick a 150 kW over a nearby 250 kW if it's lunchtime...


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## FRC (Aug 4, 2018)

On a typical 20-80% charge, 250 only saves about 10 minutes over 150.


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## JWardell (May 9, 2016)

I certainly agree, it is well worth it on a road trip to look for 250kW superchargers nearby if you are looking to make the most of your time. Sadly the nav doesn't prioritize them, so there have been many instances where nav will send me to a 120kW, and if I stretch it a bit or stop early I can hit a 240 and it can definitely cut your charge time in half and get you on your way sooner. Of course the curve tapers, so this makes the biggest difference if you are prioritizing travel time and only charging up to about 65% and going again.


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## garsh (Apr 4, 2016)

FRC said:


> On a typical 20-80% charge, 250 only saves about 10 minutes over 150.


My typical charge is 5-60%. V3 makes a HUGE difference when you keep the SOC at the bottom end.


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## garsh (Apr 4, 2016)

Nom said:


> Any word about upgrades to existing superchargers to get to 250KW? Guessing all they can do to install new chargers ….


They could upgrade existing locations. IIRC, I stopped at one location that had a mix of new V3 and older V2 stations. I think it makes more sense to just keep adding more locations for now. There are still a lot of areas that are underserved by superchargers, so the priority is on expanding locations.

I usually think of the western US when I talk about these underserved areas. But during my recent New England road trip, I found that Providence RI is one such area.
I was staying in Middletown RI, and needed to drive to New London CT. The car begged me to go 10 miles off my planned route to charge at the East Greenwich Supercharger. I ended up hypermiling my way to New London instead. :grimacing:

I see that they're planning new superchargers in Middletown, Providence, and Mystic CT. That should help in the future.


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## Bigriver (Jan 26, 2018)

My 2017 model X has a more favorable charging curve on a 150 than a 250 kW SC. While it will spike up to a higher charge rate (176 kW is highest I’ve seen) on a 250, it comes down much faster. 

Nevertheless, I love that the 250’s aren’t paired. The SC sites I visit the most often (150 at Strongsville and 120/150 at Maumee, OH) have become congested over the past 6 months and sharing is common. How I wish the app would at least guide us to share with whoever is already charging at the lowest rate.


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## TrevP (Oct 20, 2015)

Last I heard was that all new installations are V3. I don’t think Tesla will be spending much time in the next 2 years upgrading existing sites as they’re trying to double the size of the existing network by the end of next year. They just don’t have the resources to both expand and upgrade. 

Maybe once the network is expanded and they catch their breath maybe they might upgrade older stations 🤷🏼‍♂️


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## Klaus-rf (Mar 6, 2019)

To "upgrade" and existing site, would take it out of commission / service until the project upgrade is complete.


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## garsh (Apr 4, 2016)

Klaus-rf said:


> To "upgrade" and existing site, would take it out of commission / service until the project upgrade is complete.


They can also add v3 chargers at existing locations, rather than replace everything.


garsh said:


> IIRC, I stopped at one location that had a mix of new V3 and older V2 stations.


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## bwilson4web (Mar 4, 2019)

TrevP said:


> Maybe once the network is expanded and they catch their breath maybe they might upgrade older stations 🤷🏼‍♂️


I've noticed two cases where the SuperChargers were installed at now 'ghost' shopping malls. The Joplin SuperChargers were replaced by a row 2 miles away at a 24 hr, truck stop, doubling the charging lanes. The other is Tupelo MS that is in a sad place. Hopefully someone will try to get them relocated.

Bob Wilson


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## JWardell (May 9, 2016)

garsh said:


> They could upgrade existing locations. IIRC, I stopped at one location that had a mix of new V3 and older V2 stations. I think it makes more sense to just keep adding more locations for now. There are still a lot of areas that are underserved by superchargers, so the priority is on expanding locations.
> 
> I usually think of the western US when I talk about these underserved areas. But during my recent New England road trip, I found that Providence RI is one such area.
> I was staying in Middletown RI, and needed to drive to New London CT. The car begged me to go 10 miles off my planned route to charge at the East Greenwich Supercharger. I ended up hypermiling my way to New London instead. :grimacing:
> ...


And new london and lisbon are new....eastern CT was a big hole, and RI has had only East Greenwhich for far too long. It's also a slow charger in a dark area behind a supermarket with no good food options. Newport has been coming soon for a while. Tesla made some solid progress this year. But before you complain check the Electrify America map. You can't travel to half of new england.


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## NR4P (Jul 14, 2018)

Just finished a trip where I previoudly used only V2 SuperChargers. In between two V2 chargers Tesla added a V3 site. Wow what a difference this makes. First it added 7 new stalls at 250kw. It added more overall slots. The V2s are still used but not as crowded. 

Adding vs upgrading makes perfect sense.


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## GDN (Oct 30, 2017)

DocScott said:


> There have been several cases of 250 kW Superchargers opening up within a few miles of 150 kW ones, so for now the plan seems to be install new rather than upgrade.
> 
> Honestly, 150 kW is great if it's near somewhere to eat a full meal, so I might sometimes pick a 150 kW over a nearby 250 kW if it's lunchtime...


I was surprised at this too, but we have the same situation here in Dallas. We have an 11 stall station here, high usage, almost always a line, older Urban chargers. Rather than upgrade, a brand new station is going in right down the road.

It had flown under the radar until this weekend, but a brand new, pedestals already in place 16 stall 250 kWh charger less than a mile away from the existing one. Per google maps it is .9 miles away.

The below pic from supercharge.info - the construction cone covering the icon for the existing charger.


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## shareef777 (Mar 10, 2019)

They're definitely getting serious about this:

https://shop.tesla.com/product/j1772-gen-2-wall-connector


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## shareef777 (Mar 10, 2019)

And now the J1772 adapter is half price.

https://shop.tesla.com/product/sae-j1772-charging-adapter


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