Here’s the Tesla supercharger station at the Northgate Mall off of Interstate 5.
It’s super-easy to supercharge the car. The hardest part for me is to back it nicely into the charging bay in one go. (It’s a new experience for me to use a car with a rear camera view for back-in parking, but I am learning quickly).
Park the car, plug it in. No credit card, no PIN, no thumb print or retina scan :), no nothing— the charger knows it’s your car, and how you will pay. Relax or go grab a coffee, and monitor to see when it’s done.
The supercharger station on top of the Northgate Mall parking garage has 16 charging bays, each rated at 250 kW.The status of the charging is shown inside the car (and on one’s phone). That charging rate of 79 kW or 361 mi/hr is 10 times the charging rate that I can get out of my 240 V outlet in my garage at home! The battery is never really charged to 100% (the white stripe on the car’s battery on the diagram shows when the charging will stop; that’s a preference & setting chosen by the driver). Maybe right before a long trip, one can try to charge closer to 100% at home. The charging rate slows down dramatically as the battery approach full capacity. While on a long trip, a battery charged to even just 70% or so, is usually more than enough to get one to the next supercharger. If you hog the charging bay with your car fully charged and ‘abandoned’, as you are take your sweet time at a nearby restaurant, you will be charged for occupying the bay.Here’s my car getting its first overnight/ everyday charge at home. It shows a charging rate of 29 mi/ hr, drawing 32 A of current at 238 V.Picture from Thursday morning. Plug it in when it’s in the garage; plug it out when leaving. (The charging stops automatically when it’s done. The car will not let you drive away with the charging cord still attached).Â
