Road-trip planning: Taycan vs. Tesla

[Tooney]

Planning a long road trip on interstate highway. Concerned that one EA charging location along the route is described as all four stations "under repair". MyPorsche app shows a different EA location with 1 of its 4 stations "out of service" for 16 days.
Looked at how many EA locations are along the route in case I cannot get a charge at one.
EA sites along 700+ mile route: 9.

6 stations: 1 site​

4 stations: 8 sites​

A location with only 4 charging stations provides a low margin of safety.

Most of the route is rural, so not a bunch of accessible L2 chargers nearby.

​

Without being able to depend on getting a charge at any particular EA station, instead of arriving with a low SOC and benefitting from the Taycan's famed high rate of charge, I have to make extra charging stops, at higher SOCs, just in case.

For grins I looked up Tesla supercharger locations on the same route.
Supercharger locations along 700+ mile route: 16

12 stations: 1 site​

10 stations: 4 sites​

8 stations: 9 sites​

6 stations: 2 sites​

That Tesla outfit knows how to support its road-tripping customers.

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[JimBob]

EA, Taycan's kryptonite

 

[Deleted member 7736]

EA is definitely a weak spot in the overall Taycan ownership experience at the moment. My recent experience on a road trip was that half the chargers at any EA location were inoperable and the 350kW chargers that were operable were only outputting at roughly half power. I'm hoping that Tesla opens up Supercharger sites to non-Tesla cars sooner rather than later. It's supposed to happen by the end of the year in the US, and that will be a game-changer. I set the charging planner to arrive at charging stations with 25% SoC in case I needed to go to another station. Depending on how far between stations on your planned trip, adjust that accordingly.

 

[f1eng]

That Tesla outfit knows how to support its road-tripping customers.

The best thing Tesla did was sort their charging network out early. It must have been a big investment but it is a main reason to buy a Tesla for everybody I know who has one.

 

[fullmetalbaal]

With my Taycan, I carefully plan trips and often still get a nasty surprise. Just 2 weeks ago I spent over an hour trickle charging in the middle of nowhere because the EA charger would not do more than 30kw. And that was after I called support to reboot the charger after it crashed to a console screen twice. (The 3 other stalls were occupied by slow charging cars/broken).

With my wife's Model X, we don't even plan anymore. We hop in and put in the destination. That's it.
It adds the chargers at the right intervals, problem solved. In 4 years of ownership and tens of thousands of miles, we never faced issues.

The sad part is: EA today is worse than Tesla was in 2018. I think our best hope is that Tesla opens up their network in a reasonable way.

 

[fullmetalbaal]

As an aside: when I realized that many of the EVs that bundled EA "free charging" don't charge faster than 125-150kw, I feared that slow cars hogging the 350kw stalls was going to be a pain.

I think it's worse than "a pain". I can't rely on getting >150kw on the Taycan because about half the time, the faster stalls are taken by a slow car, which of course invariable sits there forever.

So I plan my routes assuming I can charge at 150kw... and if I get a 350kw charger it's a bonus.

But not being able to rely on it kinda negates some of the benefit, IMHO.

My next fear:
Tesla opens the network, but offers only 400V charging. But it's bigger and better than EA and others, so they pull the oxygen out of the room. Over time, the benefit of 800V disappears, because first cars and then charging networks stick to 400V.

 

[ithinkmac]

Just came back from a trip. At a EA site. there was only 2 350kW chargers, one was open and actively being worked on by a tech. The only 350kW left, was occupied by a KONA! a 50kW KONA! with a couple of 150kW working. Argh.

Then I look down the aisle and across the parking to the 50 Tesla Superchargers being built.

-ThinkMac-

 

[Jhenson29]

So I plan my routes assuming I can charge at 150kw... and if I get a 350kw charger it's a bonus.

Is 150 vs 350 really that big of a time difference though?

 

[fullmetalbaal]

Is 150 vs 350 really that big of a time difference though?

In my personal experience and opinion - it's very binary.
Either I've planned in a lunch or dinner stop anyway, and then it really doesn't matter. Even at 150kw, the car is typically done way earlier than I am done eating.

Or, I'm stuck near some big box retailer I would normally never go to, and there's no good coffee around, and all I want to do is get the F away from there. In that case, the extra ~7-10* min are definitely annoying.


* That's my unscientific, observed difference I don't feel that a 150kw charger typically just pins it at 150kw until the Taycan would naturally drop below 150.

 

[bsclywilly]

Plug Share is essential for planning trips. It’s also therapeutic to report broken down stations.

 

[Valen]

Here in some tesla superchargeurs are open to other brands. Tried them with my Taycan and it works flawlessly. The charging speed is roughly the same as my former model 3 perf.

To be honest, it's not my prefered network (i tend to use 800v ionity) but it's still very reliable and help solve the "trip" anxiety.

 

[Teufel Hund]

The best thing Tesla did was sort their charging network out early. It must have been a big investment but it is a main reason to buy a Tesla for everybody I know who has one.

My understanding is that Tesla was and has been making boat loads of money on the building and installation of its SuperChargers through carbon credits. Before Tesla ever turned a profit on the cars it was making hundreds of millions in credits. Even now Tesla is making hundreds of millions a quarter on carbon credits.

 

[Teufel Hund]

My next fear:
But it's bigger and better than EA Over time, the benefit of 800V disappears, because first cars and then charging networks stick to 400V.

I believe it’s been reported that the Volkswagen Group (or maybe it was Porsche only?) is working on rolling out their own charging network? I’d assume that they would cater to the 800V crowd. Obviously will be awhile before it will be a meaningful network but there’s at least hope that it can benefit Taycan and Audi folks.

 

[Bill33525]

All the CCS vendors are guilty of having equipment out of service for months At a time. Perhaps they think if one charger works the site is “up”! Maybe it’s a parts problem who knows. I have heard the top managers on shows paint such a rosy picture but the real life picture is way different.
I have been on a few multi day trips on the east coast and have been able to charge every time but if an EA site is totally down it’s probably a few hours on a L2 charger to get to the next CCS fast charger.

Finally, slow charging EVs on a 350kW charger is disappointing to see. Have heard some think the 350 charger will provide a faster charge, even if their EV is rated for 50KW max.
Hopefully Tesla opening up their equipment to us will provide an alternative charging option if needed. However, I’m only stopping there if necessary and plenty of stalls are open. I can see potential problems in the early days from some Tesla drivers who are not going to appreciate other brands taking a stall. Hopefully it never comes to anything serious.

 

[JAGMAN]

You are road tripping from where to where? Perhaps we can look at which stations are available. I've had a few issues with individual EA units, but never had a complete failure of all units.

That said, I'd still rather show up with higher charge state, and have a follow-on EA station as a backup. If I know the EA station is a good one because I use it regularly, I'm less conservative.

I find 150kW chargers plenty fast. 350kW's only charge in the 200kW range for a short time before they reduce to <150.

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