V4 Tesla Supercharger experience

[pikepilot]

A little confused on the magic dock in V4. I always thought of Tesla's magic dock as an adapter for Level 2 charging. Are the magic docks for V4 actually for Level 3? As in no personal adapter needed to fast charge?

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[Guss-E 2021]

Sadly, here in SoCal, Tesla cars are abundant. I say sadly because that means SoCal was an early adopter of EVs and, as such, has early models of Tesla adapters. I literally have more than 100 Tesla super charger stalls within 5 miles of my house that are not compatible and probably never will be. I have to drive 10 miles or more to find one that I can use.

And NH is nearly the polar opposite in terms of the number of existing Superchargers.

Of course the one location I might find use for on occasion is old AF and incompatible .

The are building a new restaurant/market on one of my routes to work, located about two miles from the office. I believe they are planning on installing Superchargers. I hope they will be V4. Based on the construction to date, they appear to be going with pull through stalls.

At some point, won't the cabinets in Socal age out and need replacement? Er, no moving parts so perhaps not.

 

[devmach-e]

A little confused on the magic dock in V4. I always thought of Tesla's magic dock as an adapter for Level 2 charging. Are the magic docks for V4 actually for Level 3? As in no personal adapter needed to fast charge?

No, the MagicDock is to allow non-Teslas charge using a Supercharger station. And Level 3 is the wrong term to call DC Fast Charging.

 

[voxel]

V4 cables are long enough not to bend my CCS port like V3s. I suspect long term use of V3 will damage my car’s CCS port so they are my last resort.

 

[Dnorwood98]

V4 cables are long enough not to bend my CCS port like V3s. I suspect long term use of V3 will damage my car’s CCS port so they are my last resort.

Even if you park in the spot to the right of the pillar? A lot of V3s have removed the bulkhead so we can park close enough, just not in the spot for the charger we are using.

 

[pikepilot]

No, the MagicDock is to allow non-Teslas charge using a Supercharger station. And Level 3 is the wrong term to call DC Fast Charging.

Thanks for the info. BTW you are the first person I've heard argue Level 3 is not synonymous with DC Fast Charging.

from C&D (or any other google search for that matter):

Level 3 or DC Fast-Charging
Level 3 chargers are the quickest of the bunch. Alternatively known as DC fast-chargers, Level 3 chargers are especially useful during long trips that necessitate charges between destinations, as this sort of charging can add around 100–250 miles of range in 30–45 minutes. Unlike Level 1 and Level 2 charging, Level 3 setups connect to the vehicle by way of a socket with additional pins for handling the higher voltage (typically 400 or 800 volts).

Tesla's Supercharger network offers Level 3 charging, as do many EVgo and Electrify America stations.

Level 3 charge rates currently range from as little as 50 kW to as high as 500 kW, depending on the charger. But charge rate is a two-way relationship. If your EV can only handle a maximum of 50 kW on a Level 3 charger, then it will not charge any faster than this, even if it's plugged into a charger capable of topping out at 500 kW.

Additionally, the charge rate of an EV on a Level 3 charger changes dramatically depending on the battery's state of charge, slowing considerably when the battery pack nears 80 percent capacity to prevent overheating or overcharging. For example, it may take just as much time to charge from 80 to 100 percent as it does from 10 to 80 percent.

 

[devmach-e]

Back in the day, the SAE originally defined 3 different levels for both AC and DC charging. They were, obviously based on the amount of power that could be delivered.

https://www.autoguide.com/auto-news/2015/11/what-is-level-3-charging/

I understand that the SAE has dropped some of that nomenclature:

https://cleantechnica.com/2023/01/16/level-3-is-a-perfectly-legitimate-term-for-dc-fast-charging/

I'm old school, so I don't think of DC Fast charging as Level 3, but that shipped sailed a long time ago.

 

[markboris]

I posted these photos here in July on a Tesla Supercharger thread and thought I'd post them in this thread also. Earlier this year, we got 8 new Superchargers (first ones in our small town of 5000 pop). I'm still not sure what qualifies a SC as being a V4 but these have the longer 10' cable and Magic Docks. I can park straight or backed in with no issues. Two of the chargers are parallel to the street and the other six are sideways. Can easily park in the proper stall for the charger so never have to take up two stalls no matter how the charger is orientated.

Pulled in straight leaving 18" between car and the parallel charger.

Parked straight with sideways charger but have to bring cable across the hood.

Backed in with sideways charger.

 

[RickMachE]

Is your adapter the official one received from Ford or from a third party like A2Z Typhoon?

Irrelevant.

 

[Thunderbuck]

No, the MagicDock is to allow non-Teslas charge using a Supercharger station. And Level 3 is the wrong term to call DC Fast Charging.

I’ve given up on the whole “DCFC isn’t Level 3” thing because a great many EV authorities (including automakers themselves) are now calling it that.

I agree, there’s a distinction, but pointing it out is confusing to new EV owners so I’ve thrown I. The towel.

 

[Maquis]

I’ve given up on the whole “DCFC isn’t Level 3” thing because a great many EV authorities (including automakers themselves) are now calling it that.

I agree, there’s a distinction, but pointing it out is confusing to new EV owners so I’ve thrown I. The towel.

Like calling gasoline “gas” even though it’s a liquid.

But gas it forever shall be. At least in the U.S.

 

[TheVirtualTim]

A little confused on the magic dock in V4. I always thought of Tesla's magic dock as an adapter for Level 2 charging. Are the magic docks for V4 actually for Level 3? As in no personal adapter needed to fast charge?

Normally when you see the term “Magic Dock” it refers to the built-in adapter (for CCS1 cars) at a Tesla SuperCharger (DC Fast Charging).

Tesla also makes home chargers and destination chargers (AC Charging) that have a built-in adapter for J-1772 cars. But I don’t normally hear people refer to that as “Magic Dock”.

 

[Mike G]

I had the pleasure of charging my Lightning at the Covington Tesla location while on a roadtrip from Huntsville to Augusta.

28 chargers and they all had the longer cables and Public Charging app says it's 250Kw. I used the provided Ford adapter. Completely painless, no issues with trying to get the thing to start up. Like charging is supposed to be. Versus the completely nightmarish experience I had on the previous charge stop at an EA location in Oxford, AL at the Walmart location where 'supposedly' 3-4 chargers were working...except they weren't, only 1 really was, and (offshore) customer service couldn't get any of them to reboot or come back on line.

On my return trip back home yesterday the Covington Tesla station was again...fantastic...while the Oxford, AL EA station was still broke-broke but I did manage to get charged back up and back on the road. Thankfully nobody else was there charging, so the one working charger was free.

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