Approaching the Columbus SuperCharger, I thought it had been ICEed by a monster Ford pickup truck. But, no, it was a Tesla Energy guy doing some service. A very nice and loquacious guy. Works out of Houston but sometimes covers SuperChargers across the USA. Some of his tales:
1) Power cables get swapped out regularly. See new cables hanging on the right side of the truck. The connectors do get worn out in normal use.
2) The guy allows that Tesla drivers, in general, are pretty nice. He has been "cussed out" only twice. One was a S Plaid driver that took exception to having his charge necessarily temporarily interrupted. The repair guy was informed that he was fired by the disgruntled Plaid driver. Though the Plaid guy was not a Tesla employee.
3) A Tesla employee was fired after visiting Boca Chica and taking (and distributing on FaceBook) some photos taken from the wrong side of the property line. The Tesla employee was "off the clock" and visiting Boca Chica for his own edification. Much as I have done.
4) The rentacops that SpaceX has been using at Boca Chica have been causing SpaceX some trouble. They have been denying public access to public roads. I think I was turned back there by a rentacop while on a public road.
5) A common act of vandalism is stuffing something in the SuperCharger connector wells. So that the "nozzle" can not be properly mated to the car. The guy reported that, in most cases, he can just dig out the foreign material. I've encountered such vandalized nozzles but did not try to do the digging myself. Next time, I'll give it a try. Understanding that the connectors are not hot until properly connected to the car. Dental or lock picks seem like ideal tools.
6) He reports that, in California, repair folks such as himself, may be given Model Xs for their work. For a while he had a Model Y but expressed a preference for a ICE pickup. I imagine the Xs and Ys driven by Tesla Energy people are not allowed to accumulate many miles and are sold at a modest discount as "demos". Just like "loaners" offered to customers having repair work done.
7) The guy reported a problem he had witnessed near Houston where a big utility scale battery was being installed. The problem: when multiple chargers/inverters are being used, it is important to see that the two split-phase legs go to the same places on individual devices. For instance, I now see I probably crossed them between the old PW battery and the new battery I am attempting to install.
https://photos.app.goo.gl/EzNayp4juoTna1u48
I believe I've seen a Tesla service person at only one other SuperCharger. In Cheyenne 6-8 years ago. That guy had flown into Denver, rented a small ICE car, and driven the ~100 miles to Cheyenne.
Interesting.
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