1,200 Mile Road Trip to Houston, TX - Am I Crazy?

[TezTex]

Purchased my SR+ June of 2019. Love the car... but have only made a Saturday run from Phoenix to Tucson and back (124 miles one way). We have a wedding to go to in February and I am trying to convince my wife that we should take the Tesla. I only see two issue in making the trip. I am using abetterrouteplanner to plan my trip and there are two spots (between Wilcox, AZ and Deming, NM and then again between El Paso, TX and Van Horn, TX) where I will be arriving with less that a 10% charge. One of those jumps between superchargers would have us arriving at 4%.

Am I crazy for thinking we can do it on the Tesla?

 

[mnevar]

Nope. We took our Model 3 from central-NJ to Austin and back in June, 2019 for a wedding. 4400 miles. Lots or free charging at hotels along the way, too!

 

[Manitoba Keith]

I don't see any reason you can't do it. Play with the settings in ABRP Set arrival at 15% or 20% and there will be no problem. Teslas' is a bit worse for planning the trip vs ABRP
This is what I calculated in ABRP

 

[kkillebrew]

I have taken my MS all through West Texas to New Mexico, Colorado, Minnesota, Illinois, all from Austin using the Supercharger network. You can take it almost anywhere with some planning.

 

[T3M3T]

No one will tell that you are crazy except your wife. Speeding is a big factor. Weather is colder now than summer so range may be short. Nice if you have autopilot, it will you alot (not taking a nap). Good luck.

 

[KenC]

Pump up your tires, and if those two legs seem at all sketchy, below 10%, then just slow down.

 

[ewoodrick]

For segments for which might be a stretch for your car...

• June is much better, as the temps are better than February!!!
• You can charge to 100% before taking the leg
• You can slow down a little to make sure you can make it
• If the car is navigating, it will watch out after you. If the next Supercharger stop is too far, it will suggest that you slow down. (It is conservative)
• Look at the J-1772 and Tesla destination chargers along the route, particularly near the end of long segment. If you feel that you can't make it, are their alternatives that you can count on, even if it takes longer?
• The record for a LR Model 3 is 600 miles. SR should be 400 miles. That means that it IS DOABLE, albeit doable slowly.
• Are there options off the Interstate that may be slower, but more interesting?
• Is there a stop near a J-1772 mid-route that may interest you?
• Most campgrounds have NEMA 14-50 plugs
• Need to be a little careful about winds on that route. Headwinds can hurt range.
• Are there any Superchargers "Coming in 2020" along the route? You may get lucky.

In my 88 mile range 2015 Leaf, range anxiety was pretty easy to get over. Take a 60 mile trip and you knew you had to charge to get home. On the SR+ it takes a lot of time to drive a route that you have to rely on a charger for. But you have to experience range anxiety a few times before you can trust the car.
The first time you do it, especially with family on-board, it can be a little nerve racking. If you can leave a day or so early, so that you have plenty of time, in case you do have to make some L2 charging stops. Make an adventure out of it. Heck, even stop and smell the roses along the way.

 

[tezlafor5]

Purchased my SR+ June of 2019. Love the car... but have only made a Saturday run from Phoenix to Tucson and back (124 miles one way). We have a wedding to go to in February and I am trying to convince my wife that we should take the Tesla. I only see two issue in making the trip. I am using abetterrouteplanner to plan my trip and there are two spots (between Wilcox, AZ and Deming, NM and then again between El Paso, TX and Van Horn, TX) where I will be arriving with less that a 10% charge. One of those jumps between superchargers would have us arriving at 4%.

Am I crazy for thinking we can do it on the Tesla?

@TezTex: The good news is, if you are willing to be a little slower, you can always just slow down to ensure that you make it (your Tesla Nav will advise doing so if you get below 5% expected arrival charge). Following semis relatively closely (one to two car lengths in AutoPilot settings) can also significantly increase efficiency, in my experience (with the risk of a rock to your paint or glass being the offset). Also use the PlugShare app, which provides other places that you can charge if you somehow truly run low on juice prematurely.

 

[CharleyBC]

If you entered appropriate February temperatures into ABRP, you should be good to go.

On those two long legs, back off on use of cabin heat. Put on your jacket and use the seat heaters. As others said, keep your speed modest. Speed and heat are both range sappers.

Plugshare.com is a good site to find non-Tesla brand charging options to have as insurance if it ever looks sketchy.

Have a great trip!

 

[tezlafor5]

If you entered appropriate February temperatures into ABRP, you should be good to go.

On those two long legs, back off on use of cabin heat. Put on your jacket and use the seat heaters. As others said, keep your speed modest. Speed and heat are both range sappers.

Plugshare.com is a good site to find non-Tesla brand charging options to have as insurance if it ever looks sketchy.

Have a great trip!

@CharleyBC: I played with heat settings on my trip and did not notice much of an impact on Wh/mile (unlike my old Volt, in which seat heat only was a regular strategy in the cold weather months). Would be curious to know whether your insight here is based in data you've seen? I thought it would make a huge difference, but, in my limited testing, it did not seem to do so. Agreed on getting the ABRP temp (and speed, and wind) settings right.

 

[Wampa]

Keep in mind that some superchargers will limit you to only 80%. This happened to me on the way back from LA to Phoenix and it definitely affected my driving style for the rest of the trip (much slower).

 

[MyJoule]

The Model S 85 will make the trip between those superchargers unless it's super windy and you are driving super fast.

I plan my trips using evtripplanner, I've had good luck with that for the last 5 years

I should add a couple of more things, I've made the trip more than once, and before Fort Stockton had it's supercharger, it was a challenge, one time we actually went via Pason up to Holbrook and across I-40 to OKC then down to HOU. not fun. but Superchargers were much less dense then. The second time was still before Fort Stockton, went to Van Horn, up to Midland, then back down to Ozone. also not fun. It's likely to be a piece of cake in a Model 3 (even the SR one!) now with Fort Stockton and even the supercharger in San Antonio.

 

[kavyboy]

Keep in mind that some superchargers will limit you to only 80%. This happened to me on the way back from LA to Phoenix and it definitely affected my driving style for the rest of the trip (much slower).

My understanding is that you can move the charge back up (to 100% if needed) after it sets the limit to 80%.

 

[bedoig]

Keep in mind that some superchargers will limit you to only 80%. This happened to me on the way back from LA to Phoenix and it definitely affected my driving style for the rest of the trip (much slower).

I've never seen an instance where the 80% was a hard limit. Just raise it back up to where you need it.

 

[tezlafor5]

My understanding is that you can move the charge back up (to 100% if needed) after it sets the limit to 80%.

My experience as well.

 

[TM3blu]

Last week I went Phoenix to Little Rock and return, on that same route. Willcox to Deming is only 135 miles. Same for El Paso to Van Horn. Texas speed limit is 80, so you may want keep it down to 70. But beware west Texas can get windy. If winds are high, I've found AP on #2 following distance to work well behind a fast moving semi.
Don't leave home without your UMC, and J1772 adapter. RV parks make good emergency stops.
ABRP and Plugshare are your friends.
You are not crazy. I bought this car to prove to everyone, IT CAN BE DONE.

 

[kavyboy]

Yeah, wind in west Texas can be a real factor. Check out windy.com for a quick check of that and other weather.

 

[Jimbydude]

Hey,

I didn't see it mentioned above (edited to note it is!) but remember it's easy to forget that you don't HAVE to use superchargers, good chance that there may be lots of Chargepoints etc to beef up the battery enough to get out of the anxiety zone on those two spots.

The Charpoint app, plus other web based ones can show you where they are.

 

[OlderThanDirt]

You don't need any aftermarket route planners...... Everything you need is already built into the cars nav. Enter your destination in the nav. and press begin. Monitor the energy consumption with the trip energy screen until you feel more comfortable with your car.

Long distance driving is what Tesla's were built for!!!

 

[CharleyBC]

@CharleyBC: I played with heat settings on my trip and did not notice much of an impact on Wh/mile (unlike my old Volt, in which seat heat only was a regular strategy in the cold weather months). Would be curious to know whether your insight here is based in data you've seen? I thought it would make a huge difference, but, in my limited testing, it did not seem to do so. Agreed on getting the ABRP temp (and speed, and wind) settings right.

I have not done any measurements that even approach scientific rigor. Frankly, I was mostly following the common wisdom on the fora, and I think even Tesla's own advice, if I recall correctly. When we use the car in winter (like now) in situations where we don't need to worry about every mile (like a drive from here to the Bay Area or Amador County wine country), we just go ahead and use the heat to stay comfy. And we pay a 20-30% price for that compared to the same trips in warmer weather. So it seems cutting the temp from our usual 68 to 60, say, ought to save some range, though I can't quantify it.