Road Trip Charging Kit?

[Okami]

Hello All!

I'm planning my first road trip with my Tesla. I've been reading a lot of threads but they seem to be from previous versions of the charging kits or outdated links to products.

If going on a road trip
1) What extension cord would I need to buy?
2) What are the best adapters for the extension cords needed?

I was looking at the Charleston area and the closest super charger is pretty far off.

Thanks for your help!! Loving my Model X so far

 

[Saghost]

By far the most common big outlet in the US is the 14-50 - modern ovens, RV Parks and so forth. Your UMC came with a plug for that; I added an extension cord for that to my kit:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0024ECIP0

After that, the other big options you'll likely find are the 14-30, 10-30 and 10-50. Sometimes you'll see a 6-50, generally installed for welders. Tesla sells some adapters for some of these; here's a page of aftermarket adapters:

NEMA 14-50 Adapters for EVs

For 120V, RV parks have the TT-30 in many cases, especially older ones (if they say they have 50 Amp service, that's the 14-50, if they say "30 Amp service," it's 120V TT-30.)

You'll also sometimes find the 5-20 20A utility outlets - which are a third faster than the standard 120V plug if you have the correct UMC connector and extension cord if needed:

So I also carry this 5-20/dual extension cord on road trips:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00KC108MC

And a 5-15 to 5-20 adapter.

These days, Superchargers cover most things, and destination chargers or RV Parks can cover most everything else. Honestly, the only things in this kit I've ever really used are the 30 foot 14-50 and a 10-30 to 14-50 adapter, to charge at a friend's house.

 

[Trailblazer]

These days, if you make good use of PlugShare (get the app on your phone or go to plugshare.com in your browser), you don't really need anything other than the kit that came with your Tesla. I visit the Charleston (I assume you mean South Carolina) area quite often, and I use the chargers at Tanger Outlet (8 chargers - just off I-26 at I-526) and also at the Gaillard parking structure just off Calhoun St. near E. Bay (chargers on the 2nd and 3rd levels near elevators). Both of those examples offer free charging and you get about 17 miles per hour of charging (you have to pay the parking rate at the parking structure and you need a Chargepoint account at Tanger - but you get unlimited charging for free in both spots). You'll need your J1772 adapter from your charging kit in both spots as well.

 

[Rocky_H]

Hello All!

I'm planning my first road trip with my Tesla. I've been reading a lot of threads but they seem to be from previous versions of the charging kits or outdated links to products.

If going on a road trip
1) What extension cord would I need to buy?
2) What are the best adapters for the extension cords needed?

I was looking at the Charleston area and the closest super charger is pretty far off.

Thanks for your help!! Loving my Model X so far

This was a more relevant question in 2014, but is much less so now in 2018. And you're going to a big civilized city, not into the wilderness, so you won't need extension cords and adapters. The Santee Supercharger is about 66 miles to Charleston, so you can easily drive there and back without needing any charging if you're not going to be doing much driving around town. And if you are planning to do some driving and charging around there, I see 10 charging station locations showing on Plugshare in Charleston. For those, the regular J1772 adapter that comes with the car will do. A little farther from the center of Charleston are a couple of CHAdeMo stations that are about half as fast as a Supercharger, but they would require the optional $450 adapter from Tesla.

So the "road trip charging kit" is kind of an outdated thing now if you're going to a decent sized city. Just look on Plugshare to see where the stations are. If there's not one near where you want to be, drop your car off at the charging station and take a taxi to somewhere you can spend a few hours, like for dinner and/or a movie.

 

[Okami]

Thanks Rocky!

I noticed a lot of the tesla charging stations were at the $$$$ hotels and 66 miles to charge is a 2 hour roundtrip from Charleston. Was hoping to avoid the 450$ CHAdeMo adapter for this trip but looking like it's a good long term purchase.

Thanks for the advice though. Looking at Plugshare there seems to be some in the parking decks downtown.

 

[Robwoodruff]

I have taken several long trips up and down the east coast and around the midwest with plans to stop at super chargers on the long drives and stay at hotels with Tesla chargers at night. I do not have any Chademo adapters, never needed an extension cord and have not paid for any of the electricity or parking. The hotels I have stayed at have not been expensive and so far I have never had any trouble charging when I got there. I do plan ahead and call the hotel and ask if the charger is working. Some chargers are broken or not available even though they are listed on the web site. Most of the hotel managers are excited to see my Tesla and happy I am staying at their hotel because of the charger.

 

[Evoforce]

It really depends on what type of travel you are doing. If you are going into areas off the beaten path, I would be more prepared with cords and adapters as posted above. If prepared, nothing should restrict you. I would add flares and reflective triangles in case of breakdown. If your 12 volt goes bad, no flashers!

 

[Rocky_H]

Thanks Rocky!

I noticed a lot of the tesla charging stations were at the $$$$ hotels and 66 miles to charge is a 2 hour roundtrip from Charleston. Was hoping to avoid the 450$ CHAdeMo adapter for this trip but looking like it's a good long term purchase.

Thanks for the advice though. Looking at Plugshare there seems to be some in the parking decks downtown.

I wouldn't say you need the CHAdeMo adapter if you can arrange to use those stations in the parking garages for one of the days you're there. Take the car into downtown, get a day of charging, while you're roaming around doing stuff, and that should be good. That's kind of what I was planning on a trip to Portland Oregon last year. As it turned out, though, we get into Portland, left the car at the AirBNB house and never moved it the whole time we were there. Portland has a fantastic bus system, and we could get a day pas for $5 to ride all around wherever we wanted without having to worry about parking. It was sweet. I was nervous about figuring out the bus routes and schedules in a city I didn't know, but then I found out Google Maps works miracles. Just enter a destination, choose bus for the travel method, and it will tell you every single step and show where you are on the route, so you know when to get off for your stop--super easy.