2022 M3 LR...First 1500 mile road trip (3k round trip)...suggestions?

[ColoradoMike]

Hi Folks!

Our family (wife/two 50lb dogs) are going to attempt a 1500 mile road trip from Colorado to Southwest Florida in a few weeks. TONS of our friends have said this is not possible in our 2022 M3LR. I think it is possible! Since we purchased our car it is about time for us to see if we can do it!

I want to prove them wrong! We are going to do this in a 24 hr period with me driving and then my wife driving. (we have done this exact trip a couple of times in our SUV and truck, so it is not new to us).

This will be about a 24 hr trip (one way) and I am OK with that. Tesla Online said we have to make about 9 stops. The ABRT program says about the same thing.

Multiple "short stops" around anywhere from 9 minutes to 30 minutes. This should only add about 2 hours to the trip based on a previous "run" to our family in Florida.

For us, a 90 min to 120 min (3hrs max) drive between stops is about what the puppies/myself/my wife can handle. So the long drive is broken up into multiple "realistic" stops would happen if we were not trying to "Cannonball" the entire trip.

I would appreciate any thoughts on this and how to plan! I have a few "goals" on this trip.

1. Friends say you cannot do it and it will add 3 hours to the trip.
- I disagree....it will add some time but not that much.
2. Friends say you cannot charge only on Tesla chargers.
- I disagree...depending on service outages I think it will work fine.
3. One friend stated that it will add WAY more time to a trip.
-This I have to agree with but between two dogs and my wife, I believe stopping many times keeps us both awake and alert!

I tend to drive FASTER than the speed limit and I understand that the SOC will be reduced.....I tend to drive a bit faster than the speed limit....XX +5 to 10mph over. My wife drives at the speed limit.

Anything we should consider? Things we should bring?

I will bring a compressor and a patch kit as we do not have a spare.

Thanks for all your inputs, especially from folks that have done this for the first time!

PS. We have never charged at a supercharger whatsoever! I will plug in at our local one to ensure it works this week.

 

[IronCoffee_Max]

I've done something similar, not to Florida, but 4000 miles there and back. My friend just did CO to FL a couple months ago in his Y LR. It's totally doable. I brought a CCS adapter to handle places where Tesla isn't as good, or where Electrify America was cheaper just to control costs.

I also tend to drive about 125% of the speed limit - about 10 over. I won't go into my big trip list, but here are some specifics to my Tesla road trips:

1. Tire compressor and patch kit - obvious why
2. Mobile charger with my adapters - Never needed it, but could come handy in case something happens
3. CCS Adapter - I charge 75% at SC and 25% at CCS chargers.
4. Water bottles and towels - the model 3 tends to get bug crap on it's windshields more than any of my other cars. Often down south I have to stop and wipe them off or scrub them off. Also, it's helpful if you're at a 150kW SC and the handle gets hot - the cold water and a towel or cloth wrapped around the handle can help the speed.

Otherwise…just a standard road trip. I'd also make sure you have:

1. Plugshare installed - login, use it once or twice around you to get filtering right
2. Chargepoint, Electrify America, EVGo apps installed. Just better to have them just in case. In TX there were some spots where only EA was available, and one where EVGo was. You don't want to be trying to login/set them up when you're trying to charge.
3. ABRP as a backup. I prefer Tesla nav, but ABRP is great as a backup.
4. Waze.

 

[Konicom04]

I want to prove them wrong! We are going to do this in a 24 hr period with me driving and then my wife driving. (we have done this exact trip a couple of times in our SUV and truck, so it is not new to us).

Prove them wrong! Its easy, and you'll love it .

Just follow the in-car planner, and use ABRT for reference ( I personally didn't have too good of an experience with ARBT, but it was a good backup)

Went from Chicago to KeyWest and back with absolute ease. All in pretty much 5 days ( drive alone 26 hrs roughly each way )
Pretty much exact time the in-car planner estimated)

 

[theothertom]

Look at your route on the Tesla nav or plugshare. If superchargers are plentiful and on your route, then I wouldn't worry about CCS adapter and all the other charging apps. I would take my J1772 adapter for charging at hotels.
Instead of navigating to your final destination, navigate from supercharger to supercharger. That way, the battery will precondition for faster charging. The nav system will tell you the expected arrival state of charge. Also watch the energy screen from time to time to make sure you're on "schedule". Note that charging really slows down above 80% or so, so it's usually faster to leave and go to the next supercharger for a quick charge.
We take a basket of snacks, paper towels and plates. That way we can eat in the car while it's charging. Windshield cleaner, like Windex, is also helpful.

 

[Grabthar]

I've done a few cross country drives and had no problems. I only charged at Tesla superchargers - never needed to charge somewhere else.

 

[Konicom04]

I tend to drive FASTER than the speed limit and I understand that the SOC will be reduced.....I tend to drive a bit faster than the speed limit....XX +5 to 10mph over. My wife drives at the speed limit.

Anything we should consider? Things we should bring?

I will bring a compressor and a patch kit as we do not have a spare.

Thanks for all your inputs, especially from folks that have done this for the first time!

PS. We have never charged at a supercharger whatsoever! I will plug in at our local one to ensure it works this week.

I bought a spare tire kit just for the peace of mind. It takes up room. I had it "parked" behind the passenger seat, which actually helped make it a nice sleeping bed for wife stretched across the back seat.

I drove at 78 mph almost exclusively, The planner does a great job accounting for that. We also did it early march, so outside colder temperatures had an impact on range.

Autopilot is a game changer.

 

[Konicom04]

ABRP says 31 hours from Denver to Tampa, not sure what your actual route is, but doing it under 24 is impossible

THIS :

Look at your route on the Tesla nav or plugshare. If superchargers are plentiful and on your route, then I wouldn't worry about CCS adapter and all the other charging apps. I would take my J1772 adapter for charging at hotels.

ABRP - other than backup or refference - didn't add any value for me , was locking up ( perhaps my phone), and was less intuitive to use.
It does have more customizable options so that's a plus

 

[ColoradoMike]

I've done something similar, not to Florida, but 4000 miles there and back. My friend just did CO to FL a couple months ago in his Y LR. It's totally doable. I brought a CCS adapter to handle places where Tesla isn't as good, or where Electrify America was cheaper just to control costs.

I also tend to drive about 125% of the speed limit - about 10 over. I won't go into my big trip list, but here are some specifics to my Tesla road trips:

1. Tire compressor and patch kit - obvious why
2. Mobile charger with my adapters - Never needed it, but could come handy in case something happens
3. CCS Adapter - I charge 75% at SC and 25% at CCS chargers.
4. Water bottles and towels - the model 3 tends to get bug crap on it's windshields more than any of my other cars. Often down south I have to stop and wipe them off or scrub them off. Also, it's helpful if you're at a 150kW SC and the handle gets hot - the cold water and a towel or cloth wrapped around the handle can help the speed.

Otherwise…just a standard road trip. I'd also make sure you have:

1. Plugshare installed - login, use it once or twice around you to get filtering right
2. Chargepoint, Electrify America, EVGo apps installed. Just better to have them just in case. In TX there were some spots where only EA was available, and one where EVGo was. You don't want to be trying to login/set them up when you're trying to charge.
3. ABRP as a backup. I prefer Tesla nav, but ABRP is great as a backup.
4. Waze.

Waze had never let me down!

1. Compressor and patch kit is already in the plan! Thanks for the validation!
2. Mobile charger will definitely be there! With adapters and a cord for backup!
3. Not certain we need that. I am going to see if we do not need that. Good advice though!
4. Car will be packed up with Ice and waters as well as dog stuff.....we always carry towels for the dogs but did not know about "handle gets hot" so will prep for that!

Is "plugshare/chargepoint/electrify America necessary? We are trying to do this on a TESLA only network but would like your thoughts!

I've done a few cross country drives and had no problems. I only charged at Tesla superchargers - never needed to charge somewhere else.

Thanks....we are doing this for a few reasons. I would like to simply see if ONLY a Tesla Supercharger network will make this work. but as @AlexParker mentioned it would be good to have a backup plan .... Just in Case!

ABRP says 31 hours from Denver to Tampa, not sure what your actual route is, but doing it under 24 is impossible

@XPsionic Good question....will see if this works......I believe it is "doable"...not certain why it is "impossible"...... ABRP says its at around 25 hrs....

 

[XPsionic]

ABRP - other than backup or refference - didn't add any value for me , was locking up ( perhaps my phone), and was less intuitive to use.
It does have more customizable options so that's a plus

ABRP is very accurate for trip planning, I don't use it in the car or on the phone however.

You said 1500 miles so I'm assuming you're going to the west side of FL instead of down to Tampa.

Looks easily doable in 24 hours. It's now 2023 and there are sooooo many superchargers on the way. Even if some of them are out of service (extremely rare) you'll have no issues finding an alternate on the same route.

Honestly it's nothing to sweat over, looks super easy to do in a LR on the Supercharger network.

What I do on a trip is to take a screenshot or print out on ABRP, then just use the in car navigation. The in car nav is usually more conservative than ABRP, so while on route if I see that the car can make it to the chargers as specified on ABRP, AND the charger is operational, I'll just drive to those ones and stick to the ABRP plan.

This way I can try to stick to the more efficient ABRP plan, but at the same time take advantage of the real time supercharger station data (if they're open, or if they're 150kw V2 stations that's more than half full, I avoid those cuz they're slow)

 

[ColoradoMike]

ABRP is very accurate for trip planning, I don't use it in the car or on the phone however.

View attachment 931444

You said 1500 miles so I'm assuming you're going to the west side of FL instead of down to Tampa.

Looks easily doable in 24 hours. It's now 2023 and there are sooooo many superchargers on the way. Even if some of them are out of service (extremely rare) you'll have no issues finding an alternate on the same route.

Honestly it's nothing to sweat over, looks super easy to do in a LR on the Supercharger network.

What I do on a trip is to take a screenshot or print out on ABRP, then just use the in car navigation. The in car nav is usually more conservative than ABRP, so while on route if see that the car can make it to the chargers as specified on ABRP, AND it's operational, I'll just drive to those ones and stick to the ABRP plan.

This way I can try to stick to the more efficient ABRP plan, but at the same time take advantage of the real time supercharger station data (if they're open, or if they're 150kw V2 stations that's more than half full, I avoid those cuz they're slow)

YES!!! I have run this "three ways from Sunday" and your plot shows what I have seen! The Tesla app said pretty close to that as well!

Outstanding suggestion on printing things out! I already did this just like we do with our SUV/Truck.....

When I run the "scenario" in ABRP (not a subscriber) and I run it again on the Tesla thing we come up with just about the same!


Am I missing something?

 

[Konicom04]

YES!!! I have run this "three ways from Sunday" and your plot shows what I have seen! The Tesla app said pretty close to that as well!

Outstanding suggestion on printing things out! I already did this just like we do with our SUV/Truck.....

When I run the "scenario" in ABRP (not a subscriber) and I run it again on the Tesla thing we come up with just about the same!


Am I missing something?

They should be very similar.
What ABRP helped me with was on my last trip, where i wanted to arrive with at least 50% SOC at destination. In-car nav does not have such option, and so you'll arrive at your destination with minimal SOC as if you had a way to charge there.
Another stop close to destination was suggested by ABRP to bring SOC up to where i set it before departure ( 50%)

Something to consider.

 

[IdaX]

Easy trip of course, as you'll soon discover. Only one thing to add: if you have a chance to overnight at a J1772 or a destination charger, strongly consider it. Nice to start the day with 100% (or 90%) battery, and it saves you a half-hour supercharging stop. If you don't overnight at a destination charger, then make sure that you supercharge BEFORE you go to sleep, and not in the morning -- supercharging can be slow on a cold battery that's frozen overnight!

Come back when you're done and tell us how it went!

 

[XPsionic]

YES!!! I have run this "three ways from Sunday" and your plot shows what I have seen! The Tesla app said pretty close to that as well!

Outstanding suggestion on printing things out! I already did this just like we do with our SUV/Truck.....

When I run the "scenario" in ABRP (not a subscriber) and I run it again on the Tesla thing we come up with just about the same!


Am I missing something?

Oh no, probably not missing anything. Looks like going through Jackson is the fastest route. Any other way and it takes an extra hour or so at least. From my experience road tripping from LA to Denver and back, the only real hiccup to the timeline is Version 2 Superchargers @ 150kw being more than half full. Those ones can add quite a bit of charging time if you're unlucky.

I'm playing around with ABRP to see if you could exclusively use V3 250kw chargers and still make it to your destination at around the same time.

 

[ColoradoMike]

They should be very similar.
What ABRP helped me with was on my last trip, where i wanted to arrive with at least 50% SOC at destination. In-car nav does not have such option, and so you'll arrive at your destination with minimal SOC as if you had a way to charge there.
Something to consider.

Correct! We want to arrive at Destin Fla with at least 50% on the charge so we can drive to our previous house and come back.

Easy trip of course, as you'll soon discover. Only one thing to add: if you have a chance to overnight at a J1772 or a destination charger, strongly consider it. Nice to start the day with 100% (or 90%) battery, and it saves you a half-hour supercharging stop. If you don't overnight at a destination charger, then make sure that you supercharge BEFORE you go to sleep, and not in the morning -- supercharging can be slow on a cold battery that's frozen overnight!

Come back when you're done and tell us how it went!

I agree! For us we would like to arrive at about 50% as that allows us to drive around and see things we have missed over the years. Tesla Superchargers seem to be few and far between in the Panhandle of FLA.

 

[XPsionic]

@ColoradoMike ABRP says to use this route when I told it to avoid the 150kw chargers and exclusively use 250kw ones. You could consider this route, only 9 minutes longer, but since you'll avoid 4x 150kw chargers, it's possible that this way's actually faster, and you won't have to rely as much on luck. Sharing 150kw caps the charging speed at 72kw, which is doubly bad news when you arrive at a very low state of battery charge (5-15%) since your car would be capable of pulling like 200kw max.

 

[IdaX]

@ColoradoMike ABRP says to use this route when I told it to avoid the 150kw chargers and exclusively use 250kw ones. You could consider this route, only 9 minutes longer, but since you'll avoid 4x 150kw chargers, it's possible that this way's actually faster, and you won't have to rely as much on luck. Sharing 150kw caps the charging speed at 72kw, which is doubly bad news when you arrive at a very low state of battery charge (5-15%) since your car would be capable of pulling like 200kw max.

Meanwhile, for those of us outside of California or the Northeast Corridor, chargers are rarely very full. 150kW chargers are fine in the middle of the country where you'll be, and don't need to be avoided really...

 

[XPsionic]

Meanwhile, for those of us outside of California or the Northeast Corridor, chargers are rarely very full. 150kW chargers are fine in the middle of the country where you'll be, and don't need to be avoided really...

I guess, it wasn't the case when I was travelling through parts of Utah, it was pretty annoying to hit 2 x 150kW chargers in a row that was more than 50% full. Most of the chargers were either not full at all or V3 though, so usually it's not something of concern.

 

[theothertom]

I haven't been to all the chargers you show on the two routes, but I have been to Mobile. IMO, it's poorly located and should be avoided if possible.
Lafayette is good, Covington is good, D'iberville (Biloxi) is good. Avoid Baton Rouge supercharger due to traffic if possible. There's a new one off hwy 61
(Airline Hwy) in Baton Rouge that should be a better stop than the one in Baton Rouge along I-12/10.

 

[Olle]

Piece of cake! I have done just as long a trip a MYLR, which has less highway range than your M3LR. 3 and Y charge so fast at the newest superchargers that it's almost shocking. Didn't even have time to go to the bathroom and buy a cup of coffee before the car was ready to go, let alone eat breakfast, lunch or dinner.

I've noticed that when I have tried to override the charging stops with my own ideas or with ABRP, the battery doesn't always precondition and charging takes much longer. At this point Tesla's built in navigation is good enough that's it's usually not worth trying to outsmart it.

 

[RedModel3]

I haven't done trips this long, but I've done multiple trips from Nashville to Wisconsin and Nashville to Dallas. Supercharging has never been a problem, and I always check the overall navigation, and then navigate from SC to SC to precondition. While I'm at one supercharger, I'll check out the nav to the next one. If the weather is good or there is traffic (to keep my speed down), then I'll be sure to charge just enough to get to the next SC. If the weather is bad or I might be going faster, then I'll charge a bit extra.