2200 mile round trip drive: M3LR or ICE?

[phishphan]

I am very familiar with this route and will actually be doing 80% of the route next week in our Model 3. A couple things.

Driving this route heading east is usually much easier than heading west. The winds and temps along I 80 in southern WY can be brutal but they are generally much worse and constant during the winter.

I am going to try out the smaller Supercharger in Cheyenne and skip Laramie. The Laramie Supercharger sucks because there is nothing near it at all. Even getting to a gas station is a sketchy walk.

Having access to a charger at your destination makes everything better.

Your first long trip in an EV feels like a bit of an adventure and can be a lot of fun. You will learn it wasn't worth the hype, but it doesn't mean you can't enjoy it.

FYI in Dec through March I would take your ICE or maybe try the I-70 route.

Great tips. Thank you!

 

[phishphan]

I just did a 5,000 miles road trip, our first EV one.
A few observations:

1) When you are driving along these long stretches switch from the map view to the trip consumption view. This is the burndown chart that shows what battery level you will arrive with. It's pretty good. If the arrival percentage drops below 10% just drop your speed by 5mph and keep an eye on it for the next 15 minutes. If it's still dropping then lower your speed another 5mph. If you will arrive with more than 10% you can increase your speed by 5mph. This honestly gets rid of all range anxiety and is very useful for sudden wind which, if a headwind at like 20mph, is brutal on battery usage.
2) When you are charging the Tesla will eventually say you have enough to continue the trip. Charge another 5 minutes at first until you get used to all this.
3) Don't rely on the charger at the hotel being available, especially if you check in late. Chances are another EV will be hooked up or it may be blocked by an ICE car. This tends to be a problem if the chargers are in convenient spots near the entrance vs round the back. I select hotels with superchargers not far away as my backup.
4) To save time charging you should supercharge in the evening while the battery is warm vs in the morning when the battery will be cold. And make sure you are using the Tesla nav so that it preconditions the battery on your way to the charger so it charges as fast as possible. Bear in mind this process can take anywhere from 5-20 minutes so if you arrive at the hotel, then decide you want to pop over to the superchargers 3 mins down the road and set them as the destination in the nav, the preconditioning wont have time to heat up the battery fully before you get there.
5) The Tesla nav, on high speed interstate, will typically have you stopping every 2 hours. This is when you stretch your legs and use the restroom. Typically we found that it would take us about 15 mins to do that and get back to the car which normally only wants 15-20mins of charging at most so you're not waiting much if at all. Your lunch/dinner stops mean you will be away from the car for at least 45minutes and your problem there will be getting back to it before it hits 100% and you start being charged idle fees. Many times we got back to the car with 96% charge, far, far more than the route planner wanted, and that was after eating pretty quick and settling the check before we finished eating...
6) Try and avoid sharing a Supercharger with another car (make sure you are on a different number, eg if you see a car on 1a don't use 1b, use 2a or 2b etc. the numbers are on the bottom, if there is no number then they don't share anyway.
7) Bring glass cleaner and some microfiber towels to clean your windshield, there likely won't be anything provided at the chargers to do so as there often is at gas stations.
8) You can check what facilities are at a Supercharger location using the built in Nav (click on the icons beneath the supercharger info card, for restaurants etc. Or use google/apple maps. In some locations the charhers are in hotel parking lots with no food etc nearby. You may want to go through a drive thru just before you stop to charge so you have something with you to eat/drink etc.
9) If you stop every 2 hours or so in your gas car for the restroom or drinks/snacks etc and a 45 minutes lunch, then a 10 hour gas trip (including stops) becomes 10.5 hours in a Tesla if you are good at optimizing.
10) Rock chips are a part of motoring life, however you can avoid 99% of them by keeping several lengths behind the vehicle in front, especially a truck. Most people in this country travel far too close to the vehicle in front, which is also why we have such big pile ups when something goes wrong...

Excellent, thank you for sharing!

 

[phishphan]

Wow, so much good advice in here! Thank you all so much!

 

[STS-134]

4) Absolutely good advice. If you wait until morning to charge you will think something isn’t working.

6) Version 3 and urban (72kW) superchargers don’t share.

They actually do, but they all share from the same pool. If the usage on the entire site exceeds the transformer capacity, everyone gets throttled.

 

[ruby110]

They actually do, but they all share from the same pool. If the usage on the entire site exceeds the transformer capacity, everyone gets throttled.

Ok, but that’s not the same issue.

 

[bradtem]

I've done 5,000 mile trips in a mid-range, far off the supercharger network, no big problem. You want your Tesla with its fun to drive performance and the much lower cost of operation. I do recommend you bring the CCS or CHAdeMO adapter (if you can get them in time from Korea) -- no worry reselling them on eBay when done if you want, for more than you paid, probably. But it's not a must, it just gives you more options in certain places, more peace of mind.

It actually takes zero time to charge if you do it right:

• Where convenient and not vastly more money, stay at hotels with charging and leave in the morning full. Be willing to pay $25 extra for such a hotel than a similar one without it. Maybe more depending on budget. Charge while you sleep, zero time out of your day and better for your car, and free at most such hotels.
• Eat lunch at your first supercharge. Maybe a late lunch. You can drive 4 hours or so in a long range if foolishly not stopping to smell the roses. Pick the supercharger with the best food near it. (Best to use google maps to browse the food with ratings.) Because you are eating lunch your car will be charged by the time you finish the meal, so it took zero time.
• If you are putting in more than 500 miles/day, slow down, and charge again at your next hotel. If doing more, or no charging at hotel, consider charging over dinner. One risk -- in some places charging at dinner time costs 2x charging at lunch. (some places are also high at lunch, some don't change during the day.) Still less than the gasoline in most ICE cars though, unless you rent a Prius.

Follow this approach and you will spend less time charging than you would have spent filling up with gasoline.

 

[SteelClouds]

Eat lunch at your first supercharge. Maybe a late lunch. You can drive 4 hours or so in a long range if foolishly not stopping to smell the roses. Pick the supercharger with the best food near it. (Best to use google maps to browse the food with ratings.) Because you are eating lunch your car will be charged by the time you finish the meal, so it took zero time

We did this often when we did our last trip. We also booked two hotels specifically because they had chargers. I made a point of telling the owners of both ( small places) that I booked them because of the chargers. They were pleased to hear it and both said they had seen a small uptick since putting chargers in.

We didnt raise our nose to the slow 7Kw chargers either. We found a couple of Dennys that had chargers and happily took our free 10 miles or so of juice. We also found 7Kw chargers available at a few dinner houses which we made use of.

 

[bradtem]

We did this often when we did our last trip. We also booked two hotels specifically because they had chargers. I made a point of telling the owners of both ( small places) that I booked them because of the chargers. They were pleased to hear it and both said they had seen a small uptick since putting chargers in.

We didnt raise our nose to the slow 7Kw chargers either. We found a couple of Dennys that had chargers and happily took our free 10 miles or so of juice. We also found 7Kw chargers available at a few dinner houses which we made use of.

Yes. While I almost never use 7kw chargers around town, I will use them if available when I stop for various things. (Obviously hotel chargers are great and charge you fully overnight.)

1. Yes, picking up an extra 20-30 miles does help in various ways. It's usually cheaper than current SC prices. In fact, many are still free. Tesla destination chargers at restaurants are almost always free for diners.
2. Sometimes the charging spot is a good parking spot, and sometimes the ICE drivers even keep it clear. If it's not a convenient spot, I may or many not use it.
3. The extra miles give you more choice about where you supercharge, putting a new one in safe range for you. The new one may be in a better place, or have better food. Or even be reachable with less charge (which means faster charging.) Example, with 120 left there might be a charger 50 miles away and 120 miles away. Pick up an extra 20 and you can now aim for the 120 mile distant supercharger, and charge faster there.

I sometimes will also even plug in level 1 at motels that do not have charging but do have a plug. It gets me 50-70 miles extra which is nothing to sneeze at and opens up new options. And if staying 2 nights at a hotel, you can double that. I also stay sometimes at hotels with RV parks. A 50A RV plug is a full charge, and a TT-30 plug is 100 extra miles or more if you have the adapter, which is definitely nothing to sneeze at. I stayed nights at an inn with a TT-30 plug out back and effectively got closer to full even with 70 miles driving on the middle day.

On the other hand, I try very hard not to dine at low quality chain food at my stops, and sadly that is most of what you find at superchargers. But there is almost always one local restaurant of decent quality and I go to it. So no Denny's. On a road trip we also carry a table and spare chair. If there are no good food options at the supercharger, we look for good local take-out on the way to the charger, phone in an order, and pick it up on the way, then pull out the table and chair at the supercharger (use passenger seat for other chair.) This is not always the best picnic site, but it opens up a lot better food choices. Or bring 2 chairs and a nicer table. Google maps with its food ratings is your indespensible tool. It even has a feature to hunt for things along your route and shows you how much detour they are.

 

[SteelClouds]

On the other hand, I try very hard not to dine at low quality chain food at my stops, and sadly that is most of what you find at superchargers. But there is almost always one local restaurant of decent quality and I go to it. So no Denny's. On a road trip we also carry a table and spare chair. If there are no good food options at the supercharger, we look for good local take-out on the way to the charger, phone in an order, and pick it up on the way, then pull out the table and chair at the supercharger (use passenger seat for other chair.)

Yeah.. When I was on the road in AZ, I only found a couple of SCs with decent food choices. Most were fast food. The worst was at the mid point between LA and Vegas.. Baker.. 40 stalls and bad food. Either gas station food or over priced Daily Queen that was just bad.. ugly bad..

I like the idea of a fold up table and chair.. didnt have that and I can see where that would have been handy. I did do a few orders " on the road".. I also used the local equivalent of door dash in Sedona where the nearest SC is 15 miles away and I wanted to conserve my current charge for the morning departure. Turned out to be a good idea.. Very good food delivered right to my hotel room ( they didnt have any dining at this place) and coupled with the small garden out the sliding door, it was very nice. No mess.. no fuss.

I'm thinking we need a road trip thread of eatery reviews.. where have you eaten on your road trip.

The picture is my patio garden in Sedona at Sky Ranch Lodge

 

[bradtem]

Yeah.. When I was on the road in AZ, I only found a couple of SCs with decent food choices. Most were fast food. The worst was at the mid point between LA and Vegas.. Baker.. 40 stalls and bad food. Either gas station food or over priced Daily Queen that was just bad.. ugly bad..

I like the idea of a fold up table and chair.. didnt have that and I can see where that would have been handy. I did do a few orders " on the road".. I also used the local equivalent of door dash in Sedona where the nearest SC is 15 miles away and I wanted to conserve my current charge for the morning departure. Turned out to be a good idea.. Very good food delivered right to my hotel room ( they didnt have any dining at this place) and coupled with the small garden out the sliding door, it was very nice. No mess.. no fuss.

I'm thinking we need a road trip thread of eatery reviews.. where have you eaten on your road trip.

The picture is my patio garden in Sedona at Sky Ranch Lodge

Ah Baker. Yes, that's a tough one. Jersey Mike's subs is passable but not open late, but still chain fast. I have written that in fact what would be nice in the future would be a partnership with Tesla and various food delivery companies within a few miles of the charger. (This doesn't help at Baker.)

1. As you nav to the charger, your car presents a set of restaurant partners, and some quick easy set meals you can pick while driving, though ideally a passenger does this or you pull over.
2. The restaurant is told your charger ETA, and gets updates on this as you drive there.
3. The delivery driver meets you at the charger just as you pull up. They bring a folding chair and table. If necessary, these can be secured to lock-hoops in the charging area if security is an issue. May also bring an umbrella for the table.
4. Some time later, other delivery drivers bringing food for other drivers/waiters clean tables or take them down, even pick up plates and cutlery. One final run is needed after last meal. Tables may go back to a different restaurant in the pool and get redistributed if there is imbalance

This would be improved if Tesla built small eating huts at the station. Of course, Kettleman City would be wonderful everywhere but we're not gong to get that, but some picnic tables with shade/rain protection would be a great start at many chargers. If you have this, you don't need this fancy plan -- any takeout and most delivery places would do the job as long as the delivery is assured not to happen before, or too long after, you arrive.

However, today, I don't get anything this fancy. Mostly I look around for well rated examples of the classic easy take-out foods -- Chinese or Thai, maybe Pizza, etc. and pick them up. There is a great Taco Truck right as you are driving into the Red Bluff supercharger, better than the restaurants right next to it. Try out El Gallo Giro.

Let me add that this has become particularly important during the Covid era. I always try to dine outdoors, and when the weather is nice, why dine indoors anyway? Bring that table and chair and you can dine outdoors even at a restaurant with only indoor covid spreading seats.

 

[phishphan]

Thursday is the day! Range anxiety is getting more real even with all of the reassurances and excellent advice.

Also, I like the idea of food reviews at supercharger stations! Maybe I’ll start a thread about that for a chunk of I-80.

 

[DrGriz]

Thursday is the day! Range anxiety is getting more real even with all of the reassurances and excellent advice.

Also, I like the idea of food reviews at supercharger stations! Maybe I’ll start a thread about that for a chunk of I-80.

You'll have a great trip, and it will cure your range anxiety. Looking forward to your food reviews!

 

[phishphan]

You'll have a great trip, and it will cure your range anxiety. Looking forward to your food reviews!

Thanks! And I think it will as well.

 

[JVINFL]

Let's see:
1>. Tesla has "fun factor" over any truck unless your off-roading.
2> Tesla much much more economical over the truck

Most importantly, it's a car, you bought it to drive so drive it! Wear and tear happens unless you just bought it to be a "Garage Queen"

 

[phishphan]

Let's see:
1>. Tesla has "fun factor" over any truck unless your off-roading.
2> Tesla much much more economical over the truck

Most importantly, it's a car, you bought it to drive so drive it! Wear and tear happens unless you just bought it to be a "Garage Queen"

I get it, but for my entire driving life I’ve always had the get there as fast as possible approach when on road trips. This is going to be a complete change for how I approach the trip (and I’ve accepted this) so it’s just all new.

 

[ThomasD]

Are there a lot of charging stations in areas with 24 hour services?

 

[phishphan]

Are there a lot of charging stations in areas with 24 hour services?

Ha, I haven’t checked about the services available. I thought I had the bases covered. I was wrong. That said, we shouldn’t need 24/7 services as we will be done by 6pm each night in theory.

 

[bradtem]

Thursday is the day! Range anxiety is getting more real even with all of the reassurances and excellent advice.

Also, I like the idea of food reviews at supercharger stations! Maybe I’ll start a thread about that for a chunk of I-80.

While you can do them, the truth is there's already tons of reviews for almost all places in Google maps, or Yelp. When I approach an area with charging, my first step is to look at the food at every charger, looking for non-chain places rating 4.4 or above. There is usually one. That's how I pick which charger in many cases, though I might get mildly swayed by charging speed or once my free miles run out, charging cost.

24 hour services are rare, and if they are there, they are low-grade food, so I try to avoid that if I can. Better to get take-out or bring a picnic. Get a cooler or 12v fridge. (Sadly 12v fridges have problems in Tesla which shut the 12v jack down when the car sleeps, and drain 250w to run a 35w fridge if you have the car stay away. Stupid. I now keep a power bank between the car and the fridge to power the fridge when the car is asleep, or alternately leave ice in the fridge which kinda defeats the point.)

 

[GregD60]

Are there a lot of charging stations in areas with 24 hour services?

If you're looking for a bathroom or somewhere to get some water, almost every supercharger station that I've been to has been within a short walk of a gas station, hotel, or some kind of market that's open 24 hours. That includes some moderately out of the way places in New Mexico, Utah, and Colorado. The one exception I've run into was in Green River, UT, where the restaurant across the street closes at 10pm. There's probably others, but they're the exception. As far as good places to eat or other services, it's totally variable and best to look up ahead of time.

 

[phishphan]

Ok, starting to feel a bit better about this. Again, I can’t thank you all enough for the great tips, advice, and real world experiences especially on this particular route. Obviously Wyoming was my biggest concern but if I stop an extra two times for 10-15 minutes, who cares?