Am I crazy thinking of driving North this month

[Darmie]

Over the Thanksgiving holiday, we took a trip in our new S over to see our new granddaughter & grandson in Myrtle Beach SC from Lake Charles LA.

Working in construction you don’t get much time off to plan anything but this month we will be shut down for 10 days over the two holidays. This gives us a chance to consider doing another Grand tour to Rhode Island where my Son lives to see another new grandson and his big brother, Darmie the 4th.

But, I must leave this up to the experts here to help me consider traveling North in our New S.

Two main concerns I have in addition to a possible bad storm is, the car is only RWD and second, not sure the best plan of approach to gauge cold weather driving and super charger stops. To me, cold weather is a new variable in calculating each SC stop. I’ve been looking at ev trip planner and determine a few things. Most examples it routes me up through 81. When I drop the temp down, the route is then up through 71 to 70 then across. This usually adds approx. 200 extra miles. Up through 95 is an option but I rather cross the Tappen Zee bridge. I looked at a better route planner to round out things. It will also report most routes through 81 as well.

I D/L EVTO Tesla for the second time. The first time I did not fully understand all the benefits. Though after reading through their FAQ and the web site, I have a better appreciation of what it offers. One thing I do like is from what I understand, it takes in account the temperature of the route and is updated every 6 hours.

I guess what I’m getting at is, all this looks doable but considering RWD, being new to ownership and driving into a potential nightmare, is it worth the risk to get back home on time? I thank you in advance for any and all the input from the fine experts here.

 

[SM18]

From what I've seen on here, RWD isn't really an issue for EVs in winter. I can't really speak to how much range will be affected on your trips by the temperature though. Most seem to recommend having the car top off a bit before heading out so the battery is warm.

 

[redan]

I don't see any problems at all. There are a great many Tesla owners in the northeast, many with RWD. It's also easy to go directly from 95 North in NJ to the Garden State Parkway North and head over the Tappan Zee Bridge. Plenty of Superchargers along that route as well. I say go for it.

 

[Galve2000]

This route is full of SuperChargers and is a pretty easy drive. While I would not attempt same if you are not comfortable driving during a snow storm, its not like it is constantly snowing up here -- in fact NYC is having its first snow fall as we speak and everything is looking like a winter wonderland. They have probably seem more snow up in RI than we have here but still I don't think you will have any problem on major roads and highways.

in terms of range, I would try to replenish at least 50% more than what you need to make it to your next SC or your destination (you won't really need that much, but it can be a worry-free way to road trip with your Model S and you can decrease the buffer as you get more comfortable driving in the colder climates.

does your son have a place for you to charge your Model S? how far is his place form the nearest SC?

 

[David29]

For assurance and safety, I'd consider putting on snow tires for your trip. Even though you probably don't normally need them where you live, they could provide a big margin of traction and safety if you run into snow during your trip.

 

[Darmie]

does your son have a place for you to charge your Model S? how far is his place form the nearest SC?

Perfect. There is one approx 20 miles away and to worried being there, we'll probably be there for just a few days anyway.
Thanks again for all the input. This is just what I needed.
David29 the best advise, I have some time to consider.
Also, found my answer. (Just the drive wheels)

 

[tga]

I have a RWD P85+. With snow tires, it's fine here in northern NH. In really cold weather, you should have no problems getting 200+ miles on a full charge if you stick to the speed limit. There are lots of SC's on I-95; you should be fine.

Without snow tires, I'd respect Mother Nature and not drive during the height of a snow storm, but once the roads are plowed and cleared, you'll be fine.

 

[Darmie]

We are doing it. Thanks all for the replies.

Anyone interested, day one over.

 

[pfremm]

Just in my first cold weather trip myself with my 75D. The key is really a warm battery. I’ve gotten around 320-340 going between 70-75 mph with some Hill. I highly suggest checking and filling your tires when they were cold as I had about 5lb to fill per tire when the temps dropped to the 20s. Just don’t expect to preheat the car and charge at the same time with a 5-15. It doesn’t seem to be able to do it. I’ve invested in a 5-20 adapter and spent the $3 on the outlet since the circuit was on a 20 amp breaker and had 12 gauge wire and that’s helped a lot.

 

[Joshib]

Very interesting read. I plan to drive from North East Pa to North East Ar in the middle of January in my Model S 75D so I am eager to see how you make out. Good Luck

 

[Darmie]

Agree on the tires! Mine were low when we started out. Aired up to 46 cold and they actually only go up about a degree or so on the road. The front tires will stay at the higher pressure when you are supercharging due to the battery cooling vents directly to the front tires. We arrived to Rhode Island last night, late. We really did have good weather considering the storm that was going through the area due to the warm temperature. Today it stayed cold. Two more days to visit, then we are off to Ohio to see friends, then head back South. This morning I noticed regen brakes with a few dotted lines but nothing that takes away from the experience. One small hiccup with the passenger door handle getting stuck when it's pulled on to open door that started today. I'll have to look that up.

Anyone interested, Day two travels are now uploaded.

 

[Joshib]

Hope you made it home safely today and the snow was not too much of a problem. In a week or so we plan to drive to North East Arkansas with our Tesla S75D from Bethlehem, Pa via Cleveland Oh, too. Any pointers you may have would be greatly appreciated. We have the same color too! We bought ours in September from the Tesla team in Paramus NJ.

 

[jerry33]

I drove my RWD 85S up to Thunder Bay last winter. No issues. RWD isn't an issue with good winter tires or severe service all-seasons. Because of the 50-50 weight distribution, there isn't the issue that ICE RWD cars face.

 

[Darmie]

We got back last night. We had a blast, the Tesla was amazing. Small issue with a door handle that the service center in NJ got us in and out in no time. We did not encounter any bad weather, and felt very fortunate.
Our last video if interested.

 

[Darmie]

Hope you made it home safely today and the snow was not too much of a problem. In a week or so we plan to drive to North East Arkansas with our Tesla S75D from Bethlehem, Pa via Cleveland Oh, too. Any pointers you may have would be greatly appreciated. We have the same color too! We bought ours in September from the Tesla team in Paramus NJ.

Hi Josh, Wow, what great people at the Pramus NJ service center. When we stopped in there on our way up for a charge I was unaware it was a service center. We had a stuck door handle when we arrived to Rhode Island. On our way back, I knew I would be coming through so we called the day before our arrival and they were able to fit us in and got us back on the road in no time. We did not see much snow at all and feel well blessed of great weather. Coming through the Pocono Mountains at night heading to Ohio we did start seeing some flurries. Not much of a concern although they started sticking to the road. It was a reality check for sure. I just slowed down and stayed behind the trucks.

Start each morning with a little heat in the cabin before you hop in. I think the updated firmware and app also warms up the batteries as well. Hotels that you can, charge up in the morning if you have the time to spare. If not, charge at night for the morning charge will be much slower due to cold batteries. The only thing you loose I find with cold batteries is your regen is limited. I find this not an issue for we are on the interstate and really don't need to use brakes. Once the batteries reach 65-69 deg's full regen is available. (Noted by TM SPY). I would recommend the app EVTO Tesla to help with planning and knowing your chargers along the way. The Tesla may want to skip some chargers and I find it quicker to not miss a charger so not to do full charges on each leg. The Tesla does a good job knowing when you have enough power to continue but I came up with my own calculation to back that up. I take the miles to the next charger and multiply by 1.2. This factors in 5-7 miles over the speed limit. During the day I will add 20, and at night I would add 30 just for more confidences at night if i missed my exit ect ect. On the cold morning starts or traveling up the mountains I would buffer in an extra 40 miles. An example would be if the leg was 100 miles, I would multiply 1.2 = 120, then add 20 for day or 30 at night, so at night it would be 150 rated miles that I would need. As I am charging, once I seen 150 miles on the rated miles, I would depart. I call that 150 miles need as my launch number. If you are doing a snack or restroom break, keep the car charging. That would be less miles needed at next charge location. Now the reason you want to factor a 40 to 45 mile buffer on cold morning is the car uses much much more power when you first start off up to around 20 or 30 miles. No expert here but I think that due to electric cabin heat being used. I also think that when the drive motor gets warm, the car uses some of the heat off of the motor to warm the cabin. I would also select range mode to help with managing cabin heat and not use extra rated miles. I could feel the difference (lack of cabin heat ) selecting that as well. When you feel you have extra power, turn range mode off to have good cabin heat if needed. Take it for what it's worth, we are just amateur Tesla owners and learning along the way.

 

[Electric700]

Really nice videos Darmie, thanks! Glad you had a nice trip.

Happy New Year!

 

[Joshib]

Darmie, thank you for your response and suggestions. Second Electric700 ‘s comment on the Videos.

 

[Shock-On-T]

Lovely videos mate, you guys look like you had a lot of fun.
I've really gotta start videoing some of my trips here in Australia. So much hassle editing!

 

[Darmie]

Lovely videos mate, you guys look like you had a lot of fun.
I've really gotta start videoing some of my trips here in Australia. So much hassle editing!

It can be. I would recommend windows movie maker if you have windows. That's what I have used for years. i just D/L Hitfilm 4 and trust me, movie maker does some of the simple things easy. Vlogging is new for me and the hardest part is getting in front of the camera and knowing what to say. Once you have an idea of the things you want in the video, it becomes easy. Also don't be scared to keep the camera handy if you are driving around some cool places. You really can use your phone for most everything. Then import all clips in your program in order. Cut out the parts you messed up at or things that are boring. It will flow from there. Find on line some background music and have that handy. Lay down sound track, edit / cut video from there. I had different cameras but all in all you can get it down to approx 20 mins with one camera.
Thanks to all for the kind words, Wife Karen loves her Tesla and enjoyed being in front of the camera telling all about it.