Bay area to Seattle over Thanksgiving

[RVD98072]

I'm planning to make this drive next week in my Model X 100D.

I have never made this drive in my Tesla but drove my ICE car last week. It took me around 14 hours door to door making a lot of stops for breaks, food, rest, etc. I left at around 7am and arrive at 9pm so I was always in pretty good weather, etc. I drove through the mountains during the day and it was not raining or snowing so everything was fine. I was driving alone.

On this upcoming trip my wife will be with me so she can drive sometimes as well. I would prefer to leave on Wednesday afternoon (say around 2pm or so) and drive through the night and take a few breaks at rest areas if I need some sleep but this will take me through the mountain areas at night. I prefer leaving on Wednesday to get home on Thanksgiving morning as opposed to leaving early on Thanksgiving morning and getting home late at night after dinner, etc.

From my research it seems like the 100D is pretty good in ice and snow if it were to come to that at worst case. If it were to get really bad (blizzard, etc.) then I would just stop off at a motel and spend the night but I think it's too early in the season for that.

I also assume that it may take longer in my Tesla due to the longer breaks for charging but it would be nice to make it home to spend Thanksgiving with the kids and rest of the family.

Any thoughts from folks who have done this drive before? Thanks.

RVD.

 

[BerTX]

I can only offer general advice.

The main difference I driving the Tesla is that you need to get used to regular stops and getting your business done and be gone. With the 100, your stops will be fairly short, just long enough for a bio-break and snack/drink purchase usually.

Plan your meal stops in a SC location that matches up with your arrival time and has a place to eat (which will be a challenge driving at night). Allow the car to continue charging while eating. You will be able to shave a few minutes off the next stop, or sometimes skip it altogether.

Keep in mind that you will likely encounter rain, and wet streets are a range killer you don't hear talked about much. Add 5-10% to your buffer if raining.

 

[PLUS EV]

It's definitely not too early in the season for snow. The part of I-5 near the CA/OR border is over 4k feet high.

At this point you are close enough to your travel date that you can just look at the weather forecasts.

Another thing to consider is traffic leaving the bay area the day before Thanksgiving. Depending on where you are starting from, it could really be awful, especially between SF/OAK area and Vacaville.

I used to often do this drive in one shot in an ICE, but I have to admit that it isn't an easy leg in a Tesla. I'd estimate st least 16 hours even if you are extremely efficient and don't hit traffic.

 

[BerTX]

I'm a big proponent of EV Trip Optimizer, which is a phone-based trip planning app. It allows complete, accurate planning, including weather compensation, for a trip.

EVTO says that, leaving from Oakland at 2pm on Wednesday, you will arrive at about 5am on Thursday. Your weather should be good for the trip with no rain or snow. Lowest temp stop on the trip will be at Mt Shasta SC at 52 degrees. No headwinds on the trip.

Two hours total charging time for the trip. Your longest required charge will be at Wooburn at 23 minutes, and it is skipping Centralia completely. Do you have a place to charge in Seattle for driving around and for the return trip? I might still stop in Centralia just for a quick boost.

 

[Plan B]

I have done Portland to the Tesla factory. Left Portland around 6am and was in Freement by 7pm. It was fine but lot's of stops to charge. That was the only annoying part.

 

[RVD98072]

Yes when I get home I can charge at home so I can probably skip Centralia unless I'm tired and want the break anyway.

I'm not necessarily trying to get home as quickly as possible since I'll have plenty of time if I leave the day before. I am assuming that I'll be hitting a lot of traffic. I will be leaving from the South Bay in Sunnyvale so there is a lot of bay area ground to cover before I get to Vacaville, Redding, etc.

My main concern is getting through the mountains so I'll be keeping an eye on weather forecasts.

 

[ilovemycoffee]

You probably have this link saved, but this is the Oregon Dept. of Transportation website for Road and Weather condition. Road & Weather Conditions Map | TripCheck - Oregon Traveler Information

 

[Plan B]

No snow at this point..
NOAA Forecasts Weather Map | TripCheck - Oregon Traveler Information

 

[Xtek]

My X100D was an inventory car in Phoenix and they wanted $2k to transpo it up to Seattle. I paid $800 for 2 plane tickets and 2 hotel stays to drive it back myself and got to stop and sight see (where my avatar pic comes from @ the Grand Canyon).

Biggest piece of advice I can give is trust the trip planner. We were stopping at every supercharger and charging to 100% and it added easily 2-3 hours per day out of our trip by doing so. On the 3rd day we just trusted the trip planner and would stop/leave when it told us too. The lowest we got was 13% and we saved a bunch of time. Ideally you should arrive with 10 to 20% of battery and charge to 60% or so then head out since this is the range the battery will charge the fastest.

For battery health don't charge to 100% and leave it there for too long.

Good luck on your trip and take lots of pictures!

 

[CalBlue 85D]

This is one of my favorite drives. I second the recommendations of using the online trip planners. EVtripplanner.com has variables for temperature (interior / exterior) and payload, so it is particularly useful for road trips in extreme weather with extra load. The Tesla nav will not take into account the speed, load and weather variables, so you'll get a more accurate trip plan using the third party solution that matches your actual driving conditions/style. With the extra superchargers that have been installed at Mt. Shasta and Grants Pass, your biggest choke point will probably be Corning, but it all depends on the luck of the draw for how many other Teslas are traveling with you. Borrowing a CHADEMO adapter is always an option if you want to open up additional charging opportunities, but I've never found that to be necessary on this route.

Safe travels in whichever car you decide to take!

 

[RVD98072]

Thanks for the advice.

Mine was an inventory car with 1000 miles on it. Tesla wanted $1k to transport it up to Seattle and since i was working in Sunnyvale anyway monday-friday every week, it seemed like a good idea to save the $1k.

I picked up the car 2 weeks ago and took a road trip down to LA and it was a lot of fun. Then last week my work in Sunnyvale ended so I'm back up in Seattle now. Sounds funny but I kind of miss the car since I haven't seen it in over a week.

I look forward to driving the car up here.

Thank goodness I left it over there in Sunnyvale with enough charge. I didn't realize how much vampire charge would take away from the car. I had 160+ miles of range when I left but checking the mobile app it's down to like 120 miles now after 8 days.

I'll probably be more conservative and stop more often than necessary. I plan to charge up to around 80 or 90% at each supercharger and not letting it get below 20%.

 

[rpo]

I drive between Seattle/Sacramento in my S fairly often...probably 15-20 times over the past three years now. I typically go I-5 the whole way since the coast route takes ~20 hours (but is way more scenic). My best time from Seattle to Sac is 13.5 hours. That involves arriving at each charger with ~10% remaining and getting just enough charge to get to the next with ~10% repeatedly while going 10-15 MPH over the limit (and ignoring the "Drive under xx MPH to get to your destination" complaints that the car likes to show. I probably shouldn't suggest ignoring those, but I've done the trip so many times I don't care about it much anymore.

I always enter the next supercharger as the destination instead of the final destination so I can gauge when to leave. From SF, I think ~15 hours is feasible without traffic.

 

[rpo]

Also....there are no superchargers open near Seattle yet (one may open any day now), so plan on having a plug wherever you end up in Seattle.

 

[RVD98072]

yes, i live in the Seattle area so i'll be able to plug in when i get home. i have a 240 volt outlet in my garage.

 

[Kanting]

The most treacherous leg should be from Grants Pass SC to Springfield SC, as the elevation changes there could easily kill your range with a loaded cargo. If you also drive fast in the X, make sure you budget more at Grants Pass.

 

[PLUS EV]

The most treacherous leg should be from Grants Pass SC to Springfield SC, as the elevation changes there could easily kill your range with a loaded cargo. If you also drive fast in the X, make sure you budget more at Grants Pass.

That's actually a slightly downhill leg.

 

[RVD98072]

Made it home! Left Sunnyvale, CA yesterday at 3pm. I hit a ton of traffic until Vacaville or so (took about 3-4 hours to get there). Drove through the night and made it to Woodinville at 10:30am. Stopped at pretty much all of the superchargers because my X100D was fully loaded and heavy. 19.5 hours door to door - wow!

I tried to skip Springfield and go straight to Woodburn but got messages telling me to reduce speed to 65 and then reduce to 55 so I said forget it and went to Springfield anyway.

My wife and I shared driving responsibilities so she drove while I slept and vice versa.

Is the general protocol when charging at a hotel ok to walk into the hotel to use the restroom? A few of the stops were at hotels (Best Western Plus, Holiday Inn, etc.). The hotel folks didn't seem to mind too much but I just wasn't sure.

It was raining hard most of the time and it was the middle of the night so I didn't really want to venture off too far.

I got home with around 50% battery still remaining after a 90% charge in Centralia.

 

[BerTX]

Is the general protocol when charging at a hotel ok to walk into the hotel to use the restroom? A few of the stops were at hotels (Best Western Plus, Holiday Inn, etc.). The hotel folks didn't seem to mind too much but I just wasn't sure.

Absolutely! We always have told the desk staff that we are charging. It's always ok, and sometimes we get offered coffee or a cookie. If you are there at continental breakfast time, we have been offered that, but only once. Wouldn't hurt to ask if you can pay for breakfast -- you might get permission!

 

[RyanS]

I drive between Seattle/Sacramento in my S fairly often...probably 15-20 times over the past three years now. I typically go I-5 the whole way since the coast route takes ~20 hours (but is way more scenic). My best time from Seattle to Sac is 13.5 hours. That involves arriving at each charger with ~10% remaining and getting just enough charge to get to the next with ~10% repeatedly while going 10-15 MPH over the limit (and ignoring the "Drive under xx MPH to get to your destination" complaints that the car likes to show. I probably shouldn't suggest ignoring those, but I've done the trip so many times I don't care about it much anymore.

I always enter the next supercharger as the destination instead of the final destination so I can gauge when to leave. From SF, I think ~15 hours is feasible without traffic.

I hope I can get your feedback regarding AP. I am planning a similar trip from Sacramento to Seattle in April with my MS 100D. I am not familar with the route since I have never done this trip before. I heard that it has a lot of winding roads. I am not a big fan of long distance trip but I am willing to do this with AP. So what % of travel would you say that I can use AP? Is it pretty safe? I have done a trip from Sac to LA (Hwy 5) using AP about 90% of travel. That was really easy and actually enjoyable.

Thanks

 

[PLUS EV]

I hope I can get your feedback regarding AP. I am planning a similar trip from Sacramento to Seattle in April with my MS 100D. I am not familar with the route since I have never done this trip before. I heard that it has a lot of winding roads. I am not a big fan of long distance trip but I am willing to do this with AP. So what % of travel would you say that I can use AP? Is it pretty safe? I have done a trip from Sac to LA (Hwy 5) using AP about 90% of travel. That was really easy and actually enjoyable.

Thanks

It's a straight shot on I-5, so not exactly winding roads. You should be able to use Autopilot the whole time, but obviously you need to pay attention. It can be done in one day if you are in a hurry.