So the charging maps don't agree with me, but I know for a fact the we're usually only stopped for 15 to 20 minutes before we have enough to make it to the next supercharger but I usually arrive with about 10% left.
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Be honest: is SCing on a long trip annoying?
- Thread starter buckerine
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- Model S Supercharging
So the charging maps don't agree with me, but I know for a fact the we're usually only stopped for 15 to 20 minutes before we have enough to make it to the next supercharger but I usually arrive with about 10% left.
this isn't aimed at you, you don't get a prize for arriving with extra miles, I try to arrive at the next SpC as low as I possibly can do it, the trip planner will go bonkers but I try to aim for 3-8% SOC.
The trip planner has been adjusted several times over the year(s). For a while it would be OK with 7%. One of the recent updates pushed the "bonkers" limit up to 10%.
I aim for 7-10%, generally, and when it starts to go bonkers, I just ignore it and navigate to the next SpC.
BobV
Member
My rubric is charging an extra 10% of the estimated consumption, so if it would take 60% to get to the next stop, I'll charge to 66%. Having a flat floor of N-percent across the board is sub-optimal
I did a cross country drive 2100+ miles straight through, 2 drivers. 13 SC stops. The last one was totally unnecessary...so call it 12.
51hrs. In my Expedition, I could have done it 4.5hrs faster.
In my S...the car drove. In my Expy...I drive.
The difference between having AP on a super long trip, and not, cannot be comprehended until you do it the first time.
Anything you might wonder about irritation from more frequent stops, is exponentially diminished by AP.
If you are considering a non-AP car...then ignore everything I just wrote. Even them though ...I would take the S...just cuz...Model S...
51hrs. In my Expedition, I could have done it 4.5hrs faster.
In my S...the car drove. In my Expy...I drive.
The difference between having AP on a super long trip, and not, cannot be comprehended until you do it the first time.
Anything you might wonder about irritation from more frequent stops, is exponentially diminished by AP.
If you are considering a non-AP car...then ignore everything I just wrote. Even them though ...I would take the S...just cuz...Model S...
The lowest arrival SOC for me so far has been 6% going from Phoenix to Flagstaff. I didn't charge before leaving and figured I had just enough from the overnight 110v charging I did at the condo I was staying at to make it. There was even a supercharger half way between but I figured I'd make it. It was a little close only because I was driving into a headwind and the the estimated charged on arrival kept going down.
wraithnot
Model 3 VIN #2942 Model S VIN #5785
At least for me, road trips are not about getting to the destination as quickly as possible (otherwise we would fly) and I find driving 120 miles at a stretch is just about right. I actually find it less tiring than driving straight through. For locations where there isn't anything interesting to see or do (or eat), having the charging take about 15 minutes instead of 30-40 minutes would be nice. But now that we have a toddler, the time it takes to charge the car is usually not the limiting factor in when we can hit the road again.
The only thing I find annoying on Tesla road trips is dealing with areas where there aren't any superchargers. This often involves either going far out of our way or cooling our heals at an RV park for ~3 hours. And that gets old REALLY quickly.
And if you need 40%, you'd only have a buffer of 4%? 30% would give 3% buffer. Dunno, a headwind can easily eat those small buffers.
Different strokes. Whatever works
ChadS
Last tank of gas: March 2009
I have done about 35k miles of EV road trips. I have never found Supercharging to be annoying.
L2 is usually annoying. Even CHAdeMO has been at times. But not Supercharging. I can only see it be annoying if you are going a very long ways and are in a very big hurry...but then flying seems like a better option. As it is, I might go a little faster if I'm by myself, but it's not a problem to stretch my legs and check email. When I'm with my wife, I'm waiting for her (to use the restroom and get a fresh cup of tea) rather than the car; we'd have to stop every couple of hours no matter what car we were in.
I'll tell you what I do find annoying - paying for the privilege of hanging around a gas station to fill up. And driving one of those gas cars with all their noises, vibrations and smells. I didn't notice it for the first 7 road trips because I was driving a rough-riding Roadster, but once I got the Model S I realized just how relaxing it can be to drive an EV.
L2 is usually annoying. Even CHAdeMO has been at times. But not Supercharging. I can only see it be annoying if you are going a very long ways and are in a very big hurry...but then flying seems like a better option. As it is, I might go a little faster if I'm by myself, but it's not a problem to stretch my legs and check email. When I'm with my wife, I'm waiting for her (to use the restroom and get a fresh cup of tea) rather than the car; we'd have to stop every couple of hours no matter what car we were in.
I'll tell you what I do find annoying - paying for the privilege of hanging around a gas station to fill up. And driving one of those gas cars with all their noises, vibrations and smells. I didn't notice it for the first 7 road trips because I was driving a rough-riding Roadster, but once I got the Model S I realized just how relaxing it can be to drive an EV.
For me the optimal would be to skip one. Not just because two hours is a bit short between breaks, but occasionally I'd like to skip an annoying supercharger. Like one at an outlet mall during black Friday. 
I'd be perfectly content with a supercharge every 300 miles or so. I imagine when I trade in my 70D they'll have a 100+D that will do 300+ miles even at 75mph+ with plenty of buffer.
I'd be perfectly content with a supercharge every 300 miles or so. I imagine when I trade in my 70D they'll have a 100+D that will do 300+ miles even at 75mph+ with plenty of buffer.
It seems to me that going from 30-40% take very little time, since that is still in the very high speed charging part of the curve.
I think it makes sense to always charger to at least 50%. I don't think there are many SC's closer than that anyway.
charging enough to be skipping SpCs really doesn't save time, the time it takes to charge enough to skip a charger is easily saved by making 2 shorter charging stops.For me the optimal would be to skip one. Not just because two hours is a bit short between breaks, but occasionally I'd like to skip an annoying supercharger. Like one at an outlet mall during black Friday.
I'd be perfectly content with a supercharge every 300 miles or so. I imagine when I trade in my 70D they'll have a 100+D that will do 300+ miles even at 75mph+ with plenty of buffer.
Just keep in mind that skipping superchargers will increase the total trip time. The only time it makes sense to skip is when you start out your trip and you have enough to skip however many superchargers you can while arriving with the lowest SOC possible at the furthest supercharger along your route i..e you usually start at 100%.
That's true for the existing battery sizes. I was referring to the future when the battery is a bit bigger so the charge rates don't slow down too much to reach 300 miles. If the battery was 120kw for example.
With the 70D I have it's rare that I'm even given the option of skipping
With the 85D/90D it's something those owners consider more often, but there is the tradeoff of the huge amount of time it takes to charge close to 100% in order to skip one. They also tend to have to drive a bit slow because they don't have too much margin.
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CHG-ON
Still in love after all these miles
I start with a full charge so that I can skip the first SC, which for me is usually the Fremont factory. But I find that I need to have at least a 20% buffer over what the planner says. I don't go above 75 at all really. But I do traverse small mountains (2000 ft) to start every trip, which is a real killer leaving and then getting back home. Lots of up and down and switch backs, which seem to kill my range. Fortunately for me, most SCs have stuff around them for me. I hate to admit it, but one of the more boring ones is the factory, after several visits. How many times can I check out the cars that I know inside out and I've pretty much bought everything in that store that I can! Every time I stop by I kids the guys in the store that they need to get more useless junk for us to waste our money on.
Seriously though, if I plan properly, I almost never have to wait for the car to reach my range goal if I am at a good charger. By the time I am done with whatever, she's ready to go. I particularly love the ones that have good grocery stores, like Petaluma. When I go up, I call and ask "what can I bring?".
Seriously though, if I plan properly, I almost never have to wait for the car to reach my range goal if I am at a good charger. By the time I am done with whatever, she's ready to go. I particularly love the ones that have good grocery stores, like Petaluma. When I go up, I call and ask "what can I bring?".
You will charge for 1hr for every 5hrs of driving. You choose from the following: 3 x 20min, 2 x 30min, 1 x 1hr
Having kids, this is a zero inconvenience issue since the quantity and duration of stops can fit perfectly into potty breaks/eating.
cantdecide
Member
For my S (pre-autopilot) fatigue means I really should take a break before 2.5 hours. So the only downside of supercharging is lack of choice in location [e.g. if kids want an urgent restroom break after an hour, or we prefer red robin to Chilis].
For our X (post-autopilot) suddenly I can go 3-4 hours. So now we want to drive 3-4 hours, stop for food (meaning we charge to 90%+ over 45 minutes) and then we drive another 3 hours. Then I'm just about ready for a break again.
Sometimes this doesn't quite work in practice as we may have stayed at a destination without charging and have to stop soon afterwards, etc... however it is good enough for us to choose 75D over 90D for our next X.
For our X (post-autopilot) suddenly I can go 3-4 hours. So now we want to drive 3-4 hours, stop for food (meaning we charge to 90%+ over 45 minutes) and then we drive another 3 hours. Then I'm just about ready for a break again.
Sometimes this doesn't quite work in practice as we may have stayed at a destination without charging and have to stop soon afterwards, etc... however it is good enough for us to choose 75D over 90D for our next X.
