Be honest: is SCing on a long trip annoying?

[Max*]

Don't let someone from Chicago hear you referring to Highland Park as "Chicago"
Dis is Chicago.

lol, sorry, I'm not from the area, someone already corrected me a few posts upthread.

 

[hacer]

You clearly don't travel with a family...

I took a 2000 mile trip up the East coast in August, up to Quebec city and many other stops. Having family with made the charging part of supercharging easier. Every single supercharging stop it took my family longer to do their thing and get back in the car than the required charging took! This surprised me and at the first stop I'd set the charge limit to a bit more than needed for the next leg so the car stopped charging even though there was more room in the battery and it was plugged in. I just didn't think it would take over 20 minutes for what was only a bathroom break but it took the family longer. So I learned that lesson and ever after set the limit to full.
Before anyone gets up in arms, none of the super chargers we stopped at were more than half full and most times we were the only car there.

 

[ohmman]

Before anyone gets up in arms, none of the super chargers we stopped at were more than half full and most times we were the only car there.

Up in arms? Not here!

 

[apacheguy]

Before anyone gets up in arms, none of the super chargers we stopped at were more than half full and most times we were the only car there.

Come to California

 

[RogerHScott]

Up in arms? Not here!

@ohmman, will you bring the pitchforks if I bring the torches?

 

[Max*]

I took a 2000 mile trip up the East coast in August, up to Quebec city and many other stops. Having family with made the charging part of supercharging easier. Every single supercharging stop it took my family longer to do their thing and get back in the car than the required charging took! This surprised me and at the first stop I'd set the charge limit to a bit more than needed for the next leg so the car stopped charging even though there was more room in the battery and it was plugged in. I just didn't think it would take over 20 minutes for what was only a bathroom break but it took the family longer. So I learned that lesson and ever after set the limit to full.
Before anyone gets up in arms, none of the super chargers we stopped at were more than half full and most times we were the only car there.

I can relate. My kids like to stop, they get snacks, they get to run around, and a lot of the time the car is ready before me.

One time I got distracted for maybe 30 seconds, and I see my daughter about 5-6' off the ground climbing the fence that surrounds the transformers. She almost reached the top of it...

Though when we drive at night, it's harder, since the kids are asleep and we're just sitting and waiting for the car to charge.

 

[Bargo]

What size battery do you have and what kind of buffer do you charge to? I have a 90D and found the chargers are better spaced for a 60 or 70 than a larger battery in most places. On my one road trip to California thus far I found I had to make extra stops because most superchargers are too far apart to skip one, but too close together for a larger battery to go efficiently.

However with the larger battery it meant I could spend a shorter time charging at each stop. I played it conservatively and charged a bit more than needed, but many stops were only 15-20 minutes if the supercharger was working right. I got stuck longer at some California SpCs that were running slow. It would also mean about 10 minutes off the highway getting to and from the SpC in a lot of cases, but on a 600 mile leg I spent around 8 1/2 hours driving and about 2 - 2.5 charging or otherwise off the highway. Most of the wasted time charging was dealing with slow superchargers at Harris Ranch, Manteca, and a bit slow at Corning.

I have a Model S 70D. My typical charging buffer depends on the weather conditions, how far the next stop is and whether or not I've been there before. If the conditions are nice then I try to have a 10% buffer. If they are not as nice then I go off of the energy usage for my last 30 miles and apply a 10-15% buffer to that. I often reach super chargers with less than 10% charge to maximize efficiency.

 

[jvonbokel]

It would be interesting to get hard data on this, but I can easily believe Tesla owners in CA outnumber those in every other state put together.

Update: See Saghost's post below for a significant correction. I was misreading the chart.

According to ZEVfacts.com, you're right. By a greater than 2.5:1 margin, in fact.

They don't break down sales by make/model, but this is for all BEVs, Jan 2011 - Aug 2016.

 

[Saghost]

I was starting to say there's got to be something wrong with those numbers - the all other states is less than the what you get by adding the first four of the other breakouts - but after going to the site, I understand. The "All other" is everything except the 10 shown.

This is probably the version of that chart you wanted - which shows that California is about equal to the entire rest of the US:

 

[sdorn]

I was starting to say there's got to be something wrong with those numbers - the all other states is less than the what you get by adding the first four of the other breakouts - but after going to the site, I understand. The "All other" is everything except the 10 shown.

This is probably the version of that chart you wanted - which shows that California is about equal to the entire rest of the US:

View attachment 204730

I was about to say he was looking at that first graph incorrectly. It's interesting to see Georgia as the #2 state for EV sales. I think the $5k tax credit that we have since phased out helped with that originally. That was the reason I bought my Leaf. Between the $7,500 federal tax credit and the $5,000 state tax credit, my two year lease on my Leaf cost me right at $2,400 including all taxes and fees, etc.

 

[jvonbokel]

This is probably the version of that chart you wanted - which shows that California is about equal to the entire rest of the US

Oops, you are spot on. I greatly misread the chart. In my defense, it is an odd way to display/label the "all other states" data.

 

[Saghost]

Oops, you are spot on. I greatly misread the chart. In my defense, it is an odd way to display/label the "all other states" data.

It absolutely is an odd way to assemble things, and having the all others in line with the rest (and therefore right under California) certainly encourages misreading. They also pick their breakouts oddly. Michigan isn't the next highest after New Jersey, and also isn't the lowest. I have no idea why it is special in their chart. (by going to 11 you learn that Mass has 3060 sales, and by going to 50 you learn that North Dakota has 27.)

 

[ohmman]

It absolutely is an odd way to assemble things, and having the all others in line with the rest (and therefore right under California) certainly encourages misreading. They also pick their breakouts oddly. Michigan isn't the next highest after New Jersey, and also isn't the lowest. I have no idea why it is special in their chart. (by going to 11 you learn that Mass has 3060 sales, and by going to 50 you learn that North Dakota has 27.)

Reminds me of this.

 

[RogerHScott]

I was starting to say there's got to be something wrong with those numbers - the all other states is less than the what you get by adding the first four of the other breakouts - but after going to the site, I understand. The "All other" is everything except the 10 shown.

This is probably the version of that chart you wanted - which shows that California is about equal to the entire rest of the US:

View attachment 204730

I'd say that data easily allows the possibility that CA Tesla sales outnumber those in every other state.

 

[Saghost]

I'd say that data easily allows the possibility that CA Tesla sales outnumber those in every other state.

I'm actually thinking the reverse - if anything, I expect Tesla to be less concentrated in California than the overall BEV dataset.

A lot of those registrations are compliance cars, available only in CARB states, so I suspect they distort the total picture towards California.

But I don't have any data on Tesla sales, and I could easily be mistaken...

 

[kort677]

I was about to say he was looking at that first graph incorrectly. It's interesting to see Georgia as the #2 state for EV sales. I think the $5k tax credit that we have since phased out helped with that originally. That was the reason I bought my Leaf. Between the $7,500 federal tax credit and the $5,000 state tax credit, my two year lease on my Leaf cost me right at $2,400 including all taxes and fees, etc.

if I am not mistaken GA eliminated the $5k tax credit and also instituted a $250 per year surcharge to EV registrations

 

[kort677]

Reminds me of this.

well it is NBC, can you say fake news site?

 

[ohmman]

well it is NBC, can you say fake news site?

It's a local television news station. Don't get your conspiratorial panties in a bunch.

 

[jerry33]

As a function of enthusiasm (Note there were only a couple of Model X, so only the Model S was counted):

2016 National Drive Electric Week Final Tally:

By State:
In Attendees: CA 1, TX 2, NY 3, FL 4, WA 5
In Vehicles: CA 1, TX 2, FL 3, WA 4, NY 5

Attendees By Event:
San Diego CA 1122
Los Angeles CA 922
Cupertino CA 487
Grapevine TX 404
Delmar NY 317

Vehicles by Event:
San Diego CA 165
Cupertino CA 135
Grapevine TX 125
Los Angeles CA 118
Poolesville MD 91

Tesla Model S by State:
CA 93
TX 88
FL 55
WA 31
NY 26

Tesla Model S by Event:
Grapevine TX 47
San Diego CA 20
Austin TX 18
Oldsmar FL 16
Houston TX 15

 

[sdorn]

if I am not mistaken GA eliminated the $5k tax credit and also instituted a $250 per year surcharge to EV registrations

Yes, that's what I said in my post. They phased out the credit in GA. Sales of EVs dropped by 90% the month after the tax credit went away.

They did also add the EV registration charge (but $200/yr vs $250) you mentioned. That registration charge was irritating because it was meant to replace the revenue from the gasoline tax that EV drivers weren't paying that they argue goes to maintain the roads, etc., but a car that gets 25 mpg and is driven 15,000 miles per year would only generate about $165 in taxes so EVs are getting way over-charged.