Be honest: is SCing on a long trip annoying?

[mshuang]

For those who've done significant long distance trips, doesn't this get tiring/annoying? Compare it to an ICE car where you could literally go 4-5 hours without stopping (and maybe more) if you wanted to.

Not annoying at all. In an ICE car, you're basically stopping to use the restroom or refuel on a long trip anyways. All you need is to have enough charge to hit the next supercharger. The way I look at it is this -- in an ICE car, you're spending time before the trip getting gasoline to fill up the gas tank for the trip, while in an EV, since you've charged overnight, you're ready to go. The time spent at Superchargers isn't bad -- you're typically there for less than 30 minutes if you're jumping from Supercharger to Supercharger.

 

[sorka]

I have to disagree with that last statement. In deciding to skip an SC, my main considerations are the convenience (or lack of) of the charger I want to skip, and where the charger is located. For example, I'll charge to over 90% in Glen Allen, VA to skip the DC charger and make it to Newark, DE, and vice-versa on the return trip. The drive through DC is so onerous I want to get it over with in one fell swoop with no stops.

Then again, maybe breaking up the drive around DC with an SC stop would be a good thing, depending on the time of day. Maybe I'll try it once...

You're talking about where you prefer to stop. I'm simply talking about what results in the fastest trip possible which means:

1) At each supercharger, charge only enough to get to your next destination so that you arrive with as little charge possible.
2) Charge to 100% at home to allow you to skip as many superchargers on the first leg as you possibly can.

This doesn't take into account where you'd prefer to charge or other logistical factors such as the likelyhood of a supercharger being jam packed with a line. i.e. for Tejon ranch on a late Sunday afternoon, you might want to do anything you can to avoid it even if it means skipping and spending overall more time charging so that you can skip Tejon and go straight to Buttonwillow.

Or you could get stuck like I did where we hit a malls on several stops on several trips and instead of doing the efficient thing, my wife and daughter go off to do...you guessed it.....shop This has resulted on more than one occasion charing to 90+ % even though I only needed 60% to make it to the next charger. But that's fine because we had that option even though it wasn't the fastest option.

 

[Pruitt]

You're talking about where you prefer to stop. I'm simply talking about what results in the fastest trip possible ...

Maybe that's what you meant; that's not what you wrote. You said earlier, "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%." I disagreed with that rather sweeping assertion, indicating that other factors may result in it making sense to skip a charger during a trip. Whether it takes more time or not wasn't part of what you said, or what I said. But even if it were, sometimes charging extra at one stop to skip another, even within the reduced-charge-rate taper at the charger, may make sense. For example, the Hamilton NJ supercharger is a relatively long distance, time wise, from the major north-south roads (NJ Turnpike / I-95, primarily). Fifteen minutes extra at one charger to avoid a twenty minute round trip to/from the supercharger (depending on traffic, of course) still saves five minutes' total en-route time. Plus there's the added toll cost of leaving the turnpike, then re-entering again.

 

[sorka]

Maybe that's what you meant; that's not what you wrote. You said earlier, "The only time it makes sense to skip ......

I'm sure everyone else new what I was implying since the context was efficiency and charge times. I gave examples where we didn't do the most efficient thing because we wanted to do something else.

 

[xav-]

30 to 60 minutes????? Are you charging to 100% between stops?

If you travel 150 miles between superchargers and only charge enough to reach the next charger with 10% left as a buffer, you should be able to add 150 miles of range in 20 minutes. Works that way for me and I only have a P85D with 253 rated miles.

Folks who find they are stopping for longer than that aren't optimizing their SOC range between stops.

But what happens if you miss your supercharger? It's not like you can just make a u turn at the next light.

 

[tinm]

It's only annoying when you're down to like 12 miles left on the battery and it's snowy and cold and windy out, and you pull into a supercharger site situated on the grounds of a hotel, and all of of the supercharger spaces are not only ICEd, they are literally ICEd: the ICEs (typically huge pickup trucks) are covered in snow like they've been sitting there all night long, and you have to go in to the lobby of the hotel and try to find out whose vehicles they are and get 'em to move. (I'm lookin' at you, Hampton Inn at the Gallup, NM supercharger!)

Other than that, and other than the additional time it adds to a journey (and you can't get around it: it adds HOURS to a long 500+ mile trip), I like long-distance Tesla travel because you wind up at your destination feeling a lot better than if you were doing the go-for-it, ICE-style journey of just really long hauls and minimal 5-10 minute stops every 350 miles. With a Tesla, you're kind of forced to get out of the car and walk around for 10-20 minutes (or longer), maybe stop in and get some food, etc. Well, all those charging stops help you stretch and get a little exercise in and I'd say the net net is a big gain.

Plus, nothing beats not having to buy gas.

 

[sorka]

But what happens if you miss your supercharger? It's not like you can just make a u turn at the next light.

Is that a real question?

 

[GHammer]

Other than that, and other than the additional time it adds to a journey (and you can't get around it: it adds HOURS to a long 500+ mile trip),

I think saying HOURS is overstating it. I do a 600 mile trip regularly and I find the supercharging only adds an hour over what I do with an ICE, I've done it in both summer and winter. I guess it depends on your driving style in an ICE. HOURS is accurate if you are going over 1000 miles or have to detour to get to the superchargers.

All the points about arriving more refreshed are totally accurate and well worth the extra time. Not annoying at all.

 

[AmpedRealtor]

No annoyance whatsoever. Most amazing experience ever. Tesla is changing the game.

 

[ArtInCT]

When my wife and I use the S on the few long SuperCharger trips, the SuperCharger stops are very welcome. Usually by then I need a new cup of coffee and a bathroom break. It is also nice to stretch your legs and back and perhaps talk with other Model S and X owners.
I usually take some time to wash the windshield and remove any obvious bug splatter.... Xpel makes this really easy to do.

I have tried to calculate what my rated range will be using EVtripPlanner to get to the next SuperCharger and then I add about 50 miles to that total. This gives me a good buffer and keeps my recharging stop only as long as it needs to be.

I liken the SuperCharger stop much like a Stage Coach stop in the early days of travel.... both necessary and enjoyable.

 

[buckerine]

But what happens if you miss your supercharger? It's not like you can just make a u turn at the next light.

No, but you can just get off at the next exit and turn back ...........

 

[tinm]

I think saying HOURS is overstating it. I do a 600 mile trip regularly and I find the supercharging only adds an hour over what I do with an ICE, I've done it in both summer and winter. I guess it depends on your driving style in an ICE. HOURS is accurate if you are going over 1000 miles or have to detour to get to the superchargers.....

Well, the first time I ever did a long trip in my S, what had been a 7-8 hr journey in an ICE was 13 hr with superchargers (lots of traffic, but also HUGE delays at one supercharger that had a big line of S's waiting). Admittedly, that was my first trip, and I learned real fast after that that there was no need to charge to 100% each time you stopped So now that drive would take about 9-10 hours with Superchargers. I could probably shave even more time off, but then you get into the range-anxiety territory, trying to get the battery down to 1 mile left before arriving at next supercharger. What I aim for is about 25 miles of buffer on the battery by the time I arrive at next charger. I could do better, but it's more stressful.

 

[xav-]

So far I don't mind the time, but the cost of supercharging is what gets me. Every time I stop to charge I have to buy the kids food, ice cream, a frappacino, cookies, etc. Costs almost as much as gas.

Haha that was going to be my next question. I saw so many mentions of Starbucks etc..

 

[xav-]

Question: if I have 40 miles of range left how long would it take to add another 100 miles? Assume an S70 or refreshed 60

 

[Zythryn]

Two years ago my wife and I traveled from Minnesota to California using superchargers only.

We started the day with a 100% charge, and set up a nice pattern which we maintained for the whole trip.
Basically, we started with a 100% charge if charging overnight, drove a couple of hours, stopped, stretched our legs, grabbed a coke, etc and charged for about 15-20 minutes.
Between the left over range and the 15-20 minute charge, we had plenty to reach the next SC.

At the next supercharger, we would stop for a meal. This lasted 30-60 minutes and when we returned to the car, we had more than enough to get to the next charger.

The next stop would be another quick stop to stretch our legs, the one after that another meal break.

Out of about 30 SC stops we only needed to wait for the car to charge once.
That was out in Utah before we drove to Las Vegas. At the time, it was a 280 mile stretch, so we sat and charged to 100%.
Since then, they have added more SCs and the same trip has much shorter distances.

In short, best road trip I have ever taken. I didn't get tired of driving at the end of the day, and was in a better mood each day at the end of the days travels.

IMO, driving an ICE on a vacation is VERY annoying. Driving a Tesla is a dream

 

[rclams]

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

Well, I don't think that any single digit SOC % on arrival is good for the battery; those last 30 miles at 75+ mph will be with relatively low voltage and high amperage which will push the battery pretty hard.

My own admittedly conservative strategy is to arrive with approximately 80 miles/30% of range remaining. This slows down charging a bit but we like to walk, stretch and text while charging anyway. And the peace of mind is priceless.

Plus, a 30% SOC floor was recommended by Elon in a tweet a while back for maximum battery life.

 

[RDoc]

When we drive long distances, we're not overly concerned about making the fastest trip. If we were, we'd fly.

Having said that, we've found the S to be really wonderful for road trips. The auto pilot, low noise level, and good sound system make driving comfortable and the mandatory SC stops every 2 1/2 to 3 hours force us to take a short break. The result is that we arrive far more relaxed than when we've done the same trip in ICE vehicles. We don't really like to drive more than about 450 miles a day in any event.

 

[mshuang]

Question: if I have 40 miles of range left how long would it take to add another 100 miles? Assume an S70 or refreshed 60

Not very long. We don't have the charging numbers for the new 60 yet, but if it charges at the same rate of S70, probably around 20 minutes or so.

 

[Joeski1]

So far I don't mind the time, but the cost of supercharging is what gets me. Every time I stop to charge I have to buy the kids food, ice cream, a frappacino, cookies, etc. Costs almost as much as gas.

That's why these outfits okay these SC stations in their lots.... "Captive audience" (sales, sales, sales,)

 

[K_style]

Yes in a way that it has to be the same place I need to take a break but as far as frequent stops go, I love it.

Besides, if I am in hurry to be somewhere far, I usually take flight instead.