Hey all, looking to get some real world perspective from those who travel from Central Valley CA (specifically Modesto if possible) to LA. I am trying to evaluate how feasible it is to do this drive frequently in a 3. I realize I’d probably have to charge at least once but just looking for some comments from those who have done this drive and how real world range is affected (grapevine, AC, etc). Thanks!
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Central Valley CA (Modesto) to LA in a Model 3
- Thread starter DocZ
- Start date
Daniel in SD
(supervised)
How long does it take you to take the trip now and how much would it upset you for it take a little bit longer?
Also, do you have charging at your destination? That makes it way more pleasant.
Also, do you have charging at your destination? That makes it way more pleasant.
RayK
Active Member
I made one trip from San Jose to Glendale last year. It's about the same distance. Start out with at least 85% and "fill up" in Kettleman City (or Buttonwillow or Bakersfield) and you'll be fine. Grapevine was clear (late October) and really didn't seem to drain the battery that much. You can use several third party route planners (abetterrouteplanner.com, evtripplanner.com) but the built in mapping is just fine.
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Right now it takes me about 4.5 hours, and I usually don’t stop. If I have to stop once for 15-20 minutes, I suppose it wouldn’t be a big deal. And yes I do have charging at my destination. Even typing this out now, I think I’m just gonna go ahead and buy it.
Daniel in SD
(supervised)
If you have home charging and destination charging I would do it. Autopilot is great on the 99 and 5 as well.
You'd have to stop once in the middle for about 30 minutes to charge, here's the route Tesla suggests: Go Anywhere | Tesla
EDIT: Don't think my link worked how i thought...but you get the idea/can use it yourself!
Daniel in SD
(supervised)
Stopping in the middle is sup-optimal. It's best to stop when empty for the fastest travel time, so probably at the Tejon Ranch on the way out and Kettleman or Fresno on the way back.
For whatever reason, the route planners make this trip not feasible for me. It suggests I take the 5 (which I never do, I go 99 all the way until they merge). The link you gave me suggests a total drive time of 6 hours. When I usually complete the trip in 4.5 hours, that's a big difference to me. Hence the reason for this thread, wondering how many people actually have done this and what they think.
Daniel in SD
(supervised)
If you're someone who like to drive without stopping you might be disappointed with an EV.
It is theoretically possible to make it in 4.5 hours but you'd have to drive crazy fast when you weren't charging.
Here you go though
A Better Routeplanner
There are supercharger on 99 as well. There's probably a way to make the route planner take 99. You can mess with the speed settings, departure charge, arrival charge, etc.
from modesto, coming down 99, your only charging options are tejon and santa clarita... if you start with a full 325 car, tejon is 230 miles... it's 50 more to santa clarita.... so with 95 rated miles left from tejon to Santa clarita, I see no issue getting up and down the grapevine.
according to evtrip planner, at 75mph, this should not be an issue.
If you charge at santa clarita, you should arrive at 18% SOC, and to get to 80%, shouldn't take you more than 30 min.. MAYBE 40 at the most. if you don't need 80%, obviously, less charge time.
then there are plenty of options as you go south.
according to evtrip planner, at 75mph, this should not be an issue.
If you charge at santa clarita, you should arrive at 18% SOC, and to get to 80%, shouldn't take you more than 30 min.. MAYBE 40 at the most. if you don't need 80%, obviously, less charge time.
then there are plenty of options as you go south.
RayK
Active Member
If you stick with 99 then that limits the SC stops. Fresno and Tejon Ranch are the stops before reaching north L.A (Glendale). evtripplanner says you'll stop at those SC stations and spend a total of 37 minutes charging. This is with starting at 85% and not going below 20%.
P.S. assuming a LR RWD.
P.S. assuming a LR RWD.
Tam
Well-Known Member
I haven't gone that route with Model 3 but I've frequently done between Visalia and Orange County with no problem.
Your range is dependent on mostly your driving style.
Mine is quite conservative so I let the Autopilot does the work for me most of the time and I observe the speed limit (65 to 70 MPH depending where on CA-99 and I-5.
So before I start my trip, I would charge up to an additional 50 miles which has done the job.
My trip distance is around 220 miles so I don't leave until the battery gauge says 270 (220+50).
Grapevine/Tejon pass elevation of 4,144 feet seems not to affect my range at all because the regen would regain most back.
I haven't encountered headwind but that would surely eat up energy: I want to observe my speed limit of 70 MPH but if headwind is 20 MPH, that's an equivalent energy consumption speed for 90 MPH!
Modesto to LAX is about 310 miles so no I don't feel comfortable doing that without charging in between.
I in a hurry and driving alone, I might not want to stop in between for a 310 mile trip in a gasoline car but that is not healthy for my bladder.
If I have passengers with me, stopping to charge in between a 310-mile trip is painless because I have to holler to my passengers that 1/2 hour break time is over and it's time to get back on the road.
Back to driving alone, I would Supercharge at either Tejon Ranch or Santa Clarita for a quick break and some more miles to drive around LAX. A 15-minute charge would be more than enough for that purpose.
Good luck!
Yikes you’re right. Puts me at 2 stops to make this trip work. Also planning on a performance 3.
Hmm not looking good for me. I guess I gotta hold out for a higher battery S
One thing you can do (suggested by TeslaBjorn on youtube) is put 19" wheels on the performance model 3 after buying. He thinks that will increase the efficiency to be the same as the model 3 dual motor, since the performance and dual motor are essentially using the same motor and battery. Not sure if that will get you to where you want to be. Still, if you are making a long term decision about a car, keep in mind that Tesla superchargers are always getting better and will be improving charge rates in the next couple of years (V3 chargers at 250KW and V2 increasing from 100 to 125 KW). That should speed up your trip.
Daniel in SD
(supervised)
Rookie
increase speed to arrive at less than 10% and you’ll save time. To me the biggest issue is if there is a line at the Superchargers you’ll be wishing you had an ICE. I don’t know if that’s a problem in the Central Valley.
How often do you make this trip? For in town driving you save quite a bit of time by never going to the gas station. I also find that I can save a minute a day or so from the more accessible acceleration.
T34ME
Active Member
I drove Cabezon area to Fresno in my 3MR and used 99, around 800 miles total round trip. I stopped once at Tejon for about 25 minutes and same on return. Easy to do but I had destination charging at both ends.
RayK
Active Member
That's kind of why I suggested a 20% reserve. There's a total of 18 Superchargers between Modesto and Tejon Ranch. Sure it's faster to charge when you're down near zero but it sounded like the OP was worried about his range. Going over to I5 for the northern portion of the trip there's almost 100 chargers.Rookie
To me the biggest issue is if there is a line at the Superchargers you’ll be wishing you had an ICE. I don’t know if that’s a problem in the Central Valley.
Once he makes the first trip and gets the hang of how things work he can adjust distance and speed.
Correction: The V2 superchargers are increasing from 120KW max to 145KW max (not 100 to 125). Tesla will gradually roll that change out starting this spring: Tesla begins to unlock V2 Supercharger's 145 kW charge rate in new software roll out
no, that's not right... see my post #10.
there is tejon, then santa clarita... I think Santa Clarita would be the one to shoot for, one stop, and you should have enough to get you around LA, especially if you have charging at your destination.
Daniel in SD
(supervised)
There is no way you could make it to Santa Clarita from Modesto in a P3D unless you drove ridiculously slow.
At 45mph (the lower legal speed limit) abetterroutplanner says it could be done if you're willing to arrive with less than 10% charge.
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