OK, so I've returned from two weeks vacation. We don't have a Tesla, so we drove our Volt. Given the places to which we drove, the routes we took and the numbers of times I said to my wife "Oh, <City> has a Supercharger", I was curious to see whether we could have driven that in a Tesla with Supercharging.
Home to Erie, PA: I-95/I-295/I-95, I-495, I-90.
That'd be no problem now that Erie's open.
Erie, PA to Springfield, IL: I-80/I-90, I-84, I-80, I-55. (Took the northern route there).
Still on Interstates so I think it'd have been easy. We might have modified our route a bit, though.
Springfield, IL to Chesterton, IN via Fowler, IN:
Fowler, IN has a very large wind farm, and while we've seen turbines, we hadn't seen anything on that scale.
We then took a US route up to Chesterton. With overnight destination charging, wouldn't have been a problem, otherwise we'd have to divert to Lafayette, IN to get more Supercharge.
Chesterton, IN to Indianapolis, IN via Shipshewana, IN.
In an 85 with some care we could have gone direct, especially since we just took a US route down to Indianapolis. But I'm thinking of the future in a Model 3, so I think it would likely have required doubling back to MIshawaka, IN after visiting Shipshewana, IN.
Indianapolis, IN to Columbus, OH via Bloomington, IN:
Not a problem getting to Columbus, but would have needed a diversion to Grove City, OH to get extra charge since we spent a day there so drove a bit. (Perhaps could also have picked up a little charge from an HPWC at the Easton Town Centre mall parking garage while eating at a restaurant, walking and shopping. Walked by the Tesla store, but didn't go in, because there's nothing I need at a Tesla store at this point.)
Columbus, OH to Hudson, OH:
Easy peasy. Macedonia, OH is close by.
Hudson, OH to Pittsburgh, PA:
Another easy one. Cranberry would have been an option to boost charge for our stay in Pittsburgh.
Pittsburgh, PA to Maine.
OK, this is where the Great Northeastern Hole would cause a problem.
Google's fastest route from Pittsburgh, PA to Wherewelive, ME is US-22, I-99, I-80, I-81, I-84, I-691, I-91, I-84, I-90, I-290, I-495, I-95/I-295. That avoids West Hartford, CT. Google says to leave the Mass Pike at Auburn anyway although our GPS said to go I-90, I-495. Either way, from Newburgh, NY it's no problem, but Pittsburgh, PA to Newburgh, NY is about 380 miles and not yet covered, which means taking an alternative, slower route (that also would likely cost more in tolls).
I haven't done a full analysis so I can't say how many additional miles and how much additional time we'd have needed had we had to Supercharge a Tesla instead of add gas to our Volt.
Anyway, I posted this because I thought it was interesting that even a trip planned with some via points had us traveling reasonably close to Superchargers, and apparently the only major diversions would simply be because Tesla hasn't completed it's coverage (the approach to central PA could well be waiting for the result of the Sheetz negotiations) or for want of overnight charging at a hotel.
Home to Erie, PA: I-95/I-295/I-95, I-495, I-90.
That'd be no problem now that Erie's open.
Erie, PA to Springfield, IL: I-80/I-90, I-84, I-80, I-55. (Took the northern route there).
Still on Interstates so I think it'd have been easy. We might have modified our route a bit, though.
Springfield, IL to Chesterton, IN via Fowler, IN:
Fowler, IN has a very large wind farm, and while we've seen turbines, we hadn't seen anything on that scale.
We then took a US route up to Chesterton. With overnight destination charging, wouldn't have been a problem, otherwise we'd have to divert to Lafayette, IN to get more Supercharge.
Chesterton, IN to Indianapolis, IN via Shipshewana, IN.
In an 85 with some care we could have gone direct, especially since we just took a US route down to Indianapolis. But I'm thinking of the future in a Model 3, so I think it would likely have required doubling back to MIshawaka, IN after visiting Shipshewana, IN.
Indianapolis, IN to Columbus, OH via Bloomington, IN:
Not a problem getting to Columbus, but would have needed a diversion to Grove City, OH to get extra charge since we spent a day there so drove a bit. (Perhaps could also have picked up a little charge from an HPWC at the Easton Town Centre mall parking garage while eating at a restaurant, walking and shopping. Walked by the Tesla store, but didn't go in, because there's nothing I need at a Tesla store at this point.)
Columbus, OH to Hudson, OH:
Easy peasy. Macedonia, OH is close by.
Hudson, OH to Pittsburgh, PA:
Another easy one. Cranberry would have been an option to boost charge for our stay in Pittsburgh.
Pittsburgh, PA to Maine.
OK, this is where the Great Northeastern Hole would cause a problem.
Google's fastest route from Pittsburgh, PA to Wherewelive, ME is US-22, I-99, I-80, I-81, I-84, I-691, I-91, I-84, I-90, I-290, I-495, I-95/I-295. That avoids West Hartford, CT. Google says to leave the Mass Pike at Auburn anyway although our GPS said to go I-90, I-495. Either way, from Newburgh, NY it's no problem, but Pittsburgh, PA to Newburgh, NY is about 380 miles and not yet covered, which means taking an alternative, slower route (that also would likely cost more in tolls).
I haven't done a full analysis so I can't say how many additional miles and how much additional time we'd have needed had we had to Supercharge a Tesla instead of add gas to our Volt.
Anyway, I posted this because I thought it was interesting that even a trip planned with some via points had us traveling reasonably close to Superchargers, and apparently the only major diversions would simply be because Tesla hasn't completed it's coverage (the approach to central PA could well be waiting for the result of the Sheetz negotiations) or for want of overnight charging at a hotel.
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