Commuting in South Florida

[mbhforum]

I am seeing a lot of conflicting information, so I figured to get some feedback here. We are relocating from Long Island, NY to Boca Raton, FL this summer/fall as my company is paying for us to move down there. We aren't sure if we will find a place to buy given the bonkers real estate market, so we might end up renting short term. My company will be opening an office in Wynwood, Miami and I will be commuting 3-4x a week from Boca. My company said they will have charging stations at the office we would be building, but we might be in a temporary location until then without them. I contemplated possibly selling my 2019 Model S Raven (range 280 miles) because of the inconveniences that charging might be for me until I get more situated., but I love the car and it's only got 6k miles on it and I got a good deal from it at the time. I am not a far of the newer refresh either and can't imagine any other car I'd want at the moment.

Here are my questions:

1) I might not have access to a charging station at home given I might be renting. I might need to charge via a regular 110v outlet, which I know is extremely slow and expensive. I was shocked to see there is no Supercharging location in Boca, although I see one is coming in 2021 at some point. For now, looks like closest one might be in Delray Beach, depending on where in Boca we move to.

2) It appears E/V can get access to the Express Lanes on the I-95 a zero cost? I want to make sure Tesla Model S is considered part of this and I am not going to be surprised later on.

3) Any other recommended charging stations along the I-95 or Florida Turnpike? I was surprised to see not a lot of Tesla Superchargers across the I-95. I guess I am used to the NJ Turnpike and having easy access to them right off the expressway.

4) I hear traffic is awful going down to Miami from the north. I'd love to hear some tips, tricks, advice for doing so. Google Maps says 1 hour give or take during rush hour from Boca to Wynwood, but I am expecting worse.


Any other advice is welcome!

 

[Str8down]

1. You can go 1 exit north to Hillsborough Blvd exit and there is a supercharger there.
2. yes
3. do you need more than 1?
4. Traffic SUCKS A BAG OF D***S in South FL. No way you will get from Boca to Wynwood in 1 hour at rush hour. Maybe 1.5 hours on a good (no-accidents) day. If you go during off-hours though, you can make it in less than an hour.

 

[yerEVan]

3. We just got back from FLL. We were there a month. We used the FLL wawa SC all the time. Best mph speed out of all the chargers we used on the way from Philly to FLL. it is the one right off 95.

 

[mbhforum]

1. You can go 1 exit north to Hillsborough Blvd exit and there is a supercharger there.
2. yes
3. do you need more than 1?
4. Traffic SUCKS A BAG OF D***S in South FL. No way you will get from Boca to Wynwood in 1 hour at rush hour. Maybe 1.5 hours on a good (no-accidents) day. If you go during off-hours though, you can make it in less than an hour.

Thanks. My commute from Long Island to NYC was 2 hours door to door, so I am very much looking at this as a wash. Having FSD will be a godsend for this commute it seems. I don't need more than 1 SC, but nice to know options.

 

[cytranic]

lol good luck, I've turned down clients because they were 20 miles from me in Boca because traffic sucks that bad.

 

[mbhforum]

lol good luck, I've turned down clients because they were 20 miles from me in Boca because traffic sucks that bad.

Yes, I was down in Boca in Jan 2020 and traffic was terrible locally.

 

[Big Toys]

LI to NYC in 2 hours....what a crappy LIE commute. From where on LI?

The fun starts @50 miles from Miami. Construction, crowded, and reckless drivers going very fast in places they should not. The express lanes nearer Miami can be confusing.

 

[mbhforum]

LI to NYC in 2 hours....what a crappy LIE commute. From where on LI?

The fun starts @50 miles from Miami. Construction, crowded, and reckless drivers going very fast in places they should not. The express lanes nearer Miami can be confusing.

Commack to Midtown between LIRR and E Train is 2 hours door to door. Driving I am not sure of as I havent tried it during rush hour.

 

[2101Guy]

Im not sure 110v charging is "expensive"? But 110 (in Florida at anytime of year) will get you about 4 miles of charging per hour. So overnight thats maybe 35 miles or so of range added? And depending on where you are renting, landlord, etc, not out of the question that they would not allow you to pay for a qualified electrician to install a 240v outlet in garage/outside of the home for you to use with your mobile charger and a Nema 14-50 adapter. That would get you at least 23 miles of charge per hour

I personally try to limit supercharging unless Im road tripping. Im not 100% convinced that long term supercharging on a regular basis, wont cause negative impact to the pack.

 

[Big Toys]

Commack to Midtown between LIRR and E Train is 2 hours door to door. Driving I am not sure of as I havent tried it during rush hour.

Wow, at least you took the train and didn't have to pay for parking. I only realized as an adult that NYC was only about 45 - 50 miles from where you/we are/were.

 

[mbhforum]

Thank you all for some good feedback!

 

[JayJ]

I moved to Fort Lauderdale last summer and had a 220 outlet installed in my garage. I’ve barely used a supercharger since then. I do a lot of driving between here and Miami and up to PB.

 

[yerEVan]

LI to NYC in 2 hours....what a crappy LIE commute. From where on LI?

The fun starts @50 miles from Miami. Construction, crowded, and reckless drivers going very fast in places they should not. The express lanes nearer Miami can be confusing.

I was shocked and annoyed at how crazy the drivers were in and around FLL. Rude on the roads, nice in the stores.

 

[Snerruc]

I was shocked and annoyed at how crazy the drivers were in and around FLL. Rude on the roads, nice in the stores.

You ought to try Melbourne to Daytona. High speed lane is often over 100 mph.

 

[jsight]

1) I might not have access to a charging station at home given I might be renting. I might need to charge via a regular 110v outlet, which I know is extremely slow and expensive. I was shocked to see there is no Supercharging location in Boca, although I see one is coming in 2021 at some point. For now, looks like closest one might be in Delray Beach, depending on where in Boca we move to.

Don't assume that 120v outlets are useless! 120V will add ~1.2 KWh/hr which means close to 1% per hour for your Model S. You may find that you are adding 10-15% overnight. If it is a 20 amp outlet, it will increase that by ~30%.

That isn't great, but it may still be enough to significantly reduce the # of supercharger stops that you need to keep up.

 

[Dublin 'Eer]

Also I wouldn’t worry about Supercharging doing much damage to your battery. My 2016 S has 94,000 miles with probably well over half of that being Suoercharger or CHAdeMO charging, and I’ve lost 20 miles of range since new.

 

[mbhforum]

I was shocked and annoyed at how crazy the drivers were in and around FLL. Rude on the roads, nice in the stores.

I recall that from my visits as well. People FLY on the parkways and weave in and out. As a NY'er, It took me by surprise.