Driving from Chicago to St. Louis for the first time this weekend. Advice please?

[ApertureLabs]

I am going to pick up my Tesla this weekend. I am driving my up to Chicago in a gas vehicle & coming back in my new (to me, it is a 2014 CPO) Tesla. I am really excited but wondering about charging on the way back. My car is a 60. I know there will be a couple superchargers on the way back to StL (actually going to Wentzville)

Wondering if anyone has made this trip & how you did it. Where did you charge, is there a place to eat while charging, how long will the charing take if I am starting with a full charge coming out of Highland Park etc.

Any information, advice or thoughts would be greatly appreciated!

Thank you, I am very excited, just a little nervous about a 350 mile trip being my first trip in it!

 

[qadaemon]

Assuming you end up with the same route I have, Country Club Hills SC->Champaign SC->Springfield SC->your destination.

The first one is a bit hidden in a movie theater parking lot, but has a mcdonalds a pizza place (Pizza hut maybe?) and some other fast food thing in walking distance.
Champaign has a Meijer store, a movie theater, and a couple fast food in walking distance
Springfield I don't remember so it must be uneventful.

In short, nothing super interesting, but it should be an easy trip with little elevation change. Not sure how many miles your 60 is rated for, but I doubt you'll have any range fears if you stay relatively near the speed limit.

 

[qadaemon]

Assuming you end up with the same route I have, Country Club Hills SC->Champaign SC->Springfield SC->your destination.

The first one is a bit hidden in a movie theater parking lot, but has a mcdonalds a pizza place (Pizza hut maybe?) and some other fast food thing in walking distance.
Champaign has a Meijer store, a movie theater, and a couple fast food in walking distance
Springfield I don't remember so it must be uneventful.

In short, nothing super interesting, but it should be an easy trip with little elevation change. Not sure how many miles your 60 is rated for, but I doubt you'll have any range fears if you stay relatively near the speed limit.

Wait, I remember springfield. By a huge Scheels sporting goods store. They have restrooms and some stuff to eat inside. There's a brewery nearby but I haven't been inside. Probably the most interesting stop of the three.

 

[ApertureLabs]

Thanks for the info. Just curious, did you start at Highland Park? I think the range on mine was ~208 when it was new, it has 28k miles on it now so I am not sure how much of the battery has been lost since then... How long do you think you had to charge at each stop?
I know the charging slows as it gets closer to a full charge so I have no idea on how long we should expect to be at each spot.

Bonus question I just thought of:
Is there a good trip planner online that I haven't been able to find?

Thanks again!

 

[qadaemon]

Thanks for the info. Just curious, did you start at Highland Park? I think the range on mine was ~208 when it was new, it has 28k miles on it now so I am not sure how much of the battery has been lost since then... How long do you think you had to charge at each stop?
I know the charging slows as it gets closer to a full charge so I have no idea on how long we should expect to be at each spot.

Bonus question I just thought of:
Is there a good trip planner online that I haven't been able to find?

Thanks again!

No, but CC hills is rather close to chicago area so you won't have a problem getting there. Maybe 1/2 hour stop at each? I'm not too fearful of running it down to a handful of miles. 0->80% charge is really fast.

evtripplanner.com is the one I like the best.

 

[ApertureLabs]

No, but CC hills is rather close to chicago area so you won't have a problem getting there. Maybe 1/2 hour stop at each? I'm not too fearful of running it down to a handful of miles. 0->80% charge is really fast.

evtripplanner.com is the one I like the best.

Cool, thanks, that helps a lot.