I attempted to drive from Las Vegas to Orange County on one charge. I have a long range single motor Model 3. I felt confident I could make it but as I got closer I had my doubts. The Tesla model 3 is an amazing car but it definitely has its limitations. If you are planing to make this drive I recommend taking your time and stoping to charge along the way. Thanks for watching.
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Driving from Las Vegas to Southern California on a single charge
- Thread starter Vegas Shuffle
- Start date
Ah, you're doing it wrong. Drive fast and charge fast. There's no reason to hypermile with the charging infrastructure between LA and LV. For bonus points, put your aero covers back on.
Great trip and video, but I do have a suggestion for your trip back home, Don’t use Cruise Control, 6 years of driving my Nissan Leaf showed me that by enabling cruise control on your down hills the cruise control will try to keep that MPH locked in at what you had it set to 70MPH, this will limit your maximum regeneration and with Cruise Control off, you will pick up speed on the down slope and regenerate a lot more energy. Also when cruise control is enabled it will probably keep that white energy line up, with it off, you can feather it and keep it right in the sweet spot (middle) or with some green showing. There was a video on YouTube where a guy with your same car 310 miles went from LA to Vegas non-stop... I believe it was 270 miles, got to Vegas with plenty to spare, he didn’t use Cruise control. So give that a try going home..
I will be making a trip to Rancho Cucamonga Supercharger station from Down by the border in San Diego tonight. This will be a test run at 75 mph and charge and then return. I won’t be using Cruise Control, I never do. This Rancho Cucamonga stop will be my first leg on my way into Vegas on the 30th and they have the 120kw stations, that’s why I’m stoping there instead of Fontana.
Fred
I will be making a trip to Rancho Cucamonga Supercharger station from Down by the border in San Diego tonight. This will be a test run at 75 mph and charge and then return. I won’t be using Cruise Control, I never do. This Rancho Cucamonga stop will be my first leg on my way into Vegas on the 30th and they have the 120kw stations, that’s why I’m stoping there instead of Fontana.
Fred
ucmndd
Well-Known Member
If you’ve never charged at Rancho before, this station is perpetually packed with a line of cars 5+ deep waiting from sunup to the dead of night. Fontana’s recent opening may have taken some of the pressure off it but I fully expect it will be packed on a Friday night regardless.
Fontana is slower but has 24 pedestals - you may spend significantly less time there overall. At minimum you’re gonna be on a shared pair at Rancho.
ucmndd
Well-Known Member
Same with the recent SF -> LA example. Neat to prove the concept but far faster stopping somewhere for a 10 min charge and driving as fast as you want.
Good to know thanks, As I get closer I will check the Nav screen to see how many stalls are available, and if it shows full, then I will just head to Fontana which isn’t too far up the road. I guess everyone wants the 120kw, that would mean less charge time. Elon needs to ramp up those 250kw stations soon, that would help with the wait time.
Fred
Thanks for all the input. Funny thing on the way back we did stop at rancho we had to wait in line for 40 min before we could start charging. Then we were limited to 20 minutes because of the line.
ucmndd
Well-Known Member
Yes, that and up until very recently it was the only option for many miles around.
Made it to Rancho Cucamonga last night and charged at 70kw down to 60ish Kw, there are 5 spots open.. went to Lucilles and had some yummy ribs. The first stall charged at only 32kw so I moved over one slot and jumped to 70kw. One stall was Ice’d
Fred
Fred
Pete_in_FL
Member
I had an experience at the Tesla Store in Buena Park, CA where the first stall charged at 19Kw, the next at 28Kw and finally moved to another that charged at 48Kw. There were no active chargers adjacent. Is this common?
I called to report it, and next time is was back up to full speed.
Is Tesla saving money by scrimping on maintenance???
i just did a 286 mile round trip using 93% of battery
same car but aeros on
included a overnight stay as well. about 18 hours in between turn around
speed 70-74 and mostly highway. 95% approx
same car but aeros on
included a overnight stay as well. about 18 hours in between turn around
speed 70-74 and mostly highway. 95% approx
I posted the following to a Youtube video discussing efficiency several months back. Since then I have found that using the reduced regen setting while on road trips seems to give me better range (Even when using Cruise/Autopilot). I switch back to full regen, while on road trips, if traffic is heavy, the road grade is very steep and when entering a town. I am hoping for a voice command or steering wheel control to toggle between the two regen modes (IE.. Two position paddle mode).
On rolling hills an option to select a smarter cruise control mode could be a real winner. For example if you set your cruise control to 60MPH, allow the car maintain 55 miles an hour if it detects it is going uphill then on the downhill side allow it to coast (in neutral) up to 65 or even 70MPH (you could get a ticket) if downhill speed exceeds 65/70 speed engage drive mode and use regen. If downhill speed does not exceed 65/70 continue to coast until 55MPH is reached on the next hill then switch from neutral to drive mode to maintain 55 until the next downhill road section.. The parameters of 5 below going uphill and 10 above going downhill could/should be selectable parameters. Basically have the cruise be smart enough to switch automagically in/out of neutral/drive and use regen when necessary to keep the downhill speed safe. All of this could be done by the driver but would not be very relaxing way to drive. Having this cruise control option should extend range.
