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Emergency Charging Solutions to Solve Range Anxiety

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I'm planning a 640 mile, each way, road trip with my Dual Motor. All of the planning apps say I can make my planned trip on 2 super charges starting at 95% and never going below 10%. But I have very little >50 mile trip experience so I'm not confident in range estimates. Also, I will be going over mountains in late fall or winter, so running the heat may be an issue.

Looking at various maps, it seems like there are enough spots along the map that if I get in "trouble", I can hit a J-1772 charging station to pick up an extra 20 miles of range to limp into the next supercharger. I can find them with plugshare.

I am looking for recommendations on what prep I should do to be ready for this. I think I should get a ChargePoint account and have the app on my phone. Is that enough? Are there other networks I should have an account for? I may never use it. But I want to be ready if I have problems.
 
I recommend spending a few extra minutes at each Supercharger than what the Nav system recommends although it’s pretty accurate. It takes into account temp, elevation, etc and is conservative. Riding behind a truck with autopilot distance set to 1 or 2 drastically increases range too. You’ll be fine. Road trips in Tesla’s are fun!
 
I recommend spending a few extra minutes at each Supercharger than what the Nav system recommends although it’s pretty accurate. It takes into account temp, elevation, etc and is conservative. Riding behind a truck with autopilot distance set to 1 or 2 drastically increases range too. You’ll be fine. Road trips in Tesla’s are fun!

This sounds so cool. I'll be on I-5 most of the trip. I don't think I'd do this through the mountains. On the flats, way cheap.
 
The typical travel kit is the mobile connector, the J1772, and the 14-50 adapter. The 14-50 can be used at RV parks for quicker charging. A “full” kit would also include a 14-30 adapter for using dryer outlets, etc. and a 120 and 240 volt extension cord but this is generally overkill unless you know you are going somewhere without regular charging options (like you’re going way off the interstate to go camping or something).
 
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.....looking for recommendations on what prep I should do to be ready for this. I think I should get a ChargePoint account and have the app on my phone. Is that enough? Are there other networks I should have an account for? I may never use it. But I want to be ready if I have problems.
I have accounts or cards with Blink, ChargePoint, OPConnect, GreenLots, the old Airovirement, plus 3-4 in Canada. I rarely use any of them since the Tesla SCs are faster and well located. However, I definitely often require hotel charging (usually J1772). I’ve got no experience, but you could try pay with PlugShare. At least check the systems along your route, or post the route for more assistance. In western OR, the early Electric Highways were all Aerovironmet.
 
There is nowhere on I-5 that will present even a slight problem for a long range 3, even in bad weather.

bring the UMC and j1772. Then just drive.

The plan doesn't have me stop at every supercharger. I skip some. It's not the charging time I'm trying to avoid, it's the time to get off and back on the freeway.

One more winter tip is run the heat fairly hard while supercharging and preheat when plugged into AC so the battery doesn't have to initially warm the interior.

Does heating the battery when I turn the car on lead to increased power per mile when doing lots of short trips?
 
The plan doesn't have me stop at every supercharger. I skip some. It's not the charging time I'm trying to avoid, it's the time to get off and back on the freeway.

So, you might be going about this wrong.

First, on long road trips you’re likely to find that making more frequent stops is actually faster, particularly if you need to charge to 95-100% to skip a stop. Charging the top half of the battery is so slow, it’s often a winning proposition to stop more frequently and work the lower/middle portion of your car’s range.

Second, if skipping stops is cutting it close enough to cause range anxiety and make you post here asking about elaborate emergency charging preparations, it’s probably not worth it.

Third, most of the I-5 superchargers are very close to the freeway.

Finally, there is zero reason to have “range anxiety” on this trip. I-5 is very well covered and your car has nearly twice the range necessary to keep you out of tight sports. Since it’s your first long trip, I really do suggest you plan on more charging stops.

I’ve got lots of experience charging on the I-5 corridor - if you want to post a specific start/destination that might lead to more sage advice.
 
I'm planning a 640 mile, each way, road trip with my Dual Motor. All of the planning apps say I can make my planned trip on 2 super charges starting at 95% and never going below 10%. But I have very little >50 mile trip experience so I'm not confident in range estimates. Also, I will be going over mountains in late fall or winter, so running the heat may be an issue.

Looking at various maps, it seems like there are enough spots along the map that if I get in "trouble", I can hit a J-1772 charging station to pick up an extra 20 miles of range to limp into the next supercharger. I can find them with plugshare.

I am looking for recommendations on what prep I should do to be ready for this. I think I should get a ChargePoint account and have the app on my phone. Is that enough? Are there other networks I should have an account for? I may never use it. But I want to be ready if I have problems.
If you used ABRP, be sure to put the most accurate inputs you can. Temp is the big one, but obviously road conditions will make a difference. And then there's the wind factor.

I'm assuming 640mi total. That's 3 legs of ~215miles each, which is not typically the most efficient suggested plan. Usually the stops are between 100mi and 200mi, because of charger efficiency being better between 10% and 50%.

3rd party charging, I have ChargePoint, Plugshare and EVgo, and never had to use any. Presumably, you'll sign up and register, so using the apps will be easier when on the road.

I actually run ABRP in the car's browser, and flip between it and the car's nav while traveling. Obviously you want the car's nav running because it'll prep the battery for supercharging if you put that in as your destination.
 
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Does heating the battery when I turn the car on lead to increased power per mile when doing lots of short trips?
Yes, but only really an issue in town with multiple stops. On the the freeway, there is usually enough excess heat to keep things moderately warm. I once drove 120 mi at 0 F, stopped at the SC and everything charged as normal (100+ KW). Yes, I consumed most of the battery charge while running the heater at 75 F, but everything worked great. Conversely, I met another owner whose car remained outside all night without charging at below zero temps, and who was still waiting for the charging to reach 10 KW after an hour at the SC. Lesson, always charge as soon as possible after arrival in the winter. Otherwise the battery will cool and not accept high speed charging until warmed up.
 
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One more winter tip is run the heat fairly hard while supercharging and preheat when plugged into AC so the battery doesn't have to initially warm the interior.

On cold day on the highway try turning heat off. You’ll be freezing in 2 minutes. My point is pre heating doesn’t save all that much. Yes, of course it will save, but not much. Car seems to have very little insulation.
 
So, you might be going about this wrong.

First, on long road trips you’re likely to find that making more frequent stops is actually faster, particularly if you need to charge to 95-100% to skip a stop. Charging the top half of the battery is so slow, it’s often a winning proposition to stop more frequently and work the lower/middle portion of your car’s range.

Second, if skipping stops is cutting it close enough to cause range anxiety and make you post here asking about elaborate emergency charging preparations, it’s probably not worth it.

Third, most of the I-5 superchargers are very close to the freeway.

Finally, there is zero reason to have “range anxiety” on this trip. I-5 is very well covered and your car has nearly twice the range necessary to keep you out of tight sports. Since it’s your first long trip, I really do suggest you plan on more charging stops.

I’ve got lots of experience charging on the I-5 corridor - if you want to post a specific start/destination that might lead to more sage advice.

I agree. It can take as long going from 30-80 as it does from 90-100. Anything above 90 slows to a crawl and the estimate of when complete is usually way under. It starts to slow down above 80.

around 20/30 to 80 will give the fastest kWh per minute into the battery.

Also if you start with too high SOC it may never go into high kW and the whole charge will be slow.
 
On cold day on the highway try turning heat off. You’ll be freezing in 2 minutes. My point is pre heating doesn’t save all that much. Yes, of course it will save, but not much. Car seems to have very little insulation.

Preheating before leaving can warm cabin solids, this helps create a heat reservoir.

I grew up in northern NJ, climate here in WI is much colder in winter and my experience here is that if you don't preheat use spikes heavily at first. My drive to work is 7 miles if Sub-Zero I have seen the 5 mile average in my Model S go over 800 and settle to low 700s.
You could make the argument that at the end of the trip maybe that only cost an extra 5miles or something mild like that, but if new to EV road tripping what that heavy initial use does to your range anxiety the first 20minutes is brutal.

Which brings up another point, in cold weather you might set nav in the driveway, look good, begin to drive and arrival percentage is dropping, but it will usually rebound a good bit once everything is warm.
These are important considerations especially if the first road trip is during the first cold snap and you have the wife and kids, and the wife was skeptical to begin with...........been there done that, detoured to a supercharger 30minutes out of the way and ate at the world's slowest Perkins located in Wausau WI.
 
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Preheating before leaving can warm cabin solids, this helps create a heat reservoir.

I grew up in northern NJ, climate here in WI is much colder in winter and my experience here is that if you don't preheat use spikes heavily at first. My drive to work is 7 miles if Sub-Zero I have seen the 5 mile average in my Model S go over 800 and settle to low 700s.
You could make the argument that at the end of the trip maybe that only cost an extra 5miles or something mild like that, but if new to EV road tripping what that heavy initial use does to your range anxiety the first 20minutes is brutal.

Which brings up another point, in cold weather you might set nav in the driveway, look good, begin to drive and arrival percentage is dropping, but it will usually rebound a good bit once everything is warm.
These are important considerations especially if the first road trip is during the first cold snap and you have the wife and kids, and the wife was skeptical to begin with...........been there done that, detoured to a supercharger 30minutes out of the way and ate at the world's slowest Perkins located in Wausau WI.

Model S is probably different. More mass and more insulation. And for a short commute it can boost your wh/mi (on the car). But what’s the total cost by preheating on your house meter? My guess is, it cost more. The sooner you start heating the sooner you start wasting heat. But if you are more comfy that’s your call.

One thing that is nice about the Model 3 is heat was instant. So comfort wise it never bothered me to not preheat. I was warmer in the Model 3 than any car. Including cars with heated steering wheel (which model 3 does not have). I barely ever used the heated seats or preheated. Yet I was more comfy on my commute than any other car.

The little bit of heating I’ve done in my X so far seems quite a bit slower for heat to start coming out than the Model 3. But the Model 3 didn’t retain heat very well at all. Not sure on Model X. But it feels way more insulated. Maybe it’s slower because I have range mode on.

So preheating is fine for comfort but it will cost more energy.
 
Trip is Newberg Oregon to Escalon California. I'm disappointed that I can't make Newberg to Grants Pass at traffic speed and then Grants pass to Corning, without charging above 90%, with a Dual Motor Long range Model 3. I know there are mountains. I'm just surprised at the impact. This is modeled with max speed of 75 mph and 40F temp. I have my normal charging cable, the J1772 adapter the car came with, a NEMA 14-50 adapter and a NEMA 14-30 adapter.

I really appreciate all of the information all of you are providing in how the car uses battery.

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