I'm about to take my first long road trip in my S60. (Florida to Connecticut). I've planned the whole route on multiple route planners (A Better Route Planner, EV Planner, etc.), with stops at hotels with chargers, etc. Here's my question. Do I essentially ignore the on-board route planner recommendations about how much to charge at each SC and follow the 3rd Party app/program reccos? I'm trying to figure out, when I'm actually on the trip, when to stop and for how long. Pick one planner and stick with it? Just use the on-board planner? Thanks.
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mrElbe
Active Member
I use EV Trip Planner for preliminary routing and while on the way the on board planner. The on board planner will tell you that you have enough charge when it predicts 16% charge left at next destination. I always keep charging until it predicts at least 20%. That way there is no fretting about range on the way.
Chopr147
Active Member
True. 20% at least keeps the range worries away. I have stretched that at times but then of course must slow down. I don't like slowing down 
Agreed.
I do a similar yearly trip from Charleston SC, to New Brunswick, Canada in my 70 and I also have google on my iphone mirroring the routing to the next Supercharger or hotel because I find its routing shorter/better/faster than the onboard system 95% of the time. Google maps also lets me select a more direct route while the in car nav seems to ignore older roads. I DO keep the onboard system active though, for energy consumption etc... Just something to consider.
I'll be traveling in April hopefully. I'm using the trip planners for planning. I'll try to charge to at least the most pessimistic planner/car estimate if there is a significant disagreement. But mainly the trip planners give me a required route through SpC's, perhaps better driving directions, an indication of any segments that might require a careful eye on the energy graph.
In December, I did a trip from MD to FL and back. I did a lot of pre-planning using A Better Route Planner and EV Trip Planner. I used an abundance of caution on the way south and depended mostly on the Tesla planner with backup from ABRP on the other half of the screen. It took 19.5 hours, direct run, leaving home @ 4am. On the way back, we left at the same time and I used ABRP primarily and allowed the charge to get as low as 5% before charging. We made it back in 16 hours and only charged up to the recommended amounts.
I attribute most of the time savings from not "over charging" at each stop, just in case. Some of the difference was traffic, but no more than an hour. All in all, I felt more comfortable running the battery lower and not charging as much at each stop. I do have a bigger battery with a bit more cushion, but with the SC's positioned along 95 the way they are, I could not skip a charger without slowing down more than I wanted to and making it from stop to stop was easy.
I attribute most of the time savings from not "over charging" at each stop, just in case. Some of the difference was traffic, but no more than an hour. All in all, I felt more comfortable running the battery lower and not charging as much at each stop. I do have a bigger battery with a bit more cushion, but with the SC's positioned along 95 the way they are, I could not skip a charger without slowing down more than I wanted to and making it from stop to stop was easy.
One small thing that almost bit me on my last road trip...call ahead to any destination charging locations and verify that their charger is in service and available. I called the front desk of each hotel, many of which were not even aware that they had a charger. When I arrived late (10pm) at one location, the single charger was ICE'd and I had to double park in order to charge and get on the road the next day. If you're depending on a destination charger, make sure you do your homework.
RogerHScott
Active Member
Nearing the end of our first (Midwestern) winter with our Tesla, I can tell you that the effect of cold on range is dramatic. It is kind of inexcusable that Tesla doesn't take this into account for their on-board consumption estimation, given that they do know the temperature (and most of the degradation can be estimated fairly accurately from just that). Anyway, I would not count on what the car says in cold weather, other than that "really low" means (at least) "really low".
cpa
Active Member
Always have a Plan B. You just do not know if a destination charger is broken or in use. Heck, a Supercharger might be temporarily out of service too, so check the touchscreen regularly.
You will get a pretty good handle on the energy usage for your driving style after 4-5 legs of your journey, so I would advise that at least for the outset you prepare a journal in advance that shows the estimated usage for each leg, the charge that needs to be added for the next leg, and the actual results upon arriving at the charger. You may find that your style is more aggressive, less aggressive or about what the program expects. You can then start to adjust your charge level.
One final piece--all these programs that estimate usage do not account for inclement weather. They consider elevation gains and losses, but not wind, rain, or snow. The cabin heater uses a lot of energy, so if a leg is long, I would consider using the seat warmers and a sweater to extend range instead of cranking up the heat.
A second final piece----until you get a handle on these things, you might consider starting each leg at a slower speed to conserve energy. The trip estimator tab is pretty accurate, so once you feel comfortable with your remaining range, you can increase your speed.
Have fun!
You will get a pretty good handle on the energy usage for your driving style after 4-5 legs of your journey, so I would advise that at least for the outset you prepare a journal in advance that shows the estimated usage for each leg, the charge that needs to be added for the next leg, and the actual results upon arriving at the charger. You may find that your style is more aggressive, less aggressive or about what the program expects. You can then start to adjust your charge level.
One final piece--all these programs that estimate usage do not account for inclement weather. They consider elevation gains and losses, but not wind, rain, or snow. The cabin heater uses a lot of energy, so if a leg is long, I would consider using the seat warmers and a sweater to extend range instead of cranking up the heat.
A second final piece--
--until you get a handle on these things, you might consider starting each leg at a slower speed to conserve energy. The trip estimator tab is pretty accurate, so once you feel comfortable with your remaining range, you can increase your speed. Have fun!
I recently did Chicago to Minneapolis in an X60D with the fam. It took quite a while, but I got some great ideas to save time.
The cold weather meant we were stuck in the car except when getting food or bathroom breaks. Getting food while charging actually wasted the most time since usually the car was ready before we were.
We have a "no eating meals in the car" rule, but it should have been suspended on the trip. Bring wet wipes, paper towels, trash bags, and a 12v vacuum. Eat in the car so you can take off as soon as the nav says 15 to 20% at next station. Throw out trash at next stop.
The cold weather meant we were stuck in the car except when getting food or bathroom breaks. Getting food while charging actually wasted the most time since usually the car was ready before we were.
We have a "no eating meals in the car" rule, but it should have been suspended on the trip. Bring wet wipes, paper towels, trash bags, and a 12v vacuum. Eat in the car so you can take off as soon as the nav says 15 to 20% at next station. Throw out trash at next stop.
Sasmania
Member
Now? I'm at 116K. Still running the same as when I got it at 35K.
Indeed. I was leery of this on my first "long" trip (~560 miles). I did all kinds of searching and used multiple trip planners to scope things out. But at the end of the day, all I needed to do was... Get in car. Put in final destination. Go.
Be very careful with planning using EVTripplanner for a refresh MS60. The range data is very wrong, and your estimates will be dangerously optimistic. You will get nowhere near the range estimated by the application. When I do trip planning with EVTP, I use MS70 as the car choice -- the data is much more valid.
I do trip planning with EVTP to plot the entire trip and plan where to get hotel reservations. Each day I first enter the day's final destination into the car Nav to be sure it matches up reasonably well with the plan, then at each Supercharger, I enter the destination of the next Supercharger and double check that the route is reasonable. Then use the Energy Trip screen to monitor the progress of that leg of the journey.
I think maybe those people who suggest just entering the final destination and going may be pulling your leg. You will see America, but it may not be the parts you wanted to see.
I do trip planning with EVTP to plot the entire trip and plan where to get hotel reservations. Each day I first enter the day's final destination into the car Nav to be sure it matches up reasonably well with the plan, then at each Supercharger, I enter the destination of the next Supercharger and double check that the route is reasonable. Then use the Energy Trip screen to monitor the progress of that leg of the journey.
I think maybe those people who suggest just entering the final destination and going may be pulling your leg. You will see America, but it may not be the parts you wanted to see.
Yeah, I suppose I might be with ya there on that one. There have been a couple times that I wondered why the nav was telling me to get somewhere a particular way. But I think those parts were local area versus the overall trip. The nav is clearly wrong at times on the local level.
Jashev
Member
While we are on the subject, rather than starting a new thread, this seemed like a good place to ask. I am also planning my first road trip (York, PA to Austin, TX). Is anybody familiar with the run from the Wytheville SC to the Knoxville SC using Rt. 81? EVTP has the Knoxville SC in yellow. Will I have trouble making that distance in an S85?
Last week I was going from the Sweetwater, TX SC to the Childress SC. The car routed me through Abilene, TX -- an extra 46 miles out of the way. I would not have made it to the SC in the MS60D by that route.
I think it will be close, but you should be okay. You'll probably have to be at full or near full charge when you leave Wytheville. I recently went south on 81 to Chattanooga from the DC area. I left Wytheville with about 86% on my P100D and then stopped at Knoxville with something like 13%.
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