First Model 3 Highland drive planning

[SamWhu30]

I'm awaiting delivery of my M3 Highland RWD which is my first EV.

In mid February I will be driving myself and a couple of friends to Nottingham for a football match from Essex, the drive is about 150miles.

I will have to pay for parking when I get there but I was looking on an app where people rent their driveways that have EV chargers.

I have found a driveway that is £25 for 5 hours and they have a 7kw charger and the other option would be using the superchargers that are on route or using the supercharger that is really close to the stadium which I could park at as we arrive for 20 mins or so and then move to a car park, but there's always a chance that on the match day it's going to be busy.

In the 5 hours that my car would be on the drive I could get about 80% charge (according to my calculations) which would cost about £17.50 on a supercharger, meaning that the parking would cost about £7.50 which isn't bad considering how close it is to my destination and haven't got the worry of people hitting your car in a busy car park. Obviously depending on how much battery I use on the way up there I might not even need 80% charge.

I'm unsure what would be the best thing to do? I don't want it to feel like a lot of hassle for the passengers as I'm not used to EV driving and charging. I'm assuming that getting to Nottingham will be fine without charging on the way (I take it that the cold weather and 70mph roads won't kill the battery that much that I can't do 150 miles)

What are peoples thoughts?

TIA

 

[NewbieT]

Charging when parked and you’re doing something else always trumps Supercharging in my book. No brainer. You can always top-up is you need to but being forced to stop and charge on a 50kW shared stall is pants when all you want to do is get home.

 

[SamWhu30]

Charging when parked and you’re doing something else always trumps Supercharging in my book. No brainer. You can always top-up is you need to but being forced to stop and charge on a 50kW shared stall is pants when all you want to do is get home.

Yeah I think this is what I’m leaning towards to be honest. First trip having to queue for a charge and then it being 50kw wouldn’t be a great first experience for the others I’m fully aware that I’m gonna have to charge at superchargers a lot but if it can be avoided like in this case, it seems to be a good idea

 

[Foxsbiscuits]

You've thought through both options in detail, both seem fine. Personally I'd do the parking with charger but I also found it fun to use the supercharger for the first time, it's very fast and only gives you what you need to get to the destination. Your passengers may want a break during the journey too.
Enjoy the new car

 

[SamWhu30]

You've thought through both options in detail, both seem fine. Personally I'd do the parking with charger but I also found it fun to use the supercharger for the first time, it's very fast and only gives you what you need to get to the destination. Your passengers may want a break during the journey too.
Enjoy the new car

Cheers! I’ve got a drive to France the weekend after so there’ll be a lot of chance for superchargers then!

 

[freekie]

Cheers! I’ve got a drive to France the weekend after so there’ll be a lot of chance for superchargers then!

Good news is that superchargers in France are almost half the cost of what they are here!

 

[spdpsba]

hours that my car would be on the drive I could get about 80% charge (according to my calculations) which would cost about £17.50 on a supercharger, meaning that the parking would cost about £7.50 which isn't bad considering how close it is to my destination and haven't got the worry of people hitting your car in a busy car park.

Do it only if the parking option is relatively safe and cheap. I understand your worries about EVs and the chargers etc., this being your first EV. But You have the Model 3 H and it is one of the most efficient cars at the moment. You can travel to and back just like how you plan for an ICE. It will be an uneventful experience and will miss all the daily mail EV stories in real life.

Btw, in terms of cost, you don’t have to charge up to 80% when you return - you may need around 20% more than what you have when you reached Nottingham - assuming this will work both for a RWD and LR.

 

[Rooster6655]

If possible I would look for a car park with charging rather than these rent a space parking spaces unless they are very highly rated, I'd only really use the shared parking space if its not possible for you to be blocked in from them selling too many spaces as some space owners are unorganised.

I am not overly concerned about the charging prices of public charging as long as its reasonable as it is going to be less than 5% of my charging cost, still worth checking the charging price though as I saw one charger setting the cost to £1.50 per KwH which is far too much.

 

[WannabeOwner]

I'm awaiting delivery of my M3 Highland RWD which is my first EV.

Congratulations!

I have found a driveway that is £25 for 5 hours and they have a 7kw charger

Sounds good to me. You have a pre-booked, reserved, parking space away from people who might not respect your car.

Only snag is if it is "pants" when you get there, but perhaps the APP you are using has a "Trip Advisor Star Rating" that gives you reassurance, and you could always abandon that plan in favour of public parking, and Supercharging on way home.

I'm assuming that getting to Nottingham will be fine without charging on the way

I don't know if it will have reliable Highland data as yet, but I would recommend using ABetterRoutePlanner to estimate your usage (you can set Temperature / Wind to simulate "UK Winter"), and to suggest where you should charge. Your highland is going to be more frugal than current models, so you are going to do slightly-better than ABRP's prediction (for a current-model)

I take it that the cold weather and 70mph roads won't kill the battery that much that I can't do 150 miles

You could:

Charge to 90% (e.g. overnight / Off Peak).
Charge from 90% to 100% starting 60-90 minutes before departure (assuming 7kW wall charger) - best not to leave the car sitting at 100% for long periods (unless it has an LFP battery, which maybe the new Highland RWD does have?)
Pre-condition (off the grid) for 20 minutes before you leave

I would then, on a long journey, expect you to only use 10% more (in Winter than Summer).

However, on the way back the battery will have got cold, so the "Winter cold set off penalty" will apply (initial warming of the cabin, and also the battery). If you are parked on a driveway charging during the match that should take care of that

Other thoughts:

Supercharging is best done closest to destination (i.e. on your return). Car charges fastest once its got down to 10% or below. Also, you will be able to predict how much you need much more accurately than if you charge earlier in your journey when you are at, say, 50%. You may have got held up in traffic doing 50MPH for an hour ... that will dramatically increase your range. Or if may have been chucking it down all the way, which will kill your range.

I tried ABRP and it says to charge at Supercharger in Nottingham. You won't be particularly empty at that point, so not able to estimate "fuel required to get home" accurately, but its a 250kW charger. Grantham is the next one, and better placed, but that's 150kW ... I doubt you will have enough range to get, back, as far as Trumpington, Cambridge (also 250kW), but if you did the driveway-thing you could also stop at Cambridge (without any real need) to try out the Superchargers experience - if you haven't had an earlier chance to try that then you might feel more comfortable doing it, first time, when you don't actually need to!

 

[MrBadger]

Or just get in, put in destinations (you can put in multiple stops these days, or even do a trial in advance) into nav and drive and let the car suggest the stops. If they don’t match your needs, or numbers are out of your comfort zone, then act on plan B.

 

[SamWhu30]

Firstly, thanks for the detailed reply!

Only snag is if it is "pants" when you get there, but perhaps the APP you are using has a "Trip Advisor Star Rating" that gives you reassurance, and you could always abandon that plan in favour of public parking, and Supercharging on way home.

This particular driveway has 151 bookings, 4.9 stars. Looks to be in a decent area too which is a bonus.

I don't know if it will have reliable Highland data as yet, but I would recommend using ABetterRoutePlanner to estimate your usage (you can set Temperature / Wind to simulate "UK Winter"), and to suggest where you should charge. Your highland is going to be more frugal than current models, so you are going to do slightly-better than ABRP's prediction (for a current-model)

I've had this app downloaded but haven't looked at it too much so I didn't know you could do the weather. I just put the weather in at 1 degrees (hopefully will be warmer than that) and added my pick ups and it says I would get there with 20% left when starting with 100% which is reassuring. Especially as I think it doesn't have the Highland on there so it will have the less efficient Model 3 data.

(unless it has an LFP battery, which maybe the new Highland RWD does have?)

I'm 99.9% sure it does... I think the Model 3's have had them since 2021? Even if that isn't true I've watched a lot of reviews that says the highland does.

but if you did the driveway-thing you could also stop at Cambridge (without any real need) to try out the Superchargers experience - if you haven't had an earlier chance to try that then you might feel more comfortable doing it, first time, when you don't actually need to!

So would you not think it'd be possible to drive there charge it on the driveway at 7kw for 5 hours and make it all the way home without a charge?


Again, thanks for the detailed reply, really useful!

 

[SamWhu30]

Or just get in, put in destinations (you can put in multiple stops these days, or even do a trial in advance) into nav and drive and let the car suggest the stops. If they don’t match your needs, or numbers are out of your comfort zone, then act on plan B.

Yeah that'd be the method going forward but as it's the first long journey I want it to go as smoothly as possible, mainly for the other people in the car rather than me! Annoyingly I can't even see what the Tesla app would suggest as I don't have full access to the app yet, just delivery dates etc.

 

[Js1977]

Annoyingly I can't even see what the Tesla app would suggest as I don't have full access to the app yet, just delivery dates etc.

Have a play with this for the moment.

https://www.tesla.com/en_GB/trips

 

[WannabeOwner]

Or just get in, put in destinations (you can put in multiple stops these days, or even do a trial in advance) into nav and drive and let the car suggest the stops.

I've had EV (capable of over 200 miles range) for 8 years and more than 200K miles ... and I still use ABRP if going somewhere unfamiliar (probably "habit" has something to do with that, and some "OCD" !!). not because I think I won't find a charger, but because I am (now, with EV) limited to stopping where charging is available and I want to influence that somewhat. For example, I am now interested in which of the available Superchargers is 250kW rather than 150kW or, worse, Pair'd V2 ... as well as how-many-stalls and thus likelihood of it being full .. .and what my Plan-B might be IF ...

... and if I want something to eat then I am wanting something more than Maccy D's

... and for a Newbie ... maybe more reassuring to do some planning, and maybe only the old-hands are more inclined to "just set off"? ... mind you, I took a mate of mine to collect his first EV (Tesla MY). He got in, I glanced at the delivery-SoC-% and said "You heading home then?" (charger already installed and working). "Nope, I'm going to other-end-of-the-country" ... he was clearly just assuming "Get in and drive" !

So I told him to follow me to nearest Supercharger and I explained the facts-of-life to him

(True story )

So would you not think it'd be possible to drive there charge it on the driveway at 7kw for 5 hours and make it all the way home without a charge?

Definitely! So Cambridge stop depends entirely on whether you want to "Try out Supercharging" - either because you haven't had the chance until then, or you have - and now want to brag to your mates (and, conversely, you have NOT yet tried it and so do NOT want the first time to be when you DO have mates in the car )

 

[SamWhu30]

Have a play with this for the moment.

https://www.tesla.com/en_GB/trips

Yeah I use this quite a bit but annoyingly still no highland on there… can still get a rough idea from other models ofc. Curiosity is killing me!

 

[SamWhu30]

delivery-S0C-%

Sorry what do you mean by this?

 

[WannabeOwner]

Sorry what do you mean by this?

Not helped that I mistyped it.

"SoC" = State of charge. The current charge of the battery.

I was referring to the fact that my mates car, on delivery, didn't have a great deal of charge - certainly not in terms of his intention of "Going a long way"!

 

[Stuart1714]

I regularly travel long distances in a day for football matches and have been to Nottingham a few times as well.

As mine is an older M3P without a heat pump so the range isn’t great, I tend to use Justpark and book a charger on a driveway whilst at the game and often pre-book lunch. In Nottingham, we tend to book lunch/tea at the Poppy & Pint and park on the other side of Radcliffe Road with Justpark. It can get busy, so you’d need to book the pub 2 1/2 hrs before kick off.

Occasionally we may stop at a Supercharger for a quick charge on the way there just to ensure that with 5 hours charging we’d leave with 100%.

We’ve booked charging on priory road and nearby streets in the past, which is okay to get away from and is not too far from the away end. What is interesting is that this looks quite a well off area and has big houses with parking restictions in the street. Nearby streets with smaller houses are packed with people dumping their cars as they don’t have restrictions so the big houses seem safer and easier to get away from.

If you are coming from the M1 from down south, make sure that you don’t go the shortest way, head east on the A52 towards Gamston as the shortest route can be very busy, although the shortest route has Superchargers, I wouldn’t use them.

 

[SamWhu30]

Not helped that I mistyped it.

"SoC" = State of charge. The current charge of the battery.

I was referring to the fact that my mates car, on delivery, didn't have a great deal of charge - certainly not in terms of his intention of "Going a long way"!

Ah right okay I always wondered what battery percentage it would come with. I won’t have my charger at home installed by the time I collect my car so I might even drive to the supercharger at lakeside shopping center on the way back. It won’t be busy at 12pm in January so will be a good chance to top it up and have my first super charger experience before getting home

 

[SamWhu30]

I regularly travel long distances in a day for football matches and have been to Nottingham a few times as well.

As mine is an older M3P without a heat pump so the range isn’t great, I tend to use Justpark and book a charger on a driveway whilst at the game and often pre-book lunch. In Nottingham, we tend to book lunch/tea at the Poppy & Pint and park on the other side of Radcliffe Road with Justpark. It can get busy, so you’d need to book the pub 2 1/2 hrs before kick off.

Occasionally we may stop at a Supercharger for a quick charge on the way there just to ensure that with 5 hours charging we’d leave with 100%.

We’ve booked charging on priory road and nearby streets in the past, which is okay to get away from and is not too far from the away end. What is interesting is that this looks quite a well off area and has big houses with parking restictions in the street. Nearby streets with smaller houses are packed with people dumping their cars as they don’t have restrictions so the big houses seem safer and easier to get away from.

If you are coming from the M1 from down south, make sure that you don’t go the shortest way, head east on the A52 towards Gamston as the shortest route can be very busy, although the shortest route has Superchargers, I wouldn’t use them.

Thanks for the info. I saw the charge in priory road but has been booked since so I got another one which was a couple of quid dearer. It’s on a new build estate so should be fine there.

With just park I noticed that you only get charged for the parking and then the charging at the end of the month?

I assume it doesn’t matter how much charge I use so do you have any idea what the point in this is?