First Road Trip: DC to Boston... Advice?

[majorlance]

I'm taking my first extended road trip Mother's Day weekend from Bethesda, MD to Manchester, MA (a little NE of Boston). I've been looking at EVTripplanner and using it as a guide. I have P85D and will use range mode... try to keep my speed within 10 mph of the posted limits.

Current plan, according to EVTripplanner.com

1) Start with a full charge and drive to the Hamilton, NJ supercharger. 182 rated miles.
2) Drive to West Hartford, CT supercharger, 175 rated miles.
3) Continue to destination, 139 rated miles.

Questions:
Has anyone made this trip before?
Should I stop more frequently? The first charger is near Wilmington (which is about 70 miles away). Just felt too close to stop there.
Is there an ideal number of rated miles between charging stops?
Are these the best superchargers in terms of number of bays and use? I'd hate to wait in line...
Any other tips for travel?

Hopefully it won't rain or I'll have a tailwind... other than that, any advice is appreciated.



I can charge again at my destination so my return would most likely involve the same stops.

 

[preilly44]

I've driven to North/Central NJ a couple times and I found the Hamilton SC was too far off the NJ Turnpike for me. I prefer stopping at Wilmington (which is right on 95 at a rest area) then I would stop at Edison...which is also out of the way but less (for where I was going) than Hamilton. If you are lucky, the new SC's in NJ will be open on 95 so if you stop in Wilmington for 10-15 minutes you'll have enough to get to the new NJ SC on 95 (right near exit 9 I believe).

Enjoy the trip!

 

[bhuwan]

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Were you at the reach the beach event? If not you missed out. Anyways we just did the trip from Salisbury MD Back to boston

I basically did this route:
Salisbury MD (98%) to Hamilton NJ
HAMILTON To Edison (stopped over in Staten Island)
Edison to wear Hartford
Wear Hartford to Boston

 

[majorlance]

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Were you at the reach the beach event? If not you missed out.

Really wanted to go! Were any pictures posted from the event? On my to do list for next year.

 

[bhuwan]

Really wanted to go! Were any pictures posted from the event? On my to do list for next year.

Yeah! Somewhere on this forum

 

[Half Dollar Bill]

In a P85D you're not going to have issues ANY way you go, so don't worry.

We drove to Maine for New Year's from Northern VA.
You might want to consider swapping Auburn for W Hartford. We used both on the trip and had no issues, but folks in Hartford have regularly complained about icing at the supercharger.
Then, try to skip going through NYC/GW bridge. Aiming for the Greenwich supercharger helps. And you can definitely get to Greenwich from either Newark or Hamilton.

But if you're looking to add to your supercharger count, then I say stop at 'em all on the way up and come home through CT!
Superchargers Visited - Tesla Motors Club - Enthusiasts & Owners Forum

Have fun on the trip and hope you catch the long-distance bug!

 

[kendallpb]

I've gone from Silver Spring, MD to Lynn, MA a couple of times; your trip's only a little longer than that. The first time, there was no Hamilton SC, so I went home-Wilmington-...Darien or Milford, I forget. The second time, I went Hamilton-Milford (I forget, maybe Hartford wasn't online). You could make your last two legs a bit more even by stopping at Darien or Milford, and just think of Hartford as a backup. But your plan seems solid to me (not knowing what supercharger use is like in CT these days).

Anyway, I've only ever done two supercharging stops on this trip in my S85, and had no trouble. I range charge before long trip like this (lingering paranoia, I suppose) and our stops tend to not be short anyway - not in a rush - so I tend to partially range charge on SC stops (above 90%, not 100%) for peace of mind. Maybe I got a bit overboard. ;-)

I wouldn't stop at Wilmington unless you have to anyway (in which case, of course, why not plug in for a few minutes). With so many superchargers along the way now, I'd be less worried about any of this nowadays. Your plan sounds good to me.

Have a fun trip!

 

[sbanks]

I made this same trip last week. Last Wednesday evening my 10 yr son and I drove from Swampscott, MA (15 miles north of Boston) to Arlington, VA to visit my brother (and the capital) and then drove back Saturday night. I work in Salem, NH so Tuesday night I did a full charge so I could make it to work and back (90 miles) and get started on my drive. The new nav software directing me to the next SC was great, honestly I just didn't pay that much attention to the path but just went where it told me too.. My first stop was Auburn, MA where it told me to charge for something like 20 minutes and then stop at Milford, CT. I did an almost full charge as we got something to eat and then started chatting with the MS owner next to mine. When I got back in the car it sent me to Greenwich, CT instead of Milford due to the greater charge. Then to Hamilton, NJ then Bethesda, MD to top me off so I'd have enough juice for the four days.

The way back was Bethesda, Hamilton, Greenwich and Hartford, CT. I'm sure I could have done it with fewer stops but I didn't mind. If I was in a rush I would have flown; I was there for the journey.

Enjoy your drive, I did.

 

[paulkva]

I've used both Newark DE and Hamilton NJ several times, never had a problem or a wait at either, though I think the Newark chargers are more likely to fill up, and their food prices are ... inflated.

Yes, Newark is more convenient to 95 and the Turnpike than Hamilton, but I personally didn't mind the detour required for Hamilton.

Finally, between Newark & Hamilton, if you're stopping at Hamilton, consider I-295 instead of the turnpike. I personally prefer 295, in part because my final destination is closer to I-287/I-78, but I'll take whichever one happens to have less traffic at the time.