First Road-trip in New Model Y

[ccanfield1]

So I’ve had my Model Y Long Range for about a month now and plan on taking my first road trip from Phoenix to Vegas at the beginning of next March.
I was planning on stopping in Kingman to top off but wondered if anyone else who has taken this trip has charging suggestions?
I have only charged at home so far, so this will also be my chance to try out supercharging.
Thanks for any insights and I am happy to join the Tesla community.

 

[starship42]

Congrats on your new ride!

1. Enter your destination into the Tesla nav

2. Stop and charge at the recommended charge stops

3. There is no step 3

Enjoy the trip!

 

[PLUS EV]

It's an easy trip in a long range Tesla. Start with a full charge and stop in Kingman. That's about it. The newer supercharger on Andy Devine is faster than the old one at the Carls Jr.

If your car has <250 rated miles on a full charge, then you probably need to top off in Wickenburg because the gap is pretty long between there and Kingman.

And if you don't have chargers where you are staying in Vegas, you might want to top off on the way into town at either White Hills or Henderson. Or just plan on visiting one of the Vegas superchargers at some point during your stay.

 

[ccanfield1]

Congrats on your new ride!

1. Enter your destination into the Tesla nav

2. Stop and charge at the recommended charge stops

3. There is no step 3

Enjoy the trip!

Thanks for the info. Yeah, as of now, that was my plan. There’s a couple of charger locations in Kingman area and one looks like it has faster chargers. So I’ll probably pick that one but I imagine the car may indicate that recommendation too.

 

[Sparky1]

Agree with Plus EV. I do this drive several times a year in my model 3 LR AWD, but I live roughly 45 miles farther than you in the East Valley so I'll modify my experiences based to your shorter distance. I cannot comfortably make it the whole 225 miles to Kingman because of the highway speeds, altitude gain, and the usual headwind. You should have a much easier time, especially with a fresh battery that hasn't degraded at all yet. I'd just take a peek at the usage/efficiency data as you are approaching Wickenburg to confirm you still have enough buffer to make Kingman with no anxiety. After a few road trips, anxiety will drop and confidence in the navigation projection increase. There is a Wikieup supercharger on the map, with a Q3-2023 projected opening, which will add redundancy to the route and provide a good bail out option for both directions of travel on that long stretch between Wickenburg and Kingman.

As for Kingman, I'd also say to use the Andy Devine site near the visitor's center, even if the Nav tells you to go to the Carl's Jr site. It's only 1/2 mile down the road but has much better and faster charging and better bathrooms during daytime business hours.

As for Vegas, quite a few of the big casinos have free charging either in self-park or valet. Use Plugshare to plan ahead as it's always nice to leave town with a free full charge. Bring your J-1772 adapter as many of those are universal chargers and not Tesla specific. If self park, just be courteous once you're done charging and move your Y to free up charging for the next person. If not available, there are options near the strip (high roller wheel) and on the way out of town near railroad pass and Boulder City.

Enjoy the car, roadtrip, and Vegas!

 

[ccanfield1]

Agree with Plus EV. I do this drive several times a year in my model 3 LR AWD, but I live roughly 45 miles farther than you in the East Valley so I'll modify my experiences based to your shorter distance. I cannot comfortably make it the whole 225 miles to Kingman because of the highway speeds, altitude gain, and the usual headwind. You should have a much easier time, especially with a fresh battery that hasn't degraded at all yet. I'd just take a peek at the usage/efficiency data as you are approaching Wickenburg to confirm you still have enough buffer to make Kingman with no anxiety. After a few road trips, anxiety will drop and confidence in the navigation projection increase. There is a Wikieup supercharger on the map, with a Q3-2023 projected opening, which will add redundancy to the route and provide a good bail out option for both directions of travel on that long stretch between Wickenburg and Kingman.

As for Kingman, I'd also say to use the Andy Devine site near the visitor's center, even if the Nav tells you to go to the Carl's Jr site. It's only 1/2 mile down the road but has much better and faster charging and better bathrooms during daytime business hours.

As for Vegas, quite a few of the big casinos have free charging either in self-park or valet. Use Plugshare to plan ahead as it's always nice to leave town with a free full charge. Bring your J-1772 adapter as many of those are universal chargers and not Tesla specific. If self park, just be courteous once you're done charging and move your Y to free up charging for the next person. If not available, there are options near the strip (high roller wheel) and on the way out of town near railroad pass and Boulder City.

Enjoy the car, roadtrip, and Vegas!

Thanks for the info. I appreciate hearing from someone in the area that has done that trip before.

 

[ccanfield1]

It's an easy trip in a long range Tesla. Start with a full charge and stop in Kingman. That's about it. The newer supercharger on Andy Devine is faster than the old one at the Carls Jr.

If your car has <250 rated miles on a full charge, then you probably need to top off in Wickenburg because the gap is pretty long between there and Kingman.

And if you don't have chargers where you are staying in Vegas, you might want to top off on the way into town at either White Hills or Henderson. Or just plan on visiting one of the Vegas superchargers at some point during your stay.

Thanks for the info. I appreciate it.

 

[holmesm1]

Planning first road trip from Charlotte, NC to Manassas, VA in my new 2023 Model Y LR. Any tips on the route to take or SCs to hit. I normally take I-77 to I-81 to I-66, but the route planners seem to suggest going I-85 to US 29. I trust the technology and have already checked out and used a local SC, so I'm just looking for some helpful hints. Thanks.

 

[starship42]

“The route planners”, meaning ABRP or other third party routing? Just enter your destination in the car and let the car sort out the chosen Superchargers. That way you precondition and also get rerouted if another SC is less busy. It really is that easy.

Congrats on the new ride and enjoy the trip!

 

[holmesm1]

“The route planners”, meaning ABRP or other third party routing? Just enter your destination in the car and let the car sort out the chosen Superchargers. That way you precondition and also get rerouted if another SC is less busy. It really is that easy.

Congrats on the new ride and enjoy the trip!

Both ABRP and tesla.com/trips. I have not tried the car yet, but I will and see what it says. I wanted to stay on interstates for the most part if possible. Thanks.

 

[holmesm1]

In car Nav is nearly identical to the ABRP and takes the off-the-beaten trail of US 29. I wonder if the algorythms are prioritizing distance over speed? I really hate surface roads with traffic lights.

 

[PLUS EV]

In car Nav is nearly identical to the ABRP and takes the off-the-beaten trail of US 29. I wonder if the algorythms are prioritizing distance over speed? I really hate surface roads with traffic lights.

Sometimes taking a slightly slower route along surface roads can be faster in an EV because the car uses less energy (shorter distance, slower speeds, or both) and therefore the route requires less charging time. That being said, you don't have to choose that route if you don't want to, but you should at least be aware of the trade off you are making. I override the Nav all the time, sometimes to opt for a more scenic route, or just because I'm tired of driving a particularly road or highway.

For the last few months the Nav has been offering me 3 different routes, kind of how Google Maps does. If you'd rather take one of the slower routes, it gives you a few seconds to select that route so it will stay permanently displayed on the screen.

 

[holmesm1]

Sometimes taking a slightly slower route along surface roads can be faster in an EV because the car uses less energy (shorter distance, slower speeds, or both) and therefore the route requires less charging time. That being said, you don't have to choose that route if you don't want to, but you should at least be aware of the trade off you are making. I override the Nav all the time, sometimes to opt for a more scenic route, or just because I'm tired of driving a particularly road or highway.

For the last few months the Nav has been offering me 3 different routes, kind of how Google Maps does. If you'd rather take one of the slower routes, it gives you a few seconds to select that route so it will stay permanently displayed on the screen.

We decided to go with whatever the Nav system suggests on the way to our destination, and then our usual Interstates route on the way back. Thanks for your input. Trip is coming up in a few days.

 

[holmesm1]

Just finished out first road trip. Per PLUS EV's suggestion, we did what the nav system said for the departure leg of our trip. The trip is about 380 miles each way. The nav system had us make about 80% of the trip on a US highway after an hour on the interstate. We had to stop three times averaging about 20 minutes each time. All the stops were at Sheetz or WaWa gas stations so there was food (ok, but not great) and fairly clean restrooms. The charging was fabuluos. Just plug and play with no wait. On the return trip we went our usual interstate route and only had to stop twice but pushed our range anxiety a little bit when the battery indicator dropped below 20% showing a yellow caution light. We would normally stop for 1/2 hour lunch break with an ICE car so the trips were only about 1/2 hour longer (7 vs 6.5 hours) for us.

 

[JKennedy442]

New Y owner here, going to be driving 210 miles tomorrow, most of it will be on a highway where I'll usually be doing 65mph. I punched in the route on the Tesla route planner and it wants me to stop for a 5 minute charge. Seems like I should be good without stopping if I charge to 100% right? I can charge at my destination. Or should I just obey Tesla's recommendation here? My range is 326.

 

[PLUS EV]

New Y owner here, going to be driving 210 miles tomorrow, most of it will be on a highway where I'll usually be doing 65mph. I punched in the route on the Tesla route planner and it wants me to stop for a 5 minute charge. Seems like I should be good without stopping if I charge to 100% right? I can charge at my destination. Or should I just obey Tesla's recommendation here? My range is 326.

There's no reason to follow every recommendation of the Nav. You can just drive as you wish and if you are consuming more than you expect and it looks too close for comfort, you can stop for the 5-minute charge. If not, then you can drive right past it.

A more important thing to consider is your level of confidence that the charging at your destination will be functional and available.. I generally don't show up at those without having a backup plan (if there is a supercharger near the destination, then that is a GREAT backup plan). If there is no good backup plan, I would usually plan on arriving with at least a 30% SOC (or whatever I felt was necessary to get to a reliable charger on my drive the following day) which would mean stopping for that 5-minute supercharge on the way there.

It's fairly common for public chargers to either not be working, blocked by ICE cars, or even just in use by other EVs.

 

[JKennedy442]

Thanks, yeah since the supercharger is 150 miles in I think I’ll play it by ear and if it’s cutting it too close I’ll stop for 5-10. Destination is a friends house so I’ll slow charge there.