We are leaving shortly on our first ever road trip with our new Model S, 100D. Since we leave from just outside Winnipeg, MB and are heading to Orlando, Florida we are wondering if someone here might be able to throw some tips or advice our way.
We've been reading the site since long before we bought the car and found so many answers to our questions up to now. Especially about the winter driving and loss of range if we heat the car!
Our current plan is to head South to Grand Forks and charge at the Best Western then if the range looks doable we will head to that supercharger in Baxter, MN. If things look dicey depending on how cold it is and how much range we have we thought to stop in Fargo to bump up and then over to Baxter.
From Baxter the intent is down through Minneapolis and pick up the I94 to Eau Claire, then Mauston. We will take the I39 straight South from there and if our calculations are correct that will mean Rockford, Peru, Normal, Champaign, Effingham and Mt Vernon are all possible/potential stops depending on range because of cold.
Once we lave Mt Vernon we will be back on highways we know but we have never done this with an EV so have no idea about any of the charging stations. The Tesla map indicates Kuttawa, KY, Brentwood, TN, Manchester, TN and Chattanooga,TN. We think we will have to make sure to catch the on in Chattanooga so that we can completely bypass Atlanta. Our experience going anywhere Atlanta is that the traffic is insanely busy anytime night or day and our best bet is to go from Chattanooga to Macon, GA on a full charge. Our calculations indicate that should be doable at a distance of 324 KM.
From Macon we plan to catch the charger at Tifton and then Ocala.
Does anyone have any experience with those chargers? Are they usually all up and running? How reliable is the Tesla website for it information? Are they good at keeping it updated or should we always hedge our bets.
We have tried to calculate the ranges using an 80KM safety margin but maybe that should be expanded?
Any tips or information anyone could advise would be much appreciated. This is going to be very different from taking an RV that knows every gas station along the road
Thank you in advance for any suggestions you can offer
P&D
We've been reading the site since long before we bought the car and found so many answers to our questions up to now. Especially about the winter driving and loss of range if we heat the car!
Our current plan is to head South to Grand Forks and charge at the Best Western then if the range looks doable we will head to that supercharger in Baxter, MN. If things look dicey depending on how cold it is and how much range we have we thought to stop in Fargo to bump up and then over to Baxter.
From Baxter the intent is down through Minneapolis and pick up the I94 to Eau Claire, then Mauston. We will take the I39 straight South from there and if our calculations are correct that will mean Rockford, Peru, Normal, Champaign, Effingham and Mt Vernon are all possible/potential stops depending on range because of cold.
Once we lave Mt Vernon we will be back on highways we know but we have never done this with an EV so have no idea about any of the charging stations. The Tesla map indicates Kuttawa, KY, Brentwood, TN, Manchester, TN and Chattanooga,TN. We think we will have to make sure to catch the on in Chattanooga so that we can completely bypass Atlanta. Our experience going anywhere Atlanta is that the traffic is insanely busy anytime night or day and our best bet is to go from Chattanooga to Macon, GA on a full charge. Our calculations indicate that should be doable at a distance of 324 KM.
From Macon we plan to catch the charger at Tifton and then Ocala.
Does anyone have any experience with those chargers? Are they usually all up and running? How reliable is the Tesla website for it information? Are they good at keeping it updated or should we always hedge our bets.
We have tried to calculate the ranges using an 80KM safety margin but maybe that should be expanded?
Any tips or information anyone could advise would be much appreciated. This is going to be very different from taking an RV that knows every gas station along the road
Thank you in advance for any suggestions you can offer
P&D