First road trip, trouble planning prefer non-interstates

[jbarnette]

I'm planning on taking my first road trip in my LR RWD Model 3 leaving north Austin with 90% charge stopping in Huntsville, TX, Alexandria, LA, Jackson, MS, Tupelo, MS and arriving Nashville, TN. So far everything looks well in range with worst spread of 207 miles from Huntsville, TX to Alexandria, LA.

Where I'm more challenged is in a visit of a friend in Fayetteville, AR. Initially, I was thinking of the more direct-is route from Nashville to Miner, MO (210 mi) then to Springfield, MO (244 mi). How slow do I need to drive to make 244 miles? Plugshare isn't showing any obvious faster dest chargers to fall back on.

I'm planning to spend the night in Fayetteville, and then on the next day to Catoosa supercharger. Is the Model 3 only good for interstate road trips.

Jim

 

[Dr. J]

Have you tried A Better Routeplanner I find it invaluable for trip planning. It has many settings, so...enjoy!

 

[jbarnette]

Thanks, I had tried it but am just now playing with it; I suppose it comes down to expecting 250 miles to be a reasonably in-range segment for a road-trip, and finding that it may be just beyond capability. I normally drive +5 over the speed limit which is generally on the slower side of flowing with the traffic. Adjusting parameters, it seems to suggest I can go that way, but limited to 58 mph (not horrible, but not optimal on a 500 mile travel day). Also, I'm very disappointed in how few reasonably priced hotels have overnight charging (mostly Hyatt or boutique hotels). Also, disappointed that there are many supercharger solutions "coming soon", but I've always freely road tripped all over the USA using interstates and backroads where shorter and I'm finding Tesla's supercharger network a little thin outside of coastal USA or interstate thoroughfares.

 

[Zoomit]

Beyond Destination chargers, you can use any AC Level 2 EVSE with the J1772 adapter that came with the car. They’ll charge at 6kW or about 24 mi/hr.

 

[Glamisduner]

they certainly need more supercharger. You can also charge at a KOA if you bring your EVSE, some of them have cabins. Kind of the opposite from a fancy hotel.

 

[Evoforce]

You can charge your car up to 100% as long as you drive it immediately/shortly. Doesn't your car get over 300 miles per charge?

 

[SageBrush]

I suppose it comes down to expecting 250 miles to be a reasonably in-range segment for a road-trip, and finding that it may be just beyond capability.

How so ?

 

[Dr. J]

Where I'm more challenged is in a visit of a friend in Fayetteville, AR. Initially, I was thinking of the more direct-is route from Nashville to Miner, MO (210 mi) then to Springfield, MO (244 mi). How slow do I need to drive to make 244 miles? Plugshare isn't showing any obvious faster dest chargers to fall back on.

You can do that full speed, assuming 90% starting charge and 10% supercharger and destination arrival charge.

But you can get there an hour and a half quicker by going through Memphis and Little Rock, also full speed with same parameters, I have speed set to 105% of limit, capped at 80 MPH.

 

[jbcarioca]

I'm planning on taking my first road trip in my LR RWD Model 3 leaving north Austin with 90% charge stopping in Huntsville, TX, Alexandria, LA, Jackson, MS, Tupelo, MS and arriving Nashville, TN. So far everything looks well in range with worst spread of 207 miles from Huntsville, TX to Alexandria, LA.

Where I'm more challenged is in a visit of a friend in Fayetteville, AR. Initially, I was thinking of the more direct-is route from Nashville to Miner, MO (210 mi) then to Springfield, MO (244 mi). How slow do I need to drive to make 244 miles? Plugshare isn't showing any obvious faster dest chargers to fall back on.

I'm planning to spend the night in Fayetteville, and then on the next day to Catoosa supercharger. Is the Model 3 only good for interstate road trips.

Jim

Oddly, perhaps, I drove Miner-Springfield a few months ago in an S75. I drive a steady 50 mph, with a few slower stretches, and ended at Springfield with 45 miles to spare. It is perfectly doable in a LR Model 3. Just understand that the hills along the way will be disconcerting. Anyway, if you do encounter unexpected problems, there are NEMA 14-50's (you have the plug) at Mountain View Springa RV Park and Poplar Bluff RV Park. I had actually planned to stop at Poplar Bluff but ended out not needing it.

 

[Brentt]

Arkansas is a bit of a black hole when it comes to charging. Also lots of elevation changes in western part of state.
With cooler temps you will get a little less range. I figure about 15% and it comes out about right.

 

[RedModel3]

I decided not to do a half marathon on Fayetteville for the same reason. Until there are more charging opportunities, it's not a great drive.

When will you be in Nashville? Give me a shout, and you can get a charge at my place!

 

[Msjulie]

I keep forgetting 5 over in Tx can be pretty quick - one thing that *seems* to be noticeable is airing up the tires to the higher settings.. I was surprised how well my car did over the weekend, san jose -> slo, tires cold were 44

 

[BenR]

This will be very temperature-dependent; if it is cold, you will have to be really careful with energy consumption (speed/HVAC/etc.) to make it 244 miles. The other night it took me 297 miles of range to make it home from Louisville KY (217 miles) in 30F weather, with the climate set at 65, minimal fan speed and traveling 70-75 mph on the highway. I was surprised that the range hit was that large at that temperature.

Also if you're counting on an overnight charge at a hotel anywhere in this part of the country, make sure you get there early! I've yet to see a hotel that even has any kind of signage to discourage ICEing of the chargers, much less anything they can do about it when it happens...

And just a note since it sounds like you like to take things on the slower side - if you have a chance to hit the supercharger in Jackson TN during business hours, I wouldn't miss it. It's located at the Casey Jones railway museum and cafe, which is delightful.