Help me understand

[tc521]

I’m going to be traveling from Knoxville, TN to Gulf Shores, AL in a Model X 100D. Both Tesla maps and A Better Route Planner have me stopping in Chattanooga for a charge 90 miles in.

In my mind the better option is to leave fully charged and drive to the Steele, AL supercharger. It’s 200 miles from home and a lot more convenient. Plus, it would seem more efficient to arrive there with 20 to 30% battery left than top off a 60 to 70% battery in Chattanooga.

Both Tesla and ABRP have me stopping in Chattanooga, Birmingham and Greeeneville, AL.

My thought is Steele, AL and Greeneville, AL superchargers instead. I might make Steele a quick stop and still stop in Birmingham for lunch since there’s a lot better options for food there.

Knoxville > Steele, AL 200 miles
Steele > Greeneville, AL 177 miles

Thoughts?

 

[Gwgan]

EV Trip Optimizer with a standard X100 gives the result you expect. Plus, Chattanooga is my least favorite supercharger.

 

[ewoodrick]

Looking at tesla.com/trips, and varying between the X 100D and X P100D and S P100D, it is easy to see it's all about the max range in this case. In the S100D, it stops for 5 minutes in Chattanooga and then Steele and Greenville, but when changing to the X100D, it stops for a full charger in Chattanooga, and then goes into Birmingham. Switch to the X75D, then it goes through Atlanta.

If you are going to drive at a speed where you are going to get close to the EPA rated mileage, then you may be able to sneak into Steele with a little lower reserve than desired. If you are going to go above the speed limit, then you probably need to stop in Chattanooga, either to add a few minutes to reach Steele, to a near full charge to get to Birmingham.
I'd also look at bio breaks and food stops along the way. Looking at pictures of Steele, there doesn't seem to be much of anything there. Whereas in Birmingham, there's a couple of nice little places around the Supercharger. I'd much rather spend 20 minutes in Chattanooga, 15 minutes in Steele and then eat lunch in Birmingham, than sitting in Steele for an hour. Steele looks to be a truck stop, out, all by itself.