How to plan a road trip - how long will it take?

[jerry33]

The first time you take a road trip in a Tesla it's a little intimidating just because you've never done it before. Even after reading hundreds of posts, you still haven't experienced it yourself. By the third road trip it's, "Is all the luggage packed?, Okay, we're off".

 

[winfield100]

I've once done a spreadsheet, and the maximum speed you can average using the SuperCharger network on the West Coast (with the current spacing) is 59mph - by travelling on average at around 78mph, and targeting single digit stops (which is risky). Above this point you will lose more time to longer charging than the time gained with extra speed.

This is on a 85 with 19" tires. Other configurations will differ.

if i were to do road trips (i have done this route appx 20x) washington dc to cape coral florida, usually I-95 to Yulee, Florida to 200/301 to Ocala, florida to Cape coral, it takes 3 gas fillups and i average (best ) ~58-63 mph, good traffic, no wrecks, backups anywhere, 1,032 miles. what would be the hit in time/mph avg in a 100 Tesla/biggest battery? is there a calculator/app/tool to calc that?

 

[EdA]

if i were to do road trips (i have done this route appx 20x) washington dc to cape coral florida, usually I-95 to Yulee, Florida to 200/301 to Ocala, florida to Cape coral, it takes 3 gas fillups and i average (best ) ~58-63 mph, good traffic, no wrecks, backups anywhere, 1,032 miles. what would be the hit in time/mph avg in a 100 Tesla/biggest battery? is there a calculator/app/tool to calc that?

I haven't used it but try: EV Trip Planner

 

[winfield100]

I haven't used it but try: EV Trip Planner

excellent, thanks. if it is to be believed, shorted segments add 3hrs, 40 minutes of charging time, but we get to get out, walk around and the. 16 hrs vs 19 hrs, 40 minutes. no gas burned but a small amount of extra time, for retiree's, auto steer, auto lane keep, auto speed, comfy driving vs road noise

 

[Rocky_H]

excellent, thanks. if it is to be believed, shorted segments add 3hrs, 40 minutes of charging time, but we get to get out, walk around and the. 16 hrs vs 19 hrs, 40 minutes. no gas burned but a small amount of extra time, for retiree's, auto steer, auto lane keep, auto speed, comfy driving vs road noise

People do sometimes forget that on these long trips some of the charging time kind of "disappears". With the gas car, you stop, fill up the car with gas and separately go take your lunch and dinner breaks--maybe at the same stop, maybe at other separate stops. With the Superchargers, you connect and go over to eat somewhere, and the car is filling while you are busy filling yourself anyway, so you're not actually waiting on the charging during those times.

 

[MorrisonHiker]

if i were to do road trips (i have done this route appx 20x) washington dc to cape coral florida, usually I-95 to Yulee, Florida to 200/301 to Ocala, florida to Cape coral, it takes 3 gas fillups and i average (best ) ~58-63 mph, good traffic, no wrecks, backups anywhere, 1,032 miles. what would be the hit in time/mph avg in a 100 Tesla/biggest battery? is there a calculator/app/tool to calc that?

abetterrouteplanner.com is another option and it has the benefit of working in the car's browser as well.

 

[rhumbliner]

16 hrs vs 19 hrs, 40 minutes.

Another poster in a different thread noted that he generally assumes a 20% increase in travel time in his MS and I find that to be fairly accurate for trips < 500 miles. For longer trips I agree with @Rocky_H -- the lag due to charging disappears.

 

[Ugliest1]

Another poster in a different thread noted that he generally assumes a 20% increase in travel time in his MS and I find that to be fairly accurate for trips < 500 miles. For longer trips I agree with @Rocky_H -- the lag due to charging disappears.

And driver fatigue is hugely reduced with the get-out-of-the-car-and-stroll-or-something breaks. This is something the I-just-want-5-minute-refueling crowd completely discounts. I however have found it a big benefit at the end of the day.

I remember about 40 years ago commercials from the auto association or the provincial insurance corporation saying "when you fill up, don't just get back in your car; go for a 10-minute walk, you'll be safer!" Youth being youth, I considered that but nah, back on the road ASAP. Now, I think differently.

 

[Bighorn]

if i were to do road trips (i have done this route appx 20x) washington dc to cape coral florida, usually I-95 to Yulee, Florida to 200/301 to Ocala, florida to Cape coral, it takes 3 gas fillups and i average (best ) ~58-63 mph, good traffic, no wrecks, backups anywhere, 1,032 miles. what would be the hit in time/mph avg in a 100 Tesla/biggest battery? is there a calculator/app/tool to calc that?

Figure 50 MPH average--usually works well if you're able to drive 75ish.

 

[Poonlarp]

Word to the wise...when an expected SC doesn't show up on your route, it means something.

Drove to the Carolina shore from Cincinnati on Thursday, a trip I have made dozens of times, but only once before in the Tesla, and now possible by the shortest route thanks to the new SC in Charleston. After charging there I planned to stop in Wytheville, Burlington, and Warsaw. The route planner didn't show me stopping at Warsaw, but I planned to anyway, in order to have enough charge when I got to the beach.

After leaving Burlington I immediately got warnings to slow down in order to make it to the beach, and couldn't understand why it wasn't just telling me to stop at Warsaw. Then I noticed that the Warsaw SC didn't even show up on the map. After cancelling the trip on the nav screen I looked for the Warsaw SC specifically and found a notification that said it was temporarily out of service. I ended up getting routed through Rocky Mount, adding 90 minutes to an already long trip.

Moral: even if you know the route by heart, pay attention to the navigation in your car in order to know the SC status and avoid getting stranded.

p.s. the navigation also helped us avoid 2 major interstate back-ups, so there's that...

 

[mjmiron]

Anyone used app EV Trip Planner and if so is that the best one to use in car? I am picking up my Model S in October and need to plan out my trip. This will be my first EV funny how people think I would look at Nissan or Volt nothing compares to Tesla, not even close.

 

[BertL]

Anyone used app EV Trip Planner and if so is that the best one to use in car? I am picking up my Model S in October and need to plan out my trip. This will be my first EV funny how people think I would look at Nissan or Volt nothing compares to Tesla, not even close.

First, congrats on your order and an early WELCOME to the family.

To your question, opinions of course will vary. Each tool accomplish many of the same basics, but go about their task a little differently. Most of the known tools are discussed in posts above.

• I personally started with (the original) EV Trip Planner in summer/fall 2015 before I purchased my MS to determine battery size needed for common routes and possible road trips. It was the only game in town back then and served me well for a few months after delivery. I even donated to help support the tool, but I found that while it worked for the most part, improvements and support were spotty at best, since the father passed-away (original MS owner) and his son, the developer went off to college (good for him!).
• I switched to EV Tripping when it was first being developed and have stuck with it as my go-to route planner since. It works, has become more refined over time, and is maintained with the latest Tesla and battery options (including Model 3). There are some options you can use for it to maintain a few car stats and automatic notifications to you if that helps you.

Neither of those tools will work in your MS (built-in Tesla browser/javascript just isn't sufficient). If I needed to (never have), I'd just pull out my smartphone and use one of the tools above. Since I logon to EV Tripping, I have access to planned routes on my office desktop or other mobile device should I need it. For me though, once I got comfortable with my MS and made a number of trips, my use of all route planning tools has diminished. I only use them now for new long routes, and "what if's" to gain confidence if needed, e.g. last year when I was going to do a 600-mile road trip I've made many times, but the forecast had very cold temps, high winds and rain for most of the outbound leg, I used it to figure out the best route and charging options so I had a good Plan B baked in the back of my head before I ever got started -- then let my MS take it from there realtime. NET: Give EV Tripping a try.

Enjoy your soon-to-be MS!

 

[MorrisonHiker]

abetterrouteplanner.com works on a computer, mobile or the car's browser. It also integrates with Pushbullet so you can receive notifications on the browser. It's very easy to use and the developer, @blincoln has been very responsive and is always adding new features.

 

[mjmiron]

Thank you!

 

[ElectricFuture]

We have so many superchargers that you can get anywhere!

 

[eschummer]

+1 for abetterrouteplanner.com. We made three >500 mi trips with it so far (one > 1000 mi), and it has been more than helpful in the planning process and quite accurate in actual execution. Great to have contributors like Bo participate on this site!

 

[ChadS]

Yeah, since I started this thread nearly 5 years ago, things have changed a LOT. (Things have changed even more since my first electric road trip 7.5 years ago, when the closest charging station - L1! - was 700 miles from my home). My wife and I don't plan trips anymore, we just jump in the car and jab at the next Supercharger on the screen. For those that do want to plan, there are far better tools than there used to be. This is great news, and it means that threads like this are not required.

For new EV drivers, however, it can still be helpful to get acquainted with some of the factors that are behind what the calculators are telling you. You never know when you might encounter a novel situation.

 

[jerry33]

Yeah, since I started this thread nearly 5 years ago, things have changed a LOT. (Things have changed even more since my first electric road trip 7.5 years ago, when the closest charging station - L1! - was 700 miles from my home).

You had a close SC. The nearest was 1,500 from my house back then. And yes, we don't plan anymore either--just hop in and go.

 

[Rocky_H]

when the closest charging station - L1! - was 700 miles from my home

I'm still confused how the nearest 120V outlet was 700 miles from your house. Do you use sled dogs to get to work?

 

[jerry33]

I'm still confused how the nearest 120V outlet was 700 miles from your house. Do you use sled dogs to get to work?

LOL. Nearest Supercharger. Before they were widely available, we mostly used RV parks.