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

[Zapped]

I'd go for option 3.
You will easily make up the extra hour in distance with the SC (300 mph) vs the L2 charger ( 17 mph)
Won't have to worry about your speed and you'll have plenty of extra range to spare. ( no anxiety )

 

[sergedg]

First electric road trip Brussels - St. Anton.

Hello,

We just completed our first electric road trip, from Brussels (B) to St. Anton (A).
950 km 11:30 including lunch, stops and charging.

Check out the graph here:
Twitter / sergedg: Our first electric ...

Best,


Serge

 

[EdA]

I'd go for option 3.
You will easily make up the extra hour in distance with the SC (300 mph) vs the L2 charger ( 17 mph)
Won't have to worry about your speed and you'll have plenty of extra range to spare. ( no anxiety )

Seconded. But it is nice knowing your options!

 

[HankLloydRight]

In EVTripPlanner, did you set correct car/wheels, payload, temperature, etc? Once you've done this, your 'margin' isn't too bad, just slowing it down a little (and doing some checks along the way) should get you there. Other variables that could impact are temperature and headwind - that is why checking along the way helps.

I did have it originally set for my car style and wheels, 72 ext temp, and 200lb payload, but that wasn't realistic. It will be more like 400lb payload (two adults plus luggage), and much warmer outside, like 85 degrees. So I plugged those in for the longest segment, and it comes up with 263 rated miles and 81 KW/h energy usage. And it looks like it goes up 1 Kwh for every 5 degrees it's warmer outside. And that's assuming no winds. So that's definitely a stretch to make it on one charge. So I guess that leaves out Option #1 unless I totally hyper-mile it the entire way. And where's the fun in that? So maybe the diversion to the Haggerstown SC is the next best option.

 

[clintons]

Hello,

We just completed our first electric road trip,
Check out the graph here:
Twitter / sergedg: Our first electric ...

Best,


Serge

Serge, I like the graph presentation that you did of your adventure road trip. Is there a software template that you used?

 

[trigga71]

Very informative. I feel much better about long trips now.

 

[Bugeater]

On a recent trip from Silicon Valley to LA and back over a weekend we experienced another reason why you should always plan for more than enough extra charge. On our way back we stopped at the Harris Ranch SC for a quick charge. We got plenty electrons to get us home with 80 miles or more to spare. It was getting late and we were hungry so we stopped in Gilroy for dinner. No, not near the Gilroy SC. But we had more than 80 miles remaining to make it the last 30 miles. No problem right? Well, as soon as we got back on the freeway we had to stop. We quickly discovered there had been a fatal motorcycle accident just ahead. About a half hour and maybe 2 miles later we crawled to an exit and got off. Now with only 40 miles left we took a side road around the accident. We made it home with barely 20 miles left!

I'm sure that if we hadn't turned off we would have not made it all the way home! It was truly amazing just how fast the miles disappear when you are going 2 - 3 mph in heavy traffic!

 

[napabill]

On a recent trip from Silicon Valley to LA and back over a weekend we experienced another reason why you should always plan for more than enough extra charge. On our way back we stopped at the Harris Ranch SC for a quick charge. We got plenty electrons to get us home with 80 miles or more to spare. It was getting late and we were hungry so we stopped in Gilroy for dinner. No, not near the Gilroy SC. But we had more than 80 miles remaining to make it the last 30 miles. No problem right? Well, as soon as we got back on the freeway we had to stop. We quickly discovered there had been a fatal motorcycle accident just ahead. About a half hour and maybe 2 miles later we crawled to an exit and got off. Now with only 40 miles left we took a side road around the accident. We made it home with barely 20 miles left!

I'm sure that if we hadn't turned off we would have not made it all the way home! It was truly amazing just how fast the miles disappear when you are going 2 - 3 mph in heavy traffic!

Something doesn't sound right. There should be virtually no range usage if doing 2-3mph. The guy in Florida did 400+ miles by going 25mph. If I'm cutting it close on range I always pray for heavy traffic.:wink:

 

[Guemian]

Not my experience in terms of loss of battery while stalled in traffic. Last October (2013) got caught up on I210 East off of I5 due to a brushfire. Spent 2 hours stalled and barely moving but did not lose any significant rated miles. Still ended up in Palm Desert that evening 2 hours late but with 30 rated miles remaining after a 250 rated miles charge at Labec for a 200 mile trip to Palm Desert.

 

[Bugeater]

Could have been cabin heater. Maybe due to being the end of a 400 mile trip from LA the battery cooling was in high gear.

 

[tomp]

Hi Cliff/All -

Does EVTripPlanner (or other sites) provide information regarding the charge time required? I'm planning a trip from NC to DC (fairly straightforward), but am trying to include charge time in the calculation.
Thanks!

 

[Cliff Hannel]

We plan to add that to an upcoming version...but not yet. Note that charge time not only depends on how many rated miles you want to add, but on the initial state of charge when you start. Charging slows as the battery fills. If you scroll down to "How it Works" on Supercharger | Tesla Motors you will see a graph showing charge time vs. initial/final charge.

Does EVTripPlanner (or other sites) provide information regarding the charge time required? I'm planning a trip from NC to DC (fairly straightforward), but am trying to include charge time in the calculation.
Thanks![/QUOTE]

 

[R²B]

Last week I stumbled onto a SC charging graph someone put together showing the various charge times at different battery levels, but now I can't find it for the life of me. Anyone know where that is?

 

[Johann Koeber]

We plan to add that to an upcoming version...but not yet. Note that charge time not only depends on how many rated miles you want to add, but on the initial state of charge when you start. Charging slows as the battery fills. If you scroll down to "How it Works" on Supercharger | Tesla Motors you will see a graph showing charge time vs. initial/final charge.

That would really be great.

I spend a lot of time at the Superchargers trying to find the optimal charging strategy. My objektive is to minimise travel time.

My current strategy is to visit each SC on the way and charge just enough to get to the next Supercharger at maximum driving speed, assuming charging at the SC is always faster than driving. This might no longer be true with a P85D going 250 km/h.

Since charging is fastest with an empty battery, I try to roll to the SC with single digit range.

Should I leave more range in the battery as to not stress the battery too much? How much?

 

[EdA]

That would really be great.

I spend a lot of time at the Superchargers trying to find the optimal charging strategy. My objektive is to minimise travel time.

My current strategy is to visit each SC on the way and charge just enough to get to the next Supercharger at maximum driving speed, assuming charging at the SC is always faster than driving. This might no longer be true with a P85D going 250 km/h.

Since charging is fastest with an empty battery, I try to roll to the SC with single digit range.

Should I leave more range in the battery as to not stress the battery too much? How much?

I have ~37k miles on my Model S, I've taken 1,600 mile supercharged road trips and regularly take 600 mile road trips.
I have never hit single digit range, EVER. The lowest I've ever gone is 22 miles. It is not good for the batteries to run
them low.

 

[HankLloydRight]

Yeah, same here.. I've taken several long SC trips, and honestly, the difference between rolling in with 5 miles, and 25 miles is maybe about 5 extra minutes of charging.

I'd never want to roll into a SC with a single digit SOC.. that's running it really too close for comfort. I think the lowest I've ever had rolling into a SC is in the 30s.

I certainly wouldn't "plan" on rolling in with <10 miles.. that leaves no buffer room for incidentals like rain or traffic. I found slow traffic, even a little bit, to be a HUGE range sink.

If time allows, I usually charge up to between 175 and 225 miles at each SC stop (just to the point that tapering kicks in), and in most cases I've had 50%-100% extra buffer to get where I'm going.. and in most cases, I've only needed a 15%-20% buffer (topping out at a 25% buffer in worst-case scenario). So I have more than enough charge to take care of traffic, rain, or side trips or other stops along the way.

 

[Notacarguy]

Hopefully not too dumb a question, but does everyone leave their UMC at home unless planning to go on a long road trip, or do you take it with you every day in case you need to charge somewhere?

I understand the supercharger has a gas pump like device but if I needed to plug into an ordinary wall socket it seems I would need the UMC. Do you only get the one with the car?

 

[Lloyd]

Hopefully not too dumb a question, but does everyone leave their UMC at home unless planning to go on a long road trip, or do you take it with you every day in case you need to charge somewhere?

I understand the supercharger has a gas pump like device but if I needed to plug into an ordinary wall socket it seems I would need the UMC. Do you only get the one with the car?

Nothing's dumb if you don't know the answer! :biggrin:

I leave my UMC at home unless I am going on an extended trip. You would need the UMC is you wanted to plug into an ordinary 15 amp 120v wall socket. You only get one with the car and I have not wanted a 2nd. Some members have ordered a 2nd one so they can leave one in the car at all times.

 

[Notacarguy]

Nothing's dumb is you don't know the answer! :biggrin:

I leave my UMC at home unless I am going on an extended trip. You would need the UMC is you wanted to plug into an ordinary 15 amp 120v wall socket. You only get one with the car and I have not wanted a 2nd. Some members have ordered a 2nd one so they can leave one in the car at all times.

Many thanks. I thought that was the case but after reading so much on the forums I began to wonder if my understanding was correct.

 

[Bighorn]

I've driven the supercharger highway coast to coast. Didn't read through all ten pages of this thread, but the answer, for me, is to divide distance by 50 miles ie over long distances, one averages about 50MPH when taking charging into account.