How to Plan a Tesla drive

[JayRM]

How does one plan a Tesla trip from beginning to end when the car has a range, when fully charged, of 315 miles (2018 S 100D)? I've played with the Trip Planner but have more questions than answers. Eg., between my starting point and the end stop, the planner tells me to stop at a Super Charger and charge for 15 minutes. It does not tell me what charge the car should have before leaving. It also doesn't tell me once I leave that first stop, how far I can go or where to charge to continue the journey.

Is there a complete explanation to watch or listen to describing the trip planning process?

Thank you.

 

[RTPEV]

That's one of the reasons I use abetterrouteplanner.com (ABRP). It gives you plenty of details at each charging waypoint front-and-center, including charging station availability at the next stop (you don't have to pan the screen and click on anything to get that info).

I run this in the car's browser so all that info is sitting right in front of me, and it tracks real-time (this is the detailed view--I like having the energy graph visible as well). Notice that it not only tells me that I need to stop for 10 minutes at the next stop, but that it wants me to go from 29% to 58%. It also gives me detailed times of day all the way to the destination.

Other trip planners may have similar capabilities.

 

[srs5694]

When you say you're using the Trip Planner, do you mean Tesla's Web-accessible tool or the car's built-in navigation system?

When you use the car's built-in navigation, it already knows your current state of charge (SoC), so that's what it uses; it's assuming that you want to depart immediately. AFAIK, Tesla's Web-based tool assumes you'll be departing with a full charge, but I'm not 100% positive of that. (I don't use that tool much.)

If either the Web tool or the car's built-in navigation system is showing you one Supercharger stop between your starting point and your destination, then that's all you need -- or at least, all that the tool thinks you'll need. It could be wrong because of temperature, speed, detours, etc. If such things happen, the car will update its Supercharging recommendations appropriately while en route.

If you want to plan the trip ahead of time, there are quite a few tools you might use. Two of them are:

• Tesla's route planner -- This is Tesla's official Web-accessible route planner, as already referenced. It's pretty basic, though.
• A Better Routeplanner -- This is a Web-based tool that offers a lot of options. Perhaps too many, especially for casual or first-time users. That gives it a lot of power, though; you can specify your starting SoC, weather conditions, what types of charging stations to use (if you've got adapters), etc.

Once you're on the road, PlugShare can be quite helpful, too. It will help you locate non-Tesla charging for overnight stops or level 2 charging at your destination; or to help you route to a CHAdeMO or CCS station if you have the appropriate adapter and prefer to use one of those for whatever reason.

Note that there are iOS and Android versions of both A Better Routeplanner and PlugShare, too; you'll probably want to load them on your phone before you leave.

 

[EVRider-FL]

You don’t have to plan your trip in advance unless you’re traveling through areas with limited supercharging options. The car’s nav system will tell you where to stop and charge. I did a lot of planning before my first road trip, but now I just go with the flow.

 

[Rocky_H]

Is there a complete explanation to watch or listen to describing the trip planning process?

Well, if you are traveling on Interstate highways to decently sized cities, there really isn't any need to pre-plan in 2022 anymore. They all have Supercharger coverage, and you can just play it by ear as you go. It's only really when going off the Interstates onto lesser state highways and U.S. highways that don't have very good Supercharger coverage that it needs any planning.

So I do it kind of in these quick steps if I am considering some new trip:

1. Look on www.supercharge.info. That's just a total map showing all of the Superchargers, including user-added info for future ones, like in construction or build permits discovered. If the route has coverage, END. I don't need to plan.

2. If it doesn't obviously have Supercharger coverage from that previous map, then sure, I will play a bit with either www.evtripplanner.com or www.abetterrouteplanner.com to see if there are any larger gaps that are problematic.

3. And then if you do have a pretty large gap that needs to find some alternate charging method, then that's what www.plugshare.com is for. It's about the most comprehensive and up-to-date map of all charging resources available.

 

[avs007]

I always plan my trip in advance, so I can look at restroom and food options... I've had the wife complain about it telling her to stop at a SC in a dimly lit parking lot of a shopping center that is closed... Whereas the next SC down the freeway was a nice v3 at a 24/7 truck stop, with easy access to restrooms and a Subway + McDonalds, etc.

The most important aspect of trip planning for me, is where the final charging stop is... So I'll use ABRP, so I can enter in arrival SoC, becuase often times there isn't charging where I'm going, like if I'm visiting family, or I'll need to run errands when I arrive, etc... If I relied on Tesla Nav, sometimes it'll have me stop at a SC that is far enough away as my last stop, that there is no way to arrive with a higher SoC without changing where the last stop is....

But anyways, while I'm at a SC, I'll enter in my next SC I want to stop at as my destination if it isn't already.... And I'll bring up the energy graph... It will tell you the arrival SoC at your next stop... I'll leave when I have a 20% buffer.... (I use a 20% buffer, becuase I've gotten screwed with wind/rain before)