How to save a lot of time on long trips

[Rocky_H]

@Rocky_H what do you suppose was your average RM as you rolled up to each SuperCharger? Did you use a larger buffer when pulling in to a hotel for destination charging (using other than Superchargers)? I tend to have more anxiety about charging overnight at hotels, especially in towns far from where I live.

I never used any destination charging at hotels; I far prefer AirBNB, which never have any charging options available, and I'm a little bit cheap, so the $35-$40 per night for AirBNB instead of $119 or so for a real hotel is attractive. So basically, I would just charge at least most of the way at the Supercharger that night when I got into the city when the battery was warm and then head over to the AirBNB house with a mostly full battery. I didn't charge it all the way up (1) because it takes too long and (2) because I wouldn't leave it almost full overnight, which isn't good for the battery. So I would charge up to maybe 60-70% or maybe set the next day's Supercharger in nav and fill to what was needed for that next leg in the morning. And then in the morning sometimes I would pick up a breakfast sandwich and coffee to go and head over to the Supercharger to eat in the car if I needed to top up a little more. Or if the first segment was short, like 70-90 miles, then I would just go there and get breakfast.

My overnight stops were:
Salt Lake City (AirBNB)
Goodland, KS at the Holiday Inn Express, where the Tesla Supercharger is, so I got to charge easily that night when I got in and then again to warm it up some and top off in the morning.
Shawnee, KS (my mom's house)
Lebanon, MO (my cousin's house)
Dayton, OH (AirBNB)
Lebanon, MO again
Amarillo, TX (AirBNB)
Gallup, NM (AirBNB)
Salt Lake City again (AirBNB)

I know the idea of AirBNB absolutely weirds some people out, but we couldn't be happier with it, and it is almost always our first choice of where to stay. In Amarillo and Gallup, even though I was just renting a room, the owners were away, so I had the whole quiet house to myself.

 

[Taxdodger]

My wife and I are leaving on a 10,000 mile 3 month journey going from the heartland through Ohio, Canada, NY, Vermont, along the east coast then back west. Along the way we will mostly stay at AirBNBs. We found 1. In the Dallas area that is owned by a Tesla owner who lets guests use his charger. I’m waiting for some interpreting invented to create a portable solar charger I can take with me to use for overnight charging

 

[henderrj]

My wife and I are leaving on a 10,000 mile 3 month journey going from the heartland through Ohio, Canada, NY, Vermont, along the east coast then back west. Along the way we will mostly stay at AirBNBs. We found 1. In the Dallas area that is owned by a Tesla owner who lets guests use his charger. I’m waiting for some interpreting invented to create a portable solar charger I can take with me to use for overnight charging

Yes! One that rolls up to fit in, where? The well in the back? The frunk? It's got to be possible! A week of camping and we'd gain, oh, 18 miles? I'm not being sarcastic, just lamenting. Besides it might just be enough! I think I'd buy it .

 

[gavine]

portable solar charger I can take with me to use for overnight charging

Huh?

 

[henderrj]

Huh?

I suppose if you brought it's own battery along with it, and then came back to the same place you left it. Hmm? Maybe not so great! I was thinking of trips like I often take for hiking, where the car stays put for 3 or 4 days. Not sure what the OP was thinking. Funny though, I skated right by that. I guess my preconceptions were too strong!

 

[BerTX]

I suppose if you brought it's own battery along with it, and then came back to the same place you left it. Hmm? Maybe not so great! I was thinking of trips like I often take for hiking, where the car stays put for 3 or 4 days. Not sure what the OP was thinking. Funny though, I skated right by that. I guess my preconceptions were too strong!

Yeah, don't hold your breath. If it is nice and sunny you would get about 4 miles a day from that setup.

 

[henderrj]

Yeah, don't hold your breath. If it is nice and sunny you would get about 4 miles a day from that setup.

I fear you are correct! But, we can hope. Even 20 miles a day would probably be enough.

 

[asghair]

Very good,

 

[GSP]

I like the idea of Air B&B for long trips, but have not tried it yet. I have been favoriting Tesla destination charging locations and love getting a charge overnight, just like at home.

I am thinking about using a dryer outlet or using the “quick220” that provides 240 V 12A charging from two normal 120 V outlets.

I already bought a 60 foot long “J-dapter Stub” to extend the reach of the UMC that came with my Model S.

GSP

 

[WannabeOwner]

have not tried it yet

I've now "not tried it" twice.

First time there was a really good deal on a property so we booked. A week later it was cancelled and the property disappeared from their books, no idea why but I assume something dogey. Full refund.

Second time we assumed that "you can cancel until XXX" meant full refund. We cancelled within a couple of day, well short of the actual deadline, a plans changed. Turns out that the property itself had no such cancellation policy and we got back a few pennies for the Air B&B Fee and lost heavily on an exorbitant cancellation fee. Our fault no doubt, but I don't think Air B&B made that clear ...

Of course our kids have used Air B&B successfully, and repeatedly ...

 

[Taxdodger]

On June 24th, 2018, my wife and I along with our 10 lb poodle left Wichita Kansas in our S 75D for a journey through 22 states and 1 Canadian province. The total trip was 10,318 miles over 3.5 months. We were relatively new Tesla owners so initial range anxiety was every present during the first 1,000 miles.

Following these posts and gaining experience through doing it abated the anxiety and enhanced our wonderful experience. Using AirBNBs and and occasional destination hotel we were never at risk of low energy.

Kudos to Tesla service who diagnosed an air conditioner compressor issue while we were driving along the highway in northern Ohio, scheduled and appointment at the Cleveland Service Center for the following morning. We were treated like old friends.and our issue was resolved without disruption to our plans.

 

[CHGolferJim]

I enjoy AirBnB for destinations where the risk of changing plans is very low or nonexistent, but their policies for cancellation with costs means I don’t use them for business travel or when actual stop on a long 2-day drive is unknown. It’s a shame, really.

 

[jgs]

I far prefer AirBNB, which never have any charging options available

Well, hardly ever? I stay in them pretty often and have occasionally had places with garage parking with a usable household outlet. And I know there’s a place local to me (so, for obvious reasons I’ve never stayed there) that has both a J1772 and a HPWC. But I imagine places like that don’t fit the “kind of cheap” requirement. (The household outlet on the other hand, yes.)

I wonder what ever happened to the Tesla/AirBNB partnership? I guess that’s probably where my local place got his setup, come to think of it. Tesla and Airbnb partner to install chargers at prime rental locations

 

[nurtajmostofa]

Useful information with great advice, Thank you!

 

[gasisnasty]

Someone did the math a while back, IIRC the ideal spot was 75mph. Going 65mph increases your overall trip by about 5-10mins, and going 85mph increases your overall trip by about 5-10mins. Going 90mph increases it be 10mins.

And increasing your speed over the speed limit also increases your chance of getting a speeding ticket. Slow down, obey speed limits and arrive safely without a speeding ticket. I find it very comfortable driving at the speed limit on Autopilot. No worries or anxiety.
A speeding ticket is more than just a hefty fine. It also increases your insurance premium. Do you really want to risk that?
Regardless of who is to blame, if you are involved in an accident while speeding it's not going to help you much. Remember all your driving actions are logged by Tesla so they will know if you are speeding at the time of an accident, or not.

 

[jgs]

Remember all your driving actions are logged by Tesla so they will know if you are speeding at the time of an accident, or not.

Tesla is neither your insurer, nor are they law enforcement, nor yet are they the Elf on the Shelf. They aren’t even your mom.

 

[gasisnasty]

Tesla is neither your insurer, nor are they law enforcement, nor yet are they the Elf on the Shelf. They aren’t even your mom.

You totally misunderstood my message.
The purpose of mentioning that your actions are logged by Tesla is so you are aware that if you are involved in an accident involving injuries, the Police are going to want to see your Tesla's log. If the log shows that you were speeding at the time of the accident then it will not look good for you regardless of who is at fault.

 

[Ostrichsak]

You totally misunderstood my message.
The purpose of mentioning that your actions are logged by Tesla is so you are aware that if you are involved in an accident involving injuries, the Police are going to want to see your Tesla's log. If the log shows that you were speeding at the time of the accident then it will not look good for you regardless of who is at fault.

It doesn't matter if you're speeding if the other person is at fault in an accident. No need to spread FUD.

 

[maximizese]

You totally misunderstood my message.
The purpose of mentioning that your actions are logged by Tesla is so you are aware that if you are involved in an accident involving injuries, the Police are going to want to see your Tesla's log. If the log shows that you were speeding at the time of the accident then it will not look good for you regardless of who is at fault.

Maybe in Timbuktu, but I can't imagine that would fly here in the US. There are privacy laws, overreach, and reliability factors to consider. It seems like the public is okay with blackbox telemetry recordings in the even of a bad accident. It can bring closure to an understandably difficult situation, but to use logged data for a speeding ticket would provoke outrage by the driving public. Besides, 75-80mph on many highways would be holding up traffic.

I've found myself saving time by speeding up 5-10mph momentarily to pass slower vehicles before getting stuck behind a very slow vehicle (trailers going 60mph). If can take miles for some rigs to complete a double-pass and can be compounded by folks trying to cut in from the right lane. I'd rather blip the throttle for a 20-30 seconds to save myself 5 minutes of getting stuck in a caravan. That 5 minutes can translate to being 3 miles behind where you would have been had you not gotten stuck. By no means do encourage dangerous driving. Please you your turn signals, don't cut folks off, and don't blast past people during the pass. Besides, you regen some energy as you modulate the throttle back to your cruising speed after the pass...and Supercharging will be more efficient as your SOC% will be slightly lower when you approach the charging destinations too. I like to leave myself at least 30 miles of headroom.

 

[Viridian]

You totally misunderstood my message.
The purpose of mentioning that your actions are logged by Tesla is so you are aware that if you are involved in an accident involving injuries, the Police are going to want to see your Tesla's log. If the log shows that you were speeding at the time of the accident then it will not look good for you regardless of who is at fault.

Hate to break it to ya but many vehicles made after the turn of the century have "event data recorders" or "black boxes" that record multiple parameters during a collision (i.e. were you wearing your seatbelt? were you pressing the accelerator? did the airbags deploy?) so this is nothing proprietary to Tesla. The only difference is that Tesla more than likely collects a TON more data than these devices.