How to save a lot of time on long trips

[zerompg]

Planning on driving the 100D to Florida from Illinois. Day 2 will be from Birmington to Siesta Key. The Tifton Ga to Siesta Key leg is 343 miles. The tesla planner says to chg in Ocala for 40mins. Would it make sense to do shorter stops in Lake City 107miles, Gainesvile 150miles, or Ocala 185miles then a 2nd stop at Brandon or Sarasota?

Looking forward to driving the Tesla this trip and thanks for the help.

 

[CalBlue 85D]

Planning on driving the 100D to Florida from Illinois. Day 2 will be from Birmington to Siesta Key. The Tifton Ga to Siesta Key leg is 343 miles. The tesla planner says to chg in Ocala for 40mins. Would it make sense to do shorter stops in Lake City 107miles, Gainesvile 150miles, or Ocala 185miles then a 2nd stop at Brandon or Sarasota?

Looking forward to driving the Tesla this trip and thanks for the help.

Check out A Better Route Planner. A Better Routeplanner

You can tweak your stops, add waypoints and export the plan to your phone. Way more flexible than Tesla-Nav.

 

[GSP]

Planning on driving the 100D to Florida from Illinois. Day 2 will be from Birmington to Siesta Key. The Tifton Ga to Siesta Key leg is 343 miles. The tesla planner says to chg in Ocala for 40mins. Would it make sense to do shorter stops in Lake City 107miles, Gainesvile 150miles, or Ocala 185miles then a 2nd stop at Brandon or Sarasota?

Looking forward to driving the Tesla this trip and thanks for the help.

I usually don’t like the stops that the Tesla planner recommends. It only plans for the car’s needs, and does not align them with your human needs.

I like to start with a full charge, drive 2-3 hours, do a 15 min supercharger restroom break, drive another 2-3 hours, stop for a 1 hour lunch/supercharger break, drive 2-3 hours, another 15 min charging/restroom break, and drive to my destination. For longer daily mileage (600+ mi), I also do a 1 hour dinner/supercharger break, then drive to my destination.

40 min in Ocala would make sense if you time your day so that it makes a good dinner stop.

GSP

 

[TSLA Pilot]

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.

Yet another driver with such limited knowledge of the facts, mostly because of DECADES of exposure to the "Speed Kills" myths promulgated by the insurance industry and Police/Court cabals that generate so much revenue from same . . . .

Here's a tip: Speed limits are OFTEN set far lower than they need be because low speed limits are used for revenue generation.

Please read up on the subject and get smarter on the facts.

Here's a great resource:

Speed Limits - National Motorists Association

 

[kavyboy]

Yet another driver with such limited knowledge of the facts, mostly because of DECADES of exposure to the "Speed Kills" myths promulgated by the insurance industry and Police/Court cabals that generate so much revenue from same . . . .

Here's a tip: Speed limits are OFTEN set far lower than they need be because low speed limits are used for revenue generation.

Please read up on the subject and get smarter on the facts.

Here's a great resource:

Speed Limits - National Motorists Association

You're both right. @gasisnasty is spot-on, regardless of why it actually is that way.

 

[JCtx]

I'm considering a MSP, and have a few questions regarding battery usage and range. By the way, I live in El Paso, TX, and would travel often to Austin, TX (about 600 miles). Here are my questions:

1. When considering the car's trip planner range, I assume it's at the speed limit, correct? My question is how can you know how much range you'd eat by going 85-90 instead of 80? And then, how to calculate the optimal speed for each leg to minimize time spent charging. On the first leg, starting with a full charge, you could go as fast as possible to arrive with the least amount of charge, to maximize miles per minute of charging. But after that, there will be an optimal speed for each leg. I'd have to research the available SCs in our route, and see how much this car would add to our trip. We typically stop just once at Ft Stockton, so a Tesla would slow us down for sure. We just need to find out how much.

2. What's the realistic range for the (345-mile) Model S Performance at 85 mph WITH A/C or heater on? I need this to determine which charging stations we'd have to hit. Many stops are out of the way by quite a bit, so we need to research SCs based on the realistic range reported here, and see if it'd work out for us. Thank you.

3. Out of curiosity, I want to know how to maximize battery life/mileage, so can somebody please tell me what's the optimal MAXIMUM state of charge when charging with 120V? Is it still 85%? And what's the optimal MINIMUM state of charge before recharging at home? And how about for traveling, while using super chargers: What's the maximum recommended charge not to exceed (is it 100%)? And the minimum recommended charge not to drop below? Hopefully it's below where we have the balls to attempt fate, but to try to never get below that figure. Thank you.

 

[KArnold]

1. Speed is probably the biggest variable in distance. But there is temperature, elevation, wind, tires etc that must be considered.

2. On my '17 MS100 I am comfortable taking it down to 10% but I'll know exactly where I plan to charge.

3. As outlined here you normally don't charge higher than 90% unless you need it. And if you need it, use it. But at 110-volt that will take a long, long time to charge to 100%. That's likely not practical.

Go to A Better Routeplanner to try various range 'what if' range kind of questions. It's a great resource.

 

[Kenz]

Trying to keep the battery between 20 - 80% seems to work best for me.
The SuperChargers seems to be slow to ramp up and fast to ramp down when you get too low or high state of charge.
If you must go lower or charge to a higher rate go for it but in most cases you don't need to do so to get to the next charger and it will take longer.
For me this seems to work the best, reduces down time and it is also better for the health of the battery.
Putting in the next SuperCharger you want to stop at helps in calculating the range you need and percent you will arrive at.

 

[ArizonaP85]

I'm considering a MSP, and have a few questions regarding battery usage and range. By the way, I live in El Paso, TX, and would travel often to Austin, TX (about 600 miles). Here are my questions:

1. When considering the car's trip planner range, I assume it's at the speed limit, correct? My question is how can you know how much range you'd eat by going 85-90 instead of 80? And then, how to calculate the optimal speed for each leg to minimize time spent charging. On the first leg, starting with a full charge, you could go as fast as possible to arrive with the least amount of charge, to maximize miles per minute of charging. But after that, there will be an optimal speed for each leg. I'd have to research the available SCs in our route, and see how much this car would add to our trip. We typically stop just once at Ft Stockton, so a Tesla would slow us down for sure. We just need to find out how much.

2. What's the realistic range for the (345-mile) Model S Performance at 85 mph WITH A/C or heater on? I need this to determine which charging stations we'd have to hit. Many stops are out of the way by quite a bit, so we need to research SCs based on the realistic range reported here, and see if it'd work out for us. Thank you.

3. Out of curiosity, I want to know how to maximize battery life/mileage, so can somebody please tell me what's the optimal MAXIMUM state of charge when charging with 120V? Is it still 85%? And what's the optimal MINIMUM state of charge before recharging at home? And how about for traveling, while using super chargers: What's the maximum recommended charge not to exceed (is it 100%)? And the minimum recommended charge not to drop below? Hopefully it's below where we have the balls to attempt fate, but to try to never get below that figure. Thank you.

If you regularly make 600 mile trips at 90 mph, no available EV is right for you. Even a Model S Raven rated at 370 miles will not go anywhere near that distance at 90 mph so you’d have to make at least two charging stops, each taking much longer than a gasoline fill up. Those would increase your travel time by an hour or more than an ICE for this trip. I have to imagine that would be unacceptable to you, otherwise you wouldn’t drive 90 mph.

 

[JCtx]

2. On my '17 MS100 I am comfortable taking it down to 10% but I'll know exactly where I plan to charge.

Thank you. But may I ask you about how many miles do you get on the highway? And starting with how much charge (%)? And thank you for that other planner site; will check it out later.

And just to be clear, I don't travel at 90 all the time; simply UP TO 90. Many times, there's absolutely nobody around, and/or I get passed by quicker cars, so I speed up to that if safe. I have a perfect driving record, so not a hooligan. And as I mentioned, on the first leg, where you start with a full charge from home, no sense in saving charge, since the charge rate is quicker the lower the charge is, basically negating the effect of 'hyper-miling'. After that, then yes, there's an optimal speed to minimize charging time, and I'd definitely adhere to that. I travel faster when possible on ICE cars, because it's faster overall. But if it's not, no sense to speed above that optimal speed then. And thinking about it, an electric vehicle would be a nice deterrent to speed too much on a trip, so an added benefit. Ha ha.

As far as 120V charging, there's a Tesla SC 2 miles from my house. And once the battery pack is full, we could easily keep it full with the few miles we drive a day (if at all), since everything is close. Hence considering a Tesla now. But my question is if it's healthy for the battery to keep it 'full' (meaning at 80% charge) all the time, or letting it get to 20%, then back to 80% again every time? If that was the case, then I'd have to use the supercharger near my house while eating at Rudy's. But it'd be nicer if we could top off the charge at my house every day or two overnight. Just curious what's the best charging strategy in my case to make batteries last the longest. Thank you for the great help.

 

[JCtx]

Oh, forgot to ask this other question: Do Tesla ratings, like the 345 on the SP version, is with a 100% charge? I imagine the answer is yes, as automakers always 'cheat' by exaggerating weight (as in less), mileage, power, etc. Since it's apparently not good to charge more than 90%, I'd consider that the maximum range, and wonder what it is in real life. I don't want to make a $100K mistake, so want to know exactly what I'd be getting into. Ha ha. Otherwise, I could just buy my wife a model 3, save half, and just use my vehicle for long trips. Thanks.

 

[KArnold]

But may I ask you about how many miles do you get on the highway? And starting with how much charge (%)?

I've got the expected 6% degradation in my 2.5 years. I can easily still do 300 miles from 100% to 10% running about 75 MPH, full ammenities.

But my question is if it's healthy for the battery to keep it 'full' (meaning at 80% charge) all the time, or letting it get to 20%, then back to 80% again every time?

I'm not the most knowledgeable on this topic but from what I've seen, if you stay between 10% and 90% it doesn't matter how often you charge, whether it is super charging or 110-volt. Some might suggest 20% to 80% for daily commute if you don't need the range.

Do Tesla ratings, like the 345 on the SP version, is with a 100% charge? I imagine the answer is yes

Yes, of course.

 

[jgs]

But my question is if it's healthy for the battery to keep it 'full' (meaning at 80% charge) all the time, or letting it get to 20%, then back to 80% again every time?

My understanding is that it's considered ideal for average SoC to be 50%, meaning that if you expect to use (say) 20% during a given day, you'd plan to start the day at 60% and end at 40%, thus cycling across 50%. That said, that's the ideal, not mandatory, (and I'm neither an authority nor do I have a cite, though I'm sure I read it somewhere on TMC) and anything 80% or below is generally just fine.

When I first got my car I tended to charge to 80% nightly. Now that I've had it for going on five years, I'm much more confident in knowing how it'll perform and what my daily needs are, and I generally keep it at 60% (I'm a low-mileage driver, as it sounds you are). As you describe your situation (low miles most days, 2 miles from a SC) you could keep yours at 60% or whatever, and either plan ahead for road trips to let you charge to a higher SoC, or just visit the SC. I don't think there's any advantage in doing a weekly cycle from 80% to 20% or whatever, better to plug it in every night and cycle across a narrower range.

Anyway, that's worked for me. And my 270 mile nominal 85 kWh battery still charges to 267 miles (or was it 268?).

 

[No2DinosaurFuel]

Remember tesla is getting more range out of the same battery. During winter driving, a lot of it is going to heat and drag. Cold air is more dense. Worst at high speed. So range will suffer even if you get the 100D raven. What tesla needs to do is increase capacity of battery.

 

[jgs]

Remember tesla is getting more range out of the same battery. During winter driving, a lot of it is going to heat and drag. Cold air is more dense. Worst at high speed. So range will suffer even if you get the 100D raven. What tesla needs to do is increase capacity of battery.

One thing that's not obvious to new owners or those who don't drive in the cold that often, is that range loss in the cold is highly dependent on trip length. For short around-town hops, I sometimes see the energy meter reporting range of less than half nominal. I think that's attributable to both pack and cabin heating: it takes a lot of power to heat a cold pack and a cold cabin. But for long highway trips its a completely different story, once I'm on the road I see range losses in the low tens of percent, even in very cold weather. I think this is both because the energy to warm the pack and cabin get amortized over a longer trip, and because once you're at highway speed the car is scavenging significant heat from the drivetrain.

The fun thing is, for almost all of us, local short-errand range loss doesn't matter. I don't think I've ever done even a hundred miles of local errand running in a single day, so the charge in my pack is sufficient even with significant overhead.

 

[TexLaw]

@elptxjc, I also suggest checking out A Better Route Planner. You can pay with all sorts of variables, including exterior temperature.

Air cooling really doesn't do much to drain the battery, but heating does.

I highly recommend going with home charging, rather than dealing with a local supercharger. It's far more convenient and reliable. If you're going to spring for a Performance S, go the extra mile and put a NEMA 14-50 in your garage. You'll not miss the money. Charging at a local supercharger is like having to go across town to get fresh water.

 

[Kenz]

Charge at home over night. The convenience can not be beat. Start the day at 80%.
In the winter you can preheat / condition the battery and interior by changing the charge to 90% when you get up.
While making coffee and taking shower your car will heat up and be ready when you are to leave.
The Tesla phone app is a great feature.

 

[NickFie]

My experience is that optimal cold weather range calls for higher speed than in warm weather. If I complete a leg of the journey more quickly, then less total energy was used to heat the interior.

 

[JCtx]

Super interesting replies folks; greatly appreciate that. As an aging engineer, I'm excited to keep my mind busy about finding the optimal way to deal with range, long trips, charging times, etc. Will definitely check that range site, and play with it. You guys are the best. Greatly appreciate taking the time to explain everything in such detail to new potential EV owners. It's a bit change, especially at almost 100 grand, so want to make sure not to make another 100K mistake, like I've made in the past with a 2015 GTR, and 2016 Cayman GTS. Not fun. Thanks again.

 

[Dukeybootie]

@elptxjc

Sorry to hijack the thread a bit, but would love to hear about your experience with the Cayman GTS. Have always dreamed of a P-car as a retirement toy but keep going back and forth in my mind.

Thanks =)