I did! Whew!!!!

[aollivierre]

Well folks, took my new toy on our first road trip and learned a great deal......

I learned......

1. I love superchargers
2. Make sure the house you stay at house the correct plugs or you won't charge properly
3. Learned that my car loves to drive pretty fast, but managing power is extremely important. Drove to supercharging station with less than 20 miles to empty... ugh!

As I learned to manage my stations(charging), I have to admit that finding stations was not an easy task at first....Any suggestions for those of you who do drive long distance, will be greatly appreciate it.

 

[sandpiper]

Congrats on the new toy! You're going through the same learning curve that the rest of us have gone through.

The biggest thing is that all of these things become automatic quite quickly, and the stress goes away. I don't even really think about it any more. I know the routes that are best, hotels that have chargers, know what plugs are available at friends/family homes.

Also.. things are getting MUCH easier every year. Compared to when I bought my car 3 years ago, the infrastructure in incredible. And it's going to keep getting better and easier every year.

 

[DrivingRockies]

finding stations was not an easy task at first....Any suggestions for those of you who do drive long distance, will be greatly appreciate it.

Do you mean locating the supercharger once you arrive? I found checking satellite view on Google maps before leaving eliminated that issue completely. Doesn't take much time.

 

[SeminoleFSU]

Do you mean locating the supercharger once you arrive? I found checking satellite view on Google maps before leaving eliminated that issue completely. Doesn't take much time.

this. use the center console map not the navigon map on the dash... makes it much easier to find them.

 

[boaterva]

this. use the center console map not the navigon map on the dash... makes it much easier to find them.

Okay, that makes more sense... I was wondering how it was hard to find a SuC using the Nav map... drive until you take the pin out.

 

[SeminoleFSU]

Yeah the navigon dash map is not as up to date and also doesn't have the ability to navigate you through parking lots very well. Google maps (center console) is very up to date and will pin the exact location. ;-)

 

[aollivierre]

good deal....I found that at times, I am not able to find some of the charge points some of the other apps do fine fairly well.

 

[nagypite]

supercharge.info - satellite view

 

[purplewalt]

Congrats on your first Road Trip aollivierre!

Learning how to manage (mostly with driving technique and managing speed) the amount of range for parts of your route becomes easier with practice.
Mountains and strong headwinds can play havoc with even the best planning, so a bit more range buffer in your pack (and lighter touch on the accelerator pedal at times) will help any sort of "range anxiety" you might encounter.
Driving experience helps build confidence, and doing more Road Trips is the best way to gain the experience.


As you get closer to your charging location, if you zoom all the way in on the center console, the context of the adjacent buildings, roads and parking lots make final location of the Supercharger much clearer.

Sometimes there is a bit of a "maze" to get through parking lots of adjacent businesses until you actually get to the Supercharger.

Some locations (Flagstaff and Farmington come to mind) are kind of down and around the corner from the rest of the main parking lot. Locations inside some parking garages can also be a bit challenging to locate the Supercharger -- just be patient and alert.

 

[Half Dollar Bill]

Congrats and if you have plans to become a road warrior, come on over to the wiki thread and start to register the superchargers you've been to. We have quite a battle going right now between three gents for the top spot and they're all shooting to be the first to 400!
Superchargers Visited

A visit to EV Trip Planner
before your outing will let you do some pre-planning and give you ideas about where to charge. You didn't mention how big your battery is and some folks with the 100kWh find they can skip certain superchargers.

There's also certain apps and forum threads that give you ideas about where to eat and what to do around each supercharger.
https://forums.tesla.com/forum/forums/supercharger-tips-and-reviews?page=20#new

But as others have said, it gets easy very quickly so enjoy the road!