Okay, so I am back in North Texas. Done with the deal. So some careful observations. They certainly are anectdotal, but you can consider them a controlled study, with n=2. Probably a very crappy confidince interval, but I am not going to even think of working that out.
(n=2: two way trip).
1) The 85kW battery pack should be considered to hold 80kW, if you are doing any sort of calculation based on energy storage.
2) Using this 80 number, and your wh/mi figure, you can (and will) get pretty close to what you can do - rangewise - in the S
3) Range mode should NOT be used in Texas summer heat. The A/C simply will not defeat 106 coming through the front and tailgate windows.
4) Level2 (J1772) chargers are to the Model S as one Lortab is to the Heroin addict. You are never going to get the desired relief and it is, to use the cliche, is just pi**ing in the ocean.
5) I should have listened to andystj, as this should have been done solo, sans kids, sans wife. It is difficult enough justifying why you are driving slower than most other people on the road. Add to that, the "are we there yet", "I have to pee", "I am hungry", "she's breathing my air" - plus - oh, I don't know, say your wife texting her sister about hypermiling and how stupid it is and that this is ruining her day, etc. etc. and you will certainly not be ready to enjoy much of said venture.
6) The yellow dotted line is your friend. I am sure this has been addressed, and I am sure that many opinions on this will pop up, but I took BadA** 20+ miles over "red-bar, zero-range, charge-me-now, what-the-h-are-you-doing" mode twice, so I feel somewhat experienced in what I am about to say.
(If you want to add, I suggest doing this two or three time to get the feeling and then sharing additional thoughts or experiences)
It will pop up at about 320, around 30 miles or so when you are on yellow. In surmising, I would say that this is all the pack feels it has to give you. As you drift down towards zero, it moves closer to 160. Once you have passed zero, and get the "Charge Now" icon along with the "BadA** is shutting down your A/C" pop-up, the dotted line will begin to rotate clockwise towards 80. At this time, you are (or should be) as close to 25mph as side streets will allow. Things are eerily quiet (moreso than usual) because you car is penalizing you for being an idiot by shutting down every fan and whirring accesory it can find. The return trip sported larger cojones than the outbound, and I pressed it even further on red/zero than before. I am certain that this behaviour is unkind to the machine, in general, but it is the last time it will ever be done, barring un-planned circumstances beyond my control.
7) Hypermiling: If you are doing something like this without a supercharger, hypermiling is your friend. Earlier, I posted what I did, and I would stick with that if it was a future plan for me to attempt it (there is a supercharger going up on I-45 in the near future, and my sister knows I am not coming to see her in the S again, until this is complete).
8) Cruise and low-regen: There have been a few comments about this, but if you are relatively flat, cruise is a good idea. It keeps your kW usage stable and below 20-25 most of the time. I surmise that you could turn cruise off, if your interstate is hilly and try to baby it up the hills, but remember, the semi behind you will not be using this technique, so you run the risk of danger-versus-economy trade-off: a consideration, IMHO.
Low-regen. My OER suggested this, as you do not need to slow the car down as many times, and it will dissipate some of the energy as un-wanted losses (mechanical, heat, etc.) anyway, plus it takes energy to get the car back up to cruising speed from high regen, so why use it?
9) The slower you go, the farther you go. Plain and simple.
So my experience,
I left Galveston county with a full 265. Got to The Woodlands and linked up to a Blink. Got me to 255 (ideal) before we pulled out. We needed 248. I noted that the actual mileage to home and the ideal got closer and closer, until the ideal became less than the needed distance. This was in spite of being right at 285wh/mi. I got to about 22 miles from home when the red hit zero. I hade two stations (a Blink and a Chargepoint) lined up should the dotted line sweep in and compromise my position. I decided to pass the first station at 33 miles out, and the Chargepoint was at 22 miles, and I got off the highway to the access road. This move was part "I am 90% sure that I can make it" and part "I still can't believe she spent all that time texting her sister about how painful this is so my ego will inflate, my insecurities will show through, and - da**it, I am doing this!"
Again, the A/C is out, we are putting along at 34 mph, and I pullled into the garage at home, 12:43 am, and unloaded the family, luggage, etc. Went back out and plugged her in. Now, this is very interesting (when you do this) because the car will literally jump to life, in a maneuvre that is not unlike talking a huge gasp of air after swimming the length of an olympic sized pool, underwater, pulling an anvil. Fans whirr, lights come on, clicks and snaps occur in unison, a green flicker haze permeates the garage.
It (this type of journet) is like hell-week. Doing it once is a memory and an experience. Doing it twice may convert you to room temperature.
A shower and a cigar would have been the perfect end to the trip (not in that order), but I was beat, had to choose one, so cleanliness won over.
Regards
WJ
