Is Tesla only good for local driving?

[oldteche]

In my limited usage, I have not seen a discussion about re-charging troubles experience during a long trip. So, I thought I would bring the subject up. It's been my experience that taking a long trip with a Tesla is a joke or dedicated pursuit . Don't get me wrong, I love my Tesla, believe in what it represents, and would not change my decision to purchase one.

As a Tesla owner I was shocked to realized that the Tesla, pracitically speaking, is only good for local driving. Just taking one long or two or more day trips. Outside of major metropolitan corridors and areas there are relatively few if any Tesla Superchargers. As a traveller, you therefore are dependent on a J1772 charging station. The J1772 charge time is unrealistic, so as they say, "you are up the creek without a paddle". Therefore, Tesla Superchargers are your only hope.

Unfortunately, if you are re-charging at a Supercharger, to continue a trip, you in many cases are only allowed a half hour charge (approximately 100 mi), so "everyone" has the opportunity to re-charge. Therefore, every 100 miles you have to find another Supercharger.

Now, with Tesla's recent decision to make Superchargers available to the general EV public, you have the added inconvenience of a potential queued line. I consider this decision a slap in the face.

However in my opinion, the introduction of a "North American CCS adapter" for the Tesla would be a game changer, since CCS availability is here.

What's your experience?

 

[terrywhite]

Are you serious? People drive cross country in Teslas all the time. I've done long road trips and have never been limited to a 100/miles of Supercharging. In each case I was able to charge as long as I needed to or wanted to.

 

[jmaddr]

I’ll heartily disagree. The superchargers are within even SR distance along interstates. Now, if you wander off the interstates or maybe some places in the west, perhaps. I have yet to encounter such a scenario though. Your location is the Pacific Northwest. OR and WA have super chargers everywhere so I’m curious where you see a lack of superchargers. Maybe headed to some of the National Parks out there or something?

 

[glide]

In my limited usage, I have not seen a discussion about re-charging troubles experience during a long trip. So, I thought I would bring the subject up. It's been my experience that taking a long trip with a Tesla is a joke or dedicated pursuit . Don't get me wrong, I love my Tesla, believe in what it represents, and would not change my decision to purchase one.

As a Tesla owner I was shocked to realized that the Tesla, pracitically speaking, is only good for local driving. Just taking one long or two or more day trips. Outside of major metropolitan corridors and areas there are relatively few if any Tesla Superchargers. As a traveller, you therefore are dependent on a J1772 charging station. The J1772 charge time is unrealistic, so as they say, "you are up the creek without a paddle". Therefore, Tesla Superchargers are your only hope.

Unfortunately, if you are re-charging at a Supercharger, to continue a trip, you in many cases are only allowed a half hour charge (approximately 100 mi), so "everyone" has the opportunity to re-charge. Therefore, every 100 miles you have to find another Supercharger.

Now, with Tesla's recent decision to make Superchargers available to the general EV public, you have the added inconvenience of a potential queued line. I consider this decision a slap in the face.

However in my opinion, the introduction of a "North American CCS adapter" for the Tesla would be a game changer, since CCS availability is here.

What's your experience?

I agree with OP. Traveling long distances and stopping to charge for 30 minutes every 100 miles or so is a royal PITA.

 

[oldteche]

Are you serious? People drive cross country in Teslas all the time. I've done long road trips and have never been limited to a 100/miles of Supercharging. In each case I was able to charge as long as I needed to or wanted to.

It's been my experience that if you are traveling outside major cities and highways, Supercharger access is limited or non-existent (i.e. traveling through eastern Washington or western Washington's coast. I read Supercharger policy a long time ago, but I seem to remember that if stalls were full, charge time was limited to a half hour. Am I wrong or has policy changed?

 

[RTPEV]

Wow, this is not my experience at all! I've taken many road trips in my Model 3, sometimes to very rural areas without much support for charging (either Supercharger or L2). A trip I take every year ends with an 800+ mile trip from far northern NY to North Carolina that I do in one day. The nearest GAS station to the area I travel to is about 40 minutes away. On the route I take, three years ago the last Supercharger before home was about 250 miles away, leaving a precarious last leg through a charging station desert in Virginia. But I easily made that trip in my Model 3, with only two charging stops, even better than what I could do in a gas vehicle because I was able to charge up to 100% on a 120V outlet before I left, allowing me to start out the day with a 4.5 hour leg, versus 90 minutes I typically would do in a gas vehicle due to typically arriving with only half a tank.

Nowadays the trip is even easier with an additional 3 Supercharger stations in that last leg giving me additional options. The entire trip can now be done (and has been done) with less than one hour of total charging, which is well below the two hours my wife and I usually spend stopped for rest stops, meals and snacks.

In fact, it has become so easy, it's almost boring, so we took her new VW ID.4 on roughly the same trip just last week, but even adding an extra stop in the southern tier of NY which was even more of charging desert! I won't say it was as convenient as in the Tesla, but we made it just fine.

Yes, there are certainly parts of the world, and even the US, where there are holes in the network. Lubbock, TX and some areas of Montana come to mind. But I challenge you to devise a road trip that even road warriors would typically take that takes you so far away from the Supercharger network that you would actually have to rely on L2 charging stations. It's practically impossible!

 

[VT_EE]

What???!! You can't be serious. My yearly 800mile (each way) drive takes a whopping (sarcasm) 30 minutes more than in my Sienna van, but costs less than half as much in fuel. Tesla are absolutely great for road trips. There is no 30 min limit on Superchargers. Not sure where that rumor came from.

 

[Foxtrotter]

I can't believe that you have a Tesla or have driven one extensively. If a supercharger site is being heavily used, the car will automatically set to 80% charge when plugged in. The owner can override this on the screen and go to whatever charge they want. We have done the OR and N California coasts with no problems and have eyed the Washington coast which looks completely doable. We have also done major road trips in Utah, Colorado, New Mexico, and Arizona as well as Ca and Nevada. One can sometimes facilitate travel by just staying at motels that have L2 chargers.

 

[RTPEV]

It's been my experience that if you are traveling outside major cities and highways, Supercharger access is limited or non-existent (i.e. traveling through eastern Washington or western Washington's coast. I read Supercharger policy a long time ago, but I seem to remember that if stalls were full, charge time was limited to a half hour. Am I wrong or has policy changed?

Yes, you are wrong. Supposedly there was a limit that you could only charge to 80% if the stalls were more than 50% full, but that policy was never really implemented (it could be easily overridden). Not that you'd be charging to more than 80% all that often at most stops anyway. Most of the time you are only charging to about 60% to take advantage of the faster charging curves at low SOC and limiting stops to 10-20 minutes each.

I suggest that you use a tool like abetterrouteplanner.com to plan some sample road trips and see just how easy it is before reaching a conclusion (apparently without actually trying it) that Tesla road trips are difficult.

 

[Az_Rael]

We just finished a road trip from CA to rural NM where my in-laws live in our S. It was "harder" than taking an ICE, since you did have to plan the stops pretty well, and some supercharger locations suck for food/convenience stores, making it so you had to stop twice to get food or walk thru very poor pedestrian infrastructure to get to food. (I am looking at you Gallup and Las Vegas NM).

The town we stayed in at NM had practically zero EV infrastructure (1 nonfunctional J1772 and 2 RV parks), so we had to pay attention to the SOC and plan a few jaunts 20 miles up the pass to hit the nearest supercharger. I look forward to the day one of the hotels there puts in a real J1772, they will get my business. (Couldn't charge at the in-laws house, it was built in the late 1800s and had 1 dodgy outdoor outlet that was probably knob and tube).

Due to a series of unfortunate events with the S, the majority of the return trip was done in an ICE, and it was a LOT simpler. Here is to hoping for the future infrastructure to improve so driving the EV can be as easy in the future.

I wouldn't go as far to say Teslas aren't road trip cars, but the experience isn't quite mainstream yet IMHO.

 

[oldteche]

I appreciate the update on the Supercharger time restriction. Good to know. However with regard to Supercharger locations, the attached map shows current chargers on the west side of Washington. Other than the interstates and the Seattle metropolitan area, I don't see much. Additionally, one of my main points was that availability of a CCS adapter would make all of this a mute point

 

[Rocky_H]

This isn't even good trolling.

 

[Lloyd]

Really, you can't find a supercharger!

 

[golferguy]

I agree with OP. Traveling long distances and stopping to charge for 30 minutes every 100 miles or so is a royal PITA.

Have you tried any of the models with 300+ mile range? Even at 80 mph you will get more than 200 miles which translates to stopping about every 2.5-3hrs. Perfect time for a bathroom break. Perhaps you have an older S with a smaller battery? Try a 3, Y, or any late model S or X.

 

[Stavinski]

We have 8k miles on our car now, only charged at home until this week. Tested the super chargers preparing for our first road trip, wanted to make sure it worked. Super charger experience was shockingly good, I was amazed. Turns out there is one 5 minutes from where we are going, so not worried at all. Tesla is an amazing car, agree with OP it’s a commuter car first, and a dang good one, but after testing the super chargers and actually planning a trip now… I can’t see being too worried about going anywhere except the most remote locations. And it’s getting better every day.

 

[oldteche]

Really, you can't find a supercharger!View attachment 689299

Your map looks good, but it includes Supercharges and everything else. If your traveling, the J1772 won't be pleasant. Again, with the expansion of CCS, the availability of the CCS adapter would give you alternatives..

 

[DelPhonic1]

Your map looks good, but it includes Supercharges and everything else. If your traveling, the J1772 won't be pleasant. Again, with the expansion of CCS, the availability of the CCS adapter would give you alternatives..

J1772 is perfect while sleeping at a hotel or airbnb. Nirvana even for any EV.

 

[oldteche]

J1772 is perfect while sleeping at a hotel or airbnb. Nirvana even for any EV.

Absolutely agree. I've done it myself.

 

[oldteche]

This isn't even good trolling.

 

[Willy3988]

Done several long road trips in a nerfed 2016 Model X . Longest trip is San Francisco to Key West Florida. Another trip was from San Francisco to Banff BC Canada. Cost of fuel Zero. Going to miss free Supercharging when trade in time comes. This car is a blast on road trips.