Just finished about 1500 miles of driving over the past week-ish. western-central NC to southern NJ, bunch of driving around NJ, and then back.
Was in no rush, so just headed out from home for short stops in Burlington, NC, then South Hill, VA, then did a 100% change in Glen Allen VA while chatting with a local owner from the forum for a bit. Plan was to head from there to Newark, DE. Turns out there was some big accident in/around Washington DC with red on the map for miles and miles. Was a terrible time to be in this area anyway (~3PM).
The Model S suggested I get off on 207N. Figured, what the heck. Got off on 207, followed it to 301. Followed 301 all the way up and over the Potomac River, all the way past Washington, DC to the east. The Model S was starting to direct us back to I-95 on the northern side of DC. Decided to say screw it and just kept with 301. Followed that across the Bay Bridge.
Checked range, was in pretty good shape. Could easily make Newark due to the slightly lower non-interstate speeds I've been going. Figured we could use a break though, so checked PlugShare. Turns out there is an outlet mall in Queenstown, MD with an EVGO CHAdeMO station. Not a bad place to stop for 30 minutes, grab some food, and head out I suppose. It was right on the highway, so we stopped there.
Used the CHAdeMO after calling EVGO and paying a $9.95 fee for 30 minutes of charging. Got ~20kWh out of that at ~40kW... little expensive, but what the heck, still cheaper than gasoline. Hung out there for a bit, then headed out with plenty of charge to just get all the way to our destination.
Charged there (family with a NEMA 14-50) to 100%, did the week's driving mostly on that charge. Topped off again there.
Traded up my fiance for a wife. Drove some more. Then headed back down to Newark, DE. Found this situation there (posted here also with shot of license plate):
When I got there the only stall open was the nose-first stall (which I dislike due to the close curb and incorrect painted lines). Apparently that SUV had been there all day blocking 2B. Model S owners could luckily, with some proper angling, barely get the cable to reach to use it in the adjacent spot. Two other owners were waiting nearby for a charge when I took this photo. I usually 100% charge here so I can skip Woodbridge, VA. I checked the map, DC looked like a red blob again, so I decided to go outside by comfort zone and bet on that CHAdeMO charger I used the week before and take the avoid-DC route back again. Left Newark with ~80% to save a potential ~30 minutes wait for the next owner in line. They really need another set of stalls here, probably on the northbound side.
Rain rain, thunderstorms, wind... woohoo!
Made it to the Queenstown, MD charger, called and paid my dues again, and charged. Plenty to get to Glen Allen, VA when I was done, with a decent buffer too. Pressed on after a quick snack.
Before the Potomac River bridge the speed limit went from 55 to 25 on a 4-lane highway with absolutely no warning. I spotted the 25 MPH sign after a truck had passed it and just went to full regen from ~64 MPH. Passed the sign at ~35, slowed more to match the pace of the car in front of me, which had apparently decided slamming his brakes was the best action, down to 30 MPH. 10 seconds later a Maryland state trooper was behind me lighting me up. He gave me a speeding ticket for driving 30 MPH in a 25 MPH zone. $80 to pay it and plead guilty or can appear for a trial and somehow fight it. What a ****in' racket. Seriously? 5 MPH over?! I wanted to strangle this dude. Cars passed us as we were stopped on the side of the road at *well* over 30 MPH. Cop didn't seem to care. He must have made his quota for the day. Since it would be far more trouble to fight it than to just pay it since I live 300+ miles from the area, probably going to pay it at the 11th hour with a check that says something snippy and impolite in the memo field. I've never gotten a speeding ticket while doing less than 15 MPH over the posted limit. Closest I've gotten was 81 in a 65 (+16). But +5 MPH?! I was more furious than I would have been if it were 20 MPH over. At least then I would have deserved it.
I did a full throttle acceleration to 25 MPH when leaving the shoulder... like, less than 1 second. lol. Set the cruse control at 25 MPH and quite literally held up traffic behind me as nearly every approaching car passed me. The cop came off the shoulder and sped past everyone at well over 25 MPH. People continued to pass me like I wasn't even there, right behind the cop. I mean, I just got a ticket for +5 and these people were following the same cop, who was doing at least 35-40, and he was doing nothing. Pretty sure I'm going to pull my dash cam video of all of this and post it somewhere. I mean, it's one thing to stick to the letter of the law and give me a ticket for exceeding the posted limit by 5 MPH. It's another to only enforce that when I did it and ignore everyone else. More furious.
Calmed down after crossing the bridge, opened it up in VA a bit in protest.... if I'm going to get a ticket, I'm going to earn it.
Made it to Glen Allen, looked around Barnes and Noble for a few minutes, headed out after ~15 minutes for South Hill. After battling some pretty decent rain to get there we arrived at the South Hill supercharger. Went in to Kahill's and ate dinner. (Place has some pretty good food, worth the stop. I recommend the Bang Bang Shrimp appetizer.) We were there long enough to get ~93% charged, more than enough to make Burlington, NC. Ran into some major storms on I-85 S. Looking at the clouds I was almost wondering if there was a funnel cloud forming ahead. Pressed on. Not many people on the road.
Looking at the weather radar map I was actually momentarily concerned that a storm may knock out power at the Burlington site. Checked Duke Power's outage map and saw many scattered outages in the next storm front's wake. Figured I'd call Tesla and check on Burlington, NC. All was well I was told.
Took a little longer than normal due to the crazy weather, arrived at Burlington. Had nearly enough range without this stop, probably needed 20 more miles on a good day. Added another ~80 miles here just for safety without issue, more than enough to make the last leg of the trip.
Good thing too. More storms. Pretty ridiculous head winds too. Pressed on!
Made it home having eaten most of my buffer, with 5% remaining.
The avoid-DC route turned out to be about 30 minutes longer than my average time through DC/Baltimore on a good day, but is almost definitely faster on a bad day where I've spend 2+ hours in traffic on 95 in the past. I may continue to use this route. It's worth noting that I probably could skip the CHAdeMO station in Queenstown with a full charge at either Glen Allen or Newark. It's a good midpoint stop though, either way.
Anyways, another fun trip down. Odometer on the P85D is sitting right around 10,500 miles now since December. Would be more if we didn't use the wife's P85 for two trips and fly for another instead of driving the P85D. I drive too much...
Was in no rush, so just headed out from home for short stops in Burlington, NC, then South Hill, VA, then did a 100% change in Glen Allen VA while chatting with a local owner from the forum for a bit. Plan was to head from there to Newark, DE. Turns out there was some big accident in/around Washington DC with red on the map for miles and miles. Was a terrible time to be in this area anyway (~3PM).
The Model S suggested I get off on 207N. Figured, what the heck. Got off on 207, followed it to 301. Followed 301 all the way up and over the Potomac River, all the way past Washington, DC to the east. The Model S was starting to direct us back to I-95 on the northern side of DC. Decided to say screw it and just kept with 301. Followed that across the Bay Bridge.
Checked range, was in pretty good shape. Could easily make Newark due to the slightly lower non-interstate speeds I've been going. Figured we could use a break though, so checked PlugShare. Turns out there is an outlet mall in Queenstown, MD with an EVGO CHAdeMO station. Not a bad place to stop for 30 minutes, grab some food, and head out I suppose. It was right on the highway, so we stopped there.
Used the CHAdeMO after calling EVGO and paying a $9.95 fee for 30 minutes of charging. Got ~20kWh out of that at ~40kW... little expensive, but what the heck, still cheaper than gasoline. Hung out there for a bit, then headed out with plenty of charge to just get all the way to our destination.
Charged there (family with a NEMA 14-50) to 100%, did the week's driving mostly on that charge. Topped off again there.
Traded up my fiance for a wife. Drove some more. Then headed back down to Newark, DE. Found this situation there (posted here also with shot of license plate):
When I got there the only stall open was the nose-first stall (which I dislike due to the close curb and incorrect painted lines). Apparently that SUV had been there all day blocking 2B. Model S owners could luckily, with some proper angling, barely get the cable to reach to use it in the adjacent spot. Two other owners were waiting nearby for a charge when I took this photo. I usually 100% charge here so I can skip Woodbridge, VA. I checked the map, DC looked like a red blob again, so I decided to go outside by comfort zone and bet on that CHAdeMO charger I used the week before and take the avoid-DC route back again. Left Newark with ~80% to save a potential ~30 minutes wait for the next owner in line. They really need another set of stalls here, probably on the northbound side.
Rain rain, thunderstorms, wind... woohoo!
Made it to the Queenstown, MD charger, called and paid my dues again, and charged. Plenty to get to Glen Allen, VA when I was done, with a decent buffer too. Pressed on after a quick snack.
Before the Potomac River bridge the speed limit went from 55 to 25 on a 4-lane highway with absolutely no warning. I spotted the 25 MPH sign after a truck had passed it and just went to full regen from ~64 MPH. Passed the sign at ~35, slowed more to match the pace of the car in front of me, which had apparently decided slamming his brakes was the best action, down to 30 MPH. 10 seconds later a Maryland state trooper was behind me lighting me up. He gave me a speeding ticket for driving 30 MPH in a 25 MPH zone. $80 to pay it and plead guilty or can appear for a trial and somehow fight it. What a ****in' racket. Seriously? 5 MPH over?! I wanted to strangle this dude. Cars passed us as we were stopped on the side of the road at *well* over 30 MPH. Cop didn't seem to care. He must have made his quota for the day. Since it would be far more trouble to fight it than to just pay it since I live 300+ miles from the area, probably going to pay it at the 11th hour with a check that says something snippy and impolite in the memo field. I've never gotten a speeding ticket while doing less than 15 MPH over the posted limit. Closest I've gotten was 81 in a 65 (+16). But +5 MPH?! I was more furious than I would have been if it were 20 MPH over. At least then I would have deserved it.
I did a full throttle acceleration to 25 MPH when leaving the shoulder... like, less than 1 second. lol. Set the cruse control at 25 MPH and quite literally held up traffic behind me as nearly every approaching car passed me. The cop came off the shoulder and sped past everyone at well over 25 MPH. People continued to pass me like I wasn't even there, right behind the cop. I mean, I just got a ticket for +5 and these people were following the same cop, who was doing at least 35-40, and he was doing nothing. Pretty sure I'm going to pull my dash cam video of all of this and post it somewhere. I mean, it's one thing to stick to the letter of the law and give me a ticket for exceeding the posted limit by 5 MPH. It's another to only enforce that when I did it and ignore everyone else. More furious.
Calmed down after crossing the bridge, opened it up in VA a bit in protest.... if I'm going to get a ticket, I'm going to earn it.
Made it to Glen Allen, looked around Barnes and Noble for a few minutes, headed out after ~15 minutes for South Hill. After battling some pretty decent rain to get there we arrived at the South Hill supercharger. Went in to Kahill's and ate dinner. (Place has some pretty good food, worth the stop. I recommend the Bang Bang Shrimp appetizer.) We were there long enough to get ~93% charged, more than enough to make Burlington, NC. Ran into some major storms on I-85 S. Looking at the clouds I was almost wondering if there was a funnel cloud forming ahead. Pressed on. Not many people on the road.
Looking at the weather radar map I was actually momentarily concerned that a storm may knock out power at the Burlington site. Checked Duke Power's outage map and saw many scattered outages in the next storm front's wake. Figured I'd call Tesla and check on Burlington, NC. All was well I was told.
Took a little longer than normal due to the crazy weather, arrived at Burlington. Had nearly enough range without this stop, probably needed 20 more miles on a good day. Added another ~80 miles here just for safety without issue, more than enough to make the last leg of the trip.
Good thing too. More storms. Pretty ridiculous head winds too. Pressed on!
Made it home having eaten most of my buffer, with 5% remaining.
The avoid-DC route turned out to be about 30 minutes longer than my average time through DC/Baltimore on a good day, but is almost definitely faster on a bad day where I've spend 2+ hours in traffic on 95 in the past. I may continue to use this route. It's worth noting that I probably could skip the CHAdeMO station in Queenstown with a full charge at either Glen Allen or Newark. It's a good midpoint stop though, either way.
Anyways, another fun trip down. Odometer on the P85D is sitting right around 10,500 miles now since December. Would be more if we didn't use the wife's P85 for two trips and fly for another instead of driving the P85D. I drive too much...
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