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Long distance driving suggestions?

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My wife and I will be leaving at the end of January for a long distance trip in my 2017X. We plan on stopping at many places on the ay from Boston to Denver. We will stay in Denver for a week or so than head out to El Paso leave the car there for a few days and visit our other son in Ciudad Juarez. From there head out to Marfa,TX,Dallas and work our way back to Boston. We will have our 6 yr old Spanish Water Dog in the back seat.
Any and all suggestions would be appreciated. Thank you,
Bianchijoe
 
I have done several long distance trips in my 90X. Try to overnight at places with charging and charge to full so you have a full charge in the morning. Charge just enough to make it to the next Supercharger with 20% buffer and avoid the time consuming full charge .
Thanks it seems like that is the best way to travel. I only have the 75 so but with the dog we will have to stop more often anyway.
 
DId you charge then move the car to your hotel/motel or leave it plugged in at a charging stop all night?
I think he meant that you should try to find hotels with destination chargers so that your car can be in the hotel parking lot charging all night and be ready to go with a full charge in the morning. With respect to the chademo adapter, I would say that it's not needed unless you know you're going to be driving a good bit in areas with low Supercharger density. For the trip you've described, you should not need it as long as you plan ahead and are aware of all the superchargers on your route.
 
With a 75D, you'll probably be stopping at nearly every supercharger along the way, which is fine, especially with a dog. I'd try to arrive at the superchargers between 10 and 15% state of charge. I've found that it's easiest to navigate to each supercharger individually, rather than plugging in your destination and letting the navigation system figure it out. If you're charging from 15% to 60 or 70%, your stops will be between 20 and 30 minutes. Don't charge higher than you need to make it to the next charger (unless you need to because of wind), as that just wastes time.

Play around on A Better Routeplanner ... be sure to adjust the settings as well as more settings. You can use www.windy.com to check for wind conditions on your trip and plug that information into ABRP for more accurate energy consumption.
 
Use EVTripPlanner, ABetterRoutePlanner, EVTO app, or similar planners to plan your stops before you go. Then you'll know what to expect, if there are any tight spots, and where you might need to charge extra to allow driving around your destination. Use PlugShare to find possible charging options, both Supercharger and non-Supercharger.

We use hotels hosting Supercharges when that is convenient. We charge to 90% when we arrive, move the car to a normal parking spot for the night, and then charge to 100% in the morning just before we leave. The 100% just saves a little time at the next Supercharger and could be skipped if the Supercharger is busy (which has never happened so far). If you are using a destination charger I'd probably do that overnight unless it was possible to get enough charge while I was awake. But being careful (and accessible) in case someone else needs to use the charger.

I do not have a Chademo adapter, though I considered it when I first got the car. I do not have any extra adapters for the Mobile connector either. If you go through your trip planning and find you need to go through a Supercharger desert, or your destination has only a convenient Chademo charger then you might consider getting the adapter. I've never had a need for it, and it's expensive.

I've been able to 120V 15a charge at my son's home, which is far from a Supercharger. It's great for our short drives around the city and by the end of a week we're usually back up to 90%. So far that's worked fine for us.
 
Look at plugshare.com. Sometimes you have charging options that are very convenient without much planning. For example, you might have an overnight highway stop at an exit where a motel has a non-Tesla charger. Might as well choose that one. Also in big cities, you may find charging at a parking garage a block or three from your hotel, plus it's probably cheaper than hotel valet parking.
Bring your MCU just in case you need it.
Don't hesitate to use a 120V wall outlet if that's all there is. It can be surprisingly helpful. Always as the plug owner if it's OK, though, and I always offer a couple of bucks.
 
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I agree with what others have said.

We’ve taken our 2016 X90D across country (from Virginia to Oregon), on a trip to the northeast (Maine, NH, VT, MA), and on another trip through KY, AL, GA. We’ve taken our 2013 S85 to the Midwest and Southeast.

Back in the early days (e.g. with our 2013 S85), we were extremely cautious. Very few superchargers were available. We used EV Trip Planner to help plan our routes. I built my own adapters so I could charge at just about any available outlet. Plus I purchased a CHADEMO adapter. I also purchased an extra UMC kit from Tesla. As of this writing, I’ve never used the CHADEMO adapter on the road, nor many of the custom built adapters. We’ve been able to do just fine with superchargers and destination chargers. We try to plan our trips such that we stay overnight either at a location with charging (Tesla destination chargers or common J1772 chargers) or a nearby SC.

The only time we ran into an “issue” was within Yellowstone. We charged at the SC in West Yellowstone before entering the park for a planned 3 night stay. We drove around the park each day to see the sights and do some photography, which ate up a bunch of the battery charge. There are a couple of chargers in Yellowstone but it took us a while to locate them --- they were on Plugshare but Yellowstone staff was not very familiar with them. We finally found them on our second day. The first night we stayed at the Lodge they allowed me to park in the front driveway and plug into a 120V plug – we didn’t get much but every little bit helps! After we found the other Yellowstone chargers, we had no problem. We could plug in and then do some hiking.

We purchased a 12V compressor driven portable refrigerator (discussed in other threads on TMC). Before leaving from our home in VA, we pack the refrigerator with bottled water, some cold cuts, cheeses, etc. We plan our midday charging stop such that we do lunch while waiting for the charge to complete. Not only was it convenient, but we were able to chat with so many other Tesla owners while we were there.

One thing to note for your upcoming trip: you are leaving in January. Expect reduced range due to the cold temperatures!
 
I agree with what others have said.

We’ve taken our 2016 X90D across country (from Virginia to Oregon), on a trip to the northeast (Maine, NH, VT, MA), and on another trip through KY, AL, GA. We’ve taken our 2013 S85 to the Midwest and Southeast.

Back in the early days (e.g. with our 2013 S85), we were extremely cautious. Very few superchargers were available. We used EV Trip Planner to help plan our routes. I built my own adapters so I could charge at just about any available outlet. Plus I purchased a CHADEMO adapter. I also purchased an extra UMC kit from Tesla. As of this writing, I’ve never used the CHADEMO adapter on the road, nor many of the custom built adapters. We’ve been able to do just fine with superchargers and destination chargers. We try to plan our trips such that we stay overnight either at a location with charging (Tesla destination chargers or common J1772 chargers) or a nearby SC.

The only time we ran into an “issue” was within Yellowstone. We charged at the SC in West Yellowstone before entering the park for a planned 3 night stay. We drove around the park each day to see the sights and do some photography, which ate up a bunch of the battery charge. There are a couple of chargers in Yellowstone but it took us a while to locate them --- they were on Plugshare but Yellowstone staff was not very familiar with them. We finally found them on our second day. The first night we stayed at the Lodge they allowed me to park in the front driveway and plug into a 120V plug – we didn’t get much but every little bit helps! After we found the other Yellowstone chargers, we had no problem. We could plug in and then do some hiking.

We purchased a 12V compressor driven portable refrigerator (discussed in other threads on TMC). Before leaving from our home in VA, we pack the refrigerator with bottled water, some cold cuts, cheeses, etc. We plan our midday charging stop such that we do lunch while waiting for the charge to complete. Not only was it convenient, but we were able to chat with so many other Tesla owners while we were there.

One thing to note for your upcoming trip: you are leaving in January. Expect reduced range due to the cold temperatures!
This is amazing information,Thanks and keep it coming.
Does anyone have preferred spreadsheet setup for tracking the trip. My wife is a CPA-so she is in charge of tracking us and communications.
 
also do you think it wise to spend the extra money and get a CHAdeMO adapter for a long trip????

waste of money. a lot of chademo places are not along the freeways so they're not convenient, and the ones that are, are not free. Superchargers are more common, convenient, and probably free. with 75k+ EV miles under my belt i've never once wished i had a chademo adapter.
 
I agree with all of the other helpful tips posted here. My family and I have done a lot of EV road trips over the past several years and I just returned from a 2400 mi trip in December. ABetterRoutePlanner works great in looking ahead towards charging stops and I think you will find it helpful. I also have a chademo adaptor and have it stored in my trunk, but have never actually needed it. You can get by without it.

Finally, on my most recent road trip I typically charged enough at the supercharger to leave an estimated arrival charge level at the next charging destination of 20%. With the cold wintry weather, energy consumption increased significantly across some legs of the trip and I found my charge level dipped pretty low at some points. Charging just enough to maintain an estimated buffer of 20% before heading out kept all my charging stops less than 30 minutes and made it less stressful for me. Good luck and have fun!
 
Driving with our 2012 S P85 would be similar to the experience with an X 75D (since the dual motors get better range compared with the single motor S).

You will be stopping more frequently with a 75D than if you had a 100D, likely having to stop at every charger, roughly every 150 miles.

If this is your first long distance trip, recommend you use the online route planner tool and/or assemble your own spreadsheet.

When we go on long distance trips, I've created a spreadsheet and planned out our route, and likely charging stops. Based on when we're going to hit superchargers, we'll research the area around the supercharger to find a restaurant when we're near a meal-time - and if you're stopping for a meal, you'll have enough time to get a 90+% charge allowing you to drive a little further after the meal. And for overnight, we'll either stay at a hotel with the destination (or 3rd party) charger, or with a nearby supercharger.

Tesla has been adding enough superchargers, that you may have a few times when you'll have your choice of stopping early or stretching your charge to reach the next supercharger. While most of the superchargers are in decent places, we encountered one that was at a horrible gas station - and vowed to never go back. After that, we did more research on each supercharging stop so we knew what to expect and what to avoid.

For destination or 3rd party chargers we plan to use along the route, we'll consult plugshare to see if there were any negative comments (like one hotel we used claimed to have 4 destination chargers, but 3 of them were blocked by a skid and not easily accessible). And if we aren't confident about it, we'll check with the hotel staff to verify access/availability of the chargers. Especially in smaller towns with few (if any) alternate charging options, you want to have confidence you'll be able to charge overnight.

When stopping overnight, always charge to 90%, unless your route planning indicates you'll need more than 90% to reach your next charging stop. Unnecessarily charging to 100%, especially if you leave it at 100% for several hours, risks long term degradation of the battery pack. Plus if you overcharge overnight, since charging is much faster when the battery pack is at low charge, you'll save very little time at your first charging stop if you unnecessarily charge to 100%, when 90% would have been fine.

You shouldn't need a CHADEMO adapter. Make sure you have your Tesla UMC, with the supplied 110 and 14-50 adapters, plus the J1772 adapter for using 3rd party chargers. Plus, if you're going to be visiting or staying with family, you may also want to get a 14-30 adapter to use with their dryer outlet.

Additional items you should have - paper towels, glass cleaner, tire pump, and tire repair foam. Since you won't be stopping at gas stations, you'll need to bring your glass cleaning supplies with you. Tesla sells a tire pump with the repair foam; the pump will let you add air back into the tires during your trip (which may be useful if facing major temperature changes during the trip). The tire foam is a last resort, if you get a flat tire, and Tesla isn't able to get someone to you to help in a reasonable time frame.

On our first long road trip with our S P85, it was an adventure - 1100 miles with one overnight stop. We took photos at each charging stop (think there were around 10) and texted them to family. And after that trip, and we got used to the drive/charge/drive strategy for long distance EV driving, it's no longer a big deal - and Tesla has since added many new superchargers and destination chargers, making this much easier.

One last piece of advice, while the onboard software does a pretty good job of projecting the charging stops and the estimated charge you'll have at the next stop, you should still monitor your discharge rate by periodically checking the estimated charge at the next stop. When we see that charge moving to 10%, especially when we're still far from the charge stop, we'll start slowing down a little and build back a larger cushion - rather than waiting until the software tells us to slow down below 60 MPH.

Driving a long range EV on a road trip is a different experience. It will take longer, because the charging stops during the day take longer than a gas station, and you'll likely need more charging stops than you would take gas stops in an ICE. However, we've found the drives are much more relaxing. The AP2 software does a pretty decent job in handling most of the driving. The onboard navigation software tracks our route and warns us of traffic issues (rerouting, if needed). And stopping every 2.5 to 3 hours for 20-30 minutes provides us time to relax, hit the restrooms, get something to eat/drink, check our e-mail and then get back to driving for the next stretch.
 
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I've found that the time taken is similar to an ICE vehicle. Inter-day charging stops are about the same (15 minutes for most). The first trip is a bit of an adventure, mostly because it's something unfamiliar. After a trip or two, you just get in and go. The plan I use is: At home and at destination stops, charge to 100% (set the timer so that it finishes about the time you are ready to resume driving), at inter-day stops charge as much as you need to get to the next charging stop and a bit of a cushion. At meal stops, charge as much as possible during the meal. This method has worked very well for the 60K long distance trip miles on our S85.
 
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I've done s few long trips in my S 85D, including the day I bought it CPO in Phoenix and drove it back to St Louis, couldn't agree more with what everyone has said.

I do agree with utilizing plugshare, and reading the comments about where you are looking to charge...on one of my trips (before using PS regularly) we booked a room with a Tesla destination charger, which turned out to be not working. Thankfully I had an adapter for the EvGo charger, or whatever it was, but it only gave me about 20% overnight, just enough to get to a supercharger that I could have skipped otherwise.

It just takes a little bit more planning and research, but I love it and cant wait for the next trip. Just know to take your time and enjoy the journey!
 
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Wow, all this advice from people who obviously don't travel with a pet.

Hotels with destination charging that are also pet-friendly are few and far between. So much so that we have given up on that concept. We find the simplest thing is to just plan around stays at La Quinta Inn and Suites whenever possible, as the are almost always (I understand only a handful are not) pet friendly with no additional fees. Unfortunately, almost never a destination charging location (there is a Supercharger located at one in Victoria, TX).

They have an excellent loyalty program as well.

We do two 2500 mile trips a year and have never used the CHAdeMO adapter on a long trip. It comes in handy when staying a while in cities with limited Supercharging.

We added a trailer hitch and a cargo carrier to our Model S. If you have a hitch on your MX, you might benefit from that concept. Just recall that it takes some additional work every night either transferring the stuff packed there into you hotel or into the car for security overnight.

Mainly, plan to take your time and enjoy. Charging stops will be longer than you plan. With an MX75D you will be doing very few 15 minute charging stops.
 
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I have done a few roadtrips using destination chargers in both Europe and USA. My usual practice is to set the charge limit to 90% when I arrive and head to bed. Then when I wake, adjust the charge limit from the app to 100% to add further charge while I am having breakfast, so leave with almost full charge without the car standing with full charge (which is bad for the battery).

I set the charge limit to 100% when at Superchargers if going for a meal, as you never know how long serving will take, and that then allows extra time so I don’t get charged for overstay if delayed. Otherwise I will only charge to 80% unless more charge is required to reach next charger, as charging speed decreases as the car get nearer full.

It is worth using the Superchargers app to check on comments regarding Superchargers, to find in what areas they are located and the best to stop for meals, etc.

Enjoy your Tesla road trips. I find them a relaxing and enjoyable experience, often chatting to other Tesla drivers at the Superchargers - it is a great community in every country!