Long drive / 220V charging advice

[Alan]

Hi Guys,

I mostly drive my Roadster for shorter trips driving it like a sports car and have not really tried to drive gently for long distances.

I am trying to decide whether to use my Roadster on a longer trip on monday and would welcome any advice, especially about charge times as the battery gets near full.

Before starting I will fully charge (240V / 30A) in range mode.

Trip 1 - 135 miles to a friends house. I can then charge 240V / 13A overnight, say 12 hours.

Trip 2 - friends house to customer site. 43 miles. Whilst at customer site I can charge but only expect to be there for a couple of hours.

Trip 3 - customer site to home. 172 miles. This is the one that worries me as I am not convinced I will be full charged when I set off.

Does the above sound OK or should I plan to drive a slower but more direct route / plan to route via a charger.

Thanks
Alan

 

[dhrivnak]

I really think you are good. I have driven farther with ease. You will get a full charge at your friends. At the customer site if you have a 220 30 amp circuit you will fill in just under 2 hours. Even if it is 13 amp you ge about 12 miles of range an hou
.so worst case you are down 20 miles and best case topped off. Either way you can make it home with miles to spare unless yodrive fast with a strong head wind with rain where you also need HVAC. In this case drive slow or find a coffee shop with a plug during the worst of the storm. I have pushed farther and survived.

 

[Alan]

Thanks for the re-assurance. I suspect I will be charging with 240V/13A at the customer but will try to fit the 30A charger in the trunk.

Does anyone know how the charging slows down towards the end - if its 12 miles/hour at 240V/13A for a say half charged battery what about when its near the end of charge, adding the last few miles in.

 

[dhrivnak]

At the lower charge rates there is very little slowdown. It is when you are charging at 70 amps that it dropps to 50 then 30 toward the end. If careful you should be able to make it without the customer charge. But lile you i would take the "insurance".

 

[dsm363]

I agree with everyone. Trip one I'd just charge in standard mode. You might want to charge in range mode for trip 2 incase your source is really slow there so you can have a full range charge (and drive in range mode) for trip 3. Good luck!

 

[hcsharp]

You haven't told us the speed limits of the roads you'll be on. Generally speaking I would agree with the posts above. I don't think you'll have any problem. I would do a range mode charge to start in case you are traveling a good distance at 65 mph, or run into rain. I find the A/C doesn't use any significant power on my 2.5 but not sure of other versions. If it rains and you have to run heat + A/C to keep windscreen clear and you are going 65 mph you might want to slow down (worst case).

My experience is same as dhrivnak on the charge slow-down behavior.

Good luck. You'll have fun!

 

[richkae]

The occasional range mode charge may help keep youR battery balanced and help the car understand its true capacity.
I try to do one every few months. This is a good opportunity. I would range mode charge when you can on this trip.

 

[Alan]

If it rains and you have to run heat + A/C to keep windscreen clear.

Of course it will rain and need the heater - its a typical British summer!

Would normally be driving 70mph+ but will keep it a bit slower.