I am planning a long trip that would normally take 14 hours in a gas powered car. Any tips on how best to take long trips in a Model S Long Range model? For example, would I make better time making fewer stops for charging by charging from say 10% battery life to 100% or will I save time by making more frequent stops but shorter time charging by charging from say 20% to 80%? Also, when planning my route, what is best way to determine availability of Super Charges on various routes? Thanks.
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Long Trips
- Thread starter John Bush
- Start date
Just use the in-car navigation system. It takes care of ensuring you have enough charge by including the charging stops and how much time you need to spend at each to minimize your wait time to get just enough charge to get to your next stop.
How long have you had your Model S?
Another tool to use before you start your drive just to give you an idea of the charging stops is Abetterrouteplanner.com .
Jabbahop
Member
Unless you are charging overnight during your trip, going to 100% isn’t idea as it is MUCH slower beyond 80%. We also use better route planner. It tends to recommend more shorter stops than the on board nav system. It took us a while to trust the nav down to 10% state of charge (with a 2014 S85) but now we do that, we charge faster overall.
We will be passing through Davenport on our way back from Utah to Vermont next week. Have a good trip.
We will be passing through Davenport on our way back from Utah to Vermont next week. Have a good trip.
purplewalt
Active Member
Depending on the terrain, weather, wind, speed you actually drive, and your mental comfort factor (familiarity with range anxiety), you will probably use this as a learning curve course.
The range of your car is based on testing, close to 65 mph. Faster the driving speed, greater the wind resistance = greater use of charge in battery.
Due to current number of locations of Superchargers, and your anticipated number of scheduled stops, what might be a 14 hour drive in an ICE could easily become 16 or 17 hours in an EV. Any EV.
Because it is a Model S, it will not charge as quickly as a Model 3.
Before you leave, Plot out your anticipated route. Your car can do this for you, just type in end destination point, and the car will guide you.
It will identify all the Superchargers on your route. You should learn to ZOOM in for Supercharger locations, because many times, they are located to an out-of-the-way location on a site.
You should plan to have enough energy for each destination, plus an adequate amount of buffer charge, say maybe 50 to 70 miles extra. This can possibly be reduced as you learn more about your car, and your driving style/speed.
It takes a really long time to fully charge a Model S (anything above 80%), so more stops allows for quicker charging times. You should never need to charge to 100%, unless you are really stretching distances between Superchargers. Maybe next trip, after you have driving experience with your car.
Know your terrain for each leg of your trip.
Mountains will kill anticipated range going up, and give you unbelievable long range going down (thanks to regen).
First couple of legs, get familiar with your car and your driving abilities. If you get tired, maybe switch drivers or maybe check into a hotel.
It can be a lot of fun to learn new stuff (and some you can only learn by the experience of doing), just be adaptable to existing and projected range for each leg of your trip. If your speed can safely be reduced so that you make it to next charging point, you might need to drive a bit slower.
The range of your car is based on testing, close to 65 mph. Faster the driving speed, greater the wind resistance = greater use of charge in battery.
Due to current number of locations of Superchargers, and your anticipated number of scheduled stops, what might be a 14 hour drive in an ICE could easily become 16 or 17 hours in an EV. Any EV.
Because it is a Model S, it will not charge as quickly as a Model 3.
Before you leave, Plot out your anticipated route. Your car can do this for you, just type in end destination point, and the car will guide you.
It will identify all the Superchargers on your route. You should learn to ZOOM in for Supercharger locations, because many times, they are located to an out-of-the-way location on a site.
You should plan to have enough energy for each destination, plus an adequate amount of buffer charge, say maybe 50 to 70 miles extra. This can possibly be reduced as you learn more about your car, and your driving style/speed.
It takes a really long time to fully charge a Model S (anything above 80%), so more stops allows for quicker charging times. You should never need to charge to 100%, unless you are really stretching distances between Superchargers. Maybe next trip, after you have driving experience with your car.
Know your terrain for each leg of your trip.
Mountains will kill anticipated range going up, and give you unbelievable long range going down (thanks to regen).
First couple of legs, get familiar with your car and your driving abilities. If you get tired, maybe switch drivers or maybe check into a hotel.
It can be a lot of fun to learn new stuff (and some you can only learn by the experience of doing), just be adaptable to existing and projected range for each leg of your trip. If your speed can safely be reduced so that you make it to next charging point, you might need to drive a bit slower.
Cheburashka
Active Member
The above plus take your time if you can, see some sights, stay overnight where there is a level 2 (use PlugShare app) or destination charger (use car nav). Plan your meals around a 90 or 100% charge and your potty / coffee breaks around 80%. I liked the rhythm of waking at 100% grabbing a coffee then driving a couple hours to grab a full breakfast. Before there were SuperChargers in the area we crossed Idaho and Montana on 1 overnight charge per day, did and saw lots of fun things and really enjoyed it.
