This weekend I made my 3rd trip to Kansas City in as many months, it is around 190 miles 1-way from my home in Nixa. Thus, it is very easy to make the drive one way, but getting home requires at least several hours of charging. The first time I did the trip I was able to turn around in 6.5 hours on a public 30amp J1772 charger, but had been very energy efficient on the way up and pretty darn good on the way back.
The second trip was also fairly benign, the drive home was from a little further North, in Liberty, MO, but still presented no challenges as I'd gotten a Max range charge at the hotel I stayed at (Courtyard by Marriott at Briarcliff).
This weekend was a bit more challenging. We were in Olathe/Overland Park, KS area. Driving up was no issue, we stayed at a hotel in the Park Place shopping area called Aloft and there was free parking in the adjacent garage with 2 ChargePoint chargers. So, once again, got a max charge overnight. We drove to my son's track meet with around 252 rated miles still showing..all seemed well.
But the weather turned bad on us, the meet was called off a bit early and we had to drive to our lake house (~212 miles on NAV) in the rain then whole way. Where previously I'd averaged, at worst, ~330Wh/mi on the drive South, the rain was brutal and dropped us to ~360Wh/mi despite dropping to 5mph below the posted 70MPH speed limit. It didn't take long to realize that there was not much chance we'd make it to our destination without a top-up. Fortunately, I have a friend in Joplin who has a NEMA 6-50 in his garage and he was home and happy for us to stop by to top up.
We arrived at his house with about 70 miles rated and about 72 actual miles to go. We plugged in, confirmed charging, went inside to eat and chat for an hour expecting to get about 30 miles of range...more than enough to get me where I was going. Oddly, despite still showing charging at 39amps, we'd gotten up to only 83 miles rated?! Don't know how to explain that since I confirmed charging before and after. 3G was essentially non-existant so I couldn't check with the app while in the house. Still, 83 was enough so off we went.
*Side note, I did pass a truck load of brand new Model S's on I-44 heading toward St.Louis!
Near my lake house a neighbor has a 50 amp outlet that I'd previously looked at, didn't know exactly what type outlet it was, but didn't think it would be an issue since I have a bag full of adapters I carry when traveling. I made plans to have my wife pick me up at his place so I could charge right away. We arrived with 8 miles rated showing. Turns out, he has an old style NEMA 10-50 outlet! None of my adapters fit...ugh. (subsequently found one here that I will be adding to my collection: EVSEadapters.com: Tesla Model S adapters - charge your Tesla Model S faster, anywhere ).
Plan B was my father in law's 30 amp dryer outlet (which was an ordeal that I won't describe). Pulling 24 amps I still wasn't much over 200 miles rated by the time I retrieved the car the next morning...but it was enough.
Next weekend I'm installing a NEMA 14-50 at my lake house (long overdue).
Lessons Learned:
1)Charging infrastructure in Missouri and Arkansas areas are not adequate for the average driver and will hold back significant EV sales until improved--the distances and roads are not conducive, even with the Tesla 85kWh battery to the average person's ability to travel at will to the primary cities and destinations in the state without extensive planning.
2)Level 2 charging is a bit of a joke....nice for hotels where you're staying overnight. Nice if you're a commuter and just grab opportunity charges here and there. Wholly inadequate for "real" charging.
3)Rain is a killer for energy efficiency. Even with 2 prior trips on that route and some speed reduction my range was hammered. Plan accordingly. Much like Broder with the cold, if you don't anticipate and you live in an area with little more than hay fields between your major destinations you could get in trouble.
The second trip was also fairly benign, the drive home was from a little further North, in Liberty, MO, but still presented no challenges as I'd gotten a Max range charge at the hotel I stayed at (Courtyard by Marriott at Briarcliff).
This weekend was a bit more challenging. We were in Olathe/Overland Park, KS area. Driving up was no issue, we stayed at a hotel in the Park Place shopping area called Aloft and there was free parking in the adjacent garage with 2 ChargePoint chargers. So, once again, got a max charge overnight. We drove to my son's track meet with around 252 rated miles still showing..all seemed well.
But the weather turned bad on us, the meet was called off a bit early and we had to drive to our lake house (~212 miles on NAV) in the rain then whole way. Where previously I'd averaged, at worst, ~330Wh/mi on the drive South, the rain was brutal and dropped us to ~360Wh/mi despite dropping to 5mph below the posted 70MPH speed limit. It didn't take long to realize that there was not much chance we'd make it to our destination without a top-up. Fortunately, I have a friend in Joplin who has a NEMA 6-50 in his garage and he was home and happy for us to stop by to top up.
We arrived at his house with about 70 miles rated and about 72 actual miles to go. We plugged in, confirmed charging, went inside to eat and chat for an hour expecting to get about 30 miles of range...more than enough to get me where I was going. Oddly, despite still showing charging at 39amps, we'd gotten up to only 83 miles rated?! Don't know how to explain that since I confirmed charging before and after. 3G was essentially non-existant so I couldn't check with the app while in the house. Still, 83 was enough so off we went.
*Side note, I did pass a truck load of brand new Model S's on I-44 heading toward St.Louis!
Near my lake house a neighbor has a 50 amp outlet that I'd previously looked at, didn't know exactly what type outlet it was, but didn't think it would be an issue since I have a bag full of adapters I carry when traveling. I made plans to have my wife pick me up at his place so I could charge right away. We arrived with 8 miles rated showing. Turns out, he has an old style NEMA 10-50 outlet! None of my adapters fit...ugh. (subsequently found one here that I will be adding to my collection: EVSEadapters.com: Tesla Model S adapters - charge your Tesla Model S faster, anywhere ).
Plan B was my father in law's 30 amp dryer outlet (which was an ordeal that I won't describe). Pulling 24 amps I still wasn't much over 200 miles rated by the time I retrieved the car the next morning...but it was enough.
Next weekend I'm installing a NEMA 14-50 at my lake house (long overdue).
Lessons Learned:
1)Charging infrastructure in Missouri and Arkansas areas are not adequate for the average driver and will hold back significant EV sales until improved--the distances and roads are not conducive, even with the Tesla 85kWh battery to the average person's ability to travel at will to the primary cities and destinations in the state without extensive planning.
2)Level 2 charging is a bit of a joke....nice for hotels where you're staying overnight. Nice if you're a commuter and just grab opportunity charges here and there. Wholly inadequate for "real" charging.
3)Rain is a killer for energy efficiency. Even with 2 prior trips on that route and some speed reduction my range was hammered. Plan accordingly. Much like Broder with the cold, if you don't anticipate and you live in an area with little more than hay fields between your major destinations you could get in trouble.
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