inroute app is really a fantastic app that no one really knows about. Does weather and elevation and wind and temp like no other. Very good for last minute estimate of better routes.
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Model X Road Trips
- Thread starter xkwizit
- Start date
ecrsail
Member
I highly recommend InRoute (with the upgrades) and especially EV-TO, but neither are web based. EV-TO was developed by a forum member (not me) with feedback from many Tesla owners. It's a great tool.
A Better Route Planner is probably your best bet if you specifically want to load it up on the vehicle's (slow) browser.
muleferg
Active Member
Tesla-Adventure-646887082324928
My friend who bought my Model S after purchasing my X. On a cross country trip to Washington State from NC and then on to the Tesla factory.
My friend who bought my Model S after purchasing my X. On a cross country trip to Washington State from NC and then on to the Tesla factory.
ZEPHYRHATS
Member
Traveled from Fort Collins Colorado to Afton Wyoming last week. Afton is the promised land with tons of places to explore and tons of streams to fly fish.
No problems traveling but had to use a relatives house 240v to get my car charged up while in Afton. There is a giant hole in not only the Tesla supercharger map but also on plug share and Afton is the center of it all. I talked to the manager of the Marriott Fairfield Inn however and after about 2 days of studying the situation thought he needs to move quick to get some chargers there. I tried charging my X as did another guy his S using the poor exterior 110 v charger outside and managed to get only 2 mph. The manager is super understanding though and decided he was probably not only get a 240v outlet but actually wants to put 4 Tesla chargers in his parking lot and pointed out where. He thinks it would be great for business and help him get EV travelers business and loyalty. So that will be good news since i know a lot of people are having to sweat a little getting from Jackson Hole down to Rock Springs or Evanston. Afton perfectly cuts that journey in half.
About 2000 miles Maine to Newfoundland. Driving the Maritimes
Great trip, but drove half with the 12-volt battery alert showing.
Great trip, but drove half with the 12-volt battery alert showing.
Wrapped up a 4,500 mile Texas-California trip. No real problems with Supercharging across 30 chargers. Travelled mostly by day and often had Superchargers to myself. Only once had to share a pair!
Over all positives:
Not quite so positive:
Chargers are at seemingly random locations - burger joint here, hotel there, gas station next. Sedona and Santa Fe's are both located many minutes away from where people actually stay/go, in out-of-the-way malls. There's seemingly no master planner behind these location choices. Just "somewhere, anywhere".
Sweetwater, TX at 11:20pm:
I expect during the day this area is cleared.
But then Baker, California; feels like chargers as far as you can see!
The Baker experience was, like all the daytime stops, clear and easy to Supercharge.
A couple of long legs could be eased with an intermediate charger. Kingman <---> Flagstaff is loooong even with a 100kWh battery; it's very windy. And neither endpoint is at an interesting place to wait for a long charge. An intermediate would mean shorter charging at all 3 locations.
Texas is large. Supercharging's OK on the highways but Lubbock (paired with Clovis, NM) would allow a huge corner to be cut. It's also a long stretch from Cisco, TX to the Austin supercharger. I'm sure there are other criss-cross routes that could be better served.
Speaking of Austin - the Austin location has no facilities, and is stupid hard to park in. Whoever approved that location must have been having a joke!
California was beautiful as always. The most unexpected sight was the solar generator near Primm.
Three astonishingly bright candles, outshining the desert sun.
Autopilot drove probably 99% of the highway miles. A big help. Never gets tired, never gets distracted.
Road-tripping in a Tesla: thumbs-up!
Over all positives:
- Fantastic that this kind of trip is possible. Even a couple of years ago this would have been trying.
- In-car navigation reliably takes you to each charger.
Not quite so positive:
- During trip planning, worries about scarcity/spacing of chargers still exists. e.g. see I-40. Most are single points of failure, catastrophic to a planned trip. Would love to see alternates ("plan B") close to existing locations.
- We travelled mostly by day. I'm not sure I'd risk night travels. Most places are closed then anyway, so no restrooms. Hotel lots fill up at night; e.g. Sweetwater TX, had only half the stalls available when we arrived late one evening. The rest of the lot was filled, and the hotel staff was telling people to take the Supercharger spaces - there's nowhere else to send them.
- Heat, like 100ºF+, seems to slow charge rate, or at least accelerate the taper. Start at 110+kW but rapidly drops to 70-ish even while the battery is only at 50% full.
- Would love some shade on those I-40 chargers. Baker is amazing. Please shade all Texan chargers!
- After charging in the heat, the car's thermometer shoots up to 135ºF, and cabin AC turns off for 30 seconds or so while the car cools its electronics. Not a terrible thing just interesting to watch. There is an on-screen alert about reduced cabin cooling, and it is temporary.
Chargers are at seemingly random locations - burger joint here, hotel there, gas station next. Sedona and Santa Fe's are both located many minutes away from where people actually stay/go, in out-of-the-way malls. There's seemingly no master planner behind these location choices. Just "somewhere, anywhere".
Sweetwater, TX at 11:20pm:
I expect during the day this area is cleared.
But then Baker, California; feels like chargers as far as you can see!
The Baker experience was, like all the daytime stops, clear and easy to Supercharge.
A couple of long legs could be eased with an intermediate charger. Kingman <---> Flagstaff is loooong even with a 100kWh battery; it's very windy. And neither endpoint is at an interesting place to wait for a long charge. An intermediate would mean shorter charging at all 3 locations.
Texas is large. Supercharging's OK on the highways but Lubbock (paired with Clovis, NM) would allow a huge corner to be cut. It's also a long stretch from Cisco, TX to the Austin supercharger. I'm sure there are other criss-cross routes that could be better served.
Speaking of Austin - the Austin location has no facilities, and is stupid hard to park in. Whoever approved that location must have been having a joke!
California was beautiful as always. The most unexpected sight was the solar generator near Primm.
Three astonishingly bright candles, outshining the desert sun.
Autopilot drove probably 99% of the highway miles. A big help. Never gets tired, never gets distracted.
Road-tripping in a Tesla: thumbs-up!
Last edited:
First medium-long road trip in our new Model X was from Madison WI to Grand Marais MN. Bonus: We camped in the back of the MX.
Got a call on Tuesday that there was going to be an impromptu family reunion in the ancestral homeland at the north edge of Lake Superior. We don't get up there much, and because that weekend was the annual Fisherman's Picnic, there was no chance we would get any kind of campsite or hotel room. So we arranged to park the MX on my brother's tenting site (no electricity) and we pulled a mattress out of my oversized teardrop to sleep on. In the week before I took some black fleece fabric and velcro tabs and made blackout curtains for the rear window and to hang over the front seats (protip: The magnets that hold the visors in the retracted position are perfect for suspending a curtain.) The rear door windows were covered with towels hooked over the windows.
It was reasonably comfortable. My wife and I are both tall, so it was a little cramped, but the ability to run the fan all night (and the potential for AC, which here was unnecessary) for almost no electricity made it totally worthwhile. We charged to 90% before we left, skipped the Mauston WI charger and did our first recharge at Eau Claire WI. Six stalls, three transformers that *really* drop like a rock if you are sharing. There were two S's and our X at the charger. BTW, Tesla drivers are the BEST. Uniformly friendly and dying to trade info and tips. Left Eau Claire for Duluth MN and our next charge. Duluth is the end of the SC constellation so far, so we needed to fill up almost to the top, since Grand Marais is 110 miles away and I wasn't sure of what we might get to charge with. BTW, the SCs in Duluth are on the 2nd level of the Holiday Inn Downtown's parking garage. Kinda tight maneuvering, but not bad overall.
Off to Grand Marais in the pouring rain. Got to the campground and just as advertised, my brother was on what was I think the only un-improved spot in the whole campground. Later the next day I found out that they have one electrical box denoted as the EV Charger - 32 amps with a J1772 for $5. I let the X sit there for about five hours, got to about 225 miles. I offered to rent out a full camping slot on Sunday night so we could get a totally full charge (wanted to drive all the way to Eau Claire in one hop) but the campground refused.
So Monday AM, we got up and out at 7AM. Made it to Duluth about 9AM, plugged into the one charger of the four that was broken. Reparked, let 'er charge for about an hour. Off to Eau Claire, and found two other X's at the SC. We had to juggle around a bit to get a free transformer for each of us. After a salad at Panera, off we went headed for Madison and home. Totally easy trip, talked to a *lot* of folks about the car and electric cars in general. Got to use Autopilot a lot - when it works, it's great, but often it just refuses to change lanes. What's up with that?
Got to visit the source of dino juice in a car that will never need any of it. There's excitement about electric cars, and it's fun to be ahead of the curve on this one!
Got a call on Tuesday that there was going to be an impromptu family reunion in the ancestral homeland at the north edge of Lake Superior. We don't get up there much, and because that weekend was the annual Fisherman's Picnic, there was no chance we would get any kind of campsite or hotel room. So we arranged to park the MX on my brother's tenting site (no electricity) and we pulled a mattress out of my oversized teardrop to sleep on. In the week before I took some black fleece fabric and velcro tabs and made blackout curtains for the rear window and to hang over the front seats (protip: The magnets that hold the visors in the retracted position are perfect for suspending a curtain.) The rear door windows were covered with towels hooked over the windows.
It was reasonably comfortable. My wife and I are both tall, so it was a little cramped, but the ability to run the fan all night (and the potential for AC, which here was unnecessary) for almost no electricity made it totally worthwhile. We charged to 90% before we left, skipped the Mauston WI charger and did our first recharge at Eau Claire WI. Six stalls, three transformers that *really* drop like a rock if you are sharing. There were two S's and our X at the charger. BTW, Tesla drivers are the BEST. Uniformly friendly and dying to trade info and tips. Left Eau Claire for Duluth MN and our next charge. Duluth is the end of the SC constellation so far, so we needed to fill up almost to the top, since Grand Marais is 110 miles away and I wasn't sure of what we might get to charge with. BTW, the SCs in Duluth are on the 2nd level of the Holiday Inn Downtown's parking garage. Kinda tight maneuvering, but not bad overall.
Off to Grand Marais in the pouring rain. Got to the campground and just as advertised, my brother was on what was I think the only un-improved spot in the whole campground. Later the next day I found out that they have one electrical box denoted as the EV Charger - 32 amps with a J1772 for $5. I let the X sit there for about five hours, got to about 225 miles. I offered to rent out a full camping slot on Sunday night so we could get a totally full charge (wanted to drive all the way to Eau Claire in one hop) but the campground refused.
So Monday AM, we got up and out at 7AM. Made it to Duluth about 9AM, plugged into the one charger of the four that was broken. Reparked, let 'er charge for about an hour. Off to Eau Claire, and found two other X's at the SC. We had to juggle around a bit to get a free transformer for each of us. After a salad at Panera, off we went headed for Madison and home. Totally easy trip, talked to a *lot* of folks about the car and electric cars in general. Got to use Autopilot a lot - when it works, it's great, but often it just refuses to change lanes. What's up with that?
Got to visit the source of dino juice in a car that will never need any of it. There's excitement about electric cars, and it's fun to be ahead of the curve on this one!
aesculus
Still Trying to Figure This All Out
In the last picture both the car and dino block the pumps so it looks like you have just pulled into a Sinclair rest stop.
mucanta
Member
Picked up my X on Thursday afternoon in Geneva, Switzerland. Was going to drive to southern Sweden that same night but postponed until Friday morning. Put on my Thule roof box with a Sea Sucker paddle board rack. And headed out in the wee hours of Friday morning.
View attachment 183834
The guesstimated time for the trip curtesy of Tesla's own NAV was 17hrs apparently not counting for traffic conditions and certainly not counting with my roof box
Final time for trip 21hrs! Mostly due to traffic re-routing and sundry. The roof box and speed through Germany gave me an acceptable 20% penalty so I charged with that in mind. Stopping twice more instead of charging longer each time. I calculated this would be less of a time loss since the faster charging at lower starting point. The only unknown performance was between Hamburg (Braak SuC) and southern Denmark (Nørre SuC) which seems to be a long way on the map but turned out to be a no worries at all with the ferry being a bigger electron saver than initially thought. The whole trip I was averaging about 310kw/km with long stretches just bellow the 300 mark.
Now I'm in southern Sweden for a couple of days and then we head up to Stockholm.
To be continued.........
I just found this thread. Amazing picture and trip report.
I am still trying to find out the "Like" button.
I just finished a short Miami - Orlando (232 miles) weekend trip. It was my first highway trip with the X100D. I have to say it was a great experience!
Started with around 80% battery (236miles). Stopped at the Ft. Drum Turnpike service station, where there were only 2 other cars charging. After a 34min food/bathroom break, car was back to 80% (236 miles). Got to Orlando with 47% (138miles), drove back and forth between parks (Universal, Disney) for 2 days (around 60miles). Before heading back to Miami, I stopped by the Sand Lake Rd charger for only 9 minutes, getting me back to 45% / 130mi. After another 40min food/bathroom stop back at Ft Drum, got back to Miami with 18% / 51 miles.
I feel that the 4hr drive was so much more pleasant with auto pilot enabled pretty much 100% of the time. Only on a few occasions had to disengage in order to pass some slower cars when the left lane was busy. I was 100% of the time looking at the road, and left my hand resting on the bottom part of the wheel, which eliminated the nagging. Not having to actively drive the car made a huge difference for me. I felt like I was a passenger on the car, and I arrived at my destination both calmer and well rested.
Started with around 80% battery (236miles). Stopped at the Ft. Drum Turnpike service station, where there were only 2 other cars charging. After a 34min food/bathroom break, car was back to 80% (236 miles). Got to Orlando with 47% (138miles), drove back and forth between parks (Universal, Disney) for 2 days (around 60miles). Before heading back to Miami, I stopped by the Sand Lake Rd charger for only 9 minutes, getting me back to 45% / 130mi. After another 40min food/bathroom stop back at Ft Drum, got back to Miami with 18% / 51 miles.
I feel that the 4hr drive was so much more pleasant with auto pilot enabled pretty much 100% of the time. Only on a few occasions had to disengage in order to pass some slower cars when the left lane was busy. I was 100% of the time looking at the road, and left my hand resting on the bottom part of the wheel, which eliminated the nagging. Not having to actively drive the car made a huge difference for me. I felt like I was a passenger on the car, and I arrived at my destination both calmer and well rested.
Whisky
Member
For those that are fans of Tesla road trip videos, I have some up for the Model X (and 3). For whatever reason, I'm a huge fan of this sub-genre, enough so that I wanted to make my own videos. Some good tips in here for things I came across along the way!
Loving road trips with the family and the Model X. We had the pleasure of doing a round trip from Western PA to the Columbia, SC area and back over Labor Day weekend. Chargers were wide open. East Coast Tesla road trips are free from Supercharger crowding and over-use by locals still, so it is a perfect time to adopt a clean, quiet EV lifestyle.
While on the 600 mile trip heading South we travelled in the early morning on Friday so we could enjoy the weekend with family upon arrival. Twelve hours enroute, including charging. With a family of five we enjoy walking, playing frisbee, talking with other Tesla owners and occosionally taking a short nap while charging.
Heading North on the return trip, 600 more miles, 12 hours, we enjoyed lunch, then stopped one more time before arriving home.
We've been road tripping in a Tesla for over six months with about 10,000 miles under our belts, no problems so far. I use the EVTO-TESLA app a week or so ahead of time to check the basic route and decide on food stop preferences using the PlugShare app points of interest. In the car I'll usually just punch in the destination and go. We always start the trip with about 80% to avoid slow charging at the first stop. With the S85 and X90D there's no real reason to start out at 100%. Drafting behind a van or truck going at or above the speed limit leaves us watching the percent at the next supercharger slowly increase while happily cruising on AP.
It is easy to forget that road trips are not common for some people and getting a Tesla has a few getting on the road for the first time. I have always been a wanderer and have crossed the U.S. From TX to ND and VA to CA, a few times. I have a renewed love for the open highway while driving electric!
While on the 600 mile trip heading South we travelled in the early morning on Friday so we could enjoy the weekend with family upon arrival. Twelve hours enroute, including charging. With a family of five we enjoy walking, playing frisbee, talking with other Tesla owners and occosionally taking a short nap while charging.
Heading North on the return trip, 600 more miles, 12 hours, we enjoyed lunch, then stopped one more time before arriving home.
We've been road tripping in a Tesla for over six months with about 10,000 miles under our belts, no problems so far. I use the EVTO-TESLA app a week or so ahead of time to check the basic route and decide on food stop preferences using the PlugShare app points of interest. In the car I'll usually just punch in the destination and go. We always start the trip with about 80% to avoid slow charging at the first stop. With the S85 and X90D there's no real reason to start out at 100%. Drafting behind a van or truck going at or above the speed limit leaves us watching the percent at the next supercharger slowly increase while happily cruising on AP.
It is easy to forget that road trips are not common for some people and getting a Tesla has a few getting on the road for the first time. I have always been a wanderer and have crossed the U.S. From TX to ND and VA to CA, a few times. I have a renewed love for the open highway while driving electric!
mbp11
Member
My girlfriend and I go to Healdsburg frequently for wine tasting, it is a delightful city, but the city seems to have a dearth of charging stations- we usually can make the round trip from Pleasanton to Healdsburg and back on a full charge but I suffer from range anxiety and like to scout out local chargers just in case.
If you come up through Napa, the Napa (American Canyon) Supercharger can be on your route. If you hit 101 farther south, you've got the Petaluma Supercharger and the now-permitted Rohnert Park Supercharger. Of course, closer to home you have Concord and San Ramon Superchargers. So there are lots of options, though they require an extra stop. Some wineries in the Healdsburg/River Rd. area have destination chargers, but they won't get you much.
mbp11
Member
Thanks, I knew about the Petaluma charger but will have to check out the Rhonert Park Superchargers.
The Livermore superchargers at the San Francisco Premium Outlets also have some of the new Electrify America 350 KWh chargers in addition to about 20 Tesla chargers. Their new plugs are very interesting to look at. Of course, there are no vehicles currently out in the market that can utilize those charge rates.
I would like to take a extended trip to Northern California seacoast to visit my nephew in Fortuna, CA but there are not that many chargers up there either, unless I stay at a destination charger.
Oh, Range Anxiety!
The Livermore superchargers at the San Francisco Premium Outlets also have some of the new Electrify America 350 KWh chargers in addition to about 20 Tesla chargers. Their new plugs are very interesting to look at. Of course, there are no vehicles currently out in the market that can utilize those charge rates.
I would like to take a extended trip to Northern California seacoast to visit my nephew in Fortuna, CA but there are not that many chargers up there either, unless I stay at a destination charger.
Oh, Range Anxiety!
JimVandegriff
Member
If you come up 101, you can charge in Ukiah, soon in Laytonville, and can get a level 3 charge in Benbow should you need one. Eureka, of course, has its supercharger. Enjoy the "friendly city" (Fortuna) when you visit, and check out the Victorian town of Ferndale nearby. The VI restaurant has good food and a destination charger in Ferndale. Jim
I just used EV-TO on an iPhone to plan Phoenix to Vegas. It worked great. I put in payload approx weight and told it 10 mph faster than it’s estimate and it was pretty close. We charged faster than it thought, but otherwise we were within 5-8 miles of range of what it predicted at each waypoint. During the trip, I used the Tesla trip energy graph to know where I stood.
My wife and I completed a 6000 mile road trip from Colorado to Key West Florida in our Tesla X P90D.
19 days from April 14 through May 2.
Used autopilot on all freeway driving. After 3 years experience and so many Superchargers everywhere no range anxiety.
PLACES
We stayed at the Southernmost House in Key West. Room 201. Room with balcony overlooking the pool and ocean. I think this is the best place to stay in Key West. I planned the rest of the road trip after making reservations here. The Southernmost House. Picture of our Tesla next to the southern most place marker in continental US. Not easy getting a picture. This was taken at 7am and there were still many people around.
ROADS
Quietest roads in Nebraska; noisiest in Indiana. The rural roads in Louisiana are great. The parishes (counties) receive a severance tax when cutting trees for lumber that are used to keep the roads in good condition. That being said, the worst freeway was just east of Shreveport LA.
SPEED LIMITS
Texas - most drivers go close to the speed limit; most likely since limit is 80mph. Dallas is always under construction; narrow lanes with speed limit of 70.
Florida - most drivers go 10-15mph over the posted limit. Speed limit of 70mph; I go 75mph in middle lane and passed on left and right. Need to go 80mph to keep up with traffic.
Indiana - most drivers in city go the speed limit. Lots of cops. Lots of round a bouts.
SUPERCHARGERS
Superchargers in parking garages are sometimes difficult to find. Atlanta Station was the most difficult. We did see Tesla signs at the Normal (Bloomington) IN parking garage.
Someone had recommended to use PlugShare.com and review the Description. Plugshare looks very helpful.
We have been to 161 different superchargers over the last 3 years. We have never been to a supercharger where we could not charge. I do not want to jinx our experience but when traveling in many parts of the country there is no alternate choice for fast charging. Seems like in Florida there is a Supercharger every 50 miles or so.
SEGMENTS
We drove from Atlanta GA to Indianapolis IN in one day. Atlanta to Chattanooga TN supercharger. Instead of going to Manchester, Bowling Green, to Louisville we went to Cookeville and directly to Louisville. Cookeville to Louisville, 169 miles, 3 hours 15 minutes. The longest drive by time we have had in our Tesla. Lots of small roads and hoping that the GPS knows what it is doing. We stopped at a McDonalds in Cave City for ice cream.
19 days from April 14 through May 2.
Used autopilot on all freeway driving. After 3 years experience and so many Superchargers everywhere no range anxiety.
PLACES
We stayed at the Southernmost House in Key West. Room 201. Room with balcony overlooking the pool and ocean. I think this is the best place to stay in Key West. I planned the rest of the road trip after making reservations here. The Southernmost House. Picture of our Tesla next to the southern most place marker in continental US. Not easy getting a picture. This was taken at 7am and there were still many people around.
ROADS
Quietest roads in Nebraska; noisiest in Indiana. The rural roads in Louisiana are great. The parishes (counties) receive a severance tax when cutting trees for lumber that are used to keep the roads in good condition. That being said, the worst freeway was just east of Shreveport LA.
SPEED LIMITS
Texas - most drivers go close to the speed limit; most likely since limit is 80mph. Dallas is always under construction; narrow lanes with speed limit of 70.
Florida - most drivers go 10-15mph over the posted limit. Speed limit of 70mph; I go 75mph in middle lane and passed on left and right. Need to go 80mph to keep up with traffic.
Indiana - most drivers in city go the speed limit. Lots of cops. Lots of round a bouts.
SUPERCHARGERS
Superchargers in parking garages are sometimes difficult to find. Atlanta Station was the most difficult. We did see Tesla signs at the Normal (Bloomington) IN parking garage.
Someone had recommended to use PlugShare.com and review the Description. Plugshare looks very helpful.
We have been to 161 different superchargers over the last 3 years. We have never been to a supercharger where we could not charge. I do not want to jinx our experience but when traveling in many parts of the country there is no alternate choice for fast charging. Seems like in Florida there is a Supercharger every 50 miles or so.
SEGMENTS
We drove from Atlanta GA to Indianapolis IN in one day. Atlanta to Chattanooga TN supercharger. Instead of going to Manchester, Bowling Green, to Louisville we went to Cookeville and directly to Louisville. Cookeville to Louisville, 169 miles, 3 hours 15 minutes. The longest drive by time we have had in our Tesla. Lots of small roads and hoping that the GPS knows what it is doing. We stopped at a McDonalds in Cave City for ice cream.
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