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Model X Road Trips

Discussion in 'Model X' started by xkwizit, Jun 24, 2016.

  1. umeshunni

    umeshunni Member

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    San Francisco, CA
    The last time I was in Reno, I stayed at the Circus Circus - they had a J1772 charger that I could use for overnight charging.
     
  2. Awdpwr

    Awdpwr Member

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    Dec 3, 2016
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    Atlanta
    We took our first road trip. And my wife just wrote a wonderful review on our MX. I've been reading these posts daily and I know it gets stressful but believe me it's worth the wait. Here is a link Lizcarlile.com if you're interested in the review.
     
  3. Electrifying

    Electrifying Member

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    Location:
    United States
    Skied in Truckee (North Tahoe) for the past 3 days. Heavy snow, 8 degrees. Great traction. Doors sometimes need a few attempts or warm-ups to be openable when too much ice accumulated. Here are some photos. IMG_0261.jpg
    Truckee supercharger

    cover1.jpg
     
    • Like x 4
  4. xkwizit

    xkwizit Member

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    On a Central Coast trip. The in-car trip planner seems to have improved with pretty good and accurate estimates. @aesculus - I used your app to compare and it came up pretty accurate. It's estimates were almost same as what in-car trip planner gave as actuals.

    Made two supercharging stops - one at Gustine and second at Atascadero.

    At Gustine, a new MS owner drove in right after picking up the car at the factory. Atascadero was the first time I used one of those old SpCs that don't light up. My heart skipped a beat at first not seeing any lights on and it was past midnight too.

    Here are couple of pics showing off my X wings at Montecito.
    IMG_0411.JPG IMG_0407.JPG
     
    • Like x 5
  5. aesculus

    aesculus Still Trying to Figure This All Out

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    Cool. Sill a WIP:)

    Its when the weather gets nasty I hope it does better than the in-car planner.
     
  6. scottyd

    scottyd Member

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    Location:
    Seattle
    Hi @aesculus -

    I looked on your profile but didn't seee a link to your app. Can you share?

    Thx!
    -Scott
     
  7. aesculus

    aesculus Still Trying to Figure This All Out

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    Not yet Scott. It's still being worked on by @xkwizit and others and may never see the light of day. ;)
     
  8. scottyd

    scottyd Member

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    Ahh - hope it does get released. LMK if you ever need any beta testing help!
     
  9. ohmman

    ohmman Plaid-ish Moderator

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    Someone let the cat out of the bag...
     
  10. xkwizit

    xkwizit Member

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    Sorry @aesculus for letting the cat out of the bag...probably too much central coast wine tasting.. but seriously your app is very helpful and robust. I don't see any reason for it to be shut down. In fact I hope Tesla acquires it from you to enhance their in-car trip planner.

    For example, today we wanted to drive up PCH from Pismo Beach all the way to Monterey. The car would only give us 101 route. Your app came in very handy ..added a couple of waypoints for Big Sur and Bixby Creek Bridge and it calculated the route and more importantly the energy estimates all the way to Monterey. And accurate too..the app said 34% estimate at destination and though it seemed like I would get 30% which is what the car was estimating, in the end the car did in fact show 34%.

    Keep up the good work. It's an app that has good features and works really well.
     
  11. xkwizit

    xkwizit Member

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    For those that maybe interested, we stayed at the Santa Ynez Valley Marriott in Buellton. It served as a good central location - about 30min from Santa Barbara and about the same from Pismo Beach area. Nice wineries within reach and 5min from the Little Denmark aka Solvang. And though we didn't get to see a rocket launch, the Vandenburg AFB @Lompoc is 10min away too. I believe a Falcon 9 launch is coming up early Jan 2017.

    And they have a 8 stall supercharger on site at the hotel. So very convenient.
     
  12. aesculus

    aesculus Still Trying to Figure This All Out

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    No worries and no damage at all.

    It will get released when and if it's ready by my standards but I appreciate your feedback. Getting closer but still a few major hurdles to overcome.

    It's kind of like Tesla's in general. Good right now for people who want to engage in their planning and have the ability to tweak things and get an overwhelming myriad of options with high accuracy. Not good for those that just want to plan a long distance trip in the shortest possible time without thinking. :)
     
  13. aesculus

    aesculus Still Trying to Figure This All Out

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    You had me at supercharger.:D
     
  14. akira3d

    akira3d Member

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    #114 akira3d, Jan 4, 2017
    Last edited: Jan 4, 2017
    I just completed my first road trip between L.A. and the Bay Area last week..and stopped at the Buellton Supercharger on my way home on Friday night. I was surprised to see signs over half of the spots stating that they are exclusive to Teslas except after 8pm (I arrived after 8pm and didn't see non-Teslas parked there, but would have been miffed if that had been the case and none of the Supercharger spaces were available).

    I have been meaning to compile my own thoughts about the Supercharger experience since I didn't plan well for contingencies (like heavy holiday traffic and unexpected routing suggestions that added range anxiety). Keep in mind that this was my first time ever using a Supercharger or driving anywhere near the range limits of my Model X.

    On my way north on the day after Christmas (exceptionally bad travel day on I5), I stopped at Buttonwillow Supercharger (planned meal stop), Harris Ranch (unplanned, but my estimated battery to Gilroy Supercharger had dropped to 0% while I was in traffic...probably should have waited 20 minutes longer to charge fully in Buttonwillow because I had to wait 10+ minutes for a space to become available), and Gustine (originally thought about stopping at Pea Soup Anderson's ahead of the trip, but decided against since it seemed a little out of the way, but we reached it late enough that we needed a dinner break...and left just as the X was pretty much fully charged).

    [​IMG]
    [​IMG]
    [​IMG]

    I was less prepared on the way south, making an unplanned stop at Tesla HQ (very briefly...really just wanted to get a photo of my Model X there and I ended up asking a security guard if I could use their restroom, so of course I plugged in). Since we stopped to visit friends in Scotts Valley for brunch, we continued down the coast toward Monterey and stopped in Seaside (had to wait 15+ minutes for a space to become available...and then had to wait quite a bit to build up enough of a charge to get us all the way to Buellton). I debated between taking Highway 1 or cutting east back to the 101...ended up on 101 and stopping in Atascadero (because reaching Buellton started to look iffy...stopped long enough for coffee) AND Buellton (for dinner).

    [​IMG]

    Full charges register as 260 miles on my X 90D...but I seem to be getting far less than that (got a lot of warnings about driving under 65 mph if I want to reach my destination which seems like a challenge when the posted speed limit is 65 or 70mph). I get that estimates are just that and don't necessarily factor a heavy foot, inclines and declines, traffic...but I definitely get anxious when route suggestions include unfamiliar roads that may have been of the twisty mountain variety when the nav suggests less than 10% of my charge will be remaining by the time I reach the next Supercharger. And, while it is nice that the nav map now shows Supercharger amenities in the form of icons, wouldn't it be nice if they were a link to the Tesla webpage? We were constantly looking things up on our phone to figure out what restaurants were around the Superchargers (and if they would be open by our ETA).

    Based on my experience, I would plan ahead for two meal stops near Superchargers to fully charge and at least one Supercharger for a coffee break when going between L.A. and the Bay Area. If Tesla adds a couple more along I5, 101, or Highway 1 (would be nice if there was one on Highway 1 somewhere between Monterey and Buellton), I would consider stopping more frequently and for not as long.

    As I encountered fully occupied Superchargers in both directions and anticipate this situation growing worse as more Teslas hit the road, I would LOVE to see a formal queuing feature added either to the mobile app or to the car itself. Right now there's no obvious way to indicate to others that you're waiting for a stall...or when another might become available.
     
    • Like x 4
  15. aesculus

    aesculus Still Trying to Figure This All Out

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    During the winter I just plan on stopping every 150 miles or so and never charge higher than the next charger + 15%. It takes much more time to squeeze power above 80% than just stopping and charging sooner.
     
  16. Beantown Trio

    Beantown Trio Member

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    CO
    Hello TMC Members --

    Has anyone done the Denver, CO to Durango, CO trip? If so do you have a preferred route and tips on places to charge along the way. Based on my research there are 3 ways to go.

    1. Take I-70 West and use the supercharges along the way and then head south on HWY 550 and use a destination charger
    2. Take I-25 South to shortly pass Colorado Springs (use supercharge here) then go West on HWY 50 and the South on HWY 285
    3. Take the most direct route on HWY 285 South and rely on destination charging.

    Looking to take the trip in February which is still winter here in Colorado. I will be driving a Model X 75 D with 20 inch rims. I also have the High Amperage Charger Upgrade option. I tend to keep the interior btw 70-72 in the winter. Max weight will be ~300 lbs of gear.

    I appreciate any help I can get on this.
     
  17. aesculus

    aesculus Still Trying to Figure This All Out

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    Using a planning app it looks like the fastest route is via I70. Even then, you had better be careful from Grand Junction to Durango on 550. I would have a RV park picked out near Ouray or Silverton, just in case.

    The problems with the other routes is a DC fast charger. Ideally if you could find one in Del Norte or Monte Vista or even Alamosa then going down 285 after charging up at Silverthorne would be the way to go. But anything less than a DC fast charger is going to eat up a lot of time (~ 3 hours)
     
  18. K-MTG

    K-MTG Sunshade Captain of TMC

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    Any updates on the app for the public? I could use it for my trip to SF?
     
  19. aesculus

    aesculus Still Trying to Figure This All Out

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    Whoops. Sorry. I forgot you. I just sent you a PM so you can be added to the beta.
     
  20. Beantown Trio

    Beantown Trio Member

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    Thank you for the advice. I am going to just enjoy the adventure and the views regardless of which way I decide. It may be one of those calls I make the day off.
     

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