Need help. Driving my Model X 100D from Chicago to Orlando

[jelloslug]

Good luck @Barcius I am planning a drive from Dallas to Orlando in a 24 hour non-stop stretch in April using my MX60D - complete with 2 kids and 1 grandparent. Yes I am sure I have scared everyone with that statement including myself! I'm hoping the kids will sleep through the night (grandpa sure will) and then I get rest when the sun comes up. We can nap on the beach. Looking at the route it looks like a stop every 2 hours roughly. Longest stretch between chargers is 140 miles.

Please post details of your journey as I always learn something new reading about the trips others have done. Good luck on this!

One of the other large factors is speed. At least in my Model S, the difference between 65 vs 70 and 70 vs 75 in consumption is quite noticeable. On a long trip though, you may actually send less time overall if you go faster vs charging time.

 

[Galve2000]

o 100 mile leg would be 120 miles. I would add 30 miles as a buffer (because you don't want to be at 0 miles at next SC), and when my rated miles shows 150 miles, I would unplug and leave. I considered this to be my launch number.

I have a similar "launch number" and consider what you describe above as the "best use case" for me. Especially if I have a co-pilot. My car does not have Ludicrous mode, but anyone new to driving even my lowly 85D will generally "punch it" more than they should making a 50% buffer good to have.

Particularly as you get down south and the speed limits climb, it can get aggravating (particularly) for the non-ev enthusiasts in the car to watch every other car zipping by at 80 miles/hr (or more) while you are trotting along at 55 or 60 mph -- trying to conserve energy to make it to the next SC -- all b/c you squandered electrons "pinching it" earlier in the drive.

 

[thefortunes]

I'm pretty skeptical that you can do 1000 miles in a day. The most I've done is 600 and I don't think there is anyway I could do 1000 in a 24 hour period. Certainly not with my family.

-Jim

This.

When I'm on a roadtrip, my goal is to pull into a supercharger with single digits & then only charging long enough to get to my next planned stop. There are times I stay longer, but that's when I've planned a meal in or just need to stretch my legs.

I always have enough for a backup plan, should it ever be necessary. But the fastest charging is upfront, not at the end. I explain it to people as if they're filling a glass with water ... as it gets near full, you taper off and pour more slowly.

One of the other large factors is speed. At least in my Model S, the difference between 65 vs 70 and 70 vs 75 in consumption is quite noticeable. On a long trip though, you may actually send less time overall if you go faster vs charging time.

I posted this in another thread...

Single driver, 1195 miles in 22 hours. Denver to Wisconsin.

I would have to go back and check, but I seem to recall some speeds nearing 100mph (although this was rare). Typically ran 5-10mph over limit.

Had one "excessive" stop for a meal, otherwise most SuC were fairly quick bathroom/snack breaks timed to the charge I needed to get to next SuC.

I can't say this enough... PLAN YOUR TRIP. Spend 30 minutes with evtripplanner or abetterrouteplanner looking at alternatives (speed vs charging stops). What I found on my Denver to Wisconsin drive was that it was best to run about 10mph over the speed limit. Because of spacing at that time I only skipped one SuC - it may be more efficient to skip more or less depending on your route, speed, weather, bladders , etc...

Bonnie hits it spot on: Start with 100% the morning of your trip and drive until you hit the furthest supercharger you can reach. Everyone will be excited to start the trip so it won't feel like a long segment. After that, only charge enough to reach your next planned stop (plus some amount of buffer). Only you can decide how much that needs to be for your comfort - as I got more comfortable in my ability to manipulate range based on conditions I took this way down, typically arriving with <10 miles remaining.

After driving/charging for 22 hours straight (something I could never do in an ICE) I actually was still pretty refreshed due to the regular stops. It was shocking.

Edited to add: I just took a look at evtripplanner and replanned my trip. That 22 hour drive about 15 months ago would now take just 17.5 hours due to better SuC locations. WOW! THANKS TESLA!

 

[Barcius]

Mostly good info in here. I wouldn't stop with the plan of always charging to 80%, you'll waste a lot of time doing that. The idea is to charge just enough to make it to the next stop, as the lower your battery charge level the faster the charge rate.

The car's internal route planner will figure a lot of this out for you, but these web tools are really good for planning and they are quite accurate. I've created a trip plan in A Better Routeplanner configured for your Model X 100D. You can probably skip the first stop in Lafayette but the rest are likely necessary. I think it's going to involve more stops and time than you may be thinking. It says the total driving time is just under 17 hours, about 4 hours of charging time for a total trip duration of 21 hours.

Click this link and take a look. It will tell you each stop you need to make, the expected charge level at arrival and how much charge you need to leave at. For example, it says for the Atlanta stop you'll pull in to the supercharger at about 20% charge, and you'll need to charge for 18 minutes to leave at 58% charge to make it to Macon.

A Better Routeplanner

Thank you. I have been looking at the online trip planners and as long as they are accurate I should be able to reach Florida not much later than I used to in my MDX

 

[Joe F]

Thank you. I have been looking at the online trip planners and as long as they are accurate I should be able to reach Florida not much later than I used to in my MDX

While there are many good trip planners, and all will do what you need, the tips stated above are all good and if followed will make your first trip stress free.

If you are new to road trips, you may want to take a look at EV Trip Optimizer. It will take a lot of any anxiety you might have and make it go away. EVTO will take weather, elevation, road congestion and head winds into account when planning, and reanalyze everything at your planned departure time.

While it is a little more complex than the other planners due to the number of variables it takes into account, because of this there's a steeper learning curve, but concerns over everything that can affect your energy consumption and any manual buffer adding you have to consider due to external factors will be taken care of for you.

Have a great time roar tripping!

 

[kavyboy]

Here's an oldie but a goodie: The Rules of Model S Road Tripping.

 

[qadaemon]

Hello all!

I am driving for the 1st time my Model X from Chicago to Orlando (1,200 miles). Planning to stop 5 times with roughly 190 miles on average between superchargers. My question to you is:
- How long it would take to charge it back to 100% from ~30% (my estimate we will have left in all stops)
- Anyone here tried more than 1,000 miles in one day? What is your experience.

Thank you for your help.

Perhaps I caught this thread too late for your trip, but if not maybe this will help:

We travel roughly the same mileage & direction quite often (Champaign, IL->Cape Canaveral, FL going again the 22nd in fact). If you can make it in 5 stops, I'd love to hear about it because that would make a huge difference and be worth the 90->100 upgrade. We always drive straight through. It's about 2-3 hours longer than a gas car depending on temp, but we don't really notice since autopilot helps a lot. If you can charge between 15% and 80% it will go fast. That last 20%--at least in the 90--feels like it takes forever. Our average supercharger stop is 33 minutes, but that is climbing since our charging speed is dropping with age. The 100 will do much better, I'd imagine.

Here's our list of stops:
- Mount Vernon, IL
- Kuttawa, KY
- Brentwood, TN (Nashville)
- Chattanooga, TN
- Atlanta, GA
-Tifton, GA
- Lake City, FL or Ocala, FL
- Orlando, FL (Turkey Lake Service Plaza)

You'll probably get to drop Orlando, FL and pick up Champaign, IL or maybe Effingham, IL?

I'd suggest ignoring the car's route planner and charging enough to go from Atlanta to Tifton rather than stopping in Macon. If you can bypass Brentwood/Nashville somehow, that also saves some time since it is out of the way.

Lastly, if you head to the coast from Orlando and need to charge, we have a 14-50 you're welcome to use.

 

[Barcius]

Perhaps I caught this thread too late for your trip, but if not maybe this will help:

We travel roughly the same mileage & direction quite often (Champaign, IL->Cape Canaveral, FL going again the 22nd in fact). If you can make it in 5 stops, I'd love to hear about it because that would make a huge difference and be worth the 90->100 upgrade. We always drive straight through. It's about 2-3 hours longer than a gas car depending on temp, but we don't really notice since autopilot helps a lot. If you can charge between 15% and 80% it will go fast. That last 20%--at least in the 90--feels like it takes forever. Our average supercharger stop is 33 minutes, but that is climbing since our charging speed is dropping with age. The 100 will do much better, I'd imagine.

Here's our list of stops:
- Mount Vernon, IL
- Kuttawa, KY
- Brentwood, TN (Nashville)
- Chattanooga, TN
- Atlanta, GA
-Tifton, GA
- Lake City, FL or Ocala, FL
- Orlando, FL (Turkey Lake Service Plaza)

You'll probably get to drop Orlando, FL and pick up Champaign, IL or maybe Effingham, IL?

I'd suggest ignoring the car's route planner and charging enough to go from Atlanta to Tifton rather than stopping in Macon. If you can bypass Brentwood/Nashville somehow, that also saves some time since it is out of the way.

Lastly, if you head to the coast from Orlando and need to charge, we have a 14-50 you're welcome to use.

Thank you. Appreciate the help.

I will document the stops here and let you know. We will travel with the whole family + dogs and Xmas gifts so the car will be heavy. We are leaving on the 25th in the morning and temperature in Illinois will be 12F. Let's see how the car handles it.

Cheers!

 

[jelloslug]

Thank you. Appreciate the help.

I will document the stops here and let you know. We will travel with the whole family + dogs and Xmas gifts so the car will be heavy. We are leaving on the 25th in the morning and temperature in Illinois will be 12F. Let's see how the car handles it.

Cheers!

Don't forget to make sure you warm the car up while it's plugged in before you set out. That will save a few kws and be that much more comfortable.

 

[Barcius]

Don't forget to make sure you warm the car up while it's plugged in before you set out. That will save a few kws and be that much more comfortable.

Thanks. Quick question: my garage is heated do you think warming up the car would still be necessary before I leave to the trip?

 

[jelloslug]

Thanks. Quick question: my garage is heated do you think warming up the car would still be necessary before I leave to the trip?

Probably not but it would still get the heating elements up to temperature so you would have heat instantly.

 

[IT Geek]

Start with 100% the morning of your trip and drive until you hit the furthest supercharger you can reach. Everyone will be excited to start the trip so it won't feel like a long segment. After that, only charge enough to reach your next planned stop (plus some amount of buffer). Only you can decide how much that needs to be for your comfort...

I do this also. It's my preferred way of going on long trips. Sometimes you skip SC's and sometimes you hop from one to the next. Usually if I make a lunch stop and get a sit-down meal I let the car charge longer and then I can skip the next SC. Although, I like to joke that the car can hold more "juice" than I can...so I generally have to stop for a bathroom break before the car needs to charge again anyway. Normally though I'm stopping every 2 hours, for about 20 minutes. The spacing of the SC's works out well for this.

We are leaving on the 25th in the morning and temperature in Illinois will be 12F. Let's see how the car handles it.

One way you can plan to have a warm battery when you start your trip is to schedule your charging Start Time. There is no taper effect going to 100% at home. So if you want to leave home with a warm battery at 100% at 4AM then you could (for example) start charging the car at Midnight at a 60% state of charge. Then when you're ready to leave, your battery will be full and warm. Adjust the numbers based oh your starting percentage and how fast your car charges per hour. But I put in about 10% per hour at home...so those numbers are probably fairly close.

Just so you know...a warm battery will be more efficient on a long road trip. Your car won't spend battery power heating itself up so you'll effectively get more range out of it. This way your battery should also stay warm for the entire trip because it will have started out warm and driving it and charging it will keep it warm.

 

[Barcius]

I do this also. It's my preferred way of going on long trips. Sometimes you skip SC's and sometimes you hop from one to the next. Usually if I make a lunch stop and get a sit-down meal I let the car charge longer and then I can skip the next SC. Although, I like to joke that the car can hold more "juice" than I can...so I generally have to stop for a bathroom break before the car needs to charge again anyway. Normally though I'm stopping every 2 hours, for about 20 minutes. The spacing of the SC's works out well for this.



One way you can plan to have a warm battery when you start your trip is to schedule your charging Start Time. There is no taper effect going to 100% at home. So if you want to leave home with a warm battery at 100% at 4AM then you could (for example) start charging the car at Midnight at a 60% state of charge. Then when you're ready to leave, your battery will be full and warm. Adjust the numbers based oh your starting percentage and how fast your car charges per hour. But I put in about 10% per hour at home...so those numbers are probably fairly close.

Just so you know...a warm battery will be more efficient on a long road trip. Your car won't spend battery power heating itself up so you'll effectively get more range out of it. This way your battery should also stay warm for the entire trip because it will have started out warm and driving it and charging it will keep it warm.

Thanks