Hi, ordered the car in the signature, it's being delivered in less than two weeks! I've been doing tons of research, but I wanted to run a specific scenario across this audience, but first a little background.
Background: We did have a Gen2 Prius, but this is our first pure-EV. We also have a 2016 Volvo XC90 R-Design, loaded out, non-plug-in version. This is our family hauler, Costco-runner, Home Depot-champion, etc. We also typically drive this car from Austin to Houston a handful of times a year as that's where my in-laws live. More on that later... For the Tesla, my wife's employer has free charging, and I'm putting a 240V-30A connection in my garage (my sub is only 50A service). Additionally, Austin's ChargePoint deal is pretty awesome, and coupled with my wife's company having free charging, I literally do not expect we'll have to charge this vehicle on our dime very often. Between both of our vehicles, we drive only 15-16K miles per year combined, and my wife's office is only ~5 miles away. So that's the back story.
Specific Scenario: My wife's family lives 169 miles door-to-door away in Houston. Factor in that the car would likely drive from my wife's office fully charged, home, and then we'd go, let's say it's 180 miles from charge to arriving in Houston. It's typical highway driving, speeds range from 65-80 mph with Texas Troopers aplenty; we typically cruise control at 4mph over. Historically, we've gotten reasonable gas mileage similar to highway estimates for all of our ICE cars. It's relatively flat, not much traffic and is a pretty ideal travel situation. We typically leave early evening on Friday and arrive around 8pm. We then depart Sunday around lunch time, let's just call it noon for averaging sakes. We don't usually drive much when we're there, but occasionally we might put 20-40 miles of city driving on a car before departing on Sunday. My in-laws only have 120V charging, probably 15A or possibly 20A service in their garage. The home was built in 2005, but regardless it's 120V. There is a 240V clothes drier in a hallway adjacent to the garage, but I'd prefer not to have to use that because my mother-in-law frequently washes clothes on the weekend and my in-laws are old and probably wouldn't be a huge fan. Additionally, not sure I can fit the cord through the door without leaving the door slightly open which is inadvisable in Texas as it's an non-insulated garage, so mostly this option should be seen as non-viable. You probably know where this is going.
Question 1: The car says it has 310 miles range, I assume that's a lofty target, what is a safe maximum for inter-city highway travel?
Question 2: Assuming 310 isn't a true maximum, let's say 280 is a safer maximum, does my math check out? If we arrive with 100 miles remaining (180 miles of driving thus far), and I immediately plug into 120V, I can expect 3-4 miles per hour of charging. With a total duration there of 40 hours, I would not be able to fully charge the battery, but I might have enough to get the 170 miles return without stopping (100 + 140 charge = 240 new range)?
Sidebar: I assume if we leave for some inner-Houston travel, it's typically to dine or shop where we could easily choose a destination that has higher-speed charging.
How would you guys play this? There are Superchargers on the way, but with a 3 year old, I'm not sure my wife will be a fan of stopping for a semi-extended period of time. More than likely we'll need to make a plan to pickup some high-speed charging in the city in addition to the 120V slow-charge. Absolute worst case, we just take the Volvo, however, getting gas has proven to be an equal hassle, I'd love to be able to do this weekend trip without the need of external charging. Maybe I can use an extension cord and 240V over one of the nights if I can get it to clear the door without much issue, but I need to check which NEMA connector they have and acquire appropriate adapters, extenders, etc.
Thoughts?
Background: We did have a Gen2 Prius, but this is our first pure-EV. We also have a 2016 Volvo XC90 R-Design, loaded out, non-plug-in version. This is our family hauler, Costco-runner, Home Depot-champion, etc. We also typically drive this car from Austin to Houston a handful of times a year as that's where my in-laws live. More on that later... For the Tesla, my wife's employer has free charging, and I'm putting a 240V-30A connection in my garage (my sub is only 50A service). Additionally, Austin's ChargePoint deal is pretty awesome, and coupled with my wife's company having free charging, I literally do not expect we'll have to charge this vehicle on our dime very often. Between both of our vehicles, we drive only 15-16K miles per year combined, and my wife's office is only ~5 miles away. So that's the back story.
Specific Scenario: My wife's family lives 169 miles door-to-door away in Houston. Factor in that the car would likely drive from my wife's office fully charged, home, and then we'd go, let's say it's 180 miles from charge to arriving in Houston. It's typical highway driving, speeds range from 65-80 mph with Texas Troopers aplenty; we typically cruise control at 4mph over. Historically, we've gotten reasonable gas mileage similar to highway estimates for all of our ICE cars. It's relatively flat, not much traffic and is a pretty ideal travel situation. We typically leave early evening on Friday and arrive around 8pm. We then depart Sunday around lunch time, let's just call it noon for averaging sakes. We don't usually drive much when we're there, but occasionally we might put 20-40 miles of city driving on a car before departing on Sunday. My in-laws only have 120V charging, probably 15A or possibly 20A service in their garage. The home was built in 2005, but regardless it's 120V. There is a 240V clothes drier in a hallway adjacent to the garage, but I'd prefer not to have to use that because my mother-in-law frequently washes clothes on the weekend and my in-laws are old and probably wouldn't be a huge fan. Additionally, not sure I can fit the cord through the door without leaving the door slightly open which is inadvisable in Texas as it's an non-insulated garage, so mostly this option should be seen as non-viable. You probably know where this is going.
Question 1: The car says it has 310 miles range, I assume that's a lofty target, what is a safe maximum for inter-city highway travel?
Question 2: Assuming 310 isn't a true maximum, let's say 280 is a safer maximum, does my math check out? If we arrive with 100 miles remaining (180 miles of driving thus far), and I immediately plug into 120V, I can expect 3-4 miles per hour of charging. With a total duration there of 40 hours, I would not be able to fully charge the battery, but I might have enough to get the 170 miles return without stopping (100 + 140 charge = 240 new range)?
Sidebar: I assume if we leave for some inner-Houston travel, it's typically to dine or shop where we could easily choose a destination that has higher-speed charging.
How would you guys play this? There are Superchargers on the way, but with a 3 year old, I'm not sure my wife will be a fan of stopping for a semi-extended period of time. More than likely we'll need to make a plan to pickup some high-speed charging in the city in addition to the 120V slow-charge. Absolute worst case, we just take the Volvo, however, getting gas has proven to be an equal hassle, I'd love to be able to do this weekend trip without the need of external charging. Maybe I can use an extension cord and 240V over one of the nights if I can get it to clear the door without much issue, but I need to check which NEMA connector they have and acquire appropriate adapters, extenders, etc.
Thoughts?
Last edited:
