New to Tesla!! A little nervous...

[zracer196]

Hi All,

Have always loved these cars...Never been in one but that is nothing new to me. I have a car habit which has grown along side of my company. As we have grown over the years I have been able to purchase many different "fun" cars along the way.

I have always enjoyed searching for my favorite / best model that I could afford. I have made many long distance trips for them...Sometimes 1500 miles.

That said I have found what seems to be the perfect Tesla for me / my needs. A 2013 P85 Performance with a bit over 19K miles on it. It is not very far from me...About 500 miles. Typically I would drive (in this case I am trading my wife's car for it) up and turn around straight back home...Making for a long day if less than 1000 miles. If longer than that I stay overnight.

This car is about 500 miles away in South Carolina. I am in the Orlando area. Since I will have to charge it on the way home I am a bit nervous about "running out" of charge, etc. I have downloaded the Tesla app and have found various stations along the way. I would be

Anything I need to worry about? Crazy planning involved? The last thing I want is to be stranded, find out I do not have a special part or piece, subscription, etc. needed to charge at a Tesla Super Charging Station, etc.

I am OK with taking my time (adding time for charging on the road)...But do not want the trip to be too stressful. Maybe I am worrying too much?!? LOL!

Thanks in advance!!!

 

[Rockster]

Have you plotted your route using evtripplanner.com? It's a great tool for peace of mind.

 

[zracer196]

Thanks for the thought! I will try that. Is it safe to say that if I but this (from a non-Tesla dealer) there will be no issues with me pulling up to a Tesla Supercharger and plugging in?

Don't want to be caught out with some paperwork not being done, registering first, etc.

 

[SmartElectric]

Tesla has banned some wrecked cars from supercharging, pretty much doubt the dealer would sell you a rebuilt title without telling you, so...It's pretty easy to call Tesla up and talk to them, they would like to make sure you are a satisfied Tesla owner. Cheers!

 

[Saghost]

Thanks for the thought! I will try that. Is it safe to say that if I but this (from a non-Tesla dealer) there will be no issues with me pulling up to a Tesla Supercharger and plugging in?

Don't want to be caught out with some paperwork not being done, registering first, etc.

Also keep in mind that some earlier cars aren't Supercharging enabled to begin with - all 40 kWh cars and many 60 kWh cars don't have that capability. On the 60s, it can be enabled by Tesla for a fee. (And Tesla is willing to inspect damaged cars for a fee and decide if they are safe to enable, too.)

 

[TaoJones]

Welcome to the family. Do give Tesla a call to help ensure that the ownership transition (paperwork) goes smoothly.

Pending what's available in your area, a ChaDeMo adapter may or may not be useful. Do consider reaching out to the Tesla owners clubs in your area, both as a best practice and because there may be an owner or two with a ChaDeMo adapter already who would be willing to rent/loan you the adapter for the trip (just for peace of mind if the route is not already SC enabled).

Actually, for 500 miles, presuming you leave with a full charge, you'll just need a couple of stops along the way anyway. As noted above, evtripplanner.com and plugshare.com (tesla.plugshare.com if in the car and if they've had the LTE retrofit) are your friends, in addition to the onboard Nav/Trip Planner, presuming the tech package was enabled.

 

[shelbri]

No issue making that trip in a day. I drove from CT to Boynton Beach with a stop over in Santee, SC. Supercharging from Santee to Savana to Kingsland to Port Orange. No stop is longer than 30 min. Enjoy and congrats!

 

[David99]

Also keep in mind that some earlier cars aren't Supercharging enabled to begin with - all 40 kWh cars and many 60 kWh cars don't have that capability. On the 60s, it can be enabled by Tesla for a fee. (And Tesla is willing to inspect damaged cars for a fee and decide if they are safe to enable, too.)

Actually Tesla built in the hardware for Supercharging into every car they made, including 40s and 60s. The OP also mentioned a P85 wich is very likely to have Supercharging enabled.

As for planning the trip, once you get into the car, just type in your destination and the car will route you through Superchargers if they are available on the way. If there are no Superchargers, the app PlugShare has pretty much every charging stations in the US listed and even has a routing option.

 

[Canuck]

If your route does not include Tesla Superchargers, it's going to take a lot longer to charge at L2 chargers, especially if they are 40 amps or under, of if they are over 40 amps but your car doesn't have dual chargers. Dual chargers at 80 amps is better, Chademo is better yet (but you need to buy a $450 adapter) and Supercharging is best. Plan your route on plugshare.com for the charging stations so you can see the level of charge available, if you need an app/card for payment, etc. I'd give yourself some time and don't expect to rush to get back if there's not Superchargers on your route since it will take a lot longer to charge -- we're talking hours -- not minutes.

 

[Saghost]

Actually Tesla built in the hardware for Supercharging into every car they made, including 40s and 60s. The OP also mentioned a P85 wich is very likely to have Supercharging enabled.

As for planning the trip, once you get into the car, just type in your destination and the car will route you through Superchargers if they are available on the way. If there are no Superchargers, the app PlugShare has pretty much every charging stations in the US listed and even has a routing option.

Hardware, yes. But no 40 was ever enabled, and AFAIK Tesla has never allowed one to be since - without upgrading to a 60 first at least. The fact that the hardware is physically present is irrelevant to the person new to Tesla that might not be able to charge their car, and I didn't feel that the added complexity was helpful to the message, then or now.

 

[ItsNotAboutTheMoney]

Hardware, yes. But no 40 was ever enabled, and AFAIK Tesla has never allowed one to be since - without upgrading to a 60 first at least. The fact that the hardware is physically present is irrelevant to the person new to Tesla that might not be able to charge their car, and I didn't feel that the added complexity was helpful to the message, then or now.

And I think your messages and the whole discussion of 40s and 60s is irrelevant given that the OP is asking about a P85.

P85s have Supercharging.
There's only two reasons that it wouldn't be able to Supercharge:
- There's a charging hardware fault that needs to be fixed.
- It's a salvage car that Tesla does not allow to use the Superchargers.

Barring those if the car's in SC, the max distance from a Supercharger (without a major diversion) is less than 180 miles, so wherever it may be in SC and wherever they may be in FL, so as long as they pick it up with a well-charged battery, and are prepared to divert a bit to route through Superchargers, they'd be anxiety-free