Newbie, and still learning

[Woody5575]

To qualify myself, I’ve had my M3LR for 3 months now. Although I have “planned” several trips, I have made no trips outside of the local area. I am retired, and honestly don’t drive all that much. My drives are typically shorter distance, primarily on surface streets, and I’ve never had to charge anywhere but at home on a new 50 amp circuiting a Mobile Charger. We originally planned to use our other car for longer rides outside of our comfort zone, so I never even thought about the intricacies of battery usage, charging stats, or route planning. It turns out that that I need to reconsider that decision because I enjoy driving the Tesla much more than I expected.

What I think I’ve learned after trying to understand range, battery use, and charging rates is that there are a ton of variables in every trip (speed, weather, temperature, terrain, etc), and not all planners account for these variables on their own. This puts some of the planning in my court, which is OK with me if I can figure out how to use all of the stats that are available, and how each of these are impacted by the variables I mentioned above. I’m not yet comfortable that I understand these stats and variables, let alone how to apply them. As a result, I have almost zero confidence to start an extended trip. The definition of range anxiety, right?

Please understand that I’m not complaining about the inconvenience of driving an electric car! I expected a steep learning curve, and I haven't been disappointed. I just didn’t understand how hard it was going to be to learn this stuff. I’m trying to alleviate my range anxiety with knowledge, but I can’t seem to find out how/where to get a good feel for this. I've been in Tech Support for a very long time and I'm not afraid to learn new things as long as I can find the information. At. this point, even a round trip to my favorite restaurant in the mountains 90 miles away is a concern due to the huge elevation change (plus 5000 on the way up, and again on the way down), potentially cold weather, and higher speeds. Which reminds me! Does the native route planner account for 2 factors in the plan? I think ABRP does, but it’s not clear to me how or if the 2 apps can work together

Am I overthinking the whole thing?

 

[Tam]

To qualify myself, I’ve had my M3LR for 3 months now. Although I have “planned” several trips, I have made no trips outside of the local area. I am retired, and honestly don’t drive all that much. My drives are typically shorter distance, primarily on surface streets, and I’ve never had to charge anywhere but at home on a new 50 amp circuiting a Mobile Charger. We originally planned to use our other car for longer rides outside of our comfort zone, so I never even thought about the intricacies of battery usage, charging stats, or route planning. It turns out that that I need to reconsider that decision because I enjoy driving the Tesla much more than I expected.

What I think I’ve learned after trying to understand range, battery use, and charging rates is that there are a ton of variables in every trip (speed, weather, temperature, terrain, etc), and not all planners account for these variables on their own. This puts some of the planning in my court, which is OK with me if I can figure out how to use all of the stats that are available, and how each of these are impacted by the variables I mentioned above. I’m not yet comfortable that I understand these stats and variables, let alone how to apply them. As a result, I have almost zero confidence to start an extended trip. The definition of range anxiety, right?

Please understand that I’m not complaining about the inconvenience of driving an electric car! I expected a steep learning curve, and I haven't been disappointed. I just didn’t understand how hard it was going to be to learn this stuff. I’m trying to alleviate my range anxiety with knowledge, but I can’t seem to find out how/where to get a good feel for this. I've been in Tech Support for a very long time and I'm not afraid to learn new things as long as I can find the information. At. this point, even a round trip to my favorite restaurant in the mountains 90 miles away is a concern due to the huge elevation change (plus 5000 on the way up, and again on the way down), potentially cold weather, and higher speeds. Which reminds me! Does the native route planner account for 2 factors in the plan? I think ABRP does, but it’s not clear to me how or if the 2 apps can work together

Am I overthinking the whole thing?

For trips, don't hesitate to charge to 100%. Most likely, there's a supercharger within your range, so that's not a problem. The issue is that they might be out of your way, so it's inconvenient to drive 50 miles to a supercharger and then another 50 miles back to your hotel.

I have driven an EV since 2012 and have never been stranded. I had to look up where the slow chargers for overnight charging at that time with no problems. It's inconvenient as Las Vegas did not have a Supercharger then. But again, it's doable.

There are just so many Superchargers, so you don't have to do as much homework as I did in 2012.

My rule of thumb is 150 buffer miles before leaving. If the next station is 200 miles away, I don't leave until the battery gauge is charged to at least 350 miles in good weather.

Elevation doesn't matter. What goes up must come down. I lose energy climbing up, but I regain most of it on the way down.

The 150-mile buffer on the battery gauge might not be enough for winter snow, so you'll have to adjust to it according to your own experience.

I would suggest incrementally doing a longer and longer trip. Try 100 miles to see how much you need to charge for it. Then 200 miles, and so on.

It comes from experience, so safely drive a familiar 100-mile destination first and see.

 

[Soul Surfer]

Yup. It really is a lot simpler than it seems. You've pretty much outlined everything. Just enjoy the ride

 

[marmaladedad]

I would say you are overthinking it. I believe you just need to experience traveling in your 3. That would be the best way to overcome your anxieties. Plan a trip to somewhere that passes by or ends at a Tesla Supercharger (or even a destination / level 2 charger). Preferably with the conditions you will come across. Hopefully you are in an area with many charging options during your road trips.

From my experience, the Tesla navigation is fairly accurate - typically within two percentage points.

 

[DeltaOne]

What I think I’ve learned after trying to understand range, battery use, and charging rates is that there are a ton of variables in every trip (speed, weather, temperature, terrain, etc), and not all planners account for these variables on their own. This puts some of the planning in my court, which is OK with me if I can figure out how to use all of the stats that are available, and how each of these are impacted by the variables I mentioned above.

Have you tried using the Energy screen when using the navigation system on a trip?

You know that the navigation system estimates what the battery level will be when you arrive at your destination. The Energy screen gives real-time updates as you drive along the route. I find that it gives me piece of mind knowing that I can slow down or look for a place to charge if the initial estimate turns out to have been too optimistic.

I'm retired too, and haven't taken too many trips outside of my immediate area. The times I have, the initial estimate and real-time updates have been very accurate. No surprises.

 

[Eric33432]

I'm fairly new too. I have taken about 5 road trips since 6/30/22, and loved every one of them.

One thing I have learned, is if you are going to a destination in the boondocks, be sure to charge at the last charging stop before your destination so you will be able to arrive at a SuC *after* you got to your destination. Think about it. You do not only need enough to *reach* your destination, but to *leave* your destination.

 

[KenBlub]

My wife and I like to travel to out of the way small towns. I bought a CCS1 adapter from Tesla for $175. That opens up a lot of different charging options. You can check Plugshare to see what other non-Tesla options are available. Then you can download the apps you might need like EVGO or ChargePoint etc. They probably won’t provide the charging speed as a Tesla SuC but you probably won’t have to drive 40-50 miles out of your way either.

Last trip a 50kw ChargePoint charger located at a Hyundai dealership really made it a simple trip for us. College campuses often have chargers a CCS1 adapter can be used with.

 

[Tronguy]

Agree with all of the above, but I'm going to make it super duper easy for you:

Put your destination into the NAV. Stop at Superchargers when it tells you to, for roughly the time they tell you to. You'll get to your destination sans problems.

There's a few minor snivveys:

• Under the category of a Plague Of Riches, the NAV will have you stop at places where, perhaps, there's no good eateries. If it's a really long trip, maybe no good places to stay. Or, if you do this a lot, have you stop at places where it's the fifteenth durn time you've stopped there and you can't stand the food. Or maybe the bathroom. In the cases of any of the above, when you're on the road and moving, hit the main NAV screen, then the "route" button, top right corner, so you get the entire route. Then, hit the Lightning Bolt symbol. All the Superchargers you're about to pass by will appear. Tapping any of them will tell you how full they are, how much they cost, if there's chow nearby, and any hotel information you might like. This works best if there's a navigator in the right seat who can decide what one likes or doesn't like. An eyeball at the range estimate on the car (top center left) will tell you if the SC you're considering is worthwhile or not.
• If you do stop at an SC, the general rule is that you've got 20-30 minutes before Tesla gets picky about You Parking There. So, using the app to set the charge limit higher so you can munch in peace is perfectly legit; unless the SC is really packed, in which case Tesla is going to limit your charging to 80%. In which case you'll have to get up, mid meal, move the car, then come back to finish your meal. It's not really a problem getting a higher charge.
• Why isn't the recommended charging higher than 80% (typically)? Because Tesla is attempting to minimize your travel time. Maximum charge rate is when the battery is down around 5%-10%, and decays as the car charges up. So, at a 250 kW charger you might get a 250 kw charge rate right off (150 kW at a 150 kW charger), but it'll be down to 60 kW at 80% charge with either of them. The last 20% or so to 100% takes longer than 5% to 80%, so they'd rather have you stop more often and charge faster then stay long and watch paint dry.
• If you're on a multi-day trip and stopping overnight, it's somewhat cheaper, usually, to stop at a hotel that has a Level 2 charger. Most of them cost less per kW-hr than a Supercharger, but what do you care if it takes 5 hours to do the job and you're sleeping? If you do that, you might investigate the Scheduled Departure stuff. But don't go overboard: It's not that much cheaper, so just stick to SC's until you get used to it all.
• The NAV tends to get one to one's final destination with 10%-25% charge left. That's fine, I suppose. My usual bit is to wait until I'm close to my destination, find a Supercharger near by, then charge up so that one has roughly 80% when one is in town. Minor bopping around with that charge level will last a day or three before you need to find another charger somewhere.
• Speaking of which: If you're hanging around somewhere and the car's beginning to get low on gas (or charge), then the Plugshare app will point out the local L2 chargers. Said chargers tend to be all over, some are free, and very handy if one is going shopping somewhere and can leave the car for a few hours plugged in. Make a minor habit of that and you'll never run low, but don't fash yourself on the topic.

Really, it's like running around with a gas car. Anybody sane tends to keep a rough eye on the gas gauge, and that's your job. It wasn't a big deal with a gas car; it's not a big deal with the BEV, especially these days when there's J1772's all over for the local driving and SC's for the long distance.

 

[father_of_6]

I believe you're in for a great experience. Just press right scroll wheel button and say "navigate to Disney World" and start driving. You really can trust the navigation.

The only caveat is that it won't know or care if you have charging at your destination - so it'll happily leave you at your destination with less than 10%.

 

[Woody5575]

When using ABRP, make sure to set your degradation and reference consumption @ 65 mph properly. I have a Model 3 RWD and ABRP defaulted to 5% degradation and 230 Wh/mi @ 65 mph, but I got much more accurate info once I changed to my actual measured values of 1% degradation and 210 Wh/mi @ 65 mph.

I don’t understand why native nav has so little flexibility. I get this! ABRP seems better in this regard, but they don’t return the same information often. Plus, I don’t really want to use my phone AND navigation. I like using ABRP to compare routing and range, but how do I determine degradation and consumption @65?

1) For trips, don't hesitate to charge to 100%. Most likely, there's a supercharger within your range, so that's not a problem. The issue is that they might be out of your way, so it's inconvenient to drive 50 miles to a supercharger and then another 50 miles back to your hotel.

2) My rule of thumb is 150 buffer miles before leaving. If the next station is 200 miles away, I don't leave until the battery gauge is charged to at least 350 miles in good weather.

3) Elevation doesn't matter. What goes up must come down. I lose energy climbing up, but I regain most of it on the way down.

The 150-mile buffer on the battery gauge might not be enough for winter snow, so you'll have to adjust to it according to your own experience.

4) I would suggest incrementally doing a longer and longer trip. Try 100 miles to see how much you need to charge for it. Then 200 miles, and so on.

5) It comes from experience, so safely drive a familiar 100-mile destination first and see.

1) This was my plan. How do small town motels feel about running an extension cord to my mobile charger? Is it rude to ask?

2) I LIKE THIS! I’m embarrassed that I hadn’t thought about it!

3) I wondered about that. We also have a hybrid, and I’ve noticed the same thing. I was wondering if the aggressive regen changed that dynamic. It makes sense that it wouldn’t, but I didn’t know if the charge rate would really off set it.

4/5) Yep. I believe I’ll spend some time in the mountains this weekend.

Yup. It really is a lot simpler than it seems. You've pretty much outlined everything. Just enjoy the ride

I figured this would end up being the case.

Have you tried using the Energy screen when using the navigation system on a trip?

You know that the navigation system estimates what the battery level will be when you arrive at your destination. The Energy screen gives real-time updates as you drive along the route. I find that it gives me piece of mind knowing that I can slow down or look for a place to charge if the initial estimate turns out to have been too optimistic.

I'm retired too, and haven't taken too many trips outside of my immediate area. The times I have, the initial estimate and real-time updates have been very accurate. No surprises.

I haven’t tried. I’ve looked at it, but don’t yet understand why it’s telling me. I’ll start paying much closer attention so I can figure it out.

My wife and I like to travel to out of the way small towns. I bought a CCS1 adapter from Tesla for $175. That opens up a lot of different charging options. You can check Plugshare to see what other non-Tesla options are available. Then you can download the apps you might need like EVGO or ChargePoint etc. They probably won’t provide the charging speed as a Tesla SuC but you probably won’t have to drive 40-50 miles out of your way either.

Last trip a 50kw ChargePoint charger located at a Hyundai dealership really made it a simple trip for us. College campuses often have chargers a CCS1 adapter can be used with.

We spend a lot of time just driving in the mountains. I was under the impression that most of the non Superchargers were really slow. Another reason to just try different things. I’m interested in the Hyundai dealer! You just pull in and ask if you can charge?

Agree with all of the above, but I'm going to make it super duper easy for you:

Put your destination into the NAV. Stop at Superchargers when it tells you to, for roughly the time they tell you to. You'll get to your destination sans problems.

There's a few minor snivveys:

• Under the category of a Plague Of Riches, the NAV will have you stop at places where, perhaps, there's no good eateries. If it's a really long trip, maybe no good places to stay. Or, if you do this a lot, have you stop at places where it's the fifteenth durn time you've stopped there and you can't stand the food. Or maybe the bathroom. In the cases of any of the above, when you're on the road and moving, hit the main NAV screen, then the "route" button, top right corner, so you get the entire route. Then, hit the Lightning Bolt symbol. All the Superchargers you're about to pass by will appear. Tapping any of them will tell you how full they are, how much they cost, if there's chow nearby, and any hotel information you might like. This works best if there's a navigator in the right seat who can decide what one likes or doesn't like. An eyeball at the range estimate on the car (top center left) will tell you if the SC you're considering is worthwhile or not.
• If you do stop at an SC, the general rule is that you've got 20-30 minutes before Tesla gets picky about You Parking There. So, using the app to set the charge limit higher so you can munch in peace is perfectly legit; unless the SC is really packed, in which case Tesla is going to limit your charging to 80%. In which case you'll have to get up, mid meal, move the car, then come back to finish your meal. It's not really a problem getting a higher charge.
• Why isn't the recommended charging higher than 80% (typically)? Because Tesla is attempting to minimize your travel time. Maximum charge rate is when the battery is down around 5%-10%, and decays as the car charges up. So, at a 250 kW charger you might get a 250 kw charge rate right off (150 kW at a 150 kW charger), but it'll be down to 60 kW at 80% charge with either of them. The last 20% or so to 100% takes longer than 5% to 80%, so they'd rather have you stop more often and charge faster then stay long and watch paint dry.
• If you're on a multi-day trip and stopping overnight, it's somewhat cheaper, usually, to stop at a hotel that has a Level 2 charger. Most of them cost less per kW-hr than a Supercharger, but what do you care if it takes 5 hours to do the job and you're sleeping? If you do that, you might investigate the Scheduled Departure stuff. But don't go overboard: It's not that much cheaper, so just stick to SC's until you get used to it all.
• The NAV tends to get one to one's final destination with 10%-25% charge left. That's fine, I suppose. My usual bit is to wait until I'm close to my destination, find a Supercharger near by, then charge up so that one has roughly 80% when one is in town. Minor bopping around with that charge level will last a day or three before you need to find another charger somewhere.
• Speaking of which: If you're hanging around somewhere and the car's beginning to get low on gas (or charge), then the Plugshare app will point out the local L2 chargers. Said chargers tend to be all over, some are free, and very handy if one is going shopping somewhere and can leave the car for a few hours plugged in. Make a minor habit of that and you'll never run low, but don't fash yourself on the topic.

Really, it's like running around with a gas car. Anybody sane tends to keep a rough eye on the gas gauge, and that's your job. It wasn't a big deal with a gas car; it's not a big deal with the BEV, especially these days when there's J1772's all over for the local driving and SC's for the long distance.

Snivveys! What an awesome word! I’m gonna steal it.

My wife is less than enamored with the idea of sitting in the car during charging stops when we don’t know anything about where we are. Knowing about the emenities would help, but overcoming this completely will simply take time.

I also like the idea of knowing where all of the chargers are, so I can make an unplanned stop if I feel like I need to.

Using hotels that have chargers makes sense. Reviews of chargers at a big hotel in the phoenix area, people complained that they were almost unusable because of people parking in them overnight. Arriving with 10% charge is intimidating to me! It feels like driving a gasoline car until the gauge actually hits empty

I did download the PlugShare app, and it made me a lot more comfortable. However, pulling into a Tesla charge station feels a lot more comfortable than a level 1 or 2 charger. I think I’ll wait on those until I get a better handle on the whole program.


Thank you to everyone that replied! I had a pretty good idea I was a lot more worried than I would need to be. After a few trips, I’m sure I’ll end up embarrassed that I was such a wimp about this.

By the way. I’ve been on MANY car forums over the years. It always bothers me when someone asks a question that some think is redundant or silly, and they start giving them a hard time with smart a$$ remarks and sarcasm. Your responses to what must seem like silly questions or irrational fears to experienced EV users are what a forum like this SHOULD be about. Understanding and helpful.

Thank you, again!

 

[RSpanner]

To qualify myself, I’ve had my M3LR for 3 months now. Although I have “planned” several trips, I have made no trips outside of the local area. I am retired, and honestly don’t drive all that much. My drives are typically shorter distance, primarily on surface streets, and I’ve never had to charge anywhere but at home on a new 50 amp circuiting a Mobile Charger. We originally planned to use our other car for longer rides outside of our comfort zone, so I never even thought about the intricacies of battery usage, charging stats, or route planning. It turns out that that I need to reconsider that decision because I enjoy driving the Tesla much more than I expected.

What I think I’ve learned after trying to understand range, battery use, and charging rates is that there are a ton of variables in every trip (speed, weather, temperature, terrain, etc), and not all planners account for these variables on their own. This puts some of the planning in my court, which is OK with me if I can figure out how to use all of the stats that are available, and how each of these are impacted by the variables I mentioned above. I’m not yet comfortable that I understand these stats and variables, let alone how to apply them. As a result, I have almost zero confidence to start an extended trip. The definition of range anxiety, right?

Please understand that I’m not complaining about the inconvenience of driving an electric car! I expected a steep learning curve, and I haven't been disappointed. I just didn’t understand how hard it was going to be to learn this stuff. I’m trying to alleviate my range anxiety with knowledge, but I can’t seem to find out how/where to get a good feel for this. I've been in Tech Support for a very long time and I'm not afraid to learn new things as long as I can find the information. At. this point, even a round trip to my favorite restaurant in the mountains 90 miles away is a concern due to the huge elevation change (plus 5000 on the way up, and again on the way down), potentially cold weather, and higher speeds. Which reminds me! Does the native route planner account for 2 factors in the plan? I think ABRP does, but it’s not clear to me how or if the 2 apps can work together

Am I overthinking the whole thing?

You said a Mobile charger? So you do not have a level 2 charger? Have you thought about the Tesla Level 2 charger? I know a 50 amp circuitt will not give you the full charging capabilities of the Tesla charger, but it will be much more than the Mobile one. A good place to start. Also that trip to the restaurant 90 miles away..so 180 miles, but remember, when you drive back home, and it sounds like it is down hill, you will get a lot of regen. A full charge should get you there and back..at least with the info you provided.

 

[Woody5575]

You said a Mobile charger? So you do not have a level 2 charger? Have you thought about the Tesla Level 2 charger? I know a 50 amp circuitt will not give you the full charging capabilities of the Tesla charger, but it will be much more than the Mobile one. A good place to start. Also that trip to the restaurant 90 miles away..so 180 miles, but remember, when you drive back home, and it sounds like it is down hill, you will get a lot of regen. A full charge should get you there and back..at least with the info you provided.

The mobile charger I bought with the car has an adapter for a standard wall plug for 10-12 amp charging. It would probably work OK for me, but I put in a 50 amp circuit for charging that uses the 14-50 adapter that also came with the charger. I was told that basically made it a level 2. Wrong?

 

[Tam]

1) This was my plan. How do small town motels feel about running an extension cord to my mobile charger? Is it rude to ask?

It is about time to ask hotels to support EVs.

Extension cord is a public hazard so don't be surprised if your request is denied. People can trip and fall. It's an obstacle for wheelchairs. A fire hazard if the cable is not thick enough in gauge...

If you have money, you can offer to buy a Tesla Universal Wall Connector to see if they bite.

That's how it started in Harris Ranch between San Francisco and Los Angeles. A Tesla Roadster owner, Earl Cox, spent $2,000 to donate a Wall Connector to that ranch in 2010.

Now, 14 years later, that place has 98 Superchargers.

https://www.fastcompany.com/1561593/earl-coxs-tesla-charging-station-makes-electric-roadtrip-la-sf-reality

 

[Tam]

3) I wondered about that. We also have a hybrid, and I’ve noticed the same thing. I was wondering if the aggressive regen changed that dynamic. It makes sense that it wouldn’t, but I didn’t know if the charge rate would really off set it.

Aggressive or strong regen captures more energy back.

I often drive up 4144-foot Tejon Pass between Central Valley and Los Angeles with no problem in net consumption.

If you want better mileage, drive slower going up and down hill. Instead of 70 MPH (I see people drive like 90 MPH down hill because it's just so effortless), drive 65.

 

[Tam]

I was under the impression that most of the non Superchargers SHOULD be about. Understanding and helpful.

The fastest Supercharger can do is 250kw 400V.

Legacy OEM now have 350kw 800V.

Tesla Cybertruck takes the advantage of Legacy OEM non-Tesla chargers by allowing it to charge at 800V as well.

The problem with non-Tesla fast DC chargers is they are not reliable and too few.

 

[Tam]

Using hotels that have chargers makes sense. Reviews of chargers at a big hotel in the phoenix area, people complained that they were almost unusable because of people parking in them overnight. Arriving with 10% charge is intimidating to me! It feels like driving a gasoline car until the gauge actually hits empty

EV is still in its infancy. There are not enough chargers while you can find a gas station even in a small town.

Thus, it is still as not convenient as a gasoline car for a road trip.

That said, I haven't driven gasoline car since I bought a Tesla in 2012. I've driven my Tesla in the diameter between Sacramento in the North, San Francisco in the West, Las Vegas in the East, and San Diego in the South with no problems.

I also drove from California to North Carolina with more than 5,000 miles for that round trip using Lucid EV and Electrify America (350kw, 800V) charging stations.

Electrify America chargers are unreliable but I drove almost 400 miles each stop to skip as many bad charging experience as possible.

I got to the destination for a family gathering and got back home in one piece without being stranded on the road.

 

[KenBlub]

I didn’t even need to ask. It was a public charger in the car dealership put there by ChargePoint. CCS1 is an adapter to be used for level 3 charging not level 2 I believe. Just be careful and read the Plugshare comments. Some car dealerships turn off their chargers after business hours

There are a great number of CCS1 chargers that are 50kw and faster. Some up to 250kw. The charging experience isn’t usually as seamless as Tesla but lots of cars on the road now can’t use the Tesla network.

I go to Plugshare and then go to filters. I tell it my car can use a CCS1 charger. I use filters to only show me 50kw or faster chargers and only show chargers with a Plugshare score of 7 or higher. At least that gives me an idea what I can expect in out of the way areas. For really desolate areas I tell Plugshare I can use J-1772 chargers. They are way slower but much more plentiful. Have fun

 

[Tronguy]

Snivveys! What an awesome word! I’m gonna steal it.

My wife is less than enamored with the idea of sitting in the car during charging stops when we don’t know anything about where we are. Knowing about the emenities would help, but overcoming this completely will simply take time.

I also like the idea of knowing where all of the chargers are, so I can make an unplanned stop if I feel like I need to.

Using hotels that have chargers makes sense. Reviews of chargers at a big hotel in the phoenix area, people complained that they were almost unusable because of people parking in them overnight. Arriving with 10% charge is intimidating to me! It feels like driving a gasoline car until the gauge actually hits empty

I did download the PlugShare app, and it made me a lot more comfortable. However, pulling into a Tesla charge station feels a lot more comfortable than a level 1 or 2 charger. I think I’ll wait on those until I get a better handle on the whole program.


Thank you to everyone that replied! I had a pretty good idea I was a lot more worried than I would need to be. After a few trips, I’m sure I’ll end up embarrassed that I was such a wimp about this.

By the way. I’ve been on MANY car forums over the years. It always bothers me when someone asks a question that some think is redundant or silly, and they start giving them a hard time with smart a$$ remarks and sarcasm. Your responses to what must seem like silly questions or irrational fears to experienced EV users are what a forum like this SHOULD be about. Understanding and helpful.

Thank you, again!

OK, you've got a navigator with taste! (i.e., your spouse ).
Now for the secret weapon: supercharge.info.

It's a web site and it runs super on cell phones. The main attraction is the map function, which kinda looks like this:

which looks like the US has broken out in a bad case of measles. Now, all the map applications (plugshare, EV-go, etc., etc.) look like this. The attraction of this tool is not when it's zoomed out, it's when it's zoomed in. It's based upon Open Street Map.

So, suppose you've got 80 miles of range, the NAV says you should stop in, I dunno, 60 miles, but there's several Superchargers are all roughly in range and on on your route: Maybe another in the same town where the Supercharger is located, but a few miles further away. Or another one in 20 miles, and so on. How to quickly figure out the services?

Have the Navigator haul out the cell phone (hoping you've got coverage, but that's not unusual), and zoom in, with ye fingers, one at a time on the SC's of interest. When you get close, you get this:

Ha. A Cracker Barrel and a Hilton. There's a museum there, too. The above is one SC in St. George. There's another in St. George:

That's a lot more restaurants, all within walking distance.

This is a lot more fun than breaking out the AAA guide. And, frankly, easier than messing with the NAV, which will show one the same stuff. PlugShare and the others will tell one what the amenities are, but I like the above: How Darn Close That Nice Restaurant is (because if it's a good one, then one wants to spend some time savoring the food/attracting the attention of a server) and you're going to have to move the car in 20-30 minutes .

Other things that you'll have to weigh: The SC's on the NAV screen will tell you how many stalls are free. If there's a handful of stalls open, then there's no trouble. If it's down to one stall, or there's the infamous 'clock' symbol, you'll have to wait. We have a lot of that right now in, say, NYC with all the Uber drivers going nuts trying to charge their cars at the (very few) SC's that aren't in high-priced parking lots, but this is likely not an issue in the wide-open West, especially with respect to parking.

Now, I think you mentioned skiing. All my advice has been under the rough assumption that you're banging around in civilization (such as it is in the 'States). Once you've veered off the beaten path things do not get impossible, but one has to pay attention.

First off: Somebody mentioned Energy Screens. Let's take this from the top, literally:

1. There's that mileage/percent battery full number at the top of the screen. The car gets that number by grabbing the number of kW-hr's available in the battery and multiplying it by the Official Range of the car. You got a tailwind? You driving at 90 mph? You going uphill forever? This number is the least accurate. For me running around the East Coast where 80 mph is not a lifestyle, it's roughly OK, but no winner.
2. Energy Screen, Take One: Tap the triple-dot at the bottom of the screen. One of the icons says Energy. There's three tabs: Pick the right-most one, labeled (I think) Consumption. This one averages out your actual energy consumption of the past N number of miles you've been driving. Accelerate like mad? It's in there, and it's averaged in. Run ten miles downhill with a tail wind? It's amazing how much energy regen will dump into the battery. It'll display two numbers: The "rated", which is roughly that number at the top of the screen, and the average of what you're currently doing, what with hills and all. You're expected to look at this graph and do some mental math of sorts. If you've got 80 miles to go and it says you've only got 60 miles at the rate you're going, then there's Trouble. (Highly unlikely, that last, as you'll see in a moment.) In terms of guessing how far you can get, tons better than #1, above.
3. Energy Screen, Take two: The first tab. A weird looking plot if ever there was one, but it includes all sorts of interesting factors as to what's affecting your range. How fast you're going. Weather. Outside temperature. HVAC usage. And so on. So, if you're wondering why your range is decreased and the HVAC is the cause, then maybe it's time to turn on the seat heaters and get the internal temperature set point off of 80F. More accurate than #'s 1 and 2.
4. The Car's Range Estimator. It's weird, but true: When you're got NAV active and you're on a trip, there's that little box at the bottom of the screen with your estimated arrival time and the #of battery when you get there. That last is where Tesla has truly done their magic. Going over a mountain and down the other side? It's in that %battery number. Your current driving habits? It's in that %battery number. Weather, as in headwinds/tailwinds/rain/whatever? It's in there. IT'S ALL IN THERE. One Single Blame Number. And it's as accurate as Tesla can make it. It's got all that's in #3 plus whatever NAV can predict about what you're doing and where you're going. So, Now You Know.

Now, if you are going to a ski resort in the Middle Of Nowhere, it's Not A Good Idea to be at 10% when one had to go over a major mountain to get to the ski resort; so, when you leave, you have to go back over the mountain you just went over, and that way lies nothing good.

So, in situations like this, you locate the final supercharger or whatever before you head into the wilds, and charge the car up. If said ski resort is 50 miles away, so it's a 100 mile round trip to get back, then putting 200+ miles on the car is a right good idea. You get the drill. This is the time when a large number of Level 2 chargers at said resort would be Useful.

Good luck!

 

[father_of_6]

I was told that basically made it a level 2. Wrong?

That's L2.

 

[Eric33432]

The mobile charger I bought with the car has an adapter for a standard wall plug for 10-12 amp charging. It would probably work OK for me, but I put in a 50 amp circuit for charging that uses the 14-50 adapter that also came with the charger. I was told that basically made it a level 2. Wrong?

Its L2, but max charge rate of 32 amps. Tesla Wall Connector is L2, with max charge rate of 48 amps if it is on a 60 amp circuit.