Next trip...tomorrow (er, today)

[kendallpb]

I'm not sure I need to actually max range charge to get to Boston. Definitely not the first leg (99 miles to Delaware Supercharger).

It's about 200 to the next charger--is the recommendation to max charge? I could stop off for a bit of HPWC juice at the Paramus, NJ store instead...or just wing it. Or just see how things are going when I get close to Paramus--figure how good things are going and decide then. Is that the best plan, actually?

My final leg appears about 160 miles to my friends' house, just north of Boston, but actually I think I'll stop off at the Natick store to HPWC charge, so that I have some "about town" energy to use. Then charge there again on the way, out, I guess....

 

[CapitalistOppressor]

I would. You never know when the Zombie Apocalypse will happen, and the SuperChargers aren't off the grid yet

 

[cinergi]

It "can't hurt" ... a range charge or two has no determinable impact especially if you drive the car when it's done charging. I've range charged probably a dozen times now since I got the car 8 months ago (10,500 miles) and my range numbers are aligning with everyone else's ...
You probably don't need to, but it's good to have for all the what-if's ...

 

[Rodolfo Paiz]

For a 200-mile leg, I'd definitely range-charge... no need to even think about it. A 230-mile leg in flatlands (Miami to Orlando) required cruise control at 62mph so I could arrive with a 20-mile reserve. For the 200-mile trip, I'd want both the ability to drive faster and a larger reserve.

 

[EdA]

I agree with Cinergi, you never know what traffic you're going to hit.
At the Natick store tonight is an event so the charger may be busy.

 

[kendallpb]

Great. Thanks, Teslites! I will max. BTW using supercharger in DE now. At 180 rated miles, it claims charging at 214 miles/hour with 386 volts at 128 amps. I don't know if that's good or bad, and I know it slows as my battery gets "fuller"...? Anyway, if it keeps up i think it will be 30 minutes (given the slowdown as it goes up). Maybe. Started at 12:47 or so--will try to remember to record when it finishes and what the max charge is. My first one, a few weeks ago, was like 257 I think. ;-/

 

[cinergi]

Great. Thanks, Teslites! I will max. BTW using supercharger in DE now. At 180 rated miles, it claims charging at 214 miles/hour with 386 volts at 128 amps. I don't know if that's good or bad, and I know it slows as my battery gets "fuller"...? Anyway, if it keeps up i think it will be 30 minutes (given the slowdown as it goes up). Maybe. Started at 12:47 or so--will try to remember to record when it finishes and what the max charge is. My first one, a few weeks ago, was like 257 I think. ;-/

Yeah it'll REALLY slow down as it gets above 90%. Check out this post which should give you an idea of normal: Typical Supercharging rate? - Page 6

 

[kendallpb]

Yeah it'll REALLY slow down as it gets above 90%. Check out this post which should give you an idea of normal: Typical Supercharging rate? - Page 6

Thanks, I will check it out, it's already at 82 amps and 167 miles/hr. volts up to 401 though. rated range is up to 235. Whee! I love my car and the superchargers.

- - - Updated - - -

Yeah it'll REALLY slow down as it gets above 90%. Check out this post which should give you an idea of normal: Typical Supercharging rate? - Page 6

Great chart! Up to 253 rated, charging 48amps at 404volts, for 149/hour. I think we won't wait the whole time...really not worth the last little bit, methinks, especially since I expect to only get a few more miles and as it is I have a 25% buffer.

No one else supercharging here (unless someone pulled up very recently...I looked out 20 minutes ago).

Thanks again, folks!

 

[kendallpb]

All went well, except horrific traffic in Connecticut, north of NYC. (Yeah, I should've gotten up earlier so we could leave earlier...though maybe it still would've been bad.) Anyway, just remembered I wanted to post a final note--OMG love the Superchargers!

Thanks again for the advice and Cinergi, for the link to that graph--quite accurate. Also I noticed when I stopped at 90%, wow, quite a time savings...didn't even realize it was done--expected it to take longer than it did.

Anyway, I'm parked and plugged into a 110v outlet in my friends' garage, north of Boston. ;-) 3 miles/hour should get me a 90% charge before we leave Monday. I may take them for a spin, though, but if need be, we'll drop by the Natick store on the way out of town. The hilly I-90 stuff took more range than I expected, and I didn't drive as slowly as I could've. ;-) We didn't stop by the store on the way up, though--no need. Shouldn't need it on the way out, either...and not worth stopping if not needed since the supercharger is so much faster than the HPWC!

 

[kendallpb]

Final P.S. - charging at my friends' house worked better than I expected with 3 miles/hour (I'd expected 2). Also, we went into Boston one day and after parking in a garage under the park, I went back after breakfast and found a ChargePoint set of chargers in the structure, so I moved the car and charged. Just to be sure the car was ready for the trip home. ;-) The first leg went fine, but we hit horrific barely-moving traffic on the CBE (yay, NYC rush hour) after that, which was kinda draining on the battery and my patience. But we still made it to the Delaware Supercharger with 30 miles to spare (just turning yellow!). A quick charge and a bite before going home--the car was ready before us (we only needed 100 miles plus a healthy buffer; we left with something like 170-180 rated miles).

All's well that ends well, despite horrible traffic and some nasty weather coming home.

 

[EdA]

Final P.S. - charging at my friends' house worked better than I expected with 3 miles/hour (I'd expected 2). Also, we went into Boston one day and after parking in a garage under the park, I went back after breakfast and found a ChargePoint set of chargers in the structure, so I moved the car and charged. Just to be sure the car was ready for the trip home. ;-) The first leg went fine, but we hit horrific barely-moving traffic on the CBE (yay, NYC rush hour) after that, which was kinda draining on the battery and my patience. But we still made it to the Delaware Supercharger with 30 miles to spare (just turning yellow!). A quick charge and a bite before going home--the car was ready before us (we only needed 100 miles plus a healthy buffer; we left with something like 170-180 rated miles).

All's well that ends well, despite horrible traffic and some nasty weather coming home.

NEVER EVER EVER take the CBE.
From Milford, get onto the Merritt Pkwy (bonus: cars only) to the Hutchinson, to the Cross County to the Henry Hudson (extra toll but well worth the lack of delays on a long trip) directly to the GWB...

There are other options depending on traffic/weather (Hutchinson is horrible and floods in the rain, etc.) including taking the Tappan Zee.

"Nobody" takes the CBE it is too crowded...

 

[brianman]

NEVER EVER EVER take the CBE.
...
"Nobody" takes the CBE it is too crowded...

If nobody takes the CBE, why is it so crowded?

 

[dflye]

If nobody takes the CBE, why is it so crowded?

All of the nobodies who aren't somebodies!

 

[EdA]

If nobody takes the CBE, why is it so crowded?

It was a play on an old quote: Nobody goes there anymore. It's too crowded. - Yogi Berra at BrainyQuote

CBE is an East-West Expressway which is extremely heavily traveled.
It is always the bottleneck. (Almost). If you're going to Long Island or Queens it is pretty much your only choice.

 

[JohnQ]

It's also the only commercial traffic option.

Agree with everything that Ed said; I find taking the Tappan Zee to Garden State Parkway is a good option when heading south. Probably a wash in time (certainly farther) but more relaxing.

 

[kendallpb]

NEVER EVER EVER take the CBE.
From Milford, get onto the Merritt Pkwy (bonus: cars only) to the Hutchinson, to the Cross County to the Henry Hudson (extra toll but well worth the lack of delays on a long trip) directly to the GWB...

There are other options depending on traffic/weather (Hutchinson is horrible and floods in the rain, etc.) including taking the Tappan Zee.

"Nobody" takes the CBE it is too crowded...

I follow my GPS master, wherever he sends me. I don't know NYC at all. I'll bookmark this for future reference, though, thanks. I think we'll try better to schedule when we pass through NYC, next time, also. ;-)

- - - Updated - - -

It's also the only commercial traffic option.

Agree with everything that Ed said; I find taking the Tappan Zee to Garden State Parkway is a good option when heading south. Probably a wash in time (certainly farther) but more relaxing.

We need an option to tap a particular direction on the GPS list o' directions and select "find alternate route from here" or "bypass this road" or something. For us slaves to the GPS (the point of the GPS is after for getting from point A to B when you don't know the route--that's me).