North Atlanta to Destin, FL - S85

[markn455]

I have never taken a trip in my MS that was more than one supercharger away. Annually, we usually take a trip for North of Atlanta to Destin, FL. Based on trip planner estimates I have enough range to get from Ball Ground, GA to the SC in Auburn, AL, from there to the SC in Defuniak Springs, FL. To Destin and then the reverse of that back home.

I am wondering if any other MS or MX owners have made the trip Atlanta to Destin. If so, what were you experiences with range, supercharger times etc.?

Thanks,

 

[kort677]

your trip is not a big deal, just charge enough to make it from SpC to SpC.
be aware that the SpC in Defuniak is in a very desolate place, there is just about nothing there in the way of rest room, restaurants or something to do. especially in off hours.

 

[N4HHE]

You seem to be skipping SC's at Greenville and Mobile? Don't do that, doesn't save time, wastes time. Look at this chart. 50 miles is about 7.5 minutes and 150 miles is 26 minutes (lets say 27.5). To charge from 50 to 150 miles of range takes 20 minutes. To 200 miles (150 miles added) is 33 minutes. In my limited experience this chart is optimistic. Takes about 50-60 minutes to get from 40 to 230 in Louisville to make 190 miles to Nashville. If you keep the charge of an 85 between 50 and 200 I think you will minimize the charging time. That might be negated if an SC requires a 10 mile detour.

 

[ABCCBA]

lol - here is an image of DeFuniak Springs SC at night. Worst possible location for a SuC. No sense at all for its location except for politics.

your trip is not a big deal, just charge enough to make it from SpC to SpC.
be aware that the SpC in Defuniak is in a very desolate place, there is just about nothing there in the way of rest room, restaurants or something to do. especially in off hours.

 

[TexasEV]

lol - here is an image of DeFuniak Springs SC at night. Worst possible location for a SuC. No sense at all for its location except for politics.

What politics?

 

[ABCCBA]

Small Town politics. You would have to know the area.

This SuC is a good ways off the interstate in the historically old part of DeFuniak Springs. There is nothing there, except for some old houses, a couple 1900s brick buildings and the water tower. It is as dark as dark can get, with nobody around and it is literally on the side of a small road.

However, at the Interstate 10 Exit, There is Walmart, several shopping areas, motels, etc. You have to drive right passed all that another 1 1/2 miles and into a quasi residential area.

What politics?

 

[markn455]

You seem to be skipping SC's at Greenville and Mobile? Don't do that, doesn't save time, wastes time. Look at this chart. 50 miles is about 7.5 minutes and 150 miles is 26 minutes (lets say 27.5). To charge from 50 to 150 miles of range takes 20 minutes. To 200 miles (150 miles added) is 33 minutes. In my limited experience this chart is optimistic. Takes about 50-60 minutes to get from 40 to 230 in Louisville to make 190 miles to Nashville. If you keep the charge of an 85 between 50 and 200 I think you will minimize the charging time. That might be negated if an SC requires a 10 mile detour.

Not sure why I would want to go to Mobile and double back to Destin...That adds about 80 miles to the trip. What is your idea in using this route. The EV Trip planner is routing me through Auburn Alabama SpC then to the DeFuniak Springs SpC and then on to Destin. My concern is that the current evtripplanner.com route seems to be pushing the rated capacity. I was considering stopping at the Atlanta SpC to top it off and then going to Auburn.

 

[BigAirHarper]

So I used to make that trip in an ICE from Destin to buckhead. I would do Auburn SpC and Greenville SpC. The quickest way from ATL to Destin is via Hwy 55 from Georgiana exit on 65, through Andalusia, then cut south on 137/189 to Baker, FL. Trust me, I made this drive every 2 weeks for a year while my wife was in ATL. I tried the others but this is the fastest. Skip defuniak. Like others have said there is nothing there. Just get a big charge in Greenville. (Friend with P85D also uses this route to get to ATL service center, our closest sadly)

 

[markn455]

So I used to make that trip in an ICE from Destin to buckhead. I would do Auburn SpC and Greenville SpC. The quickest way from ATL to Destin is via Hwy 55 from Georgiana exit on 65, through Andalusia, then cut south on 137/189 to Baker, FL. Trust me, I made this drive every 2 weeks for a year while my wife was in ATL. I tried the others but this is the fastest. Skip defuniak. Like others have said there is nothing there. Just get a big charge in Greenville. (Friend with P85D also uses this route to get to ATL service center, our closest sadly)

This looks like a great way to go. I just don't think I would have enough to get back to Greenville from Destin without finding some place in Destin to charge. Normally when we go to Destin, I don't do more that about 50 miles of running around locally. So, I would have to find a destination charger in the Destin before going back to Greenville.

 

[kort677]

This looks like a great way to go. I just don't think I would have enough to get back to Greenville from Destin without finding some place in Destin to charge. Normally when we go to Destin, I don't do more that about 50 miles of running around locally. So, I would have to find a destination charger in the Destin before going back to Greenville.

www.plugshare.com is your friend, try it, it shows a few places around destin to charge

 

[BigAirHarper]

This looks like a great way to go. I just don't think I would have enough to get back to Greenville from Destin without finding some place in Destin to charge. Normally when we go to Destin, I don't do more that about 50 miles of running around locally. So, I would have to find a destination charger in the Destin before going back to Greenville.

There are several destination chargers in Destin. If you shop at the Destin Commons they even have a charger you could use for hours. If you need some juice before your return trip PM me and I'll gladly let you use my HPWC. It's mounted just waiting on electrician to finish wiring it up. I also have a 14-50 outlet too.

 

[markn455]

There are several destination chargers in Destin. If you shop at the Destin Commons they even have a charger you could use for hours. If you need some juice before your return trip PM me and I'll gladly let you use my HPWC. It's mounted just waiting on electrician to finish wiring it up. I also have a 14-50 outlet too.

Thanks for all the information I appreciate it more than you know. We try to get down to Destin once a year Thanksgiving week. We stay at the Henderson Park Inn. It would be great to meet you while we are there and compare MS notes. I will send you a PM when we get down there (provided I can figure out how to send a Private Message). Thanks!

 

[BigAirHarper]

Thanks for all the information I appreciate it more than you know. We try to get down to Destin once a year Thanksgiving week. We stay at the Henderson Park Inn. It would be great to meet you while we are there and compare MS notes. I will send you a PM when we get down there (provided I can figure out how to send a Private Message). Thanks!

Sounds like a plan! We will hopefully take delivery end of August!

 

[d103]

Just did this trip (2014 S85), from Lilburn,GA to Destin, left with 265 rated miles, charged in Auburn, while eating to 265 miles. Stopped in DeFuniak Springs, looks like an old Western Ghost Town, nothing there but very quite. Charged for about 15 mins. Tried to book hotel in Destin with a DC but they were booked, so ended up using the DC at Tops Commercial Center, not much there either so sat in the car and caught up with some e-mails. After an hour was good to go. On the way back stopped back at DeFuniak Springs was on Sunday, so again very quiet (charged til TM said enough to continue plus 15 miles),than charged to full in Greenville while eating at Cracker Barrel, made it back to Lilburn with 8 rated miles left. If needed would have stopped at the Decatur, GA Service Center/SC for a 5 min charge. Temp was in the mid 90's, AC was kept on Low to 66 setting for the entire trip, speed was maintained at 8-10 MPH over the posted limits. Used TACC most of trip, with the exception of during the downpours. Autosteer was used about 50% time. Over all an easy trip.

 

[markn455]

Just did this trip (2014 S85), from Lilburn,GA to Destin, left with 265 rated miles, charged in Auburn, while eating to 265 miles. Stopped in DeFuniak Springs, looks like an old Western Ghost Town, nothing there but very quite. Charged for about 15 mins. Tried to book hotel in Destin with a DC but they were booked, so ended up using the DC at Tops Commercial Center, not much there either so sat in the car and caught up with some e-mails. After an hour was good to go. On the way back stopped back at DeFuniak Springs was on Sunday, so again very quiet (charged til TM said enough to continue plus 15 miles),than charged to full in Greenville while eating at Cracker Barrel, made it back to Lilburn with 8 rated miles left. If needed would have stopped at the Decatur, GA Service Center/SC for a 5 min charge. Temp was in the mid 90's, AC was kept on Low to 66 setting for the entire trip, speed was maintained at 8-10 MPH over the posted limits. Used TACC most of trip, with the exception of during the downpours. Autosteer was used about 50% time. Over all an easy trip.

Great, I will be in my 2014 S85 with 21" Wheels. Traveling the last week of Nov so I don't believe we will need all that much A/C

Mark

 

[Cowby]

Just did this trip (2014 S85), from Lilburn,GA to Destin, left with 265 rated miles, charged in Auburn, while eating to 265 miles. Stopped in DeFuniak Springs, looks like an old Western Ghost Town, nothing there but very quite. Charged for about 15 mins. Tried to book hotel in Destin with a DC but they were booked, so ended up using the DC at Tops Commercial Center, not much there either so sat in the car and caught up with some e-mails. After an hour was good to go. On the way back stopped back at DeFuniak Springs was on Sunday, so again very quiet (charged til TM said enough to continue plus 15 miles),than charged to full in Greenville while eating at Cracker Barrel, made it back to Lilburn with 8 rated miles left. If needed would have stopped at the Decatur, GA Service Center/SC for a 5 min charge. Temp was in the mid 90's, AC was kept on Low to 66 setting for the entire trip, speed was maintained at 8-10 MPH over the posted limits. Used TACC most of trip, with the exception of during the downpours. Autosteer was used about 50% time. Over all an easy trip.

Did pretty much the he same thing from Buford in a classic P85 a few months back...left with full charge to auburn, ate/did a little shopping at that parking lot mall for ~45 mins., then defuniak for 20 mins, then to vrbo house in destin. I drove ~80 mph and had ac on 68 the whole way down with car fully loaded with cargo, 2 dogs, and 2 people. There are chargers like others have said (use plugshare app) in Destin Commons and Whole foods which is the area we stayed near, but I didn't need it as the vrbo had an outlet I could use.

 

[markn455]

Did pretty much the he same thing from Buford in a classic P85 a few months back...left with full charge to auburn, ate/did a little shopping at that parking lot mall for ~45 mins., then defuniak for 20 mins, then to vrbo house in destin. I drove ~80 mph and had ac on 68 the whole way down with car fully loaded with cargo, 2 dogs, and 2 people. There are chargers like others have said (use plugshare app) in Destin Commons and Whole foods which is the area we stayed near, but I didn't need it as the vrbo had an outlet I could use.

After charging at Defuniak for 20 minutes how much battery did you have? Finally, when you got to Destin, how much charge?

Thanks!

 

[ElectricTundra]

We've done B'ham to Seaside with charging in Greenville & Defuniak Springs. It's a bit over 100 miles r/t Defuniak > Destin so you'll have about 100+ miles of driving around while in Destin after accounting for phantom loss. As others mentioned there are a number of options for charging. Also, if the place you're staying has a standard 15a outlet then that can give you 100 miles/day of charge or perhaps 80 miles/day accounting for time you're driving and not plugged in. We do that in Marco Island for a couple of months during winter and it works out quite well.

There are a couple of 240v/80a HPWC's available in Seaside if you need them (Seaside, FL | Chargerville). Stop for an enjoyable lunch or dinner and you'll have a good charge when done.

The chargers in Defuniak look desolate but aren't. About a block over are a number of good food options including a surprisingly good coffee place. DeFuniak Springs Supercharger | Chargerville

Have a great trip and please add some reviews to Chargerville to help others.

Forgot that there's also this HPWC at Tops'l TOPS'L Commercial Center | Chargerville

 

[markn455]

ElectricTundra, thanks so much for the information. This will be very helpful!

 

[Raincloud]

ElectricTundra, thanks so much for the information. This will be very helpful!

markn455, did you end up competing this trip? I am planning to go from Dunwoody, GA to Destin on Labor Day in MX 75 and all the information posted here have been very helpful. Thank you for posting this question.