Northern VA to central NJ: adventures in destination charging

[scaesare]

And it's a cool perspective of the car, getting a shot of the top of it...

 

[paulkva]

Left the hotel with 159 miles, stopped at in-laws and made it to DE with 38 remaining. Plenty of buffer. And now the supercharger is doing its job beautifully -- we'll be over 200 miles before we leave.

And if you're reading this, hello to the driver of the dark (black?) Model S who flashed their lights at me just off of Route 31 in NJ.

 

[kendallpb]

Left the hotel with 159 miles, stopped at in-laws and made it to DE with 38 remaining. Plenty of buffer. And now the supercharger is doing its job beautifully -- we'll be over 200 miles before we leave.

Congrats on a successful trip. :-D

 

[paulkva]

Thanks! Latest update: left DE with 206 miles, drove much faster than the rest of the trip, arrived for a planned-at-the-last-minute stop in northern Silver Spring (for dinner with my brother-in-law and sister-in-law) with 98 miles remaining. Home is 25-30 miles away & will be a piece of cake.

 

[paulkva]

Piece of cake, as expected. More fast driving to get home, and 65 miles rated range remaining when we arrived. (By the way, is there a common abbreviation for "miles of rated range remaining" around here? If so, I don't remember seeing it. MRRR??) Now I'm back to 1:05am scheduled charging, rather than every-chance-I-get charging.

I'm hoping I can post some detailed stats and lessons learned later tonight. But yes, I consider the trip to be a success!

 

[kendallpb]

Piece of cake, as expected. More fast driving to get home, and 65 miles rated range remaining when we arrived. (By the way, is there a common abbreviation for "miles of rated range remaining" around here? If so, I don't remember seeing it. MRRR??) Now I'm back to 1:05am scheduled charging, rather than every-chance-I-get charging.

I'm hoping I can post some detailed stats and lessons learned later tonight. But yes, I consider the trip to be a success!

Shorter: "65 miles left"? ;-) I haven't seen other abbreviations that I remember.

 

[paulkva]

Almost a week later (sorry for the delay), here are my lessons learned and detailed stats.

• For 110-120V charging:
  • Try to find out if it's 15A or 20A. The hotel's outlets appeared to be NEMA 5-20, so with a $45 adapter I think I could have gotten a significantly better charging rate overnight.
  • Bring an outdoor extension cord, and make sure it's rated to handle >12A continuous load. I know Tesla advises against using one, but charging at a reduced rate is better than not charging at all.
  • Especially if you're hoping to charge at an older building, don't necessarily expect a nearby outdoor outlet or "clean" power. My in-laws' power outlets (at their home and their office) aren't convenient, which means I needed to use an extension cord. At best I could get 2-3 mph, and charging stopped multiple times.
• Even if someone says they allow charging, be prepared with alternatives. In addition to problems charging at the in-laws, one of the four outlets at the hotel didn't work, and on the first night, the hotel was busy so I needed to use an extension cord.
• Local driving eats up a LOT of range, especially short trips on cold days.
• Charging at 208V 30A while having to wait with the car really isn't any fun, even with work to keep me busy.
• Plugshare/Recargo data isn't perfect. Fix it when you find mistakes and future travelers will be thankful. Minor examples: the entry for RVCC indicated I'd have to pay for parking, which wasn't true, and Bridgewater Nissan's charging station was listed as "dealership hours" although it's accessible 24/7.
• To track a trip like this in detail, just take a photo of the Trip Meter every time you enter and exit the car, and take screenshots of the mobile app while charging. I didn't remember every time, so some of the stats are extrapolated and some are missing entirely.

Stats are available here as a Google spreadsheet. I welcome questions, comments, and suggestions about the format or the content.
Google Drive

 

[scaesare]

• • Bring an outdoor extension cord, and make sure it's rated to handle >12A continuous load. I know Tesla advises against using one, but charging at a reduced rate is better than not charging at all.

Agreed... I have an uber-heavy duty one I built years ago I've used a couple of times... better to have it and not need it than need and not have it.

 

[kendallpb]

Almost a week later (sorry for the delay), here are my lessons learned and detailed stats.

Wow, a lot of information there, thanks. And good tips!

 

[paulkva]

I'm debating whether to buy a NEMA 5-20 extension cord along with the 5-20 adapter for the next trip. Not sure I want to lug two extension cords around though in addition to the UMC, and not sure how safe it would be to use a 5-20 to 5-15 adapter so I could bring just one extension cord. (I'd guess it would be safe as long as I make sure I use the 5-15 adapter on the UMC.)

I'm hoping the Edison supercharger is ready by the next trip, that'll probably make the whole thing moot for me.