NYC to LA road trip…

[Archduke]

I can't speak to your question about 60 vs. 70 battery pack since I have a 100 Kw battery, but I just did a trip from LA through Nevada/Utah into Montana over to Minneapolis down to Chicago over to Denver back through Utah/Nevada and finally back to LA. Most of the Superchargers along the way were empty. Once, there was a Supercharger with 4 stalls, 1 of which was occupied by a fellow Tesla owner and 2 of which were occupied by ICE vehicles, but I was able to snag the 1 remaining spot to charge. I never encountered any Superchargers that were not functioning. What I did have happen a coupe of times is that I plugged into a Supercharger and the light ring around the port turned orange indicating a problem charging. I finally figured out that I simply wasn't pressing the plug hard enough into the port, so if you get the orange light, your first step should be making sure the plug is properly seated in the port. I found the car's Navigation system to be pretty accurate in predicting what percentage of charge I would have remaining at each Supercharger stop along the way.

I think the decision to head over the Rockies is a good one. It will be much more scenic. Be aware of symptoms of altitude sickness. I spent some time in Beaver Creek (elevation 9000 feet where I was staying) and on the first evening there, I could not figure out why I was having a pounding headache, extreme fatigue, and difficulty sleeping. Thankfully, I did not have to drive the following day and eventually acclimated allowing me to rest the next night for a refreshed drive out of there.

Good luck, and have fun!

 

[NoMoGas]

I'm considering driving out to LA in July. I actually live right outside NYC in New Jersey. I've got the trip planned through EV Trip Planner but have a couple of questions and if anyone has any road tripping advice please share.

First, I have a 60 (upgradeable to 75). In EV Trip Planner I created a pretty nice route that takes me east through PA and Ohio/Indiana, down to St Louis, through Texas, New Mexico, Arizona and finally California. I realize if you put NYC to LA in EVTP it will send you on a route through the Rockies but wanted to take the Texas/NM/AZ southern route. Which doesn't add much time to the trip.

It's not that I'm hurting for money for if I can avoid updating to the 75 for 2k I'd prefer not to. But, one question I had was let's say halfway through the trip I decide a 75 would have been better I can just call Tesla and they can software update to the 75 pretty quickly correct?

Has anyone made this trip in a 60? Did you have any issues?

Also, should I be worried about any of the Superchargers I'm planning on stopping at not working or out of service? I haven't heard about this happening too much but it's a slight worry.

I've been googling and reading other road trip posts here but this is nearly 6000 miles so a bit extreme I suppose.

Thanks for any info.

As someone who has now done the NY - LA trip several times I can tell you that you are overthinking it. The planner in the car has improved so much since my first trip, and there are so many more charges then back then that all you need to do is get in the car, set your destination and let it guide you (just listen to your car). No stress, just enjoy! I've done it and the accuracy was a little scary.

 

[NoMoGas]

I KNOW THAT TUNNELL!!! LOL

We did our trip from Southern California to Maine and back in May 2015...

I wrote a pre-trip planning article on my blog as well.

We took 23 days because we took our time. It's a great trip and at least one time through the Rockies is a must.

Our first exposure of I-70 in the Rockies on that trip was on Day 2.

IMG_7799 by Dennis Pascual, on Flickr

IMG_7800 by Dennis Pascual, on Flickr

IMG_7767 by Dennis Pascual, on Flickr



I have to agree with @Half Dollar Bill, in May 2015, only the I-80/90 Route was complete and there was a hole in I-70 that we traversed Level 2 on...

Now, you have CHOICES. Use them!

Take your time, it's worth it.

 

[rahs]

As someone who has now done the NY - LA trip several times I can tell you that you are overthinking it. The planner in the car has improved so much since my first trip, and there are so many more charges then back then that all you need to do is get in the car, set your destination and let it guide you (just listen to your car). No stress, just enjoy! I've done it and the accuracy was a little scary.

Not really stressing out just wanted to hear thoughts from fellow owners and learn any ideas I hadn't thought of. Which this post has accomplished and thankful we've got a great community to discuss and learn.

Also appreciate your thoughts. One thing that jumped out at me when I went did a test "navigate to LA" trip from the car was that it has me skip over the first SC in Allentown, PA and go to the next one in Harrisburg, PA. I'd have 7% left there. Is this 7% if I drive like 60-65mph or does it base it off of my driving style? I'm usually 10-15mph over speed limit.

In EVTP I put in a speed factor of 1.08 (random number I know but just being cautious with its calculations). Also have a 10% buffer set. It has me stopping at the first SC mentioned.

Suppose I could skip the first one but if I use Tesla's nav and it realizes halfway through that I wouldn't make it to the Harrisburg SC will it change and have me stop at the first SC?

I wonder because I've mapped this out in EVTP, adding and removing SCs along the way to see what works best. If I scrap the EVTP plans and only rely on Teslas nav I just want to make sure it knows I'm not driving 60-65 and takes into account my driving style and other variables like EVTP does.

That was a wordy post Needs a TLDR.

 

[Barry]

Suppose I could skip the first one but if I use Tesla's nav and it realizes halfway through that I wouldn't make it to the Harrisburg SC will it change and have me stop at the first SC?

If it's a close call, you could slow down 5-10 mph, rather than going back.

 

[TacC]

I think you can take the advice from @NoMoGas and @Barry and hit the road. The nav system should pick up quickly on your heavy foot and reroute you if you're projected to miss the Harrisburg SC.

If you were to drive 50mph through the Allentown SC and then punch it, you will you're likely to get warnings about needing to slow down to make it to Harrisburg. That's after you've manipulated the nav system, though.

 

[NoMoGas]

OK so here are my tricks and secrets:

Optimum speed is about 75. (74-77 to be exact but this fluctuates with weather/air temp etc.) Driving faster will only take longer to charge saving no time at all. Tire pressure: 45 cold / 48 Hot.
DO NOT begin a trip with a rated arrival less then 7-8% per 100 miles of trip (108 = 100 miles, 216 = 200 etc.). USE YOUR TRIP MONITOR which will tell you in real time if you are meeting expectations. Your trip monitor will be more conservative in the beginning but even out later.

A REALLY good thing to watch is your distance vs range numbers. Never let them cross, if they do and your trip monitor is at 0, slow down. (There are exceptions such as Barstow - Primm due to the long hill going into Primm but most your trip west will be uphill to AZ/CO depending on your route.

If you stop overnight, look for hotels with chargers... save yourself some time.

 

[rahs]

OK so here are my tricks and secrets:

Optimum speed is about 75. (74-77 to be exact but this fluctuates with weather/air temp etc.) Driving faster will only take longer to charge saving no time at all. Tire pressure: 45 cold / 48 Hot.
DO NOT begin a trip with a rated arrival less then 7-8% per 100 miles of trip (108 = 100 miles, 216 = 200 etc.). USE YOUR TRIP MONITOR which will tell you in real time if you are meeting expectations. Your trip monitor will be more conservative in the beginning but even out later.

A REALLY good thing to watch is your distance vs range numbers. Never let them cross, if they do and your trip monitor is at 0, slow down. (There are exceptions such as Barstow - Primm due to the long hill going into Primm but most your trip west will be uphill to AZ/CO depending on your route.

If you stop overnight, look for hotels with chargers... save yourself some time.

Thanks. Yea I've read that around 75mph is optimal. If it's close I'll stick around there. If not 14mph above speed limit always.

And funny you mention the Barstow/Primm leg. That's the only one EVTP has as yellow for me. But as mentioned earlier, I set a 10% battery buffer so if I don't drive crazy should be fine there.

 

[kort677]

The best advice is for the guy with the heavy foot to ease up. The faster you go the less range you'll have and the longer your charge stops will be. Like noted depending on conditions the best speed is 65-75 mph or keep it under 330 wh/miles

 

[David99]

The best advice is for the guy with the heavy foot to ease up. The faster you go the less range you'll have and the longer your charge stops will be. Like noted depending on conditions the best speed is 65-75 mph or keep it under 330 wh/miles

There are freeways that are plain open and wide and very few cars and the speed limit is 80 so everyone is going 90 or more. It's perfectly fine to go that speed. The total time difference is just a few minutes up or down. I'd rather go faster and have more time at a charging stop than sitting in the car longer and having a shorter stop. But that's just me.

 

[kort677]

There are freeways that are plain open and wide and very few cars and the speed limit is 80 so everyone is going 90 or more. It's perfectly fine to go that speed. The total time difference is just a few minutes up or down. I'd rather go faster and have more time at a charging stop than sitting in the car longer and having a shorter stop. But that's just me.

Precisely, that's just you. There aren't too many places in my worrld where
posted limits are higher than 70 and that + 5 or so so works well for me and the car. My boy racer days are far in the past and I'm not so enthralled with being the fastest guy on the road. YMMV

 

[David99]

Precisely, that's just you. There aren't too many places in my worrld where
posted limits are higher than 70 and that + 5 or so so works well for me and the car. My boy racer days are far in the past and I'm not so enthralled with being the fastest guy on the road. YMMV

I grew up in Germany where the recommended speed that one should travel at is 130 km/h which is 80 mph.

 

[kort677]

I grew up in Germany where the recommended speed that one should travel at is 130 km/h which is 80 mph.

That is wonderful, those Germans get to drive really fast!
what does that have to do with anything about driving in much of the US?

 

[David99]

That is wonderful, those Germans get to drive really fast!
what does that have to do with anything about driving in much of the US?

The cars are the same, the roads are pretty much the same. It's an example that driving 80 isn't some crazy boy racer speed, or 'having to be the fastest' as you tried to make it sound. It is a reasonable and safe traveling speed in a modern car.

Like noted depending on conditions the best speed is 65-75 mph or keep it under 330 wh/miles

Not quite. In most cases (considering the distance between two Superchargers) around 80 is the most time efficient speed.
Optimum Supercharger driving speed

 

[kort677]

The cars are the same, the roads are pretty much the same. It's an example that driving 80 isn't some crazy boy racer speed, or 'having to be the fastest' as you tried to make it sound. It is a reasonable and safe traveling speed in a modern car.



Not quite. In most cases (considering the distance between two Superchargers) around 80 is the most time efficient speed.
Optimum Supercharger driving speed

Only if you'd rather charge longer

 

[David99]

Only if you'd rather charge longer

You lost me. You are spending LESS time overall if you drive faster. You save a lot of time driving and add a little more time charging. I think the majority of people prefer to spend less time driving, more time taking a break while overall still be faster.

 

[kort677]

You lost me. You are spending LESS time overall if you drive faster. You save a lot of time driving and add a little more time charging. I think the majority of people prefer to spend less time driving, more time taking a break while overall still be faster.

you need to charge longer to cover the same distance at faster speeds, when on trip I only charge enough to make the next SpC at around 74 MPH, under 330 wh/miles, if you exceed that you will burn more SOC that requires a longer charge. it is your choice, zoom from SpC to SpC and charge longer or drive a bit slower and wait a little less for the car to take on enough charge for the next hop.

 

[Barry]

David - Kort is right. Someone on the forum crunched the numbers a few years ago. Once you exceed 80 mph, your additional charge time exceeds the shorter driving time at higher speed. So unless you're making an extended stop for another reason, such as for a meal, your overall trip time will INCREASE.

 

[David99]

David - Kort is right. Someone on the forum crunched the numbers a few years ago. Once you exceed 80 mph, your additional charge time exceeds the shorter driving time at higher speed. So unless you're making an extended stop for another reason, such as for a meal, your overall trip time will INCREASE.

Um, I just posted a link to a forum post that shows the total travel time (driving and charging) vs speed. Just scroll up to message #54
Unless you drive a 200 mile leg, you are faster overall driving 80 or faster.

 

[kort677]

Um, I just posted a link to a forum post that shows the total travel time (driving and charging) vs speed. Just scroll up to message #54
Unless you drive a 200 mile leg, you are faster overall driving 80 or faster.

maybe you're right, but I do make many 200+ mile hops and by keeping it under 75 mph I have little worries of visiting with the highway patrols. enjoy your car