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Planning for road trip from SF Bay area to LA and Vegas

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Hello,

I am planning for a road trip with my family ( wife and 1 year baby) from SF Bay area to LA ( disney land) and from LA to Vegas and from Vegas back to Bay Area.

Below is the link of my route map from abetterrouteplanner site

Google Maps

i saw few articles posted here and in other forums of long road trips. I have Tesla Model 3 long range model

i planned to follow super chargers as per the map. I would be traveling during thanks giving. i am worried about the superchargers being full during holiday season

Can fellow members give me suggestions apart from following the route map from abetterrouteplanner
 
I am planning for a road trip with my family ( wife and 1 year baby) from SF Bay area to LA ( disney land) and from LA to Vegas and from Vegas back to Bay Area.
...

i planned to follow super chargers as per the map. I would be traveling during thanks giving. i am worried about the superchargers being full during holiday season
They can be terrible during holidays like (Reported on 12/26/2015) 11+ car wait at Tejon Ranch!.

Too bad the CHAdeMO adapter still doesn't work on the 3 yet, otherwise, you could use CHAdeMO DC FCs instead of waiting in a long line.

Supercharger - Tejon Ranch (Expanded to 24 stalls in May 2018) was a report from 2016.

These may help:
(Reported on 12/26/2015) 11+ car wait at Tejon Ranch!
(Reported on 12/26/2015) 11+ car wait at Tejon Ranch!

Side note: I used to attend to college in LA and am from the Bay Area. I've ridden with others on I-5 during Thanksgiving travel times WAY before Tesla existed (at least when it's bright out) between LA and the Bay Area and it sucks. There's so much traffic you can't even reach the speed limit for much of it, let alone exceed it which everyone does on I-5. So, be prepared for that.

Let us know how it goes. And, if you get stuck in a long line at a Supercharger, be sure to start or add to an existing thread about it. :)
 
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As you drive, you can click on the Superchargers to see how many empty slots there are. Will help you to choose which nearby Supercharger to choose.

Going to Vegas from LA on Thanksgiving everything will be busy. Even cars will be lined up to get gas. Busiest time of the year. Expect Sunday afternoon traffic to be super slow getting out of Vegas. If you can drive home on Monday instead you will have much easier going.

Just plan to relax and take it as it comes. If you need to wait in line for a Supercharger that will just be a part of the trip. Leave a little extra time. If you have a 1 year old baby, I bet some would let you in line in front of them. Just good Carma.

If you get the chance, stop at the new Superchargers in Yermo. Eddie World has fresh made Ice Cream and clean bathrooms. Kids love it!
 
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(I have no Tesla but...)
as per the route plan i wont be using Tejon Super charger in my route. i am using the below super chargers

Bakersfield
Buena Park
You sure you don't want to use Tejon Ranch at least for a bit? You're going to be going up a steep mountain pass for awhile and you might get some range anxiety on the way up.

As we mentioned, it's about a 4000 foot climb: (Reported on 12/26/2015) 11+ car wait at Tejon Ranch!
As you drive, you can click on the Superchargers to see how many empty slots there are. Will help you to choose which nearby Supercharger to choose.
+1

I wouldn't stick so rigidly to using a certain SC and not others. Your plan should allow for flexibility and backups, if needed.
 
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Having done the LA trip a few times in the Model 3 I find the Buttonwillow charger the best for Range anxiety getting over the Grapevine, but I think they put the Kettleman station in specifically for Thanksgiving and the Model 3 or the P90+ cars. It's a perfect single stop run from SF to LA and there are SO MANY chargers that even if there are 60 people trying to charge you will not be waiting long, the turn over is amazing at Superchargers.

My first line at a Supercharger was stopping at the factory on the way home. I think a lot of people charge returning to the bay area Sunday night and this is one of those places. There are 12 stations and they were all full and many people lined up to charge. But the line went very fast. I had only been there a few minutes and I was at the head of the line.

-Randy
 
Or, you could depart Lost Wages via US95 north. Charge in Beatty, Tonopah, Hawthorne, Topaz Lake and then home over the Sierra with a choice of routes. You avoid the morass on Interstate 15 and Interstate 5, and the Eastern Sierra is still usually pretty decent (if not chilly) before winter sets in around the first of December.

Or, cut over to California on Nevada 266 about 50 miles out of Beatty and drive over Westgard Pass on SR168 to Big Pine, then north through Bishop and Supercharge in Mammoth Lakes. The cattle will be gone for the season, so no worries about encountering random bovines on the highway.

Yeah, it is longer. But it will be less stressful and with the LR M3. The added range will make the journey across the Sierra easy.
 
I did many trips from San Francisco to Los Angeles and San Francisco to San Diego, using an ICE.

Best was to drive all the night to arrive in LA before the 6 am commute rush hour.
Also if you have passengers, they will be sleeping, which make your driving simpler, especially if you have kids.

There are in general not too many cars but a lot of trucks instead, mostly in one continus lane,
so I was always on the left lane. I tried to stay close to speed limit, because I always noticed a lot of CHP.
 
Or, you could depart Lost Wages via US95 north. Charge in Beatty, Tonopah, Hawthorne, Topaz Lake and then home over the Sierra with a choice of routes. You avoid the morass on Interstate 15 and Interstate 5, and the Eastern Sierra is still usually pretty decent (if not chilly) before winter sets in around the first of December.

I just did this run on the drive back from the Grand Canyon (documented elsewhere) and took 108 over the top, I cannot say enough good things about driving the Tesla on those windy mountain roads. It sticks like glue to the road, and the views are spectacular. Not as great as the coming of fall that is spreading across our country, but not to be missed.

I have a cabin up there, so for others, I might recommend taking 120 thru Yosemite and there is a Supercharger as you get thru the park. If you wait too much longer the snows will close the passes for the winter.

-Randy
 
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Earlier this year I took a very similar route to Knotts Berry Farm in my P85D.

I left San Jose in the morning with a full charge. My first stop was at Kettleman City where I had lunch and charged to 100%. My next stop was at Tejon Ranch for ~20mins where I plugged in, walked to Wendy's to grab a shake and walked back. From there I drove all the way to my hotel in Buena Park with ~15% charge remaining.
 
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(I have no Tesla but...)


I wouldn't stick so rigidly to using a certain SC and not others. Your plan should allow for flexibility and backups, if needed.

This. Use the in car nav and current supercharger availability to plan. There are 3 different options at the base of the grapevine (Bakersfield, buttonwillow, Tejon), Tejon has been massively expanded since last year. Kettleman is also an option now. Pretty much all routes have multiple options in the Bay to LA to Vegas Triangle.
 
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Could use a few more going to the Bay Area, it always wants me to stop at Harris Ranch as that's going to be closest to the bottom of the battery, but MAN that place stinks of cow dung! Model 3s don't have BioDefense filters (yet)

-Randy