Question on holiday travel

[Araman0]

The kids and I (including our 1-year old) are planning a Christmas trip from Seattle down to CA. I know a lot has changed over the past year (more superchargers, WAY more Teslas using them). But I'm wondering what your collective experience has been at the superchargers during Christmas week (including on the most busy travel dates of Friday evening and Saturday preceding the holiday week). I'm specifically worried about long lines at the superchargers as whole fleets of Teslas begin their holiday travel, compounded with cold weather accelerated battery usage.

If I were by myself I'd have no worries waiting an hour for an opening at an occasional supercharger along the way. But waiting in line for an open stall in a stopped car for over an hour at multiple superchargers with a 1-year old has me nervous. What can I expect at the WA and CA superchargers during this time? (Presumably I can use the nav screen to pick out specific superchargers that have openings in the CA metro areas, but not so for the rural superchargers that I will be required to stop at.

I am considering buying the very expensive Chademo adapter just in case there are long limes at the superchargers (and to be able to take advantage of Electrify America's eventual parallel national network of high powered chargers.)

 

[Kuhz]

Only problematic superchargers along your route could be Grants Pass, OR and Corning, CA. The rest have many stalls and once you get into S. Ca you can pick and choose.

What battery you have?

 

[PLUS EV]

Was going to say the same. Centralia, WA, Springfield, OR and Mount Shasta, CA now have so many stalls that they should rarely get full. And even if they do get full, the wait should not be long. So try to plan your trip around hitting those ones. You'll also get credit for being a good Tesla citizen by not contributing to the problem of clogging up the smaller supercharger sites. If you do need to use the smaller ones, try to charge briefly there and then do a long charge at the bigger sites mentioned above.

In the metro areas (didn't say where you were going but I'm talking Bay Area, LA and even Sacramento), use the Nav to help determine which superchargers have stalls available. Remember that one or two stall(s) available could indicate a full charger with a line. If possible it's best to either charge to near full upon entering a metro area (preferably a larger supercharger on the outskirts such as Fairfield or Santa Clarita) or, if it's not too inconvenient, plan a late night supercharge during your stay in the metro area. That way the supercharger wont' be busy and you won't get stuck in traffic trying to get to and from. This all assumes that you don't have EV charging where you are staying of course.

 

[Araman0]

Thanks for the thoughts everyone. My battery is a 2015 85kwh (in a 2012 car) and tends to report ~252 miles on a full charge. Obviously given December will be chilly and wet with a fully loaded car, I'm anticipating 200 at best.

Thanks for the tip on the three supercharger sites (Centralia, Springfield, and Mount Shasta). We'll try to target those ones although there will definitely need to be additional top-offs along the way. We'll eventually get down to San Diego, but will have significant stops/stays along the way. The goal is to stay in hotels that offer some form of charging, preferably free destination charging.

Thanks again for the help everyone! Last winter I drove from Michigan to Seattle, but I was by myself ( = more flexible) and the middle America superchargers were almost all empty.

 

[Silicon Desert]

I think Plus EV and Kuhz covered it well. The SF bay area is really tough and crowded a lot lately. I've never considered a Chademo adapter and been all over the USA on multiple trips coast to coast and Oregon to San Diego with an X100. I stay on I5 though. San Diego is also terrible even with the recent additional SC downtown.

 

[Yarder]

I made the trip in my MS 70D from WA all the way down to San Diego for the Holiday Bowl. Left on Christmas day. My first concern was to get thru Portland that night. Portland can have horrible traffic and I didn't want to get caught in that. It was probably between the mid to high 30's until I got to Sacramento. No range anxiety at all. The single Supercharger in San Diego is so routinely packed there's an employee guy in a safety vest directing Teslas to go in order. The stop at Kettleman is one must to see! Has some 40 chargers, solar panels, and Tesla has a lobby there with ultra clean 24/7 restrooms. Interesting that the code to the door appears on your car screen. Most likely a personal one time code.

 

[NHK X]

Agree with all posts. Was down around SF not on holiday season but had to wait at a few chargers since there were so many people using the it as a local charger. Imagine the issue is worse now with the increased ramp up of the 3.

 

[PLUS EV]

Destination chargers are fine, but sometimes require calling ahead to be sure it's up and running and ask them to block the spot with a cone or something so it doesn't get ICEd. If you're really trying to make good time, just staying at hotels that either host or are near superchargers is another good option. I make this trip a lot so I think at some point I have stayed at all the hotels near I-5 superchargers. Here is a list:

-Springfield, OR- There are 2 hotels that host the supercharger and a few others within walking distance. They all seem decent.

-Grants Pass, OR- There are quite a few hotels within walking distance of this supercharger, but most of them are fairly dumpy. Would not recommend staying here.

-Mount Shasta, CA- The original 4-stall supercharger is hosted by the Tree House Inn which is now a Best Western Plus. Hotel is pretty decent, but I've found it to be rather expensive at certain times of year.

-Corning, CA-This has become a favored first stop for me since I've been driving Teslas. If I'm trying to make good time, I can usually make it this far in one day leaving from Seattle. The Best Western Plus is nothing special, but it's clean and quiet and has always been under $100 and I've never had an issue with it being sold out. They've also been flexible with me checking in at weird times (I'm a night owl and sometimes just decide to drive through the night if I feel like I'm behind schedule or whatever). There's also a Starbucks right near the supercharger so when I wake up I can top off the car to 100% while I get my coffee.

-Gustine, CA- There's a Best Western across the driveway from the supercharger. It was below average for a Best Western, but not horrible. Mostly just really dated. Like it hadn't been updated since the 70s or something.

-Kettleman City, CA- There is one hotel within a short walk of the supercharger, but it was not GREAT. Would not recommend, but it's an option if it fits your schedule better. Definitely stop at this supercharger, just to check out the lounge though. And if you do stay there, you can get coffee in the morning from the baristas in the supercharger lounge

My usual routine when staying at hotels near superchargers is to plug in, check in, get settled in the room and by then usually the car is already up to 90% charge. Then in the morning you can top off if you like while you eat breakfast or hit the Starbucks or whatever. That last 10% usually isn't necessary though. The advantage of using superchargers over destination chargers is that they tend to be more reliable. Also, after a while I become so familiar with the supercharger stops that it feels more like home staying at the places I'm already familiar with. Lastly, I like to support the businesses that host the superchargers and I always let them know that I'm plugging in when I check in.

 

[Frieda’s Boss]

There’s a Supercharger in the northern suburbs of Vancouver, WA in Salmon Creek and it’s in a grocery store (Fred Meyer) shopping center, so you can stock up on any trip supplies while Supercharging. I think they have 12 stalls and the most Teslas I’ve seen there at one time is 4, but around the holidays, a concern might be that there may be random (ICE) cars parked in those spots.

That’s about 160mi from Seattle so I’d think you would be able to reach it without issues.

Centralia is about halfway between Seattle & Portland, so it might not be an effective stop so early in your trip?

 

[Seattle Tom]

I think even with the collective wisdom of the TMC community, no one can answer your question. There has never been a year like this - Tesla delivered 100,000 vehicles in 2018 and they could possibly deliver 100,000 in Q4 2018 alone.

So there is no way to know what the future state Supercharger use will look like for this holiday season, but my guess like the rest on the thread here is CROWDED.

 

[ilovemycoffee]

Are you planning on driving all the way through, or will you do an overnight stop? If so, consider a hotel with destination charging. Collectively, we might be able to help out with various cites and hotels.

For example, we’ve stayed at the Palm Hotel in Ashland, OR. A cool little former motel. Nice people, level 2 charger. Call ahead and they will cone off the parking spot for you.
Palm Hotel of Ashland Oregon – Step Outside the Ordinary

 

[Araman0]

Thanks again for the helpful suggestions everyone. Yes, we will be stopping a night, probably in Oregon somewhere. But just long enough to rest up, hopefully charge to full at a destination charger, and then hit the road for the rest of the trip. This will also be the first long trip we take with our 1 and 6 year olds, so that is why we may be overplanning a bit. (I've already done a much longer, true cross country trip in the S85 by myself, but there's not so much to worry about when there is no 1 year old in tow).

I definately plan to stop at the legendary 40 stall supercharger in California and check out the lobby. We are all really looking forward to this trip.

 

[IssyElectric]

Near the top of Mt. Shasta, there's a KOA that you may be able to charge if needed. Download Plug Share app if you haven't yet. Medford, OR is a good stop, decent hotels (Spring Hill Suites / Hilton Garden Inn) with indoor pools to let the kiddos relax. They also have In-n-out burgers there. Be extra careful going over Mt. Shasta (trucks) and Tejon Pass (can be snowy). Enjoy.

 

[CFinVancouver]

Just wanted add...supercharge at night when your pack is warm before parking for the night. We learned the hard way, thinking we would supercharge in the morning with a cold pack and try to get an early start. The charge rate is really slow until the pack warms up. This was on a trip through Oregon last spring when they had a cold snap.

 

[jsanford]

I stayed at a hotel in Springfield with a destination charger. It was way in the back and not tempting for ICE vehicles, but also next to a Level 2 plug. When we arrived, there was a Leaf using it...and I’m not sure the setup supported the plugs reaching both vehicles. Turned out the Leaf went to dinner or something and we plugged in and topped off overnight.

 

[ReddyLeaf]

All good suggestions above. I'll add that Woodburn, OR might be a pinch point around Portland. I'ts usually full during busy times, but pretty much empty off-hours. Also, with the increased number of M3 deliveries, I would expect a significant number of those folks trying to use the destination chargers, especially at hotels, since they are free and the SC might require payment. Probably not a big deal, but I can understand using a free destination charger overnight instead of paying $15 to supercharge. Heck, I have free SC and I still look for destination chargers since it can save time.

 

[MikeBur]

Thanks again for the helpful suggestions everyone. Yes, we will be stopping a night, probably in Oregon somewhere. But just long enough to rest up, hopefully charge to full at a destination charger, and then hit the road for the rest of the trip. This will also be the first long trip we take with our 1 and 6 year olds, so that is why we may be overplanning a bit. (I've already done a much longer, true cross country trip in the S85 by myself, but there's not so much to worry about when there is no 1 year old in tow).

I definately plan to stop at the legendary 40 stall supercharger in California and check out the lobby. We are all really looking forward to this trip.

Can’t remember if you said you had a ChaDeMo adapter. If you don’t PM me if you’d like to loan mine; an additional option in case things are too busy elsewhere. Better to have it and not need it

 

[Araman0]

So we made it down to San Diego and back. I only had to wait in line once, and that was at the Grants Pass OR supercharger. I was 2nd in queue. What happened more frequently was I would pull up and not find a supercharger with a free paired stall. So would end up charging at ~30kw until the pared charger freed up. Even that only happened a couple times. Was a super fun trip with my 85!

 

[Seattle]

Glad it worked out. I haven't taken a long trip since the masses of 3's starting clogging up the superchargers I have been a little afraid of going down to cali.

 

[Seattle]

Glad it worked out. I haven't taken a long trip since the masses of 3's starting clogging up the superchargers I have been a little afraid of going down to cali.