Road trip, 220 miles between stops at cool temps

[corduroy]

Next weekend I am taking my long range RWD M3 on a 1325 mile road trip (non stop, 2 drivers alternating shifts at the wheel). I've planned the route with Tesla's trip planner and also EV Trip Planner. There are 8 supercharging stops.

The only leg of the trip that is giving me pause is the longest stretch of 220 miles between Springfield MO and Little Rock AR superchargers. The temperature will probably be lower 40's at that point, and there are no major elevation changes. There is a lot of different info about range loss at temperatures, but I'm assuming I should be fine on that leg. But if there is 25% loss that would put my range at 232 (especially at high speeds), which is cutting close. What do you think?

 

[Gordon Parr]

My thoughts...you will be fine. I just flew up to Albany, NY to pick up and drive home my new to me M3! The drive to Yorktown, VA would require 2 charges...the first was 235 miles. The trip was interrupted by a 40 minute sit while a wreck was taken care of. The trip computer kept me updated the whole time which took the nervousness out of the equation. I was at a full charge and when stopped I was at 17%...plenty of juiced left. I would say as long as you drive frugally you will be fine.

 

[irev210]

Agree, keep the mph down and you'll be fine. Make sure your tire pressure is good so you can maximize your range

 

[bottomsup]

I find the efficiency really drops off as you get to 70MPH++

 

[SageBrush]

What do you think?

The car will tell you if you are driving too fast to make the next Supercharger

 

[dhrivnak]

Just drove 205 miles in 40’s and arrived home with 45 miles and I left with a 90% charge. I think you will be fine

 

[hiroshiy]

Rated + 25% is cutting close at highway speeds in winter. So if you go too fast you will be stranded.

That said, I would keep the speed low like 65 for the first half. You'll see with in-car trip planner that you would make it. Then you can gradually speed up until you spend all the buffer in the latter half. Don't do reverse - if you spend too much energy in the beginning it may bot be possible to reach the next Supercharger. As an additional safety, I would research any reliable CHAdeMO or L2 chargers around the "half point".

Edit: no CHAdeMO on 3... sorry.

 

[gaswalla]

You'll be fine... Not true in a Model S or X, but in the LR RWD 3, your actual miles to rated miles ratio is much closer to 1. Drive 65 for the first third and compare actual miles to rated miles consumed. Then adjust accordingly.
Look on plugshare and pick out a couple of public j1772 chargers on the way if want to have a backup plan, but you won't need them.
Most important - can you please come back and post your experience?

 

[Birdman325]

And as we have seen, turning OFF the heat even for short periods of time does make a difference.

 

[dusdev]

PlugShare indicates a bunch of backup options should you run near the low end of your range before reaching the SC. I wouldn’t sweat it. Use the trip energy consumption and lower speed and ambient cabin temp to hit target. I’ve been doing some highway driving in Ontario with temps around 28F lately with around 20% range loss typical. I’d say your bigger issue will be impatience trying to hit 100% change at the SC since the charging will slow.
You may want to consider planning around a J-1772 or destination charger en route for a 30 min top up if possible to save net time (charging will be faster will lower SoC)

 

[corduroy]

Thanks for all the input. I will try to keep it slower on the first half and already scoped out dest. chargers at a town 3/4 of the way.

 

[corduroy]

Most important - can you please come back and post your experience?

Will do! Should be an interesting first real road trip in the car.

 

[Matt L]

Stay at 65 or below and you’ll be fine

 

[Kirby64]

Rated + 25% is cutting close at highway speeds in winter. So if you go too fast you will be stranded.

That said, I would keep the speed low like 65 for the first half. You'll see with in-car trip planner that you would make it. Then you can gradually speed up until you spend all the buffer in the latter half. Don't forget do reverse - if you spend too much energy in the beginning it may bot be possible to reach the next Supercharger. As an additional safety, I would research any reliable CHAdeMO or L2 chargers around the "half point" .

CHAdeMO chargers won't be helpful for us Model 3 owners given the adapter doesn't work.

That being said, 65mph will do the trick. Even if it's 40F the whole time, once the cabin is up to temp (and you don't have it at 75F or something), you aren't really burning that much more than stock. I found on a latest ~300mi roadtrip that I got ~300-320Wh/mi (on a LR-RWD Aero) when I was going ~70-75mph, and it was 40F outside and pouring rain at night. That's pretty worst case scenario and I used ~33% more power.

 

[Big Earl]

A Better Routeplanner is calculating that you'll use 79% of the battery capacity to complete the leg from Springfield, MO to Little Rock, AR. Settings I used were 30F temperature, 18" aero wheels, 105% of the speed limit, dry roads and 5 MPH head wind. I think you'll be fine as long as you get a full charge in Springfield and you slow down if there's rain or a stronger head wind. Rain, 100% travel speed and the same headwind is predicted to use 82%.

(click the link above for a link to the first plan)

 

[jgs]

You may want to consider planning around a J-1772 or destination charger en route for a 30 min top up if possible to save net time (charging will be faster will lower SoC)

No, it won't. The car won't taper below 11.5 kW (the onboard charger's capacity) until very close to 100% charge (like, 98%). Most J1772 or dest chargers won't even give you 11.5 kW. I mean, it won't be slower at low SoC, but it won't be faster either unless you're Supercharging.

 

[Evbwcaer]

Drive behind a semi if you need some range. You can be a safe distance back and still see a benefit.

 

[mswlogo]

The heater is 90% of your range variation in cold temps.

Use recirculate when you can. But when you do you might need to add A/C to keep fogging down. If it still fogs up then turn off recirculate. I find keeping windshield blower off when recirculate is on helps prevent fogging.

Some folks turn heat down or off and heated seats on. If you are looking at a potential to not make a stop then turn OFF the heat. It’s better than getting stuck.

The energy app shows predicted range based on the last 5,10,15 miles. Which is your best real time range gauge. I wish this was displayed on main screen next to “ideal” battery range.

 

[corduroy]

Update: Charged to 97% in Springfield MO. The route was surprisingly hilly and not interstate, but more windy back roads. Temps were around 30 most time. Estimates during most of the drive were that we would get to the Little Rock, AR supercharger from 6-10 percent. We arrived with 7% Close, but still some reserve to spare. Really glad I got the LR!

 

[animorph]

Good. I always watch the charge remaining at destination and use it to guide the speed I can travel at. Might be off a bit at the start, but generally accurate and anxiety reducing.