Road trip from Houston to Memphis

[Middleseat]

Looking for advice from those of you who do road trips with your Teslas on a regular basis.

My wife and I are thinking of taking our Model S 70 (rwd) from Houston to Memphis. Looking at the routing options on evtripplanner (through super chargers), it'll take 22 hours! WAY too long for a 9-10 hour drive in an ICE car.

I'm doing the routing myself, and it looks like the longest leg will be from the Jackson, MS supercharger to Memphis - but it's about 210 miles. If I fill up (obviously to 100%) all the way in Jackson, that'll leave me with 15-17 miles of range when we pull into Memphis. That's below my personal threshold, but have any of you out there in forum-land trip planned a road trip that close?

This will be our first long road trip in our Tesla - we don't want to be stuck on the side of the road!

 

[Missile Toad]

I'm also likely to go to Memphis from NE Houston, but in a S 70D, sometime in 2017. I have (I think) about 5 more RM than MiddleSeat when fully charged ... and have shaved some miles off, due to already being in the NE of Houston.

My first SuperCharger stop is Shreveport -- but its at the edge of my range. The Lufkin KOA is a nice halfway point that would allow a bathroom break while adding 10-20 miles. You should call ahead, but the owner told me that they've hosted Teslas before, when I talked to him this past July. I expect he will be happy to let you get a quick 30 - 60 minute charge for about a $10 fee. Info: 936-238-3721 ; 250 FM 2021 Lufkin, TX 75901.
From there, driving to Shreveport Supercharger is doable. Once you top off in Shreveport, the Holiday Inn in Little Rock is a good bet, just a few hundred yards off the highway in Little Rock: 3201 Bankhead Drive, Little Rock, AR 72206 US; Reservations: 844-361-4551. They have a J1772 charger, if I recall correctly, so you would be able to overnight there prior to the last leg through E. Arkansas.

My calculations, based on a departure from Kingwood, TX, has me arriving earlier to Little Rock than going through either Sulphur Springs or Lindale Superchargers.

On the return trip, it might be advisable to take the Mississippi route. Given that you might reach Jackson on 'fumes', there is a Nissan (dealership? plant?) about 24 miles North of the Jackson Supercharger. The link from Plugshare.com suggests this site is something more than a mere dealership. So it is unclear if the J1772 chargers are potentially fenced off on Sundays.

One more thing. The primary bridge on the most direct route from the Huntsville, TX Supercharger to the Alexandria, LA supercharger is out, as per DriveTexas.org . So watch out for that.

 

[Middleseat]

I'm willing to drive an extra hour on the southern route through Baton Rouge and Jackson, with its availability of Superchargers on the route.

After further review, it looks like there's a Tanger Premium outlet (with charging) about 20 miles south of Memphis that is 195 miles from Jackson supercharger. That may be a good comfort stop for the extra wiggle room.

I looked at the northern route you suggested, but the lack of "real" superchargers along the route was the deciding factor.

 

[Middleseat]

Have any of you taken your car down to 10-15 miles of range on a road trip? It's a little below my comfort level, but if there are enough data points where it'll make me feel more comfortable, I might do it!

 

[SomeJoe7777]

Have any of you taken your car down to 10-15 miles of range on a road trip? It's a little below my comfort level, but if there are enough data points where it'll make me feel more comfortable, I might do it!

I haven't quite gone that low. I have done a few legs where I planned to go down to about 35-40 miles of rated range, and due to weather or wind ended up at about 25.

What you need to do is keep a close eye on the trip planner forecast range (the graph with the battery prediction line). Keep it as high as possible, and if you see your battery state at the end of the trip continuing to go down into the red, then slow down.

 

[Missile Toad]

I'm a former pilot. Having said that, I'm able to confirm the accuracy of the forecast range graph while en-route. My first day out with the Tesla, I road tripped about 600 miles, and reached one destination with 5 miles to spare. It is possible, that had I encountered more than 15 minutes of rain (I was rained on partially during the route), I would have arrived with -2 miles to spare. Your mileage may vary, but once a pilot, you become very attuned to the advantages of good winds.

I was driving minus my wife and kids -- so there was no 'friendly fire' from somebody saying, "Speed up! Slow Down! ... not that slow! C'mon. What's a rated mile? What does that red in the graph mean?"

 

[Middleseat]

Thanks for the real world replies so far regarding what people have been getting/doing regarding miles to go.

I think a wise move would be to have a little over 10% when arriving at a charger. For my 70, that's about 30 miles to empty.

The winds are obviously a factor, but I think the outside air temperature will be a factor as well. We're planning on going in early February, and I can foresee it being pretty cold enroute.