Road trip from Oceanside, CA to Walnut Creek, CA

[Bypass]

Hello everyone, we plan to visit Walnut Creek in a few weeks and would appreciate suggestions on the best Supercharger stops for our trip. Our driving time is flexible. Thank you in advance.

 

[buckets0fun]

the best Supercharger stops for our trip

The ones the car sends you to will work great and have the lowest wait times.

If you have specific things you wish to eat or see you can use the car to add waypoints.

 

[Rice&Curry]

If you are planning to travel on weekends some of the Super Chargers may be more busy , other than that just follow the trip planner in your car. Choose locations where there are coffee/restaurants close by so that you can pass your time having some tea/coffee/food as well as use rest-rooms as needed.

 

[bmah]

Hello everyone, we plan to visit Walnut Creek in a few weeks and would appreciate suggestions on the best Supercharger stops for our trip. Our driving time is flexible. Thank you in advance.

I think this depends a bit on what "best" means. If you mean "most efficient", then you can use the trip planner as your guide.

If "best" means "interesting", the original Kettleman City is notable for its lounge. Harris Ranch (with the adjacent Coalinga) is notable for being one of the earliest Supercharger stops, also a place to get a decent sit-down meal if you're so inclined. Many Tesla owners like to do a charge at the Tesla factory in Fremont.

As you approach the Bay Area, use the Nav screen to see how busy the Superchargers are. If things look busy, consider a charging stop just before you hit the Bay Area.

If you want to plan things out in advance, I'd recommend looking through the map on supercharge.info. Every Supercharger site there has a link to a corresponding thread here on TMC if you want to find out more about a particular site. But in California in this day and age you really don't need to do a lot of planning.

The 24/680 area has a bunch of Superchargers around it. There are now three Superchargers in Walnut Creek itself...the original one is a bunch of Urban Superchargers on the top deck of a parking garage. The two others are v3 Superchargers in surface parking lots.

Bruce.

 

[gaswalla]

I used to do that trip when the only option was stopping at Hawthorne and Harris Ranch... you no longer have to plan the drive for the sake of making sure you arrive - there are so many supercharger options.
I agree with the Kettleman City (be sure to get a Tesla latte) and Harris Ranch suggestions (good food at Harris Ranch and the adjacent Coalinga site is impressive with its 80 stalls).. Also, Tejon Ranch (north bound) offers outlet shops while you charge, Santa Nella on the Southbound side offers a nice respite at the Hotel Mission del Oro,

 

[John in LB]

I live in Laguna Beach and have driven to Danville. You should plan on a minimum of 2 recharging stops and a door to door time of about 8 to 9 hours.

Interesting locations:
- Harris Ranch, steaks & Salads.
- Kettleman City, fast food joints.
- Santa Nella, Anderson's Pea Soup or Mission de Ore hotel ( has a great restaurant and gardens) nearest to aws

Start from your house 95% charged and let trip planner select your 1st charge stop. When you get close to this charge station, test an alternate that is further away and still results in a 12-15% residual charge.. I will finish tomorrow...

 

[Bypass]

Thank you, everyone, for providing me with the necessary information.

 

[Big Dog]

Agree with Bruce. I drive The OC to Sunnyvale, and that only requires one stop, so I usually head to Kettleman for a break and meal. But it's not the fastest, which is shorter charges on I5. I also may do that shorter charge and take a meal break at Harris Ranch. Breakfast is ranch hand large and a good value!

 

[Bypass]

Agree with Bruce. I drive The OC to Sunnyvale, and that only requires one stop, so I usually head to Kettleman for a break and meal. But it's not the fastest, which is shorter charges on I5. I also may do that shorter charge and take a meal break at Harris Ranch. Breakfast is ranch hand large and a good value!

Thanks, Bruce & Big D, I'll check it out.

 

[Lectric_Agent]

Check out the "A better route planner" (ABRP) app. its excellent at planning your stops, and syncs with the car in realtime to give better range/charge estimates. You can even select what charge level you'd like arrive at your destination with, which can be really helpful

I only use it for road trips, so I sign up for the $5 premium monthly and immediately cancel the subscription so I get 30 days of premium but don't need to worry about it billing me again