My wife and I took a road trip from Massachusetts down to Sterling, VA, for an overnight, then to Harrisonburg, VA where we stayed several days, then up to Ithaca, NY where we stayed several days before heading home. Earlier this year we took a trip up to Montreal and Quebec City coming home with a few stops in New Hampshire.
Range Planning
I created a spreadsheet to do trip planning. It estimates the driving time and the time to charge at Superchargers along the way based on speed and temperature. The spreadsheet was very accurate at predicting the amount of charge I'd have remaining at each stop and the amount of charge I'd need to get to the next stop.
So now I have almost no range anxiety. The car arrives with almost exactly the amount of predicted charge based on speed and temperature.
Charging Times
The spreadsheet also predicts the time needed to charge at each Supercharger. This was quite accurate as well - when you are using a sparsely populated Supercharger.
However, I found that stops at Superchargers were almost never as quick as expected for three reasons.
Supercharger Delays
First, traffic getting to Superchargers at local malls can be brutal. There is often stop and go traffic with lots of lights. Add some time for traffic.
And once you get to the mall parking area, not all Superchargers are easy to find... You probably need to add 5 minutes just to find the Supercharger for the first time.
Second, sometimes you are sharing a Supercharger with another Tesla parked next to you. This can dramatically increase the amount of time you need to charge. This only happened to me once on this trip and once on my trip to Canada.
When I first plugged in, most of the electrons were going to the car who got there first and my car predicted really long charging times. On both trips the car predicted 2 + hours of charging time before we could leave. This causes some consternation among the folks you are traveling with.
In fact, both times the car charged much faster than predicted, with charging rates rising as the other car's charging rate tapered off. In both cases the car was ready to go about 45 minutes after arriving. But still about twice as long as it would have taken if we weren't sharing with the car next door. Charging time was quite hard to predict because most of the charging takes place during the last 10 or 15 minutes at the charger.
Third, my traveling companions are almost never ready to leave when the car is ready to go. This is especially true if there are nice shops and a wide range of eating establishments available. We had one stop with so many choices for where we could eat, my wife wanted to check them all out before deciding. The car was charged and ready to go before we started eating...
Even when everyone is back to the car at the requested time, they will usually want to get something from the trunk, or rearrange the car, or change some clothing, etc... I have come to the conclusion that I should ask passengers to arrive at the car five minutes prior to the desired time of departure to allow for this inevitable getting settled again time. It doesn't make sense to disconnect from the Supercharger till my passengers are actually buckling their seat belts.
Skipping Superchargers?
Finally, charging longer than expected at one of the Superchargers along the way, increases the state of charge at your next stop, which slows the rate of charge at your next stop. Overall charging time for the whole trip goes up, unless you can charge enough to skip one of your planned charging stops.
Skipping a planned charging stop is highly recommended as it saves a lot more time than predicted because of all the considerations mentioned above.
Lunch?
While it seems there is a Panera's or Starbucks or Pizza or maybe a Cheesecake Factory or PF Changs at many of the Supercharger locations - I've become a big fan of Whole Foods.
You can get in and out quickly and everyone can find something they are willing to eat. Simple. Fast. Relaxing. Most likely eatery where everyone can enjoy lunch before the Supercharger says it is time to go.
Range Anxiety?
The car will suggest a time to leave the charging station based on a predicted state of charge that looks adequate to reach the next supercharger, while you are charging.
But disconnect from the charger and drive a couple miles and the predicted state of charge very often declines quite precipitously. You start wondering if you are going to make it to your destination when the car reports you've lost 4 or 5% of your predicted state of charge at your destination in just the first few miles.
But have faith! My experience is that the predicted percent state of charge will come back to the original numbers (and maybe better) over the next 50 miles of driving.
It seems that the car at the start of the trip is making calculations based on the high heating or cooling load at the start of the drive or possibly the power it takes to get back up to highway speeds. It looks like it is extrapolating the wh/mile for the start of the trip and assuming that for the whole trip.
Bottom line - no range anxiety - unless the navigation system decides to re-route you.
Tesla's Navigation System
As we were driving through Pennsylvania, we got to a stretch of highway where the traffic was basically stopped for the next 10 miles due to road construction. The car's navigation system helpfully routed us off the highway onto backroads that would avoid the stopped traffic.
So we were feeling pretty smart when we took the exit and were enjoying the back country drive - until we got back to the on ramp for the highway - only to find it closed due to construction. So we sat at the closed on ramp, looked at the map and found another back country route that would take us up to the next exit. Again feeling pretty good about our large map that could help us make that call.
But we arrived up at the next exit - and it was closed as well. So we had to drive back the way we came and then turn around and get back on the highway with all the stopped cars... meanwhile watching about 6 or 7% of our projected state of charge at our destination disappear.
I plan my trips between Superchargers with a 50 mile reserve, so we pulled into that Supercharger with about 20 miles of range left, probably the lowest I've let the car go since I've been driving it.
It would have been much better to ignore the navigation system and just stay of the main highway - along with everyone else who didn't have the advantage of a large moving map in their car. Especially on a trip where you only have enough charge to get to the next Supercharger with a bit of reserve.
Destination Charging
I employed four different strategies for stopping in locations without Superchargers.
No charging
At our first stop, we were visiting family for just one night. I charged enough at the last Supercharger before arriving to give me enough range to drive my relatives to dinner that evening and to breakfast in the morning and still have enough charge on board to make it with plenty of reserve to the next Supercharger.
This strategy is highly recommended if you can pull it off. No fuss. My relatives were quite impressed the car didn't need to be charged.
Plugging in to the wall
At our next stop, we were visiting family for several days - and my relatives let me park the Tesla in their garage and parked their car in the driveway. All I can say is that I've been spoiled by Superchargers and my HPWC. I was quite taken aback when I plugged in and the car said more than 24 hours to charge. That was a vast understatement - it turns out it was going to take more than 40 hours to charge back to 90%!
I drove my relatives around the Skyline Drive (absolutely beautiful and wonderful with the windows down and the roof open!) but those 75 miles added another day of charging in my relative's garage.
Level 2 Charging
I've stayed overnight now several times in places that did not have any way to charge. But in all of those cases, there was a Level 2 Charger a few blocks away. (Thank you PlugShare for helping me find the chargers!)
At the end of the day - I'd drive the car over to the charger - plug it in to charge overnight and then take a ten minute walk back to where we were staying. I'm an early riser - typically getting up an hour or two before my wife. So in the morning, I'd walk back over to the car and drive it back to where we were staying before she'd even woken up. I actually found those walks to be very refreshing and an excellent way to start and end my day. Especially in Ithaca where I was walking on bridges over beautiful waterfalls!
In Ithaca those chargers were free. In Canada, I signed up for a $10 Hydro-Quebec charge card before the trip and returned home with half of that amount still on the card. When I got the credit card bill - I found out that I had paid $10 Canadian for the card - which worked out to $7.70 US. So I fully charged the car twice in Quebec City for less than $4 and in Ithaca 4 times for free!
Destination Charger
Coming back to Massachusetts from Canada through the White Mountains - we stayed at a Bed and Breakfast with a Tesla Destination Charger - a 40A HPWC.
We arrived with less than 50 miles left - set the car to charge to 90% and 6 hours later we were charged to 90%. It was a very cold night in the teens or 20s. When we were eating breakfast in the morning - I set the charge limit to 100% and turned the heater on.
When we got out to the car - it was covered in a thick layer of frost - except for the windows - which were crystal clear. The interior of the car was a toasty 70 degrees. Now this is living!
Range Planning
I created a spreadsheet to do trip planning. It estimates the driving time and the time to charge at Superchargers along the way based on speed and temperature. The spreadsheet was very accurate at predicting the amount of charge I'd have remaining at each stop and the amount of charge I'd need to get to the next stop.
So now I have almost no range anxiety. The car arrives with almost exactly the amount of predicted charge based on speed and temperature.
Charging Times
The spreadsheet also predicts the time needed to charge at each Supercharger. This was quite accurate as well - when you are using a sparsely populated Supercharger.
However, I found that stops at Superchargers were almost never as quick as expected for three reasons.
Supercharger Delays
First, traffic getting to Superchargers at local malls can be brutal. There is often stop and go traffic with lots of lights. Add some time for traffic.
And once you get to the mall parking area, not all Superchargers are easy to find... You probably need to add 5 minutes just to find the Supercharger for the first time.
Second, sometimes you are sharing a Supercharger with another Tesla parked next to you. This can dramatically increase the amount of time you need to charge. This only happened to me once on this trip and once on my trip to Canada.
When I first plugged in, most of the electrons were going to the car who got there first and my car predicted really long charging times. On both trips the car predicted 2 + hours of charging time before we could leave. This causes some consternation among the folks you are traveling with.
In fact, both times the car charged much faster than predicted, with charging rates rising as the other car's charging rate tapered off. In both cases the car was ready to go about 45 minutes after arriving. But still about twice as long as it would have taken if we weren't sharing with the car next door. Charging time was quite hard to predict because most of the charging takes place during the last 10 or 15 minutes at the charger.
Third, my traveling companions are almost never ready to leave when the car is ready to go. This is especially true if there are nice shops and a wide range of eating establishments available. We had one stop with so many choices for where we could eat, my wife wanted to check them all out before deciding. The car was charged and ready to go before we started eating...
Even when everyone is back to the car at the requested time, they will usually want to get something from the trunk, or rearrange the car, or change some clothing, etc... I have come to the conclusion that I should ask passengers to arrive at the car five minutes prior to the desired time of departure to allow for this inevitable getting settled again time. It doesn't make sense to disconnect from the Supercharger till my passengers are actually buckling their seat belts.
Skipping Superchargers?
Finally, charging longer than expected at one of the Superchargers along the way, increases the state of charge at your next stop, which slows the rate of charge at your next stop. Overall charging time for the whole trip goes up, unless you can charge enough to skip one of your planned charging stops.
Skipping a planned charging stop is highly recommended as it saves a lot more time than predicted because of all the considerations mentioned above.
Lunch?
While it seems there is a Panera's or Starbucks or Pizza or maybe a Cheesecake Factory or PF Changs at many of the Supercharger locations - I've become a big fan of Whole Foods.
You can get in and out quickly and everyone can find something they are willing to eat. Simple. Fast. Relaxing. Most likely eatery where everyone can enjoy lunch before the Supercharger says it is time to go.
Range Anxiety?
The car will suggest a time to leave the charging station based on a predicted state of charge that looks adequate to reach the next supercharger, while you are charging.
But disconnect from the charger and drive a couple miles and the predicted state of charge very often declines quite precipitously. You start wondering if you are going to make it to your destination when the car reports you've lost 4 or 5% of your predicted state of charge at your destination in just the first few miles.
But have faith! My experience is that the predicted percent state of charge will come back to the original numbers (and maybe better) over the next 50 miles of driving.
It seems that the car at the start of the trip is making calculations based on the high heating or cooling load at the start of the drive or possibly the power it takes to get back up to highway speeds. It looks like it is extrapolating the wh/mile for the start of the trip and assuming that for the whole trip.
Bottom line - no range anxiety - unless the navigation system decides to re-route you.
Tesla's Navigation System
As we were driving through Pennsylvania, we got to a stretch of highway where the traffic was basically stopped for the next 10 miles due to road construction. The car's navigation system helpfully routed us off the highway onto backroads that would avoid the stopped traffic.
So we were feeling pretty smart when we took the exit and were enjoying the back country drive - until we got back to the on ramp for the highway - only to find it closed due to construction. So we sat at the closed on ramp, looked at the map and found another back country route that would take us up to the next exit. Again feeling pretty good about our large map that could help us make that call.
But we arrived up at the next exit - and it was closed as well. So we had to drive back the way we came and then turn around and get back on the highway with all the stopped cars... meanwhile watching about 6 or 7% of our projected state of charge at our destination disappear.
I plan my trips between Superchargers with a 50 mile reserve, so we pulled into that Supercharger with about 20 miles of range left, probably the lowest I've let the car go since I've been driving it.
It would have been much better to ignore the navigation system and just stay of the main highway - along with everyone else who didn't have the advantage of a large moving map in their car. Especially on a trip where you only have enough charge to get to the next Supercharger with a bit of reserve.
Destination Charging
I employed four different strategies for stopping in locations without Superchargers.
No charging
At our first stop, we were visiting family for just one night. I charged enough at the last Supercharger before arriving to give me enough range to drive my relatives to dinner that evening and to breakfast in the morning and still have enough charge on board to make it with plenty of reserve to the next Supercharger.
This strategy is highly recommended if you can pull it off. No fuss. My relatives were quite impressed the car didn't need to be charged.
Plugging in to the wall
At our next stop, we were visiting family for several days - and my relatives let me park the Tesla in their garage and parked their car in the driveway. All I can say is that I've been spoiled by Superchargers and my HPWC. I was quite taken aback when I plugged in and the car said more than 24 hours to charge. That was a vast understatement - it turns out it was going to take more than 40 hours to charge back to 90%!
I drove my relatives around the Skyline Drive (absolutely beautiful and wonderful with the windows down and the roof open!) but those 75 miles added another day of charging in my relative's garage.
Level 2 Charging
I've stayed overnight now several times in places that did not have any way to charge. But in all of those cases, there was a Level 2 Charger a few blocks away. (Thank you PlugShare for helping me find the chargers!)
At the end of the day - I'd drive the car over to the charger - plug it in to charge overnight and then take a ten minute walk back to where we were staying. I'm an early riser - typically getting up an hour or two before my wife. So in the morning, I'd walk back over to the car and drive it back to where we were staying before she'd even woken up. I actually found those walks to be very refreshing and an excellent way to start and end my day. Especially in Ithaca where I was walking on bridges over beautiful waterfalls!
In Ithaca those chargers were free. In Canada, I signed up for a $10 Hydro-Quebec charge card before the trip and returned home with half of that amount still on the card. When I got the credit card bill - I found out that I had paid $10 Canadian for the card - which worked out to $7.70 US. So I fully charged the car twice in Quebec City for less than $4 and in Ithaca 4 times for free!
Destination Charger
Coming back to Massachusetts from Canada through the White Mountains - we stayed at a Bed and Breakfast with a Tesla Destination Charger - a 40A HPWC.
We arrived with less than 50 miles left - set the car to charge to 90% and 6 hours later we were charged to 90%. It was a very cold night in the teens or 20s. When we were eating breakfast in the morning - I set the charge limit to 100% and turned the heater on.
When we got out to the car - it was covered in a thick layer of frost - except for the windows - which were crystal clear. The interior of the car was a toasty 70 degrees. Now this is living!
