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Road Trip Tips

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I am in the process of purchasing a 2014 P85D. I am planning on picking up the car tomorrow in the Cleveland area, and will be driving home early morning Saturday to the Milwaukee area. This will be my first Tesla, and by the time all the papers are signed, and I pick up the car it will be late Friday night, and I need to be back in Milwaukee very early afternoon on Saturday. It is about a 450 mile trip, so I will not have much time at all to get to know the car, and learn much about it at all before I start on the road. The temps will be in the upper 20s most likely, so that will also factor in the range of the car. I am planning on staying at a hotel that has "destination charging", that is located about 80 miles from where I am buying the car. I will request that battery be charged up before I get there to make the purchase, so I have plenty of juice to get to the hotel, even with the cold soaked battery and everything. Other than putting my final destination into the nav and having it point out the charging stations for me, is there anything that I need to know to make this trip a success? I am a little concerned with the cold weather range, only because I don't know what I am doing. There shouldn't be any snow, and I know that if I do slow down some that will help extend the range if there are any stations far apart. It looks like most charging stations along the way are about 100 miles apart, so it really shouldn't be a problem at all, even if not done optimally.

Are there any "quick tips" or words of advice, or things that I should know before taking this trip? I'm an engineer, so typically the type of person who reads the manual from cover to cover to know all the features intimately, does a ton of research, and over analyses everything, but there isn't time for that before this happens! :)

Thanks for all the suggestions and any comments you might have!!
-Derron
 
Congrats! :)

A better route planner can help you to simulate your route before you even get the car. Plug in your model, max speed you intend to drive with and other parameters to make it more accurate. Since it is winter, you will get an extra hit on the available range so keep that in mind when calculating the trip.

PlugShare is another great app to check out L2 and Destination Chargers around.

Good luck and enjoy the experience!
 
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While you don't expect snow, you might double-check what tires you have just in case. I'm one of those people who avoids driving in wintry weather like the plague, so maybe not the best person to be giving advice, but the last thing you want on your maiden voyage is to go sliding off into a ditch somewhere.

Everybody does like ABRP, and it is a good option if you are unwilling to pay for a planner that automatically accounts for weather along the route. EV Trip Optimizer is a wonderful phone app and does a much better job, and has lots of options that will appeal to your engineering side. It isn't free, but it IS worth the cost.

There are several threads on road trip tips you might peruse. One of the best was just published as a blog entry on this site.
 
One other thing about cold weather (not from personal experience; I live in California) but lotsa folks from wintry climes say that using cabin heat while driving really saps range unlike using the heat in an ICE that is a byproduct of combustion.

You can preheat your car while it is plugged in to the destination charger before departing in the morning. It is my understanding that the car will use the current coming from the wall instead of the traction battery for this. Use the bun warmers in the seats, and wear a heavier jacket while driving.

I am not familiar with the Superchargers along your route. You may be able to go station-to-station and use the cabin heat without incident.

But you should be aware that the cold combined with using the cabin heater can reduce range significantly. Perhaps one of the more experienced individuals on here can give you more precise information.

Enjoy your new ride! You will not go back to an ICE car again. :)
 
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I know much of your route well. From cleveland to Milwaukee superchargers are easy to get to. the one in Maumee, OH will be the first one you hit. Charging is the quickest between 20-80%, dont try to "fill up" at the superchargers, on this route, you shouldnt need much more then a bunch of short stops that are all pretty close to the highway.
Your path to travel is incredibly easy driving!
 
Thank you for the information, everyone! Does the car automatically warm the battery while it is charging at the supercharger, or do I need to enable it via the touch screen?
It does it automatically (there's no manual option to pre-warm battery). In extreme temperatures you might observe that it takes a while to start charging, this is normal if battery is cold.
 
The battery management system controls the temperature of the cells, if I understand things correctly. Reports show that if one charges first thing in the morning at a very low temperature (just how low, I am not sure), the battery management system trickles the charge to warm the battery in order to receive the maximum rate for the current state of charge of the battery.

Put another way, it will take much longer to go from 20%-80% when it is -5 degrees than when it is 75 degrees.

Some people advocate charging upon arrival when the battery is warm. Unplug at your desired state of charge and move. Then, move back in the morning and charge again while heating the cabin as you get ready in your room for departure.

This may only apply to Supercharging. Destination charging at lower amperes might be different. Remember, I am from California! :)
 
I suggest when you are at a Supercharger, let it charge until the NAV says you will have at least 20% remaining at your next charging stop. In warm weather you can get away with less, but my experience is that the guesstimator doesn't handle cold weather very well.
 
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Thank you, everybody! Picked the car up late Friday night, drove to a Motel 6 with a complementary charging station about an hour away from where I got it, and charged it up overnight there while getting about 5-6 hours sleep. The ride home was a piece of cake. I averaged about 185-190 miles per full charge using some rough math (calculated charged percentages used and miles driven). It helped that most of the drive was warmer than I was expecting, mid to upper 30s instead of 20s, and also the sun was out, helping the car keep the cabin warm. I had the interior temp set to the mid to low 70s, and set the cruise at about 78 most of the way home. Also, Autopilot (version 1) is awesome!! :)