Road trips in MS 85

[FlyinLow]

Road trip experiences seem to be scattered throughout the forums, so I guess I’ll park mine here. Maybe others can see what I did and do better or get an idea of what worked for me.

This first post will show a trip from NJ to Western PA. This was my first time driving a MS outside one test drive. I bought this one used from a TMC member and used techniques, recommendations and tools I found here. I flew out to NJ to look at the car after a thorough discussion with the owner.

It was cold, about 21F when I finished the bill of sale and we got off the phone with the banks. Light snow was in the forecast and I was looking at 50% charge to start the trip.

I used EV Trip Planner to get an idea what the trip would look like since my confidence in the nav and SC planning in the car was not established.



The in car nav and charging planner work nicely and mirrored EV TP.

I leaned AP1 during my time on the multi lane freeways while getting a feel for single pedal driving on the non-freeway portions. What a fantastic way to get comfortable.

The whole trip was done utilizing the SC network. I kept a 15% buffer initially and would let that taper to 10% as I got over half way to the next charge stop.

 

[Rocky_H]

Ah, yours is a late 2014 with AP1. Mine is a March 2014 without AP of any kind. I just did a 5,332 mile road trip a few weeks ago, and loved it.

 

[Galve2000]

So many SCers along 76 and 80.. it's a thing of beauty.

anyone remember not too long ago when PA was a SCer desert?

 

[FlyinLow]

A week after I picked up my MS I went from Pittsburgh PA to Raleigh NC and back via the SC network. I was usually the only one at each charger.
I did meet a couple driving an X on my way home that wanted to talk and charge.

There was one 3 hour stretch were I was so happy I had the 85KWh battery. A few days after I returned another SC was opened in Beckley, WV on that stretch so there’s no more worrying for the 60 drivers. No more slowing to 55 mph in the mountains.



One of the SC sites was on the backside of an outdoor mall, but the nav brought me right to it.



Lots of signs. I wonder if ICE drivers read them?



I charged only the amount needed and arrived refreshed and ready to keep going. Trust the nav but have an app like PlugShare and/or ChargeHub to be aware of other charging options should there be an unavoidable delay.

 

[FlyinLow]

So many SCers along 76 and 80.. it's a thing of beauty.

anyone remember not too long ago when PA was a SCer desert?

I feel so fortunate to have SC so many places now.

 

[FlyinLow]

We headed East this time along I-80 for a smooth and carefree ride. AP1 was in use as much as was safe. All highway miles were on AP. I used the EV Trip Planner tool to plan the trip with car load, temperature and starting state of charge, etc.



On the way back the nav system re-routed us around a bad accident. We confirmed the issue in Waze and were happy that the promised nav improvements are trickling in.

This trip was to pick up my wife’s new black German Shepherd puppy. We love our dogs and have a seven year old Chocolate Lab. They will both ride in the back of the S on the CanvasBack and dog bed.





Loved stopping every 1.5 hours to walk the dog and myself. Dogs love the smooth quiet ride of a Tesla.

 

[FlyinLow]

Fellow road trippers...I’m about to embark on another trip. PA to NC via in car nav and the SuC network.

For the sake of the group does anyone have any requests they’d like me to try? I’ll be utilizing AP1 in a 14 MS 85 solo.

Let me know and I’ll report back here.

EVTO-TESLA reports that the trip will take 8:47 driving and 1:33 charging. I get similar results with EVTripPlanner. There are other planning tools out there too.

 

[FlyinLow]

I’m rolling on a set of new tires on my 19” rims. After much research I went with the Bridgestone Turanza Serenity Plus Eco tires (low rolling resistance). I’m running them at Tesla’s recommended tire pressure of 45 psi. With rotations every 5k miles they are warranted to 50k miles.

These tires have less perceivable road noise than the Goodyear Eagle A2s though I didn’t measure with a dB meter. The road trip should be even less stressful with the reduction in road noise.

 

[Darmie]

Digging the new tread.

We did a 3,900 mile road trip over last December. Left Louisiana heading towards Rhode Island. Then over to Ohio, back down to LA. Going through the Poconos was rather interesting, at night, using approx 450 give or take watt hours per mile. Went to see grand children. Called it our Grand Tour. Had 5 travel days. Day one was over 1,000 miles.
A few video's if you care. They're kind of cheese..

 

[FlyinLow]

The trip from PA to NC was interesting. This is my first year owning a MS and I’m impressed at the increase in efficiency as the weather warms up.



From the pictures you’ll see I’m skipping SuCs compared to my trip in February. The new map/Nav worked well for me in this mostly rural setting.



In the end the trip went as planned in the car Nav, no surprises. The new Mt. Hope SuC worked flawlessly. I skipped several SuC that I’ve used in the past because the Mt. Hope location was well placed in the hills. I drove most of the trip at 65 to 70 mph, going the speed limit. No tickets! PA, WV, VA and NC have electric road tripping via the SuC network “wired.” He he



I drove all the freeway using AP1. Activating AP while on the on ramp worked well, but exiting the freeway was best done with AP1 disengaged.



The drive through the Appalachian Mountains was therapudic and I arrived well rested in Raleigh, NC. I felt good enough to fly with a friend to Sun N Fun (Lakeland, FL) the same day in his small private plane.

I hope these posts are useful for those experiencing the bliss of EV road tripping. Thank you to all the true early adopters that provided funding capital to make all this possible!

 

[kiwi]

You guys are so lucky. We have 3 SC in our whole country (New Zealand), so most of my charging is actually done on Chademo (which we have plenty of) at 40-50KW.

I did a road trip recently that went right down the middle of the north island and got to use 2 of the 3 SCs. I felt so spoiled with super fast charging.

 

[TaoJones]

Well, let’s see... these come to mind:

SoCal to Vermont by way of Chicago, back to Chicago for a conference, through the remnants of a hurricane - excellent BBQ in Rocky Top, TN, down to Key West, and then back to SoCal was a fun month on the road.

VT to SoCal in 4 days by way of Vegas was nifty - that was in a 90D though.

SoCal to VT to Bar Harbor, Maine to Hilton Head Island (SC) to Yellowstone (WY/MT) by way of the Makers Mark distillery in Kentucky and back to SoCal was spectacular.

SoCal to Kamloops for their stellar August car show (with new Electric Avenue, at which there were 31 EVs last year out of 545 vehicles total), over to the newly-opened Edmonton, Alberta SC, onward 125 miles northwest of that and then back to SoCal for 36 hours then up to Idaho for the eclipse and back to SoCal was fun.

Can’t forget SoCal to Custer, South Dakota (3x) by way of the 11,300’ pass in Colorado for the annual Sound of Silence rally.

98% of the above was done via SCs.

Of course there’s yet more to do - as soon as the logistics* get handled, we’re 1 SC and a decent Mexican car insurance policy from doing the Acapulco run by way of Mexico City.

And then there’s Alaska once the SCs get there, despite the ferry being available now and a fellow having already done the Tijuana to Alaska run *old school* in 2013.

* there is that one additional detail about Tesla warranty coverage if one’s chariot ventures into Mexico. Odd since there are SCs there, but it is what it is. Also if one has financed their chariot, there may be caveats in that paperwork as well.

 

[CarolynM]

Well, let’s see... these come to mind:

SoCal to Vermont by way of Chicago, back to Chicago for a conference, through the remnants of a hurricane - excellent BBQ in Rocky Top, TN, down to Key West, and then back to SoCal was a fun month on the road.

VT to SoCal in 4 days by way of Vegas was nifty - that was in a 90D though.

SoCal to VT to Bar Harbor, Maine to Hilton Head Island (SC) to Yellowstone (WY/MT) by way of the Makers Mark distillery in Kentucky and back to SoCal was spectacular.

SoCal to Kamloops for their stellar August car show (with new Electric Avenue, at which there were 31 EVs last year out of 545 vehicles total), over to the newly-opened Edmonton, Alberta SC, onward 125 miles northwest of that and then back to SoCal for 36 hours then up to Idaho for the eclipse and back to SoCal was fun.

Can’t forget SoCal to Custer, South Dakota (3x) by way of the 11,300’ pass in Colorado for the annual Sound of Silence rally.

98% of the above was done via SCs.

Of course there’s yet more to do - as soon as the logistics* get handled, we’re 1 SC and a decent Mexican car insurance policy from doing the Acapulco run by way of Mexico City.

And then there’s Alaska once the SCs get there, despite the ferry being available now and a fellow having already done the Tijuana to Alaska run *old school* in 2013.

* there is that one additional detail about Tesla warranty coverage if one’s chariot ventures into Mexico. Odd since there are SCs there, but it is what it is. Also if one has financed their chariot, there may be caveats in that paperwork as well.

Well, let’s see... these come to mind:

SoCal to Vermont by way of Chicago, back to Chicago for a conference, through the remnants of a hurricane - excellent BBQ in Rocky Top, TN, down to Key West, and then back to SoCal was a fun month on the road.

VT to SoCal in 4 days by way of Vegas was nifty - that was in a 90D though.

SoCal to VT to Bar Harbor, Maine to Hilton Head Island (SC) to Yellowstone (WY/MT) by way of the Makers Mark distillery in Kentucky and back to SoCal was spectacular.

SoCal to Kamloops for their stellar August car show (with new Electric Avenue, at which there were 31 EVs last year out of 545 vehicles total), over to the newly-opened Edmonton, Alberta SC, onward 125 miles northwest of that and then back to SoCal for 36 hours then up to Idaho for the eclipse and back to SoCal was fun.

Can’t forget SoCal to Custer, South Dakota (3x) by way of the 11,300’ pass in Colorado for the annual Sound of Silence rally.

98% of the above was done via SCs.

Of course there’s yet more to do - as soon as the logistics* get handled, we’re 1 SC and a decent Mexican car insurance policy from doing the Acapulco run by way of Mexico City.

And then there’s Alaska once the SCs get there, despite the ferry being available now and a fellow having already done the Tijuana to Alaska run *old school* in 2013.

* there is that one additional detail about Tesla warranty coverage if one’s chariot ventures into Mexico. Odd since there are SCs there, but it is what it is. Also if one has financed their chariot, there may be caveats in that paperwork as well.

Wow that was a fun read! I have always wanted to do a long trip since I got my car in November 2014 and recently the opportunity presented itself when my granddaughter moved to southern Oregon and I decided to drive out to visit her from the suburbs of Philadelphia. Using the EV Trip Planner, it came up with a route that runs almost in a straight line across the US. I don't want it to be a "forced march" and want to be able to stop for the night at hotels near superchargers when I want taking maybe 10 days. My car has a 60 battery and I will be charging at over 30 SCs. There is a SC conveniently located near her home in Grants Pass OR. (I even thought of driving down to Fremont on my way home and visit the factory, but I believe it's shut down while they are gearing up to produce more Model 3s. I am a little apprehensive about doing this trip alone, but you certainly answered some of the questions in my mind. I did a Tesla Road Trip from Philly to Williamsburg, VA and decided if I survived bumper to bumper traffic on 95 and the beltways around Baltimore and Washington DC, I can drive across the open plains of the US.

 

[FlyinLow]

Excellent! Road tripping is now much easier in 2018 than it has ever been. Definitely use all the tools available.

Check PlugShare and ChargeHub to find destination chargers. No need to supercharge near a hotel of a destination charger is nearby or on hotel property.

Some hotels even have Tesla wall chargers. You’ll see “wall” on the PlugShare listing. Call ahead to make sure they are working.

Enjoy electric road tripping. I know I do!

 

[FlyinLow]

Next adventure...W PA to Muncie, IN.

Going out during the Indy 500 to see friends this coming Memorial Day.

Using EVTO-TESLA I planned my route to see what to expect. I could have used EVTripPlanner or other planning software. I do this separately from the in-car nav as a sanity check to ensure success.



Next I check my destination on apps like PlugShare to make sure I know where to charge while I’m there. It looks like there’s a J1772, two plugs, in the Mariott parking garage.





With a negative comment on PlugShare and no recent check-in I called them to make sure the chargers are in service before booking a room for the weekend. All is well.



I’ll be sure to check in on PlugShare and ChargeHub to update the status once I’m there and successfully charging. This will help the next guest.

Other options include other ChargeHub or PlugShare participants in the local area as a back up.





As usual, any requests for info or questions, wisdom to add etc is welcomed discussion. Thank you to those who have shared their adventures as well. Get out there...as you can see, two or three SuC stops is quite the distance in an 85.

Have fun EV road tripping!

 

[CarolynM]

Next adventure...W PA to Muncie, IN.

Going out during the Indy 500 to see friends this coming Memorial Day.

Using EVTO-TESLA I planned my route to see what to expect. I could have used EVTripPlanner or other planning software. I do this separately from the in-car nav as a sanity check to ensure success.

View attachment 296591

Next I check my destination on apps like PlugShare to make sure I know where to charge while I’m there. It looks like there’s a J1772, two plugs, in the Mariott parking garage.

View attachment 296588

View attachment 296589

With a negative comment on PlugShare and no recent check-in I called them to make sure the chargers are in service before booking a room for the weekend. All is well.

View attachment 296590

I’ll be sure to check in on PlugShare and ChargeHub to update the status once I’m there and successfully charging. This will help the next guest.

Other options include other ChargeHub or PlugShare participants in the local area as a back up.

View attachment 296592

View attachment 296593

As usual, any requests for info or questions, wisdom to add etc is welcomed discussion. Thank you to those who have shared their adventures as well. Get out there...as you can see, two or three SuC stops is quite the distance in an 85.

Have fun EV road tripping!

Thanks for good advice!

 

[FlyinLow]

Bringing the family on this road trip to Indiana to see friends. Western PA to Muncie, IN.

What I’ve found is that stops two hours apart at SuCs are perfect for kids. The car is ready before we are. 20 min charges are just too fast! LOL

Everyone loves the smooth quiet Tesla. Tons of room in the Model S frunk and trunk for a family of five on a five day trip. Chairs. Hats. Etc.

 

[FlyinLow]

Our hotel had a parking garage with two destination chargers. Three nights the other stall was empty. On the last night a Volvo Plug In Hybrid was parked next to us.

We are in the easy days of EV ownership. Plentiful charging options and no real competition for the available resources. Some day not to long from now these free destination chargers will always be full.

True early adopters had to get creative and search for charging solutions. The ever-expanding Tesla Charging network is incredible. Our family of five is having fun!

 

[FlyinLow]

Next up is a road trip to Sandusky, OH to Cedar Point! Our three kids got all A’s...the reward was advertised at the beginning of the school year: a two day, three night trip to Cedar Point to ride roller coasters, visit the water park and stay on site in a cabin.

A 2-1/2 hour drive from Pittsburgh area.

One charging stop for 10 minutes to make sure we have power to drive after we arrive.



We can easily charge near our cabin in the RV Park.



The fun continues.

 

[FlyinLow]

Next up is a road trip to South Carolina to visit family near Columbia. Need to drive around a lot during the day while visiting, so I will work to make charging transparent to my family. My family just built a new house and did not put in outlets for electric car charging. I couldn't convince them since they don't drive electric cars today.

I plan on charging at the Columbia, SC SuC and plugging in regularly throughout the day where I can. Should be interesting.