San Diego to Las Vegas

[WhtLighting21]

Newbie here, so please be gentle...

I have the long range Model Y. I am super excited to be taking my first road trip! We will be leaving from San Diego and driving to Las Vegas in a couple of weeks. I've had my White Lighting since December, 2021 and still have charge anxiety. Only charging to 80% nightly.

But thought what the heck, lets take a road trip and break this charge anxiety...I have used the Tesla site for showing where I will need to stop for charging in Yermo...so no biggie...my question is this, am I to charge to 100% prior to leaving, then leave it at 100% charging until I get back home and change it back to 80%?

May thanks!

 

[GregW]

Made that drive many times. Charge to 90-95%, at night then shoot for close to 100% right before leaving. I'd SC at Barstow, Starbucks close buy. Yermo is BORING. Don't bother to charge to 100% at any SC, the last 10% takes forever, 90% is fine. Lots of SC's in Vegas now, if concerned, get a quick charge in Primm and use McDonald's bathroom. Skip the South Vegas SC, crowded and too hard to get on and off the freeway.

 

[WhtLighting21]

Made that drive many times. Charge to 90-95%, at night then shoot for close to 100% right before leaving. I'd SC at Barstow, Starbucks close buy. Yermo is BORING. Don't bother to charge to 100% at any SC, the last 10% takes forever, 90% is fine. Lots of SC's in Vegas now, if concerned, get a quick charge in Primm and use McDonald's bathroom. Skip the South Vegas SC, crowded and too hard to get on and off the freeway.

Thank you so much!!! Will use this charging advice for our trip!!! : )

 

[jcanoe]

That is a heavily traveled route, good to get advice from other Tesla owners who have driven from San Diego to Las Vegas. If you have not done so this would be a good time to install A Better Route Planner (ABRP) on your phone, also available on the web.

ABRP will provide recommended charging stops along a route. You can customize ABRP settings for vehicle type, preferred highway speed, departure state of charge, Supercharger arrival state of charge and destination state of charge. ABRP can display a table of charging stops showing travel time, charging session duration and estimated cost for each charging stop, total travel time and cost. You can customize ABRP for fewer or more frequent charging stops depending on your preference. ABRP can also factor in variables including local traffic conditions in populated areas, wind, road conditions (wet/dry), temperature as well as elevation changes.

 

[WhtLighting21]

That is a heavily traveled route, good to get advice from other Tesla owners who have driven from San Diego to Las Vegas. If you have not done so this would be a good time to install A Better Route Planner (ABRP) on your phone, also available on the web.

ABRP will provide recommended charging stops along a route. You can customize ABRP settings for vehicle type, preferred highway speed, departure state of charge, Supercharger arrival state of charge and destination state of charge. ABRP can display a table of charging stops showing travel time, charging session duration and estimated cost for each charging stop, total travel time and cost. You can customize ABRP for fewer or more frequent charging stops depending on your preference. ABRP can also factor in variables including local traffic conditions in populated areas, wind, road conditions (wet/dry), temperature as well as elevation changes.

Thank you for this information. I didn't even know this app existed. Great information... : )

 

[smilepak]

Newbie here, so please be gentle...

I have the long range Model Y. I am super excited to be taking my first road trip! We will be leaving from San Diego and driving to Las Vegas in a couple of weeks. I've had my White Lighting since December, 2021 and still have charge anxiety. Only charging to 80% nightly.

But thought what the heck, lets take a road trip and break this charge anxiety...I have used the Tesla site for showing where I will need to stop for charging in Yermo...so no biggie...my question is this, am I to charge to 100% prior to leaving, then leave it at 100% charging until I get back home and change it back to 80%?

May thanks!

I’ve driven to LV numerous time on my MS with only 220 miles range. Very doable. Stopped at Yermo, then Primm, then charge in LV at the hotels or the SC around there by Linq.

Prefer Yermo over the much larger Baker for the nice A/C indoor seating area and very clean Restrooms.

But have stopped at Baker a lot of times too.

In LV, use the SC behind Linq Hotel. Or free L2 charging at other hotels at night like the Venetian or Aria.

Barstow, Ive stopped there a few times but don’t do it at night.




Enjoy your trip.

 

[WhtLighting21]

Thank you so much…really appreciate everyone’s comments & recommendations…

 

[cpa]

From an old, well, just say it rhymes with art:

Supercharging planning is important, and you are keenly aware of this. That said, there are secondary considerations for determining your charging stops. With your newer vehicle, charging speeds will be robust, and the total time plugged in could be as short as 15-20 minutes, depending upon your schedule.

My questions to you include the following: Are you going solo, or with a friend/spouse who wants to get to Vegas as quickly as practicable? Are you traveling with children of various ages who might like to stop more frequently for their purposes? Are you traveling at a busy time of day or not? Do you want to eat en route?

If speed is your objective, then by all means leave home with 90%+ and then determine your first stop based upon conveniences you desire. Maybe Hesperia is a better fit than Barstow. Then determine if you will need to charge at Primm (not the best spot but better than slogging through Vegas) or for a 10-minute blast in Baker and bypassing Primm.

On the other hand, if traveling with kids, Eddie's World at Yermo is probably more to their suiting. And certainly you could reach Vegas comfortably if you leave Yermo with 90%.

My apologies when it comes to your range for your Tesla. I don't keep up with all the variations. I would suspect that if speed is your goal, then one 30-minute stop in Barstow or Yermo would suffice if you leave with close to 100%. But if you have other considerations, it might be more prudent to take advantage of the much faster charging speeds when the battery is under 30% and perhaps stop twice en route. Maybe once for a break for a coffee or snack, and a second time to stretch and take care of any personal needs.

 

[WhtLighting21]

Wow!!! So much valuable information…tons of thanks…

FYI…going with my Mom for a girls weekend…going at a relaxing pace…

 

[Rocky_H]

am I to charge to 100% prior to leaving, then leave it at 100% charging until I get back home and change it back to 80%?

Yes.

Don't bother to charge to 100% at any SC, the last 10% takes forever, 90% is fine.

This is right, but is an answer to a different question.

When traveling, don't try to move that limit down to set how much charging you get. Just keep it pegged all the way at the top. You don't want to set that down at 80%, and then it stops, and starts charging you idle fees because you're not back from lunch yet. That would be wasting the time while you are walking back to the car. But also, don't try to actually fill up to 100%. You can leave when it shows you have a decent arrival % for the next leg of the trip you will be driving.

 

[iamnid]

Become acquainted with how to view the map and the superchargers along the way. The red dot and the number in the center will tell you how many stalls are available. I've done the trip to Vegas a few times in the Tesla. I've seen the Yermo SC get full a few times. On my last trip (thanksgiving weekend) there was a line at the Yermo SC but I could make it to Baker (which is what I did)... I knew that I'd have better luck at Baker as it was showing 20+ available stalls while Yermo was maxed.

AVOID the SC at the Linq in Vegas. This is a HUGE charger station and will seem enticing; however, they charged me $25 just to get in the lot last time. A year ago, they did not charge if you were there less than an hour -- that 1 hour grace period was gone. There are plenty of other places to charge in the Las Vegas area and, if you're lucky, you might find a free or Level 2 charger you can use at your hotel/casino.

Do not wait for your car to charge up to 100% or even 90% at the SC -- there's no point and the car charges a LOT more slowly after 60%. Keep your final destination entered at the car will tell you when you are safe to depart. You'll save yourself more time if you do 2-3 short charges along the way as opposed to trying to do 1-2 long charges. Try to arrive at the SC with a lower state of charge (20-40%) for optimal charging speed.

 

[WhtLighting21]

Thank you so much…

 

[smilepak]

Become acquainted with how to view the map and the superchargers along the way. The red dot and the number in the center will tell you how many stalls are available. I've done the trip to Vegas a few times in the Tesla. I've seen the Yermo SC get full a few times. On my last trip (thanksgiving weekend) there was a line at the Yermo SC but I could make it to Baker (which is what I did)... I knew that I'd have better luck at Baker as it was showing 20+ available stalls while Yermo was maxed.

AVOID the SC at the Linq in Vegas. This is a HUGE charger station and will seem enticing; however, they charged me $25 just to get in the lot last time. A year ago, they did not charge if you were there less than an hour -- that 1 hour grace period was gone. There are plenty of other places to charge in the Las Vegas area and, if you're lucky, you might find a free or Level 2 charger you can use at your hotel/casino.

Do not wait for your car to charge up to 100% or even 90% at the SC -- there's no point and the car charges a LOT more slowly after 60%. Keep your final destination entered at the car will tell you when you are safe to depart. You'll save yourself more time if you do 2-3 short charges along the way as opposed to trying to do 1-2 long charges. Try to arrive at the SC with a lower state of charge (20-40%) for optimal charging speed.

Did that recently changed at the Linq? I was there last Oct and charged with no issue. In and out under an hour.

 

[iamnid]

Did that recently changed at the Linq? I was there last Oct and charged with no issue. In and out under an hour.

It's unclear based on recent Google reviews. Some say they were charged and others not. I most certainly was.

 

[ccwilli3]

good details here, thanks all! I am making this SoCal to LV trip with my daughter in a few days and all of this input is very good to know for us.

 

[chadol]

I just came back from my 1st road trip MYLR, SF bay area-LV via Irvine.
7 charging stops, 1300 mi.
I maintained charge at 20-80%.
I agree with others: no point of charging to 90-100% unless there are specific reasons to do so (e.g., when I expect charge will drop below 20% at the next stop).

Linq SC was OK: be sure to get the key pad code to enter and make sure you stay there less than 1 hr.
The hotel parking lot security guard didn't know where about SC is located. Instead he directed me to valet parking.
I disregarded his instruction and made my way to the SC using the map. Nice 250 kW stalls.

Also, prepare windshield cleaner such as Invisible glass and window cleaning squeeze tool. You will need them.
Have a safe trip.