Socal to Reno drive

[Lucas007]

I will be sharing my first experience long drive(roughly 400 miles one way) with our MYLR. Wife and I often take this drive from Reno to Socal back to Reno and about six months ago we moved to Socal and that is where our MYLR got delivered. Since we still own a house in Reno we decided to take the drive with the Y home and spend a week here. My real life experience in a nutshell driving the Y for roughly 400 miles just plain sucks. Yes, it sucks! Driving at a top speed of mostly 75MPH small percentage of 77MPH and with minimal use of AC simply did not impress me, I mean this is suppose to be a luxury car according to Tesla. The drive usually takes us 8 hours, but this time it took 11 long hours.

Granite I will not complain on the amount of money it cost to charge, we spend a total of $55 total in which we usually fill up at 3X @ about $80 a pop to fill up with gas. I guess you win some and you loose some, don't get me wrong it is a great car and it is an awesome commute car around Socal. That being said unless the mileage improve on these EV cars after we get back to Socal that might be our last long drive trip with an EV.

Whenever we stop at a SC I always preheat the battery for faster charge and I always charge between 95% to 100% to lessen the need to charge. Constructive criticism and tips are always welcome.

 

[jcanoe]

Did you use A Better Route Planner to plan your trip?

A Better Route Planner

 

[Lucas007]

Did you use A Better Route Planner to plan your trip?

A Better Route Planner

I did and I used the same route that we've used the last 30 years.

 

[jcanoe]

Hypothetical trip: Bakersfield, CA => Reno, NV (408 miles, 7 hours, 17 minutes (6 hours, 33 minutes total driving, 44 minutes charging):

Leave Bakersfield, CA with battery @80%
Drive 121 miles (1hr, 51 min)
Madera, CA: charge 13 minutes (21%=>66%)
Drive 99 miles (1hr, 36 min)
Manteca, CA: charge 14 minutes (20%=>67%)
Drive 92 miles (1hr, 32 min)
Auburn, CA: charge 18 minutes (20%=76%)
Drive 97 miles (1hr, 32 min)
Arrive Reno, NV: battery at 20% state of charge.

For this hypothetical trip the Tesla Long Range Model Y only needed to be charged to 80% before leaving. A total of three Tesla Supercharger charging stops (one stop every 90 minutes to ~2 hours), no charging stop was over 18 minutes, none of the three charging stops involved charging to over 76%.

 

[Lucas007]

Hypothetical trip: Bakersfield, CA => Reno, NV (408 miles, 7 hours, 17 minutes (6 hours, 33 minutes total driving, 44 minutes charging):

Leave Bakersfield, CA with battery @80%
Drive 121 miles (1hr, 51 min)
Madera, CA: charge 13 minutes (21%=>66%)
Drive 99 miles (1hr, 36 min)
Manteca, CA: charge 14 minutes (20%=>67%)
Drive 92 miles (1hr, 32 min)
Auburn, CA: charge 18 minutes (20%=76%)
Drive 97 miles (1hr, 32 min)
Arrive Reno, NV: battery at 20% state of charge.

For this hypothetical trip the Tesla Long Range Model Y only needed to be charged to 80% before leaving. A total of three Tesla Supercharger charging stops (one stop every 90 minutes to ~2 hours), no charging stop was over 20 minutes, none of the three charging stops involved charging to over 80%.

I found out really quick the hypothetical trip is nothing compared to real life driving and since it was a windy day got wind warnings going through central Cali. And that also using the AC sucks your battery life as well. And I used autopilot almost 95% of the trip.

 

[SpriteM3]

I think the problem is charging to 95-100%, after 80% the charge speed is gonna slow down a lot. You should only be charging more than 80% if you need that additional range to make it to the next supercharger.

 

[jcanoe]

I found out really quick the hypothetical trip is nothing compared to real life driving and since it was a windy day got wind warnings going through central Cali. And that also using the AC sucks your battery life as well. And I used autopilot almost 95% of the trip.

Understood. Headwinds can sabotage your efficiency, range. You can monitor energy consumption while navigating to the destination, re-route to a Supercharger if needed. You can increase your range and efficiency by almost 10% when you reduce speed by 5 MPH (I think of this as a built in reserve.)

 

[GregW]

Much better range driving from Reno to LA, than LA to Reno. Can skip some SC'ers. Any headwind and elevation gain takes a huge hit in range.

 

[Lucas007]

Much better range driving from Reno to LA, than LA to Reno. Can skip some SC'ers. Any headwind and elevation gain takes a huge hit in range.

I am looking forward to seeing the difference going back to LA.

 

[Big Earl]

I just did a 6,200 mile trip in nine days. Charging to 100% is a huge waste of time unless you absolutely have to stretch it or you want to enjoy a sit-down meal. Most of my charging stops are 15 minutes and I charge up to 60 or 70%. Charging to 100% takes an hour… four times longer for less than 50% additional range.

 

[FatherTo1]

That sucks about the additional three hours travel time but I think it’s a good learning experience and highlights the most optimum charging strategy on road trips is NOT charging to a full battery at every stop. That last 20% of charging takes just as long, or longer, compared with charging from say 20%-80%. You literally will save 1.5-2hrs on your trip next time by moving on after you’ve reached 80% charge. Supercharging to 80% will be my strategy when we travel from Sacramento to LA next month.

Previously I drove from Sacramento to Reno in our Standard Range Model S and only needed a 10 minute charge for the roundtrip. I also made a separate trip in 2019 from Sacramento to Bakersfield that required a 45 minute charge. The Model S had free Supercharging but charged at half the speed of our Model Y, so I would expect to be able to travel from Bakersfield to Reno (-400 miles) with easily less than an hour of total charge time. ABRP has proven reliable for me so I’m very surprised OP was slowed down so much by charging, but it should be an easy remedy next time by adjusting charging strategy.

 

[Unclepaul]

To optimize your EV experience on long trips, you will need to adapt to it's strengths. It is different that driving a gasser.

Start your trip with a 100% charge. Drive as long as you can, until your battery gets low. Then charge up enough to reach your destination.

This one charging stop can be relatively quick. Just long enough to use the bathroom and grab a bite.

Your computer will tell you when you have enough charge to reach your destination. Do not continue charging after this point as charging speeds taper off as you get fuller.

 

[Lucas007]

That sucks about the additional three hours travel time but I think it’s a good learning experience and highlights the most optimum charging strategy on road trips is NOT charging to a full battery at every stop. That last 20% of charging takes just as long, or longer, compared with charging from say 20%-80%. You literally will save 1.5-2hrs on your trip next time by moving on after you’ve reached 80% charge. Supercharging to 80% will be my strategy when we travel from Sacramento to LA next month.

Previously I drove from Sacramento to Reno in our Standard Range Model S and only needed a 10 minute charge for the roundtrip. I also made a separate trip in 2019 from Sacramento to Bakersfield that required a 45 minute charge. The Model S had free Supercharging but charged at half the speed of our Model Y, so I would expect to be able to travel from Bakersfield to Reno (-400 miles) with easily less than an hour of total charge time. ABRP has proven reliable for me so I’m very surprised OP was slowed down so much by charging, but it should be an easy remedy next time by adjusting charging strategy.

I'll definitely try this on our way back. This is absolutely different experience for me and I am hoping for a better drive on our trip back this week.

 

[Nosken]

Yes, it takes longer to complete long road trips, but what you have to remember is over 95% of your driving is near your home, so the majority of the time, charging at home, is much faster than the 15 minutes you spend going out of your way and getting gas, so when you take long road trips, yes, it takes longer, but that time is more than equivalent to the time you save during the week by charging at home.

 

[iamnid]

I'm not saying much that hasn't already been said but, yeah, your problem was charging to 100% at each stop. Charge to no more than 80% and get back on the road. You may end up with one additional stop along the way but you will have saved time. After 60%, the charging speed drops off a cliff. After 80%, you might as well be using your wall charger in your garage. Unless you're charging to 100% and then arriving at the next charger with less than 10% battery charge, there's no reason to do so. The roads between Reno and So Cal are littered with Supercharger stations, so I'm pretty sure there's no need for 100%.

 

[Nosken]

Unless I am charging at a meal stop, I move to the next Supercharger when the rate drops below 50 kWh if there is another charger on my route since it charges so much faster on a lower state if charge.

 

[Lucas007]

I'm not saying much that hasn't already been said but, yeah, your problem was charging to 100% at each stop. Charge to no more than 80% and get back on the road. You may end up with one additional stop along the way but you will have saved time. After 60%, the charging speed drops off a cliff. After 80%, you might as well be using your wall charger in your garage. Unless you're charging to 100% and then arriving at the next charger with less than 10% battery charge, there's no reason to do so. The roads between Reno and So Cal are littered with Supercharger stations, so I'm pretty sure there's no need for 100%.

Noted.

 

[Mateo83]

We did about 250 miles yesterday, left home at 100%, stopped in the middle for wine tasting, and charged at the 8kw at the winery charger. We made 2 stops on the way home and made it back with 53% percent.

 

[Lucas007]

I'll update everyone here who has helped me this weekend, we will be driving back to LA this Friday.

Thank you all, like I said this is an awesome car.

 

[Nosken]

Don’t forget, you should always supercharge on arrival when the battery is warm, rather than having a cold soaked overnight, and then it will charge slow until warm.