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Southeast US road trip, minor anxiety

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The family and I are planning to take our first road trip in our 70D around Thanksgiving. It's Orlando to Waynesville, NC, stopping at the superchargers in St. Augustine, Savannah, Santee SC and Charlotte. Waynesville doesn't have an ideal charging situation, but we'll be mostly staying with my in-laws and can even slow charge there all week. We'll split the drive up Sunday/Monday, and go back Friday/Saturday. Doing it one day each way was exhausting last year, so we'll take it easy.

I'm generally pretty comfortable with the distance, but I need some reassurance about the availability and speed of the superchargers. I've only used the one on the turnpike in Orlando, and while busy on a Saturday, no one was connected for very long. The Savannah location is particularly weird because it's in the airport's short-term lot, and there are some comments about squatters on plugshare.com.

Am I overthinking it? Should I have a backup plan on slower L2 chargers?
 
A backup plan is never a bad idea, but I just did a 5300 mile trip from DFW to Seattle, and never had a Supercharger that I couldn't use. A better backup plan is an RV park if there are any in your area. Use an RV parking site such as RVParking.com because PlugShare doesn't list very many. For the RV park, you want a 50 amp RV plug. The RV park owners don't know what a NEMA 14-50 is, but they know what a 50 amp RV plug is.

However, if it were me, I'd just go to the Supercharger and not worry about it.
 
I just did DC to st Augustine and hit Glen Allen, Rocky Mount, Santee. Savannah and it took 15 hours, left at 4am and arrived just before 7pm. Then hit Daytona Orlando and then the trip back via Myrtle. Not once did I have range anxiety and stayed at most superchargers 15-30 mins.
 
L2 chargers are significantly slower than superchargers.
Who knows?
The Asheville Supercharger might be open by then, and you are home free.
There are lots of L2 chargers in the Asheville vicinity.
Heck, even Greenville, SC might be open by then.


Perhaps you are over-thinking it.
When driving using a Supercharger Route, you really don't need to fill up (to full) each time.
So maybe 20-30 minutes duration while your car charges.

I have an 85, and am not familiar with how quickly a 70 charges.
Just enter your next location you are wanting to drive to, and if you have the app on your phone, it will notify you when the car is full enough to continue your trip to the next Supercharger.


Looking at Google Maps, might be just as easy to head through Atlanta on I-75.
Almost identical mileage.
There are some tolls using that route though.
 
Yeah, I'm sure it will be fine. I haven't heard of many availability issues on this side of the country. I'm not worried about Waynesville itself, as I'll be there for a week and there are a few places I can go, ditto for Asheville.

My real-life range on a full charge is about 220 miles, but I've done 250 in a day already by topping off at destinations where I could charge. The bigger thing about the road trip is the timing. I know I there are always alternate charging opportunities, but superchargers make an enormous difference in the total time you need.
 
I just did Tampa to Stroudsburg, PA, to East Hampton, NY and back. No trouble at all with the speed and availability of Savannah and Santee. Although in Savannah on the way home, someone plugged into the shared stall while we were in the airport which probably slowed us down some. All the other stalls were empty. Duh.
 
I just did Tampa to Stroudsburg, PA, to East Hampton, NY and back. No trouble at all with the speed and availability of Savannah and Santee. Although in Savannah on the way home, someone plugged into the shared stall while we were in the airport which probably slowed us down some. All the other stalls were empty. Duh.

Unfortunately, Tesla doesn't do much to inform owners about the A vs. B difference. Most TMC members know, but I'd guess hardly anyone else does.
 
I just did Tampa to Stroudsburg, PA, to East Hampton, NY and back. No trouble at all with the speed and availability of Savannah and Santee. Although in Savannah on the way home, someone plugged into the shared stall while we were in the airport which probably slowed us down some. All the other stalls were empty. Duh.

If you were there first, you get priority and the full charging power... But they get throttled until your charging starts to taper.

I did this route r/t driving from NYC to Orlando and had no problems at any of theses superchargers. Be sure to check out the Santee General Store while charging.
 
LOVE the Santee General Store - especially the signs posted all over. Front door - "Pull your pants up or don't come in." Men's room door, where you don't really see it until you're leaving - "Close the door - there are little girls walking by!"
 
I would affirm the positive comments about the Superchargers. We have made 5 North/ South round trips and I've never had a problem. We usually stop to see my son in Oak Island , NC and I slow charge on a 20 amp circuit (5 mph) which works out pretty well. After a couple days I'm good to go. Just recently visited my brother in Dallas and again slow charged on a 110 / 15amp. It did about 3 mph on that plug.
 
I've done BOS - Key West via the coastal route, and then Miami - Boston through the middle of FL, stopping in Atlanta.

The only non-SC charger I had to use (IIRC) was in Greensville SC (ChAdemo).

You'll be fine. There's only 1 tricky part which is about 200 miles of travel.

Oh, and the short-term parking @ the GA airport is, by far, my favorite Supercharger!
 
The only one I'd worry about is St Augustine. Not for availability necessarily, but for traffic getting in & out of the shopping center since you're traveling right before & after Thanksgiving. I've been told the northern entrance (further from the I-95 interchange) is less congested.

If you have (or buy/borrow) a CHAdeMO adapter, there are several locations between St Augustine and Savannah. I can't vouch for any of them personally, but if you can find a reliable one, say near Jacksonville, you could potentially skip St Augustine.

Or, if Greenville SC is open by then (might actually be realistic since a new location was just found), you can avoid 95 altogether and go up through Atlanta.

As for destination charging, even 120V at your in-laws should be fine, unless you're doing a LOT of driving while you're there.
 
Hi Jeff - I made a trip from Tampa to Buffalo NY and back this summer. You're mostly overthinking it. The only congestion I hit with superchargers was at Montgomery Mall by DC. That added a couple of hours on the leg back but wasn't a major issue. I would have a backup plan for Savannah - I saw multiple stalls open both times but wouldn't count on it during thanksgiving week. Also, on my way back they mentioned the would be starting a new policy to show your key and have your ticket stamped inside the airport or you would need to pay for parking on the way out. I guess the car isn't proof enough?!?

Regarding charging, I would pick up a couple of the custom 240V adapters that are available as this will greatly expand your charging options. Finally, I found the supercharging breaks greatly reduced my fatigue so I'm sure you'll make that journey easily!
 
You shouldn't have any problems at the Charlotte SpC. I've inly ever once seen it full, and that's when the owners club was meeting there. There are many charging options around Charlotte including 40 and 80 amp HPWCs, so you have options if you cannot use the SpC in Charlotte.
 
]they mentioned the would be starting a new policy to show your key and have your ticket stamped inside the airport or you would need to pay for parking on the way out. I guess the car isn't proof enough?!?

Yes, this is their policy -- you do need to show your key at the info desk right inside the main entrance and they'll stamp your ticket. I suspect it's a 'checks and balances' thing where they don't want to give "free pass" control to the people in the parking booth because it could be abused. I think the ticket gives you three hours of free parking.
 
Yes, this is their policy -- you do need to show your key at the info desk right inside the main entrance and they'll stamp your ticket. I suspect it's a 'checks and balances' thing where they don't want to give "free pass" control to the people in the parking booth because it could be abused. I think the ticket gives you three hours of free parking.
The only Savannah problem that seems common AFAIK is the location, that can have you wandering a little bit. Personally I like the walk to the terminal to get the validation.
 
Ok, I'll confess to driving into the wrong lot no less than 3 times since I found the signage very confusing. So here is a picture that shows where the superchargers are - on the first level of the economy garage. There are gates within the garages to block off the sections, but I found out on the third try that if you go through the wrong gate, you can use your ticket to get through to the right section. No need to exit and go around. Also, the information booth to validate the ticket is behind the escalators as you walk into the terminal, marked by a red X in the picture. Just walking in the door you would never know where it was. Finally, my cell phone reception was nonexistent on the first floor, but fine on the second floor of the terminal. YMMV.

Savannah_Supercharger.JPG