Strategy for South Bay to LA? (newbie owner on first day with car)

[deep]

Next Friday, I will both be picking up my MS and driving it down to LA on the same evening. Looking for some advice from folks who've made this trip.

On Friday, I will be the very proud owner of a white pearl P85 Model S with 21" gray wheels. Picking up in Fremont and then driving straight to South San Jose to get a clear bra put on the car, which is 22 miles away (have others used Greg Simms at Force Field? anyone do their entire vehicle? I'm doing the full hood, fenders, and bumper for now...was considering the whole thing); car should be ready by 8-9 p.m.; from there I will driving down to Long Beach with 2 other people in the car.

Trying to figure out what the best strategy is for the trip. Do I switch it to Max Range, and top off at Gilroy (another 23 miles away)? Should I be stopping at all three chargers along the way (Gilroy, Harris, Tejon)? This will be my first time driving the car; I realize this is not ideal, but I absolutely need to be in LA by Saturday morning, and I can't bear to pick up my MS, just to leave it here. How long should I be charging at each station? Is it crowded at nighttime?

Any tips would be welcome!

 

[tdiggity]

Expect to charge for about 60 minutes total on this trip. I've done NorCal to SoCal twice, so not the most veteran driver but my 2 cents none the less!

You don't need to do a max range charge to go from Fremont to Harris Ranch. Drive in the slow lane on 152 and pass the slow cars and stick to 75 on I-5 and you'll end up with about 60 miles at Harris ranch. Charge for half an hour or at least 150 miles, and then go to tejon. If you can, eat here. Stay for 30-45 minutes and then youll be able to get to Hawthorne pretty easily, or do a full standard charge at tejon to get to long beach.

If you do decide to stop at Gilroy for a little bit, you would be able to charge a bit less at the other stops, but you can't skip Harris ranch unless you drive very slow on I-5. Not worth it, IMO.

I recommend eating at tejon because it's not as crowded as Harris ranch and you have many more food options.

Driving as late as you are, you shouldn't see any other teslas.

Good luck!

 

[deep]

@tiggity - thanks for the advice, especially your thoughts on what you think total charge time will be - very helpful for planning. Sounds like its best to make all 3 stops, at least for a short time each time, and not skip any. I'll just have to figure out if anything is open at Tejon at 2 a.m.

 

[Apoclyps]

@deep: since this is your first time driving down south, I would suggest making each stop just so that you can get a feel for how many miles it depletes going from one station to the next, wait times, and finding out what is available at each while you charge. Then you can decide on your next venture down, which ones you must hit, and which ones you can do without.