How do you approach a long drive? I know some of the more experienced Tesla drivers will have some good suggestions.
Lots of good suggestions & info here. The full trip routing is pretty garbage but is good for an initial overview (and you should review it before starting, so you can see where it is being dumb). Get an ABRP account and get it connected but don't bother trying to use it on the in-car browser (too slow and has to reload every time you switch away from it - it is nearly useless and borderline dangerous when driving) - use the phone app and get live data from the car - ABRP phone app is nice and quick and you can use it while you are stopped to charge.
After that, I would just use the in-car Nav to navigate from Supercharger to Supercharger; don't do the whole trip in the Nav.
- Since you have an SR+, the 250kW Superchargers are going to be less of a bonus for you (otherwise I would strongly recommend them) - though the lack of sharing IS a plus even for an SR+ especially if you are traveling at a busy time (weekends). They also have the benefit of working better. So check out where the 250kW Superchargers are (Williams and Red Bluff - don't know anything about Washington State, but it looks like you'll probably want to hit Kelso). Hit them preferentially whenever you can (but don't do non-optimal stuff to do so). They are awesome (especially for LR vehicles).
- With an SR, you're sometimes going to have to go at a fairly leisurely pace, due to having to charge fairly close to 80% for one of the legs in Oregon (specifically: Grants Pass to Eugene (Springfield), or Klamath to Eugene) . For the other, shorter legs, just adopt a quick hop strategy. Aim to get to the Supercharger at 5% according to the car Nav, but make sure the car tells you it will arrive at
greater than 5% (so, 6% is fine) (otherwise it will be hassling you about slowing down to make it to your destination, nearly right away - it's usually wrong in summer time, and usually nothing a little mild drafting at 80mph can't fix). It may still hassle you if you depart at 6% arrival charge, but unless something crazy happens, if you start towards the next Supercharger at 6% or above, you'll almost certainly be fine unless you're driving 85mph or you have a bad headwind (pay attention to this!!!).
While en route or at your current Supercharger (better to do this when stopped but some fiddling when driving is nearly inevitable - don't worry, the car drives itself
- yes I am kidding), figure out where you want to stop next based on station utilization, then plug it in on the Nav and look at what it tells you you will arrive at. And charge just enough to get there (with whatever margin makes you comfortable).
I drove from San Diego to Portland in a day (4AM-10:45PM) recently in my 3P+, and I had 8 Supercharger stops (Tejon Ranch, Kettleman City, Gustine, Williams, Red Bluff, Shasta, Grants Pass, Springfield). I could have done it with 7 (skip Williams, and charge in Patterson instead of Gustine - they are both 150kW) - I did hit only 7 on the way back (over two days). I had no particular strategy in advance other than to minimize charging time (not what the car does, as mentioned), and I adjusted as needed. But I did make that Gustine mistake. I believe I benefited from very high density altitude on my trip - car was always super pessimistic vs. actual results. I probably could have cut 10-15 minutes of charging off my travel time by cutting things closer.
As others have said, I would just recommend looking at all the Supercharger locations on a map before going so you understand what are all of your options. Note you can also flip over to display Superchargers while in Nav mode (right hand side), and then turn them off again, and it will go back to your prior Nav directions - this wasn't obvious to me on my first road trip. You don't lose your Nav details by clicking on the Supercharger status and location screen. But you can see all the Superchargers along the route that way (with utilization), and even quickly change to navigate to a new one of your choosing if it makes sense. I don't think this is likely for you, since you won't have the high Supercharger location complexity of central California.
Also,
especially if you are going at a busy time, I strongly recommend skipping the Grants Pass supercharger and hitting the one in Klamath Falls instead. It's a nicer, more engaging drive (more scenic and more twisty), and it really isn't that much longer. The Grants Pass Supercharger can be a sh**show - half of the stations don't work very well, and it can get very busy even at times that are not busy (I got lucky to get a decent rate there on my way up, and went through Klamath on my way back!). Klamath Falls really isn't all that nice, but at least there are plenty of stalls with less use on them. ABRP recommends Klamath it looks like.
Note that Shasta Supercharger shows as two Superchargers on top of one another - it's kind of confusing. Go to the larger 150kW station - don't even know where the 120kW chargers are located. There's multiple piles of human excrement by the propane tank behind the Superchargers in Shasta, by the way. Might be best to actually use a public restroom if you don't fear the 'rona too much.
Also, if you get a crap charge rate (be familiar with what to expect - print out an approximate taper chart for your vehicle somewhere to refer to), don't be afraid to immediately switch Superchargers. At the 150kW stations, this garbage happens about 25% of the time, in my experience.
Summary: memorize all Superchargers and their capabilities prior to starting your trip. Try to make an optimal plan (maximize time spent charging at low SoC, so try to arrive at 5-10% charge - or lower, if you want to live on the edge - I didn't). Adjust based on utilization and the call of nature if necessary.
Grants Pass was the busiest Supercharger I encountered on my trip (there and back) - with the exception of Santa Clarita on the Friday before Labor Day, I guess (it actually wasn't that bad - no lines - and it was 250kW so it didn't matter much!)
Looking quickly at ABRP, it recommends a stop in Vancouver. I'm not sure whether that is the best - and it likely depends on conditions and how busy things are. You should be able to find out in real time. It might make more sense to make just a quick stop in Springfield rather than a longer one, and then hit Woodburn quickly as well - just enough to get you to Kelso. This is assuming you can't go Eugene to Kelso, which you probably can - but it will cost you in charge time. Under no circumstances hit the 72kW Supercharger at Washington Square Mall (makes no sense).
You also have to plan strategically for your longer stops. If you plan to stop and eat and it might be a while, that's an opportunity to do some non-optimal charging that allows you to skip a Supercharger. As an example, if you eat at the Springfield Supercharger, you might be able to charge for a while there (an additional 10-20 minutes or so), and then be able to easily make 250kW Kelso (skipping 150kW Vancouver). So it's good to think about that sort of thing in advance. Because then that non-optimal charge isn't actually costing you any time - and in a way, it may save you some time - certainly saves some hassle.
By the way, I also saw that Springfield Supercharger got pretty busy - but it was quiet by the time I got there. It seemed to get busy between 4 and 7PM. I think it's probably all the U of O people charging at the end of their day? I have no idea.
