WAIT!!! WHAT??? FORT STOCKTON IS NOT LIVE YET???
I was there yesterday, Sunday, October 7, 2018 at about 5:30 pm and plugged in for about 25 minutes to get enough extra electrons to make it to Van Horn. I even have Photographic Evidence to prove it, taken at 5:40 pm.
And now you tell me that it was not LIVE??? Then how did I make it from Ozona to Van Horn in a Model S 75D???
Actually it was simple:
*Got 100% charge at Ozona. 242 RM
*Easy Driving and acceleration onto I-10W up to 55 mph
*About 2 miles down the road got behind Semi driving 71 mph all the way to Fort Stockton. He actually also pulled into the Flying J in front of me.
*Easy Driving and acceleration onto I-10W up to 55 mph
*Less than 1 mile got behind Semi driving 75 mph until he pulled off about 20 miles from Van Horn.
*Got behind another Semi also driving 75 mph until he pulled off in Van Horn one exit before Supercharger.
*By this time Tessi showed 0% at arrival and 1 mile remaining. Drove 50 mph to next exit. Showed 0 miles remaining before exit.
*Drove VERY slowly with almost no acceleration from exit ramp stop sign and two other stop signs before arriving at Supercharger.
*VERY SLOW charging up to 20%.
*Moved to another slot and received full charge rate (96 kWh) until ramp down.
Here are stats: 229.0 miles, 65.2 kWh used, 285 Wh/mi.
Question: What happened to the other 10 kWh? I know that a small number is unavailable, but not all of it. Could I have driven another 20 to 25 miles? During our Cross Country trip last year we ran the battery down and ended up driving 35 mph for more than a few miles after the dash showed 0 miles remaining, all the while thinking it would die before we got to the Saint Augustine, FL Supercharger. In that case we made it. Now that I know that we went from full to empty using only 65.2 kWh I am thinking that our MS is like our 2013 Nissan Leaf and has hidden "Safety Miles" when it shows empty. Any thoughts???
Even though we made good time and a good energy usage, there was a strong quartering cross and tail wind to Ft Stockton and about half-way to Van Horn. The other half was a quartering head-wind to direct head-wind. It was nice drafting behind the Semi as it broke up ALL the head-wind.
Also the faster speed on second leg (from 71 mph to 75 mph) caused a reduction in efficiency. I forgot to look at it in Ft Stockton, but the overall average of 285 was a mix of the lower FS leg and the Van Horn leg with an efficiency of 296 Wh/mi. Also the elevation gain to VH ate up more energy.
My next trip through Fort Stockton will be in the middle of January, 2019. Charlie, please make sure this Supercharger is LIVE by then. just saying ....