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Supercharger - Mt. Hope, WV
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RedOctober
Member
Well since Beckley wasn’t open I decided to take the plunge and drove from Weston straight to Wytheville. My 75D made it with 42 miles to spare. Not sure if going south is different than heading north with regards to the topography. There was plenty of regen. If you’re heading south and can charge to 250 miles or 400 km’s you’re good to go, just keep the speed down to 65-70 MPH.
RedOctober
Member
jbumps
Member
Anyone that frequents this location middle of next week please comment on status? Returning from Florida and remain hopeful we won't have to route through Charleston enroute back to Morgantown.
RedOctober
Member
Last resort, contact the Sheetz location in Beckley and ask if they are up and running. Also, there are 3 Tesla level 2 chargers at Hawks Nest State Park which can be used if they are not open. It’s right near the Town of Tesla in WV.
Really hoping this station gets turned on SOON. March Break trip happening again this year, and we're taking the S85 to Hilton Head Island from Ontario. The segment from Weston to Wytheville is longer than I want to do given variables of temperature, wind and rain.
It looks like a few people have done this drive in S85 and S75 cars going north, and mostly in warmer temperatures. Anyone done it going south in more wintery weather? Looks like the vertical climb is about 1200 feet, so that's probably going to take away only a bit of range.
It looks like a few people have done this drive in S85 and S75 cars going north, and mostly in warmer temperatures. Anyone done it going south in more wintery weather? Looks like the vertical climb is about 1200 feet, so that's probably going to take away only a bit of range.
A friend of mine is supposed to be making this same trip in their S85D but starting from a little north of Weston, WV. I'll post an update if they end up making the trip and which route they chose. I looked at some of the route options for these quick scenarios.
The easiest option is a planned detour over to Charleston, WV from the Weston-to-Wytheville leg as it only adds 80 km (50 mi) of driving and ~15-20 minutes of charging (in Charleston, WV) or about 70-75 minutes for the detour. Weston to Charleston to Wytheville would be a total of 370 km (230 mi) and take 3.75 hrs to drive and ~0.5 hr charging in Charleston so 4.25 hrs total. This looks like the less stressful and actually the quickest option.
The most-direct option is to get a full charge in Weston but this would take 60-90 minutes instead of a 15-minute stop but would save the 80 km (50 mi) additional distance to detour to Charleston, WV. 90 minutes at Weston minus 75 minutes for the Charleston, WV detour means a full charge at Weston and skipping Charleston, WV could make it a 15-minute longer trip AND would be filled with range anxiety. It seems strange sometimes that the most direct route is not always the quickest. You could, however, plan to stop at Cafe Cimino in Sutton, WV on the "direct" route and use one of the 2 HPWCs for a short top-up along the route.
Also, don't rule out the option of heading east on I-68 from Morgantown, WV to Winchester, VA then south on I-81 to Wytheville, VA if you want to go a slightly different way. This would be 620 km (380 mi) and take 6.5 hrs to drive and probably ~1 hr of charging so 7.5 hrs total. Morgantown, WV directly to Wytheville, WV is 395 km (245 mi) total (Weston to Wytheville is 305 km (185 mi)) and take 4.25 hrs to drive and probably 1.5 hrs of charging (1 hr minimum at Weston, WV) but just under 6.0 hrs but would be a very stressful segment getting to Wytheville.
Attached is the elevation plot for Weston to Wytheville in both units of measure. Heading north is obviously much easier but there are at least several options for the trip in either direction. Hopefully the Beckley supercharger is working before your trip but enjoy and have fun.
Wow @Darren Schilberg THANK YOU for such an awesome detailed reply. I'm actually looking at the supercharger map now and it seems maybe the best way to go this route is to continue west past Erie all the way to Cleveland.
So instead of:
Erie --> Franklin Park --> Weston --> Wytheville (428 miles)
It would be:
Erie --> Macedonia --> Cambridge --> Charleston --> Wytheville (465 miles)
The difference is only 37 miles, or 63km, shorter than the 50 mile Charleston detour from Weston. And of course you make an excellent point that total time on the road is probably not much different considering I would not be forced into a full charge at Weston, and I'd have much less range anxiety.
I think that may be my new official plan unless Beckley comes online before the trip.
So instead of:
Erie --> Franklin Park --> Weston --> Wytheville (428 miles)
It would be:
Erie --> Macedonia --> Cambridge --> Charleston --> Wytheville (465 miles)
The difference is only 37 miles, or 63km, shorter than the 50 mile Charleston detour from Weston. And of course you make an excellent point that total time on the road is probably not much different considering I would not be forced into a full charge at Weston, and I'd have much less range anxiety.
I think that may be my new official plan unless Beckley comes online before the trip.
1101011
Proud TSLA/SCTY shareholder since 2013.
Thanks for the kind words and you're welcome. I wasn't sure if you were starting from Kingston, Toronto, Sudbury, or Sault Ste. Marie as a few of those would make for a very different route. I agree with 1101011 that the Cambridge leg is the complete opposite of stress. If it is a long enough trip TO Weston that you can spend the night there then you'd leave with a full charge and it wouldn't matter how long it takes to charge.
Either option through Charleston will give you ZERO range anxiety so those are probably preferred AND it ends up being a little quicker of a route since you'd need a full charge in Weston. Here are my stats for the Charleston -> Cambridge trip as well as a fun recon trip to visit a few locations that didn't yet have superchargers (stats are from Teslafi).
The last 2 trips below are straightforward as they were driving North from Charleston to Cambridge so heading the other direction should be similar. The first trip was the interesting one as only the Charleston supercharger was active Morgantown and Weston weren't active by mid-Aug 2017. That was the same route as an alternative for you but Weston is now an option as a charging location. My trip was in a 90D but I only started with 270 miles of range and made it to Charleston with 3% remaining. The climb up to Beckley is the section that zaps all of the range so plan accordingly leaving Charleston and give yourself plenty of range to spare.
Thanks again for the great info, @Darren Schilberg and @1101011.
I'm starting in Port Perry, so just northeast of Toronto. We leave pretty early in the morning and take the express highway 407 all the way to the end, cross the Peace Bridge into the USA, skirt around the inside of Buffalo and over to Erie. From there it was the thought to go down through Pittsburgh and make my way to Wytheville for the night. But now the trip planning seems to suggest the time is almost identical via the I-77 through Charleston, same destination for the night.
It's a pretty long day in the car, but makes for an easy 2nd day to South Carolina.
My thinking is 5:30AM departure and about 6:30PM arrival. Enough time to let the kids have a swim at the hotel pool, have a decent dinner, sleep, and finish the drive the next day feeling refreshed.
I guess if Beckley comes online it might save me 20 minutes ... maybe more?
I'm starting in Port Perry, so just northeast of Toronto. We leave pretty early in the morning and take the express highway 407 all the way to the end, cross the Peace Bridge into the USA, skirt around the inside of Buffalo and over to Erie. From there it was the thought to go down through Pittsburgh and make my way to Wytheville for the night. But now the trip planning seems to suggest the time is almost identical via the I-77 through Charleston, same destination for the night.
It's a pretty long day in the car, but makes for an easy 2nd day to South Carolina.
My thinking is 5:30AM departure and about 6:30PM arrival. Enough time to let the kids have a swim at the hotel pool, have a decent dinner, sleep, and finish the drive the next day feeling refreshed.
I guess if Beckley comes online it might save me 20 minutes ... maybe more?
Be sure to honk and wave at the SolarCity factory when you pass near it in Riverbend, NY.
That is definitely a long day on the road but kudos to tackling the route. A scenic route is almost never quicker but the drive to the Falls Creek, PA supercharger and down to Breezewood, PA is nice but adds about 2 hrs and you don't have the luxury. Maybe save that for a good weather day and just head to Falls Creek and back home.
Once the Beckley charger is available, it would probably save ~20-30 minutes of charging in the day and ~15 minutes of driving as opposed to the Cleveland -> Cambridge route. That doesn't seem like a big savings but would be 30 miles shorter. The route between Weston and Beckley is not an Interstate so it is a lower average speed (and once you drive through there watch out for speed traps). Or you could spend the night in Beckley
Interstates always make for faster time between destinations but there is a point where going too fast causes too long of a charging time but going too slow (40 mph) and charging very little isn't ideal either. The route via Macedonia looks to be about 105 to 130 miles for each leg (the run to Charleston is only 145 miles) so about 1.5 to 2.0 hrs per segment. That's kind to the passengers so they aren't stuck in the car for 4 solid hrs.
Possibly but hopefully you will get to find out. It might actually help that you need to stop for the night near Wytheville. That would let you find out what the total trip takes with the most direct route.
If you stop in Beckley for the night then from Port Perry it is 600 mi and 9:10 hrs + ~2 hrs charging so ~11 hrs total (05:30 to 16:30). Charge at Lewis Nissan in Beckley for 1 or 1.5 hrs (16:30 to 17:30 or 18:00) at 25 mi/hr and pick up 25 or 37 miles of range while eating dinner at Cheddar's or Olive Garden. The longer it takes to finish dinner the better.
From there, it is 3 miles to the Hampton Inn that has a wall charger available. A friend of mine is the Manager there and they can reserve the parking spot near their outside wall outlet so you will be sure to have it available. I keep waiting for them to get a destination charger. Charge up for 14 hrs (17:45 to 07:45 or 18:15 to 08:15) and pick up 42 miles of range while the kids play in the Pool.
Or ask a Residential owner in Beckley just 3 miles away if you can use their 70A HPWC for 30 minutes to help bridge the gap to Wytheville (I see one on PlugShare) as that would definitely help as well.
Arriving with 25 miles remaining in Beckley you should be able to add 37 + 42 mi or 79 mi of range and should be able to leave with 104 miles of range. It is 75 miles to Wytheville and you'll probably use 90-100 miles to get there or drive at the speed limit and might only use 85 miles of range (or drive the speed limit after Weston and try to arrive with more than 25 miles of range). That could get you to Wytheville with 10-20 miles of range remaining. This is cutting it very close but it can probably be accomplished.
Leaving at 08:30 the next morning, you would arrive in Wytheville at 09:40 and charge for 30-45 minutes. From there it is 390 miles to Hilton Head which should take about 7 hrs and if you leave Wytheville no later than 10:30 then you should arrive around 17:30.
1101011
Proud TSLA/SCTY shareholder since 2013.
I forgot this: getting to the Charleston WV SpC from the north is really awkward. The car's nav runs you past it, then make a U-turn to get back across the river for a straight shot in. The second time I used it, I got off an exit earlier and threaded my way through town.
The Starbucks makes this SpC painless. Contrast it to Wytheville, which is in a hotel parking lot- near nothing.
RedOctober
Member
Read my earlier post on this thread. You will see you can make it without a doubt.
Making it ... and making it with 10+% range remaining with a family of 4+ are probably slightly different. I have no problem rolling in to a supercharger with 1 mile of range remaining but I try not to do that when I have someone with me let alone if I had kids along for the ride.
It's great that a 75D was able to make it the 185 miles and up the 1,300 ft elevation gain. It would help if you indicate what your starting range was, what your typical cruising speed was on the Interstates, what temp and fan the settings were (super hot and full fan, hot and med fan, average, off, etc.), and what your Wh/mi average was for the trip. Perhaps it was 250 miles starting range and 65-70 mph so 42 miles left would be ~16% but for some people that is below what they are comfortable having at their destination.
The 40 miles from Weston to Rt 19 and the 75 miles from Beckley to Wytheville are 70 mph zones on the Interstates. The section after Beckley has the larger hills to climb so tackling those at <70mph would be ideal while the relatively flat section after Weston could be driven at perhaps 70-75 mph without much loss of range.
A stop in Beckley for an early Dinner next to a J1772 charger would be an easy way to get some additional range to ease any stress. Maybe RedOctober wears gloves and a jacket and barely uses the heat while someone else cranks the heat. Those will be very different Wh/mi numbers for the same 185-mile trip. An S85 and an S75D look to have almost the same max range but I believe the 75D is slightly more efficient at driving due to the 2nd motor but forget if that has been tested anywhere.
Good luck either way to you, FrozenCanuck, but there are a good number of options even if the Weston-Beckley-Wytheville route is attempted so it is quite different than trying to make the same trip through an area that has zero charging options.
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