Taking delivery of my Model X on the 16th, but I've got an 1,100 mile trip home

[CFrolander]

So like the post says, I'm taking delivery of my Model X 75D on the 16th. The 'problem' is, I live in Phoenix and the car is in Dallas. I could save a few thousand bucks by picking it up, and flights to Dallas from Phoenix are only $60 after all taxes and fees and everything so that's a pretty sweet deal! Plus it guarantees delivery for the new year and no questions on the tax credit. I looked at the supercharger map, and under 120 miles between superchargers so I should be pretty set. The plan is to head north to Oklahoma City, west on i40 to Holbrook, and south into Phoenix.

I put this into ABetterRoutePlanner, however, and it looks like it's cutting it pretty close. I'm not in a hurry, so I don't mind waiting at superchargers for a more full charge, but even charging to 100% at nearly every charger there are still some stops that we arrive at with 20% charge left. I'm reading that cold weather can decrease range by at least that much so I'm worried about getting stuck somewhere. Specifically from Amarillo to Tucumcari, I'll charge to 100% to Amarillo and only have 20% coming into Tucumcari which is only a little over 100 miles away, and I'll be driving this section around midnight so the temperature will be just above freezing.

So to fill in a couple gaps in the story, first off here's the planned route: A Better Routeplanner

Second, I won't be driving alone. I'll be in the seat for 8 hours, then sleep for 8 hours while someone else drives, etc. We'll be doing this trip straight through without stopping (unless we have to for some reason).

So I haven't even gotten the car yet and I'm dealing with range anxiety! I'm not worried at home because it'll be all city commuting with nightly charging, I have no plans to travel over 75 miles a day. I'm just wondering from experienced X owners if I should abort the plan altogether and try to find another way to get this thing home. I'm really not in a hurry, but I don't want to do 55 in a 75 just to stretch the range as that seems unsafe.

 

[CFrolander]

Oh and one other question I meant to ask. I read that the battery heater runs about 11kw until its warmed up but you can preheat that on a supercharger. If I'm going to be running 1100 miles nearly straight (just stops for charging) is the range going to be effected still or will constant use keep it up to temp? My guess is I'll start off about 50-60 degrees at the beginning of my trip, dropping to around freezing overnight, then should be back up to 50-60 throughout the next day

 

[GOPJEW]

First of all - congratulations and welcome to the club! You will eventually get over the range anxiety the more comfortable you get with your vehicle.

So, I've looked at your route and let me point out one glaring thing that would affect your range - your speed. You have it set to 110% with a max at 85 - unfortunately the cars are VERY fast BUT, speed kills range, just like on an ICE. This might be affecting your range estimates a little. I'm not sure of the speed limits on this route - it may be 70 or 75 or or more for all I know so perhaps the number is artificially high.

I adjusted your speed to 100% of the speed limit with a cap at 75 and the numbers came out MUCH better with 10% remaining only on 2 legs and one of those you could charge longer before departing.

Second - I'm not sure of your KWh/Mi estimate - if that is a standard setting or not. The P100D w/22" tires I drove hit like 425/65 MPH avg - this may be a little high but I do not have a 75D w/20" tires so I will yield to others on the forum for that piece of advice.

When you make sure you activate Range Mode on - this will reduce your HVAC efficiency (use seat heaters - much more efficient) and gain you a few rated miles.

The in vehicle planner is much better now than when I first took delivery on my S 3 years ago - it now takes into account elevation changes etc and it should help you along the way. You are correct, there is NOT a lot of cushion here but I suspect that if you tame your speeds you should be more than fine and you will grow more comfortable with your range.

 

[CFrolander]

Oh you're right, thanks! I didn't even notice that I left the 110% on. I'll probably keep it at 85mph at the segments that I'll have plenty (30%+) of juice left before the next stop, and tone it down to 70 or 75 on the segments that are cutting it a little close.

I didn't enter anything for the energy efficiency, that's the number that came up when I selected the X75D. I tried to use EVTripPlanner but unfortunately they don't have any entry whatsoever for the X75D.

 

[comanchepilot]

I'm not seeing a problem with range on evtripplanner.com / / / /

longest leg is 2 hours - charging adds 25% to the total trip time - I imagine in the real world you need to stop at almost everyone depending on temperatures - you'll get worse range in the cool at night.

Shows me 16 hours of total travel time - might be easier on you to do 4 hour legs- 8 hours is a long time to be driving - even on 3 stops. 6 hour legs let you start out - then rest for about 8 hours with stops - then handle the drive into Mesa. . . .

 

[vandacca]

Here is some advice that I use all the time. When driving, keep an eye on the estimated State of Charge (SOC) that the car predicts you'll have at the destination. If it starts to get below 10%, then slow down. If it gets below 5%, the car will advise you to drive at a particular speed in order to make it to your destination.

Here is the big saver: if you get desperate for range, drive behind a big truck or bus. Preferably a clean bus or truck that won't kick up rocks. Even a pickup hauling a square trailer helps. This will significantly extend your range in a pinch, and you'll see your arrival SOC creep up as you draft.

Between drafting and slowing down, you can greatly control how much charge you'll have at your destination. Start conservative and as you get closer, speed up if you so desire. It's comforting to know that you have control over how much energy you use, so you can make it to your destination.

 

[Rockster]

Until you get your "EV legs," try driving more slowly at the beginning of each leg. By altering your speed and watching the car's expected state of charge at the destination, you'll quickly get a feel for how your speed affects usage.

 

[skip8jj]

We have made the the drive from OKC to Flagstaff and down to Phoenix in both an S and an X. The hardest gap to make will probably be from ABQ to Gallup. Nights will be cold, most likely below freezing. If there is a west wind, it will butcher your range. Plus the stretch is mostly uphill. Plan on a 40% pad when leaving ABQ and then keep your speed capped at under 65 mph. Definitely use seat heaters and heavy clothes. It will not take many miles for the car to notice if you will need to slow down to make Gallup.

We've noticed that even temperatures in the low 50s will have a significant impact on range so even if you luck out and have a tail wind, you may have to still drive slower than you are planning.

Since you are picking up a brand new car, it will take about 100 miles before AP is willing to take over any driving. Also your estimated range/remaining battery may jump about a bit while the system builds a some history on your speed / battery SOC as impacted by temperature and wind. You are starting from zero.

The X is great. Any other time of the year, winds aside, the trip would be a piece of cake. Good luck

 

[RRM998]

It's a shame the Wilcox, AZ SC isn't open. You could go through El Paso and then straight across on I-10. I wonder if there's a destination charger or Charge Point option that would fill the gap?

 

[Missile Toad]

Turn 'range mode' on during your drives, and over-inflate your tires (within reason) to get a 5% boost in range. How Tire Pressure Affects MPG

Also, if you are short on range on your way to Gallup, use your UMC to get a boost at this RV Park near Milan, NM.

 

[Evoforce]

Yep, look at destination chargers as a backup as well as campgrounds, dealerships with Fast Chargers (requires a Chademo adapter ordered from the Tesla Store) and look at the governments Alternative Fuels website. You probably won't need any of those but it could give you some piece of mind. You can also check to see if the Service Center where you pick up your car has a chademo adapter to purchase and if not ask them to get one or you order from the Tesla store and have it shipped to them. I personally carry every adapter cord known to mankind. Most of them I manufactured myself to plug into anything 120-240 volts. I also carry a 50 foot 50 amp extension cord.

 

[purplewalt]

Congratulations and Welcome!!!

Driving on any Supercharger Route is the best experience you can get.
Unfortunately, you will be driving in a new (to you) vehicle and in unfamiliar territories, relying strictly on your map.
So there will be a bit of stress.
And a whole world of opportunities to learn about your new vehicle will be opening up to you.

Charging to first 80% of your pack goes pretty quickly.
That last 20% can take as long as the first 80%, as the rate of charge slows down significantly as the pack fills up.
You will figure this out, but you won't need to fill to 100% at every Supercharger stop.

There is a Supercharger in Denton, so you might not need to go to Arlington SpC (more direct path to Ardmore).

However, always try to give yourself a bit of a range buffer when charging your pack.
You should always be in control of your driving speed. Higher driving speed you travel at means less driving range.
You can make some adjustments to your driving style to adjust to higher altitude and rises in elevation.

You can only adjust a bit for the Weather temperature and prevailing winds: and those factors can severely impact your anticipated driving range.

Best to pack some blankets and wear warm clothes (including hat, socks and gloves): the heated seats help a BUNCH keeping you comfortable, and don't severely impact driving range.

One Tip about Supercharging: enlarge the screen to locate Supercharger locations as you get closer to them. Some are located slightly out of typical visual range.

 

[Missile Toad]

For grins, I looked at the weather forecast for Dec. 16th in Ardmore:
SSW 17 mph
So, be prepared for unusually good efficiency to Oklahoma city, and iffy efficiency driving west.

 

[Missile Toad]

I just drove my Model S (lower profile and less wind resistance than your X) today with a straight on 14MPH headwind and a straight behind tailwind -- steady 55 MPH speeds, warm, flat and dry conditions each way.

Tailwind: 209 Wh/mi over 5 mi
Headwind: 299 Wh/mi over 5 mi​

Doing the math, at these speeds, each MPH headwind/tailwind reduces/adds 3.2 Wh/mi to my efficiency or about 1.1%. At highway speeds, I'm expecting the number to be closer to 1.3% (again removing cold, hills and other factors) change in efficiency and/or range per each unit of MPH. Given your larger vehicle, you might want to use a factor of 1.5-1.7% to account for headwinds or tailwinds.

 

[gjunky]

Welcome to the (X) club!

I would use evtripplanner over abetterrouteplanner. I have driven the last part (Flagstaff <-> Phoenix) a number of times in our X90D and I noticed that the in-car estimate is off by about 7% (not in your favor!) This is mostly because of the higher speeds on the I-40 and I-17. As mentioned before, keeping the speeds close to the posted speed really helps and so will the seat heaters (they are fantastic in the X). Bring a blanket because we noticed cold air coming out of the vents on multiple occasions even though the car temp is set 70+. Apparently this is not just our car either. Light blanket + seat heaters will keep you nice and toasty. That last leg is an easy run since you are going downhill and there is Cordes Junction in case you see you need to make a stop.

 

[RRM998]

It's well past the 16th. How about an update on your drive?

 

[CFrolander]

It's well past the 16th. How about an update on your drive?

Hey sorry for the way late update! Drive went awesome. We didn't need to stop for extra charging anywhere. I don't even think we really went below the speed limit anywhere either. We were able to skip the RV park in the original trip I linked without any issues at all, I think we arrived with maybe 15% battery or so remaining. Car drove awesome the whole way home.

There were a couple issues, a bad supercharger in Tucumcari which was fixed by moving to another stall, rear hatch not closing properly which was resolved by a quick visit to the service center, and a misbehaving sensor on the passenger falcon wing which should be replaced on the 16th. I've got 2,600 miles on it now and couldn't be happier!

 

[arcus]

Thanks for reporting back!

 

[Rocky_H]

There were a couple issues, a bad supercharger in Tucumcari which was fixed by moving to another stall, rear hatch not closing properly which was resolved by a quick visit to the service center, and a misbehaving sensor on the passenger falcon wing which should be replaced on the 16th. I've got 2,600 miles on it now and couldn't be happier!

You know, it is really refreshing to hear someone having this decent perspective on finding a couple of things that need fixing on a new vehicle. It seems that it's not unusual to discover a couple of things in the first couple of weeks that need taking care of and for it to not be a big deal. Some people completely flip out at that.