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Taking first long distance drive.

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I find destination chargers work so wonderfully when you are leaving the main supercharger routes and "spoking" off to see a site of interest. Especially useful for overnight charging while staying at a hotel/motel where speed is not a critical factor. This winter we will be going down to FLA from CT and plan on using a few destination chargers to see some sites which are off the beaten path, such as Winterthur, Williamsburg, and Charleston and coming back on the more western route thru the smokey mountains... Takes some planning but makes those "spoke" side trips very doable even if you have only one on-board charger in your S.
 
Welcome to long distance electric travel.

When we first started we over planned, however if you are off major interstates or where there are not Super chargers you need to plan. When we first purchased our car and traveled west we needed to plan and to slow down... Today not an issue many more Super chargers

Supercharging is great in general as the threads state you will not generally run into crowded superchargers but is does happen. Anyone who has come through Bethesda, MD has had a more likely than not delay. For me three. In general all Tesla owners are a friendly group and if traveling through give you priority or at least this has been my experience,

This past weekend 1100 mile round trip all but one Super chargers had other vehicles two I pulled into the last spot. If not crowded always pull into a no adjacent charger, if 1A is occupied pull into 2, 3 or 4. You will charge faster.

Thoughts with long distance travel ... start in the morning with the car fully charged 100%. Drive to the furthest Supercharge or greatest time your bladder allows. Stop, use the rest rooms ect and charge to the next super charger (typically 15 or maybe 20 minutes), its now lunch relax and charge for duration of lunch. Repeat process in the afternoon and into the evening if desired. When you stop use a destination charger.

Whether a parking garage, hotel or residence while you are parked if still traveling charge to 100%. If not drop back to 90 or below until back on the road.

Use the trip tool. Find it amazingly accurate as it relates to charge.
 
Nothing prepares you better than doing it.
A 500 mile trip should be adequate to let you get a feel for supercharging and trip planning.

I wonder what proportion of Tesla owners read the TMC forums. It was only by reading the forums that I became aware of the SC pairing factoid. Even that did not prepare me for the first time when I plugged into a paired charger due to 1A 2A 3A 4A 1B 3B 4B configuration. The only way I found that out was because I saw the charging rate to be less than half the expected rate (100 mph rather than 380mph).

It is a good idea to keep an eye on how the car charging is progressing - phone app works well for this. Charging can stop or slow-down for any number of reasons and it is best to be aware and alert so you can take remedial action.
 
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I wonder what proportion of Tesla owners read the TMC forums. It was only by reading the forums that I became aware of the SC pairing factoid. Even that did not prepare me for the first time when I plugged into a paired charger due to 1A 2A 3A 4A 1B 3B 4B configuration. The only way I found that out was because I saw the charging rate to be less than half the expected rate (100 mph rather than 380mph

So I've only had my Tesla maybe 48 hours, but went to a Supercharger yesterday since my home charger is currently a wall outlet until I can get the home builder to fix the fact that they did not install a NEMA 14-50 as asked... but had the other Tesla owner ask why I moved my car over a spot when I pulled up, but was because I would have been on the same charger circuit as his vehicle and wanted to maximize the charge. He also saw his charge was less than mine so moved over to the 3rd pair and doubled his charging rate, as seemingly there was something off about the one he was on. I'm likely an exception, my DS was shocked at how much more about the vehicle even he knew from my obsessive nature to learn about the Tesla products, but agree wish Tesla documented SC use more.

Or if the SC system could collaborate with your car to indicate on the vehicle with a pop-up which charger to use when you pull up based on chargers in use and observed charge speeds? I assume that there is data on Tesla's end that could allow this to be an added feature... I'm willing to help with this if Tesla wants to hire me to consult on this idea :)
 
Thanks, and yeah one of the new 60s, definitely love it. I'm trying to come up with an excuse to get out and drive it today :)
I'll help you with that.

I'd love to see videos/ pictures of anything and everything. I'm one of those nuts that searches YouTube for tesla videos I haven't seen yet.

Plus as an added bonus, attach your referral link to the video.

Hoping I begin production soon.
 
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@Buddy I'm with you there... YouTube recommendations for me are about 50% Tesla videos at this point. If I had an action cam or camera other than the one on my phone I might be tempted to illustrate the edge conditions (problem areas) of AP from what I've experienced so far, as this isn't in any of the YouTube videos I've seen so far.
 
That is a good idea! Attach a GoPro or similar to the exterior of the vehicle to show AP proximity to the lane lines.

I have a GoPro with many mounts but I mostly make videos of my vacations for personal use. Lots of work goes into even simple editing.
 
That is a good idea! Attach a GoPro or similar to the exterior of the vehicle to show AP proximity to the lane lines.

I have a GoPro with many mounts but I mostly make videos of my vacations for personal use. Lots of work goes into even simple editing.

It would be about the only use I've thought of for a GoPro :) Though considering just getting a GoPro session for use as a dash cam vs an actual dash cam... provide a more versatile option that could have other uses.
 
It would be about the only use I've thought of for a GoPro :) Though considering just getting a GoPro session for use as a dash cam vs an actual dash cam... provide a more versatile option that could have other uses.
My Tesla regional manager uses a GoPro and tried to convince me to do the same.
I ultimately went BlackVue, but he loves the versatility of his GoPro.

Congrats, you've got a beautiful car!
 
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Wonder if Tesla can determine which charging station each car is plugged into.

If that's the case, they could provide advice to drivers as they are approaching the supercharger - on which of the stations to connect to. And if only one of the shared ports are available, they could provide advice on which of those to use, based on the current and projected charging level of the cars already connected.
 
Tesla definitely has that information of which stalls are being used. If they only published an API that showed which stalls are being used, and their current power draw, many people here could write a simple web app (used on the car or mobile device) to detect location and compute the best stall to use for approaching cars. We'll write the software! Just give us the raw data, Tesla!
 
Tesla definitely has that information of which stalls are being used. If they only published an API that showed which stalls are being used, and their current power draw, many people here could write a simple web app (used on the car or mobile device) to detect location and compute the best stall to use for approaching cars. We'll write the software! Just give us the raw data, Tesla!

Agreed, this is pretty easy to write vs the other EV related software I was working on as a hobby this summer :)