The Good the BAD and UGLY experience Of Cross Country Trip

[SO16]

I’ve driven my 2017 model S 90D to Nova Scotia to FL to Colorado and Montana without any major issue. Almost always used the SC network. If going away from super chargers, I checked PlugShare for hotels. That’s the only time I did extra planning otherwise just used in car Nav.

 

[KalJoMoS]

That LFP 12V battery does not suit in legacy S, you only ask for trouble. With that same amount of money you can relax for eight years as the OEM 12V will last around four.

 

[jboy210]

On our older Teslas, we replaced the 12-volt battery every 2 years or so. They seem to go from OK to "replace me" to dead fast at around the 2-3 year mark. It was easier to replace the battery and not worry about it stranding you.

We have the newer battery in the new X and approaching 3 years with no issues so far.

 

[SO16]

On my 2017 S, replaced it once in 2019 after a warning but still worked fine. So far same battery since.

 

[BrokerDon]

AbSoFreakinLutely ridiculous. We've road tripped our 2015 Tesla Model S P85D from SoCal through several Western states including Colorado ski resorts in the winter and NEVER ran our 85kWh battery so low it would shut down.

Poor Planning = Poor Results:

1. taking a couple of minutes to do basic trip planning using ABRP or EV Trip Planner would have eliminated this mess.
2. entering your entire trip and waypoints into the Tesla navigation would have provided Supercharger stops avoiding running the battery down

OP also should have seen the estimated SoC / miles at his charge destination getting dicey WAY before it happened... and simply:

• stopped at a Supercharger for a couple of minutes to add enough power to get to his destination with 20% SoC
• SLOWED DOWN to decrease kWh/mile consumption
• set AutoPilot following distance to 1 and drafted a vehicle like a Sprinter van
• turned on Range Mode (if available)
• lowered his air suspension to LOW (less drag)

I've used these techniques in 2016 when we ran into a NASTY desert headwind / dust / rain storm going from SoCal to Las Vegas. to make it to the Supercharger in Primm NV... back in the days when there were only Superchargers in Barstow between SoCal and Primm NV. Prevented running out of kW using common sense.

 

[Evee]

God was for sure not blessing you at all on that trip buddy. And if your nav shows you will arrive with your battery in the (-) then you clearly aren’t done charging. Idk why I’m even responding to this.

 

[MN-MS100D]

Snarky comments are warranted. It was a dump and run post.

 

[racerx2005]

1st a little background

I recently bought a used 2016 tesla ms just for everyday driving from home to work and fun with kids over the weekend. Since being 1st time ev or a tesla owner I started doing all the research to get more familiarize charging around the town, how to maximize range and where to find charging stations as well as different apps shared by users. Used this and several other forums to educate myself as much as I could. then we found out we have a wedding coming up so why not do cross country trip in the car.

Now the trip – Day 1

I’ll honest I was nervous to start the trip and was hoping that all goes well. With God’s blessings the first day was going well with driving as well as charging and just to be on the safe side I was also charging few extra minutes in case of something. Since being a first time ev and or tesla owner I started noticing that every time we were arriving to the next charging location, we arrived the stated charging, BUT the % for the next stop was in -. We just charged and kept going because we wanted to get to our hotel on time so we and kids can rest up. Everything was going while driving to our last charging station for the night. The car was showing we still have 40 miles to go, but to our shock SHUT DOWN that to right off the ramp and just 1 MILE away from the charging station. 1 Mile. We couldn’t figure out what in the world happened and had no idea what to do either. With God’s the car stopped in a good lit area and not somewhere in pitch black. Not knowing what to do we called the insurance company for towing and started waiting. With Gods blessings a lot of people who were driving by asked and offered help, but not knowing how or what to do left. 2 guys who already drove by came back and tried different ways to jump the car. By researching we found where the connection for 12v battery is and tried to jump, but nothing happened. They stayed with us for 2 hours or so and after nothing was happened, I thanked them and asked them to leave even when the insisted they don’t mind staying. While we were waiting, we received a call from insurance company that they can’t find any tow company so we going to have to look for our own. Luckily one of the guys knew a good company and gave me the number. I called them and they told me they are on their way. After these guys left a local officer came and asked if everything was ok. I told him the entire story and again with God’s blessings he offered to stay with us until towing comes. Since the car stopped right off the ramp and not knowing it was a busy truck route, he had to keep moving his suv, but he didn’t mind. Finally, when the towing truck came, we tried to jump the car so I can put in tow mode, but (battery still showing 40 miles and not knowing how to put in tow mode. did quick research to find out what to do) the car wouldn’t stay in tow mode. After several tries the guy said he would have to drag the car on the truck and trucks coming in big numbers we had no other choice. Even being a used car, I didn’t want anything to happen to the car, but had to agree. Once he started to drag the car my heart sank and was praying nothing to happen. Once the car was on the truck, we thanked the officer and left. We drove our 1 mile to the charging station. Once he was parked and lowered the car we tried to charge the car, but due to battery being dead the car wouldn’t charge. Now being 12 o’clock at night and driving for almost 15 hours 4 hr being outside due to the dead battery I couldn’t think what to do next. There was a lady charging her model y so I asked if she knew anything we can do about it, but she didn’t because she just bought her model y 6 months ago. Not sure if it was her instinct or with God’s blessing, she gave us some food like she knew we were out of food too. After a minute something clicked in my head. I requested the tow truck guy if he can bring, he jumper battery out to wake up the 12v and with God’s blessings it worked. The car started charging. The guy had to go so we paid him and thanked him for his help as well as staying with us. We charged the car for an hour or so and after the charge grabbed pizza from the gas station and started driving. We got to our hotel at 3 o’clock in the morning not knowing if they’ll allow us to check in. the receptionist was kind enough to let us check in. Wife took few necessary stuff from the car and kids to the room. Drove the car across the street to charge the car and walked back to the hotel. Literally took shoes off and we all knocked out.

Day 2

In the morning woke at 8 to eat the breakfast and while eating breakfast thinking about what happened last night and how it’ll impact our rest of the drive. The car was fully charged. Exhausted, tired and sleepy we picked up our things, filled up our coffee mug and started driving. Already behind we were hoping and praying whatever happened the night before doesn’t happen again. While driving we were hoping just hoping we get to our hotel in timely manner. After we stopped at one of the charging stations in OKC we knew we wouldn’t be able to make to our 2nd hotel. After we left okc tesla navigation took us from there to our next charging thru a very secluded area. For miles it was just our car, trees around us and the fear of what happened the night before. I was temped to use abrp but didn’t know how to input the battery % in case something happens so at the end decided to stick with tesla navigation. We were few miles away when I noticed the car was showing 40 miles left and my heart started pounding. With God’s grace we made to our next charging station. When we parked our car and started to charge the next destination % was in negative. While charging we ate our dinner. It was already very late, so we decided to book a hotel there, but before that called our actual booked hotel to let them know what’s going on. Luckily, we found a hotel very close by. After the car finished charging, we drove to the hotel and crashed.

Day 3

After getting few extra hours of sleep we were still tired and kids were just exhausted. We checked our route to see how to plan our day. We knew it was going to be another long day, but we decided to drive straight home and not stopping another night. Again, due to charging almost every hr the arriving time got pushed and pushed and pushed.

I’ve never been sooooooooooooooooooo stressed out while driving and constantly looking at the miles or %. At one point I was if I cough or sneeze or fart it might decrease the miles. I thought I did enough research and learned as much as I could for the trip, but I guess it wasn’t enough. By posting this I’m not trying to deter anyone from buying tesla or any other ev, but the whole purpose was to share the frustration and stress we had while driving. With God’s blessings we met some really nice people who helped us.

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"Tesla Supercharger" by Open Grid Scheduler / Grid Engine is marked with CC0 1.0.
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I’ve stopped reading after “… used 2016 …” that was your fatal mistake … not to mention the never-ending-no-punctuation-or-paragraphs blob of a story not worth my time.

 

[PR0FESSOR]

I tell my students that all the time.

Horribly formatted. Did not read.

Paragraphs exist for a reason.

 

[Spottedsharks]

The criticism here is warranted, at least on the formatting and syntax of the post. If you want people to read a long post, then it's your responsibility to write it well. One need not be a Wordsworth, but it should read as if it's been proof-read for an audience you respect.

 

[ewoodrick]

Lots of small-minded snarky, non-value-added comments here. What ever happened to good manners? Does Tesla take them away when you buy one of their cars these days?

Yes, the OP is hard to read. Yes, the "God's blessings" stuff could have been minimized a bit. Neither of those excuse the childish shots taken by some folks. (I'm sure I'll be subject to some that same BS now).

Navigation on the older cars has improved greatly since they were first introduced. I've driven my 2016 S90D down to only a few percent on several occasions and never had the battery shut down. And for the entire eight+ years I've owned the car, the battery charge level indicator has remained set on miles, not percent. When I want to see percent I go take a look at the energy screen.

Does the fact that the OP hasn't responded to the thread impact your post at all?

 

[ucmndd]

Maybe he’ll be back to check in, by Dog’s grace

 

[Pruitt]

Does the fact that the OP hasn't responded to the thread impact your post at all?

No.

He may well have checked in and come to the conclusion that it wasn't worth replying to so many childish comments.

Posting snide or flatly insulting comments in response to something you find difficult to read or disagree with is really unnecessary. All it does is encourage others not to post for fear of being responded to in the same unwarranted juvenile manner.

 

[Evee]

No.

He may well have checked in and come to the conclusion that it wasn't worth replying to so many childish comments.

Posting snide or flatly insulting comments in response to something you find difficult to read or disagree with is really unnecessary. All it does is encourage others not to post for fear of being responded to in the same unwarranted juvenile manner.

The post sucked. It sucked hard.

 

[racerx2005]

No.

He may well have checked in and come to the conclusion that it wasn't worth replying to so many childish comments.

Posting snide or flatly insulting comments in response to something you find difficult to read or disagree with is really unnecessary. All it does is encourage others not to post for fear of being responded to in the same unwarranted juvenile manner.

Aww, need a hug? read the room man, and just leave.

 

[SalisburySam]

He may well have checked in and come to the conclusion that it wasn't worth replying to so many childish comments.

Posting snide or flatly insulting comments in response to something you find difficult to read or disagree with is really unnecessary. All it does is encourage others not to post for fear of being responded to in the same unwarranted juvenile manner.

So therefore the snark worked?

 

[Izzyz28]

No.

He may well have checked in and come to the conclusion that it wasn't worth replying to so many childish comments.

Posting snide or flatly insulting comments in response to something you find difficult to read or disagree with is really unnecessary. All it does is encourage others not to post for fear of being responded to in the same unwarranted juvenile manner.

That's the intent my guy, and the delusions of a magical sky-daddy certainly don't help. We like to keep this forum free from religion, politics, and *sugar*-posting. To the OP........I was interested in reading about your experience, but as soon as the page loaded I took one look and said "NOPE".

 

[Electric700]

Sunnyputt18, sorry your vehicle stopped with 40 miles of range remaining. It could need a range calibration. One thing that might help is to charge to 100%, wait for the charge to complete (this will usually take much longer than just charging to the normal 80%), then drive within a half hour afterward. Try to usually charge to 80% for better battery health.

You can also schedule a service visit with Tesla through the app and let them know that the car stopped with 40 miles of range remaining. If they think a new 12 V is warranted, definitely request a LFP 12 V (which could last 10+ years) as others suggested. The older AGM type 12 V batteries usually need to be replaced about every 5 years.

I hope this helps!

 

[DrChaos]

You can also schedule a service visit with Tesla through the app and let them know that the car stopped with 40 miles of range remaining. If they think a new 12 V is warranted, definitely request a LFP 12 V (which could last 10+ years) as others suggested. The older AGM type 12 V batteries usually need to be replaced about every 5 years.

I wouldn't recommend that. The newer cars have a different electrical system to accomodate the lithium ion accessory battery, which is a nominal 16V CATL NCM, not LFP. LFP has different voltage-current curve than lead acid and it wouldn't work right in an older car---the ohmmu has problems.

 

[Pruitt]

That's the intent my guy, and the delusions of a magical sky-daddy certainly don't help. We like to keep this forum free from religion, politics, and *sugar*-posting. To the OP........I was interested in reading about your experience, but as soon as the page loaded I took one look and said "NOPE".

"We like..." Who is "We?" I'm part of the "we," and other than the grammatical and formatting issues others have mentioned, I wasn't offended by the post - certainly not enough to have an apoplexy about it and start showing everyone how immature I am. I suspect I'm not alone.

I'm curious - what is "*sugar*-posting?" Can't get the meaning of that term from the context.

In my opinion (yours apparently differs), saying "God's blessings" isn't spouting religion (though it is showing the poster is probably a very religious person). On the other hand, I say "Oh my God!" on occasion, even though I don't believe in God. It's a figure of speech. Is that also triggering? Is saying "Merry Christmas" also verboten for the intolerant here? How many people are really that extreme?

I 'd guess more folks would like to keep the board free of personal attacks than would like to ban things like "Thank God."

NEWSFLASH - You'll spend your entire life having to deal with things you don't like (which apparently some of the folks in this thread haven't figured out yet). Unless it's a direct personal attack on you or yours, just let it go. You might chase off a few of the folks you find insufferable, but not most of them (including me). However, I will stop wasting my time on those folks pretty quickly (probably right after I find out what "*Sugar*-posting" is).