Thoughts on driving a rented Model 3 in up state New York?

[joebruin77]

I have owned a 2018 Tesla P3D for the past 4 years, so I am very familiar with driving and charging a Model 3.

Later this year, I am planning to visit New York. I will be landing at JFK and then driving a rental car to the following cities over the course of a week:

Philadelphia
Binghamton
Syracuse
Albany
Boston
Providence, RI
New Haven, CT
and back to JFK

I would love to rent a Tesla Model 3 for the trip. But when I checked out the Supercharger locations, I was surprised to see that there were no superchargers in Binghamton or in Albany.

How easy or difficult would it be to charge a rented Tesla in Binghamton or Albany? I'm thinking about just renting an ICE.

I would love the advice of people who are familiar with driving and charging a Tesla in upstate New York.

Thank you,
Joe

 

[RTPEV]

What map are you looking at that you don't see Supercharger locations in Albany or Binghamton? They may not be V3's, and at least in the case of Binghamton, it's not directly off the highway (it's about halfway between two exits), but there certainly is one.

I've driven my Model 3 along I-81 all the way to the top of New York and it's never been a problem. I haven't been over to the far eastern side of the state, but that seems like even less of a challenge.

Okay, it's not California where you probably can't go 10 miles without hitting another Supercharger, but you may actually find it a pleasant experience as the Superchargers are never really crowded at all. It's extremely doable!

 

[blperk]

I agree with RTPEV. I have a MY, and I have driven to all of those towns with no issues. You will find that superchargers may be 25-50 miles apart, so do a little planning and don't let your SOC run below 15-20% and you'll be fine.

 

[joebruin77]

What map are you looking at that you don't see Supercharger locations in Albany or Binghamton? They may not be V3's, and at least in the case of Binghamton, it's not directly off the highway (it's about halfway between two exits), but there certainly is one.

You are right! I must have been looking at an outdated supercharger map. I just checked a supercharger locater app and I now see them.

That is super helpful. Thanks!

 

[Andy7]

This may be too late for you, but there are multiple Tesla Superchargers around Albany.

The map of chargers on the Tesla website under charging is quite out of date, at least in some areas. There is a charger in Lenox, MA that I used 2 days ago and has been there for almost a year that is NOT on the website map. It does appear on the car screen.

This kind of omission is bad for Tesla as it does not give the full extent of their network.

I hope the trip went well.

 

[RTPEV]

I'm a little confused about what Supercharger in Lenox you say is missing from the Tesla website. Are you talking about this:

Seems to be there...did you have some kind of filter set? Or are you looking at a different site perhaps?

 

[RTPEV]

Maybe you are talking about this guy (tesla.com/trips), a.k.a. the Tesla Trip Planner:

It does seem to be missing from that thing...which I will agree with you, seems to be a bit of garbage. I've never actually used that tool until today, and I am not impressed.

That said, it appears to be more marketing-level tool that is helpful to show that a trip can be done, versus a serious trip planning tool. Just changing the destination required a refresh of the whole page. I would certainly not rely on this for anything, and not just because the data is out of date, but because it's a crappy tool. There are certainly much better alternatives to both trip planning and discovering actual supercharger sites than this.

 

[Andy7]

Yes, that was my point. The site is on the car map, but not on the map at the Tesla website. I use that site map only for a general idea of a trip when I am in the house and not in the car.

Since the first and biggest question that most people ask (I know I did) is where I am going to charge my car, that website map should be very accurate because it is what a person investigating a Tesla will have to use. It would be better for Tesla to have an accurate map to show how many chargers there are and not be missing sites.

In addition, I think the access to the charging map should be much more prominent. It is hidden in the left menu halfway down and then you have to scroll further down under charging to get the map, which you have to click on to see at "plan my trip." It does not even say "here is a map of charging stations."

Charging is the most important question and the answer(s) should be prominent and accurate.--You are welcome for the advice, Mr. Musk, and I'll take my Plaid now, thank you.

PS-my signature is not accurate. Tomorrow, Tuesday, I take delivery of a new Model Y LR in blue. I am keeping the Model 3 and trading in the Subaru Ascent.

 

[RTPEV]

Yes, that was my point. The site is on the car map, but not on the map at the Tesla website. I use that site map only for a general idea of a trip when I am in the house and not in the car.

Well it's on the tesla.com/findus map, but not the tesla.com/trips map. And as you said, that trips map is fairly well hidden and not obvious. Well, they both are frankly. If you scrolled a bit further down instead of using the "Plan My Trip" button you used the "Find Us" button, you'd get the better map.

Congratulations on the Y today!

 

[Andy7]

Well it's on the tesla.com/findus map, but not the tesla.com/trips map. And as you said, that trips map is fairly well hidden and not obvious. Well, they both are frankly. If you scrolled a bit further down instead of using the "Plan My Trip" button you used the "Find Us" button, you'd get the better map.

Congratulations on the Y today!

Thanks for telling me about the findus menu; I didn't know about it and it is much better than the one I have been using!

And thank you for the congratulations. The Y is very nice with obviously more room for us (we are not that big-Me about 5' 8" and my wife is about 5' 1") and our stuff. It drives well but I miss the auto lane change since I did not get the extra packages. A related pain is restarting the LKA after every lane change.

The Modernspare has arrived and is in the car and I'm getting the rest of the necessities in.