Toronto to Warren, Michigan Trip,

[Struja]

Looking for some tips on a trip we plan to take this weekend (leaving Friday). The planned route is 401- 402 - I-94 - I-696 (for only about 10km).

The Evtripping site says for me to make a short stop at Woodstock, bypass Port Huron and arrive at my destination in Warren with about 51km in range left.

Here is the problem...my destination only has a 120V outlet, the closest Supercharger is Port Huron which is about 90km from my location. There are a few level 2 chargers nearby, but PlugShare shows them as only in service sporadically (at Walmart and Meijer), so I am not sure they will be great options.

Of course I can 120V charge for 12-15 hours overnight so it isn't dire. My hope was to drive around once I arrived, so I thought that maybe I should stop at Port Huron and get a 90% charge or even 100, so that when I arrive, I have a lot of range left.

If so, should I bypass Woodstock or should I stop at both?

Lastly..on the evtripping site in my preferences it has a "speed adjustment" in my routing preferences. Can someone explain how this works?

Thx.

 

[RiverBrick]

Yes, definitely stop in Port Huron. The software doesn't know you will not have adequate destination charging,

The speed adjustment is relative to what the software thinks is the average speed of traffic on the segments of your itinerary. Under the details (or steps, I don't remember) tab there is a column for the projected speed on each segment. To isolate the highway speeds, adjust the slider to hide segments shorter than 10 km. You can then change the speed multiplier to make the predicted speeds match what you think will be your cruising speed.

As you'll see, a speed multiplier of 1.0 usually does not mean driving exactly at the posted speed limit.

 

[RiverBrick]

Also, if you decide to stop in Port Huron, you can skip Woodstock.

 

[mrElbe]

My rule is charge early and often. Charging in the low battery state of charge is most efficient. I always charge up to a projected 20% reserve at the next charger.

 

[bwestlak]

Port Huron also has a great restaurant, Freighters, to eat lunch at.

 

[Struja]

Port Huron also has a great restaurant, Freighters, to eat lunch at.

Now you're talking!!!!

 

[Struja]

Port Huron also has a great restaurant, Freighters, to eat lunch at.

We stopped at Freighters and had a light lunch. It was great. Beautiful views and we had great weather so we enjoyed the patio.

We ultimately stopped at both Woodstock and Port Huron just to ease our "first road trip" anxiety. When we make this trip again, we will only stop at PH. Going back home tomorrow. Should be starting with about 380km charge after a full night of 120v. Plan is to make 1 stop only in Woodstock. This trip has been much simpler than I expected.

 

[Struja]

So, the trip home went perfect but I have a question and I don't seem to understand the answers I've been reading.

On the way home from Michigan we made Woodstock our only stop. I arrived with 149km of range (my 90% is 420km). Only needed 15 minutes of charge to reach my destination. After 15 minutes I was in the 300's and then the big slowdown happens.

Tells me I need 50 minutes to complete my charge. Obviously, I wasn't waiting around for the full charge but why does the supercharger work so fast for the first few minutes, then the big slow down?

 

[wayner]

According to this graphic it is because the current must be reducing when you are topping off the cells:

 

[Struja]

Forgot to mention one last interesting moment while I was in Michigan...

Half of my family and all of my wife's live in MI. I am Canadian, my wife and kids are Americans, although we live in Toronto. I have (until now) only ever owned foreign cars, mostly Japanese. Needless to say, that didn't make me very popular amongst my family. As you might imagine most of them work for the big three or a Tier 1 or 2 supplier. They are not fond of foreign car owners...

So, during my trip to Michigan I was at a Meijer grocery store charging my car and while plugging in, a guy in a older Monte Carlo screams out his window "keep buying foreign you a-hole".

I don't believe I've laughed that hard in years. I don't think I have ever been screamed at for 25 years of Japanese car ownership but boy oh boy did this dude hate my "foreign" Tesla. Hilarious!!!

 

[mrElbe]

Similar story: When I attended the Custer, SD Tesla rally a participant told me that in his home town he was deliberately rear ended by a guy shouting that he "lost his GM job because of guys like him buying those damn foreign cars". The local Sheriff, when called, would not believe his story but the rear dashcam footage with sound was evidence enough for the arrest.
Front and rear dashcams are indeed useful.

 

[wayner]

So, during my trip to Michigan I was at a Meijer grocery store charging my car and while plugging in, a guy in a older Monte Carlo screams out his window "keep buying foreign you a-hole".

I don't believe I've laughed that hard in years. I don't think I have ever been screamed at for 25 years of Japanese car ownership but boy oh boy did this dude hate my "foreign" Tesla. Hilarious!!!

The Canadian government agrees with him which is why the Tesla is subject to tariffs as the cars do not current meet North American content requirements as much of the value are in the batteries which are Japanese. So, arguably, the Tesla is a Japanese car until they start using the batteries from the Reno gigafactory in their cars.