Very cold overnight roadtrip

[karl2274]

I just picked up my x90 before Christmas and having been thoroughly enjoying it around southern Mn. So far I've done short trips of about 100 miles round trip.

My son has a college visit scheduled in northern wi and the weather is supposed to be about 0 f for the daytime high. The college is located about 70 miles from the nearest charger of any kind. This means a round trip of 140 miles.

I have two options for the trip.

1) I can stay in the hotel that is 70 miles from the college that has a tesla charger and drive with a full charge a round trip of 140 with about 7 hours of the car sitting in 0 degree weather.

2) I can leave the last charger with a full charge drive 70 miles park the car overnight plugged into a 110 outlet in subzero weather. Attend the college visit leaving the car unplugged in 0 degree weather for about 7 hours then drive 70 miles to closest charger.

I may be overthinking this but I'm very new to tesla and cold weather. Any input is greatly appreciated. Thanks

 

[Lbkmxp100d]

If it were me I would go with #1. I would at least know I'm going to be able to make the round trip. If I went with #2 I would worry about cold weather drain and what if I couldn't get access to the 110vokt outlet and had to drive 70 miles to charge after loosing X amount of cold weather drain.

 

[Tam]

...
1) ...full charge a round trip of 140 with about 7 hours of the car sitting in 0 degree weather.

2) full charge drive 70 miles park the car overnight plugged into a 110 outlet in subzero weather. Attend the college visit leaving the car unplugged in 0 degree weather for about 7 hours then drive 70 miles to closest charger...

I would choose #2 because either way, you still leave your car for 7 hours whether plug in or not.

Don't expect to gain hardly any miles when you are in extreme cold weather and 120 V outlet because all the energy might just barely enough to heat up the main battery pack to keep it warm and very few energy will be left for the job of recharging and gain you any decent miles.

However, I would still plug in 120V to make sure my battery won't lose any miles over a freezing night.

 

[docherf]

I'd contact the school. Surely they have an outlet you could plug into for the 7 hours you are there - ultimately it'll help add or preserve range/heat. Also, buy a heavy duty extension cord to keep in the car.

 

[BerTX]

I'm not in any way a cold weather Tesla owner, but I will say that if you can be a little more specific than "northern wi" for your destination, you might find an owner along the way or in the area who can help out either with charging or a suggestion. I know you want to protect your privacy, but you can't say the town that you are going to??

 

[RDoc]

I'm not stating this as authoritative, but my understanding is that if you are plugged in and charging, even on 110V, the car will try to warm the battery. A cold soaked battery will use an amazing amount of power at first to warm up.

If your 110V plug is near the college, I suspect you'd be better off with option 2. In either case, leaving the car in cold temps for 7 hours will cold soak the battery and require battery heating.

 

[MorrisonHiker]

Did you check Plugshare.com to see if there was a place nearby where you could charge?

 

[AndreyATC]

I'd go with 2 as well
120V is not that bad btw
Make sure you plugin as soon as you get there
Battery will be still warm and your car will put 3-4 miles/hr even in cold
I mean, we are talking about 10kwh of power going into the car after 7hrs!

 

[karl2274]

Thanks for all the replies. I probably need to update and add a couple details.

1. The town is Ashland, WI. We're visiting northland college. Any owners out there that can help would certainly reduce my range anxiety
2. I did check the PlugShare and ChargePoint apps. The only thing that shows up is the 110 option at the Americinn hotel.
3. Sounds like the school has 110 outlets for block heaters, so I'll be able to use those.

I've been doing the math for some of my recent trips in temps around 20f and the x is using 425-500 watts/mile. This is going to be close.

 

[Missile Toad]

Silly question, but I was wondering if there is a recommended protocol for 'dropping extension cords' in chilly and sometimes darkened sidewalks of a hotel? I'm supposing, that if a light dusting of snow comes along, the cable might be entirely invisible to pedestrians and/or snowblowers. Any ideas? Maybe a sign could help?

 

[TexasEV]

Thanks for all the replies. I probably need to update and add a couple details.

1. The town is Ashland, WI. We're visiting northland college. Any owners out there that can help would certainly reduce my range anxiety
2. I did check the PlugShare and ChargePoint apps. The only thing that shows up is the 110 option at the Americinn hotel.
3. Sounds like the school has 110 outlets for block heaters, so I'll be able to use those.

I've been doing the math for some of my recent trips in temps around 20f and the x is using 425-500 watts/mile. This is going to be close.

Most commercial 120V outlets are 20A rather than the usual household 15A. If you buy the UMC 5-20 adapter you can draw 16A from the 20A outlet, rather than 12A from the 15A outlet. Every little bit helps.

 

[Saghost]

Thanks for all the replies. I probably need to update and add a couple details.

1. The town is Ashland, WI. We're visiting northland college. Any owners out there that can help would certainly reduce my range anxiety
2. I did check the PlugShare and ChargePoint apps. The only thing that shows up is the 110 option at the Americinn hotel.
3. Sounds like the school has 110 outlets for block heaters, so I'll be able to use those.

I've been doing the math for some of my recent trips in temps around 20f and the x is using 425-500 watts/mile. This is going to be close.

A school that puts a focus on the environment and sustainability on the first sentence of their description on their web page can surely come up with a plug for you, at least 110V. Give them a call and explain the situation. Be sure to bring an extension cord with you.

If you have time, consider getting the NEMA 5-20 plug end from Tesla and a matching extension cord. That'll give you 16A on 120V instead of 12 if you can find 5-20 outlets, which most businesses and schools have. (That's what I keep in my frunk, along with a 5-15->5-20 adapter so I can use the extension cord with a standard outlet too. I haven't had to use it yet.)

 

[MorrisonHiker]

Thanks for all the replies. I probably need to update and add a couple details.

1. The town is Ashland, WI. We're visiting northland college. Any owners out there that can help would certainly reduce my range anxiety
2. I did check the PlugShare and ChargePoint apps. The only thing that shows up is the 110 option at the Americinn hotel.
3. Sounds like the school has 110 outlets for block heaters, so I'll be able to use those.

I've been doing the math for some of my recent trips in temps around 20f and the x is using 425-500 watts/mile. This is going to be close.

You might try calling the Holiday Inn Express and a few other hotels and see if they have EV charging stations. While on a recent Supercharger scouting trip to Fort Morgan and Brush, Colorado, we found an unlisted EV plug in front of the Best Western. We took some pictures, gathered data and added the information to Plugshare. Maybe you'll get lucky and find something in Ashland as well.

 

[jerry33]

Also take a look at PlugShare.com to see where the pubic and private charging places are. (You have to register to see the private ones, but it's free). There are a few places in/near Ashland, WI shown with 14-50s.

 

[RDoc]

Thanks for all the replies. I probably need to update and add a couple details.

1. The town is Ashland, WI. We're visiting northland college. Any owners out there that can help would certainly reduce my range anxiety
2. I did check the PlugShare and ChargePoint apps. The only thing that shows up is the 110 option at the Americinn hotel.
3. Sounds like the school has 110 outlets for block heaters, so I'll be able to use those.

I've been doing the math for some of my recent trips in temps around 20f and the x is using 425-500 watts/mile. This is going to be close.

How long were those trips? I've only seen that kind of usage when the battery was cold soaked and still warming up. Once everything was warm, it dropped back to about 350 Wh/mi at 27F. The first half hour or so were REALLY scary though.