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What do you do while waiting for your car to charge?

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smoothoperator

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Im planning my first long trip from southern california to northern california....I have a trip plotted up the 101, just wondering what to do while waiting for the roadster to charge? This is the part that I feel will cause the most stress with regards to the trip, I am an impatient person and could see myself pulling my hair out after my 3rd charging stop (I am planning on charging for 7 hours total on the trip up)...I read on an EV mapping site that there are lines sometimes of Tesla/EV owners charging on these routes, I am just imagining how horrible it would be to have to wait for 5-6+ hours to get 2-3 hours worth of juice, What is the best time killer?
 
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It depends on where you are, and what you need to do. Variety helps, so you don't do the same thing at every stop. I find shorter but more frequent stops are easier to handle. Easier on the battery too; and reduces problems if you encounter a charging station that you can't use for some reason. That also makes it easier to leave when you are done doing something, rather than looking to fill time until the battery is full.

Some things I have done while charging:

Eat (I start driving when I get up in the morning, and only have meals while charging)
Get some exercise and/or take a shower (one of the few good things about charging at campgrounds--they often have hiking trails and showers)
Sleep
Visit with nearby friends, relatives or EV advocates
Shop, check out the town, visit a museum. Look for things to do next time!
Catch up on my email or reading
Answer questions about the car and charging
Look for birds (my Dad's hobby)
Plan out the next charging stop (I usually plan before I start the trip, but I have gone off-course a couple of times)
Add information about the charging site to online databases
Do all the "trip paperwork" that oftens happens afterwards--file receipts, save photos or notes, put business cards in Contacts list, etc.
Attend a wedding (the one I attended was a planned part of the trip, but I suppose you could just check out nearby churches. There's usually cake)

If it's a long stop, I suppose you could try these although I haven't yet:

Do laundry
Watch a movie
 
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Im planning my first long trip from southern california to northern california....I have a trip plotted up the 101, just wondering what to do while waiting for the roadster to charge? This is the part that I feel will cause the most stress with regards to the trip, I am an impatient person and could see myself pulling my hair out after my 3rd charging stop (I am planning on charging for 7 hours total on the trip up)...I read on an EV mapping site that there are lines sometimes of Tesla/EV owners charging on these routes, I am just imagining how horrible it would be to have to wait for 5-6+ hours to get 2-3 hours worth of juice, What is the best time killer?

A couple of the Rabobank chargers are within a block of movie theaters. I also carry a really small fold up chair, book, a small cooler that fits under the dash ahead of the passenger seat.
 
Great suggestions. Taking a road trip in an EV can "force" you to stop and smell the roses along the way. This can really enrich your life if you are creative about it. ChadS and bonnie1194's suggestions illustrate this. I will suggest another:

Take an iPad and catch up on newspapers, magazines and books. Also keep up with TeslaMotorsClub postings, and other Internet sites if you have any time leftover. :)

I am looking forward to this someday. If I can get a long range, fast charging, EV to supplement my Volt, I will take it on long trips, and just use the Volt as a 35-mile town car. Years ago, I took a couple of cross-country bicycle trips. Even better for seeing the country you are travelling through. However, if you just need to get to your destination, maybe an airplane is really the right tool for the job.

GSP