OTOH why bother?
You're not going to make it without a charge and you should get there in 1 charge unless you plan on going pretty fast etc.
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You're not going to make it without a charge and you should get there in 1 charge unless you plan on going pretty fast etc.
HellsKitchen
Member
I'm still waiting for my first Y, but I imagine I'll just keep the AC adapter kit in the car at all times. How often do you guys find an unexpected free outlet on a trip? Not for a planned charge but as kind of a bonus?
It depends on your travel plans. For visiting family and friends the Tesla Mobile Connector kit could be useful but you might also need to bring an extension cord. If you camp at a camp site with AC power then the Mobile Connector kit is also very useful to have with you. If you stay at hotels/motels these may have Level 2 charging stations available for hotel guests, likewise Tesla Destination chargers. Bring the Tesla SAE J1772 adapter so you can charge at any public Level 2 charging station. Otherwise the Tesla Supercharger network is probably going to be able to meet your charging needs. The now discontinued CHAdeMO adapter might be useful in some areas where the Tesla Supercharger network has not reached. The new Tesla CCS charging adapter is not yet shipping in the US.
HellsKitchen
Member
Correct; Tesla does not recommend using an extension cord when charging. For temporary use a suitable extension cord may be the only solution.
We take a lot of long road trips and I charge to 100% the night before. I figure it will give me a few extra miles and home charging in NYC (believe it or not) is cheaper than Superchargers.
Johnny Vector
Member
I take a 12 gauge extension cord with me on long trips. I've only ever used it at a marina where my car sits for many days. There's absolutely no reason not to use that. The wire in the wall is 12 gauge (or 14), so another 50 feet of 12 is not going to drop much voltage.
Okay, sure, let's do the math. 12 AWG copper at 20° C is 1.6 mΩ/ft, so 50 feet times 2 directions is 100 feet, or 0.16 ohms. Times 12 A is 2 volts of drop in the cord. So long as the receptacle you're plugging in to meets code, you'll be fine.
But that's with a 50' long 12 AWG cord. 14 AWG will drop 3 volts for a 50' cord, and a 16 gauge cord will exceed its rating and might melt and catch on fire, so definitely don't use one of them. And of course if you're trying to use an extension for L2 charging, you have to scale all these numbers up. That pretty rapidly gets you to needing an unwieldily* heavy cord for more than 25 feet.
*Totally a cromulent word
CapsEngineer
Member
Call ahead and see what they have. I’m currently visiting my in-laws and knew they had an outlet for the motor home they used to have. So I’m using a TT-30 to NEMA 14-50 adapter. In order to make it easier on them, I then plug that into a 50 amp extension cord, then the mobile connector. Because the connector/car sees the 14-50 adapter, I have to set the car to use 24 amps. It’s slow, but it gives us enough to run around everyday.
Best thing to include, for a road trip, is a medium sized soft sided cooler. Tuck in on the floor behind the console and it is easy to simply reach back to grab a snack or drink. Also easy to carry into the motel. Got ours from Costco and it has a little flap on the top so you do not need to unzip anything to grab a snack.
mbp11
Member
Here is my report from a trip we made in September from the SF Bay area to Colorado. I would recommend making a trip to remember- card table, picnic basket, chairs, cooler, silverware and table cloth and really make it a trip. We took noontimes off for a lunch on our picnic tables while charging and got take out from local restuarants and then ate while charging for dinner. The superchargers are generally well lit and it is nice for a picnic dinner and then use a destination charger to spend the night. Bring the supplies along and then wing it!
Mike P
Free L2 chargers are pretty popular at places like malls, movie theaters, hotels, top golf, restaurants, parking garages, city/state/federal government buildings, microbreweries, etc. Access to (free) L1 (110v) charging is also pretty common when staying at AirBnb or Vrbo’s.
The holy grail for free charging is free L3 charging. Supposedly there are a handful of them out there.
With respect to “free charging goals”; I just keep the Tesla wall connector kit in the car (Vrbo, Airbnb), J1772 to Tesla adapter (free L2 charging at movie theater, employer, city buildings, top golf, etc). Finally I bring a NEMA 14-50 adapter in case I need to L2 charge at a campground, or the Airbnb/Vrbo has a dryer outlet in the garage.
The downside with charging is if the charger doesn’t have J1772 or Tesla connector; it is guaranteed to have CCS / CHAdeMO. There is no CCS adapter in North America (yet. It is supposed to arrive in 2022), and the CHAdeMO adapter from Tesla is $500-600.
The holy grail for free charging is free L3 charging. Supposedly there are a handful of them out there.
With respect to “free charging goals”; I just keep the Tesla wall connector kit in the car (Vrbo, Airbnb), J1772 to Tesla adapter (free L2 charging at movie theater, employer, city buildings, top golf, etc). Finally I bring a NEMA 14-50 adapter in case I need to L2 charge at a campground, or the Airbnb/Vrbo has a dryer outlet in the garage.
The downside with charging is if the charger doesn’t have J1772 or Tesla connector; it is guaranteed to have CCS / CHAdeMO. There is no CCS adapter in North America (yet. It is supposed to arrive in 2022), and the CHAdeMO adapter from Tesla is $500-600.
roblab
Active Member
I bring my wifey. After that, I don't need much. We stop to eat as I do not allow eating in the car, charging is everywhere, and I get reservations for motels before I leave for the trip. It's about as easy as driving a gas car, and it takes about as long to refill the "tank", get a snack, and hit the bathroom in either one. The difference is the quietness. One doesn't realize the NOISE a gas car makes, though tires are pretty noisy on their own.
Ciaopec
Active Member
Ciaopec
Active Member
Lucas007
Member
Nope. I burn through tires too quickly for them to go flat.
Carry an emergency tire air compressor and a plug kit if you plan on being outside of AAA range. Also, sign up for AAA.
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