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Driving from SF to LA

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I'm planning on driving down to LA next weekend. Leaving work from the Financial District in SF to LA Live (via I-5).

I'm trying to decide whether I should drive the Model S or my gas guzzling BMW. I want to drive my Model S, but I was wondering how long will it take to drive down there. Looking at Google Maps, it's 200 miles from SF to Harris Ranch. After charging for an hour, would I have enough juice to make it to downtown LA (going over the Grapevine) without stopping at Tejon Ranch?

I only just passed 1k miles on my car, so I don't have the best idea of the speed I would have to maintain in order to get from SF to Harris Ranch, and Harris Ranch to LA without getting stuck. Would I be okay if I maintained 70mph, assuming I start with a charge of 100% (max range) in SF and charging for 45 minutes at Harris Ranch?

My initial 1k miles are from commuting to and from work on hwy 280, which has tons of hills. The drive down to LA should mainly be flat with the exception of the Grapevine.

I want to sell my gas guzzler, so I don't want to put too many miles on it, which is why I am asking the experts here :)

Thanks for all your help!
 
I'm planning on making a similar trip in mid January from the Los Gatos area. My plan is to 'Max Range' supercharge in Gilroy then hit the Tejon/Laval Rd Supercharger at the end of the trip. My concern is the bottleneck in Harris Ranch, since there is only a single SC there.

Since Gilroy SC to Tejon SC is is 227 miles (per Google maps), that should be no problem.
 
From Coalinga (Harris Ranch) to LA is about 200 miles. I'd want a little extra heading into the Grapevine (that's about a 4000 ft elevation gain, iirc). Why not plan a short stop at Tejon just to give yourself that extra? You don't have to stay to fully top off, just enough that you don't need to worry about the elevation gain.
 
I'm in sf now and am heading back to Los Angeles tomorrow morning. My car is charging up to range mode tonight. I plan on stopping in Gilroy to get a full range mode charge and then I'll check to see if anyone is at Harris Ranch. If not I will get a 10 minute bump so I can go 80mph to Tejon Ranch. If there is someone there I'll just continue on to Tejon Ranch at 70mph.

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Based on my recent drive from Santa Barbara to Hillsborough up 101 in my son's Model S, I would definitely take the Model S. It is a GREAT car to drive on a trip! Starting fully charged in SB to Gilroy is 250 miles. That is pushing it. To Salinas is 220 miles. Figured I could make it. There are hills involved, but lots of flat as well. I did make it--with 6 miles left. Range anxiety is not a fun thing! I would heed the advice above and charge as soon as possible after you go 200 miles. In my roadster I always drive at 65 mph until I know for sure I won't run out of juice--then I speed up. I think that philosophy is a good one to follow until you really learn your car and it's capabilities. The 265 mile range is pure fiction--unless you are going 50 mph on the flat.

I only used the SuperCharger once, and wow! It reallly pumps the juice into the car! Gilroy has four spaces. I arrive and filled the third. Three Signature Red S charging at the same time--what a sight!
 
Thanks for the replies!!!

@montgom626- yeahhh..... but I want to sell my M6. It's really sad, but I average 17mpg on the freeway in that car :(

I didn't know there is only 1 supercharging station at Harris Ranch. I guess the safest route is to supercharge fully in Gilroy and then drive straight to Tejon Ranch to do another full charge.

@DrComputer: how do you check if anyone is using the charging station at Harris Ranch? Did you just call the Tesla hotline?

@Petrokalis: thanks! Since you're driving from Los Gatos, i'm assuming you drove through 152. Did you lose a lot of range going over that mountain? From SF, I am planning on going over the Bay Bridge and taking 580 to I-5 just to avoid hwy 152.

@bonnie1194: thanks! I'm glad there are so many options to juice up :)

I'm leaving SF at 3 or 4pm. I want to check-in to my hotel in LA Live before midnight. Usually, when I drive the bimmer it takes 5-6 hours door-to-door with a pit stop at Harris Ranch for gas.
 
I'd plan on an extra hour if taking the S, because of the extra couple stops.

If time > money then take the BMW. While the superchargers are in reasonably entertaining spots to stop and recharge you and the car, if getting to hotel at 1am ruins your night then prolly better off taking the gasser.
 
Thanks for the replies!!!

@Petrokalis: thanks! Since you're driving from Los Gatos, i'm assuming you drove through 152. Did you lose a lot of range going over that mountain? From SF, I am planning on going over the Bay Bridge and taking 580 to I-5 just to avoid hwy 152.

Well, I haven't actually made the trip yet in the Model S, but when we go down to Anaheim with the kids, we've always taken 152.

Definitely interested in your experience though as it either means taking my car or the wife's Honda Odyssey. I'd rather take the Model S :biggrin:
 
@Petrokalis: thanks! Since you're driving from Los Gatos, i'm assuming you drove through 152. Did you lose a lot of range going over that mountain? From SF, I am planning on going over the Bay Bridge and taking 580 to I-5 just to avoid hwy 152.

If you want to use the Supercharger in Gilroy then, I believe, you need to take 101 South to Gilroy and then decide how to cut over to I-5.
 
Read this Inside Scoop on Tesla’s Super-Smart Supercharger Network | PluginCars.com

You will get there faster if you stick to charging the bottom half of the pack over more stops.

I totally agree with above comment. Just did the trip from Napa to Harris Ranch/Tejon. I'd get a Range charge in Gilroy, then stop at Harris only if unoccupied. On to Tejon for a standard charge then on to LA. The climb up the mountain, in the cold, is very energy consuming. But the ride back down the backside makes up for most. An I wouldn't go over 65. I found that as I approached 70 I fell below the rated range. At 60 was above that range.
 
Hmm, I was hoping to be able to make this trip once I get my 60 kWh Model S. Based on the comments here, it may be more of a challenge than I thought.

Mulder we should be able to make it, but we just need to spend more time at each stop to get a full charge, especially if you don't want to spend the whole time following semi trucks at 60mph. Only problem is the bottleneck at Harris Ranch until they get more stations going.
 
Mulder we should be able to make it, but we just need to spend more time at each stop to get a full charge, especially if you don't want to spend the whole time following semi trucks at 60mph. Only problem is the bottleneck at Harris Ranch until they get more stations going.

Ahhhh, you're right. I'm going down the East Bay, so the Gilroy supercharging stations will not be on the way.

SF to Tejon Ranch is 300+ miles, so I'm going to have to stop at Harris Ranch to charge up. What are the chances that the station will be in use?
 
Took factory delivery Saturday 22nd and took a quick break in Gilroy (2 cars charging) for breakfast. (should have charged up enough to bypass Harris ranch!). Got to Harris ranch needing 30 more miles of range only to find I was the 4th S in line to charge (only one charger). Waited about 90 min for the charger took a sip (15min) and proceeded to Tejon. (no cars charging). It does take more time to put miles into the battery as you approach full charge. It would be nice if the HPC Tesla charger located there was converted to J1772. It is about the only one left in the wild. They might make up an adapter for the S that could be kept behind the counter.