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Heading to Santa Cruz Monday Jan 13

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Jason S

Model S Sig Perf (P85)
Apr 20, 2012
1,590
214
Rocklin, CA
Heading to Santa Cruz Monday Jan 14

Going to a mini family reunion in Santa Cruz. Targeting 2pm arrival in Santa Cruz visit with everybody then have dinner out, etc., and head back home with a stop at the Gilroy supercharger. That's about 170 miles and then another 40 or so for Gilroy and 165 back home.

1) Any recommendations for a lunch and charge between Davis and San Jose? Somewhere along I-680 is most likely place around lunchtime.

2) Any recommendations for coffee and/or dessert near the Gilroy superchargers?

Depending on how much charge can be gotten at lunch reduces the time hanging around Gilroy, or makes it possible to get back home without circling through Gilroy.

I've got adapters for 120V, NEMA 14-50, J1772, and Roadster.
 
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Looks like you're going over the Sunol Grade and over the Santa Cruz mountains if you go the 170 mile route. I suspect making it to Santa Cruz w/o charging is going to be really tight. My real-world range right now is about 200 miles instead of 240/265 if I'm doing highway driving trips between San Jose and Montery/Carmel and that's got some rolling hills but nowhere near the elevation changes of either Sunol or the Santa Cruz mountains. Of course, I was also driving in normal fashion (e.g. cruise control off and paying a fairly high wind resistance tax).

If I were in your shoes and couldn't count on better-than-120V charging at Santa Cruz, I would play it safe and go via Gilroy both ways. Head to Gilroy. Charge to 120 miles or more of range at Gilroy. Head to Santa Cruz via Watsonville. Return the same way. Charge up to full at Gilroy then go. And I hate range charging but I'd range charge for the long legs or use the cruise control at 60 or 65 until I was sure I was going to make it.

If you can get some kind of decent charging in Santa Cruz for 4+ hours, plan B is to head straight to Santa Cruz but be ready to charge somewhere between the Sunol grade and the Santa Cruz mountains to pick up some insurance range. Maybe stop at Santana Row and have a nice leisurely lunch. You might be good shape if you've got twin chargers since they may have an HPWC. Then head back via Gilroy and pick up a full charge there.

Not sure about places to eat at the Gilroy outlets. The In-N-Out is nearby but not what I'd call dessert :).

Good luck!
 
Another thought: downtown Campbell has J1772 charging in a number of the lots. That's right off CA-17 (Hamilton Ave exit). If you can get there before the lunch crowd fills in, you should be able to get some decent miles there. There's a good pick of coffee shops, restaurants and maybe even a brew pub there.
 
Over Thanksgiving we made the trip from here to Santa Cruz then to the supercharger @ Gilroy on a standard charge, iirc. This time I plan to use range change and stop for lunch. Getting a charge during lunch is buffer that maybe isn't required but better than nothing.
 
If I were in your shoes and couldn't count on better-than-120V charging at Santa Cruz...

Is the situation really that dire? ChargePoint lists quite a few stations in town, though I can't vouch for any of them personally since they're all just a few miles from home and are therefore fairly irrelevant for my needs. Of course they're doubtless the usual ~6kW variety so charging won't exactly be quick.

Maybe stop at Santana Row and have a nice leisurely lunch.

If you're really traveling on Monday that might be workable, but January 13th is Sunday – so which is it? The last time I tried to top up while visiting Santana Row on a weekend there were five Model S owners trying to squeeze into a fairly awkward space. Evidently they're planning to remodel to allow angle parking for seven or eight vehicles using the same space more efficiently, but it will be a while.
 
Over Thanksgiving we made the trip from here to Santa Cruz then to the supercharger @ Gilroy on a standard charge, iirc. This time I plan to use range change and stop for lunch. Getting a charge during lunch is buffer that maybe isn't required but better than nothing.

Awesome. I'm still in the somewhat paranoid stage until I get more real-world data on range. I've done a number of trips down to Carmel/Monterey and been somewhat disappointed by the range ... and really glad I got the 85KW battery. I suspect I'm seeing a combo of cruising at 70+ mph speeds, not using cruise control, higher than normal defrost use and cold weather (battery efficiency and warming).

As for charging in Santa Cruz or anywhere for that matter, I think it depends on the # of charging stations and exactly where you're going to be. They can be broken, in use or inconveniently placed. It's always something of a crap shoot unless you know about the usage patterns or can make arrangements that are solid.
 
If you're really traveling on Monday that might be workable, but January 13th is Sunday – so which is it? The last time I tried to top up while visiting Santana Row on a weekend there were five Model S owners trying to squeeze into a fairly awkward space. Evidently they're planning to remodel to allow angle parking for seven or eight vehicles using the same space more efficiently, but it will be a while.
Whoopsie. Jan 14 is correct. And thanks for re-highlighting Santana Row; that could work very well and getting there around lunchtime means a better buffer on getting to Santa Cruz by 2pm.

I'll take that as the default choice for now.
 
Used the Santana Row charger on the way there and back. Since I have a Roadster adapter I didn't need to borrow one from the store.

I didn't calculate the energy versus distance appropriately for driving in near freezing temperatures in the dark (return trip started at 9pm). Also didn't notice that the Nav system only gives 'as the crow flies' distance as its initial calculation before telling it to actually navigate.

Long story short, we got home but a bit later than going by the supercharger even though that was out of the way. Getting more opportunity charge at Santana Row would've kept the trip shorter but I did the calculations wrong.

The numbers that mattered:
ideal range: about 320 watts per mile, I think. My usage going 67 down the freeway in the dark with heater going without significant hills; about 400 watts per mile.

The projected ranged and battery remaining have been very good in my opinion. The nav system and energy graphs are priceless when doing these kinds of trips where I'm pushing the range.