I realize road trip reports and videos are a dime a dozen these days, but I thought this trip might still be interesting to some since:
1. We will be doing the trip in a 60.
2. It is winter.
3. We will be using a small but significant part of the superchargers built for Elon's cross-country trip.
Since I am not much of an essayist, I will rather post updates to this thread as we progress. The focus of the postings will be on data (energy use, range, temperature, wind, etc.) rather than drama (which has been adequately covered by the likes of David Noland).
Instead of complaining that Tesla did not complete the Eau Claire, Onalaska, Madison, Chicago and Maumee superchargers "on time", I will be thankful that we get to use the Mauston, Rockford, Mishawaka and Angola superchargers.
The current state of charging infrastructure makes a long distance trip almost exactly like flying a plane. I am therefore approaching the planning of the trip in the same way as planning a multi-stop flight.
Over the past month I have refined our flight- er drive plan as superchargers have come on line and as I have completed the performance table for the Model S (based on test drives up and down I-35 in various temperatures). The performance table shows energy consumption as a function of air speed and temperature, similar to an airplane performance table that shows fuel consumption as a function of air speed and altitude.
Since this weekend I have been watching the weather closely as there is a significant precipitation event setting up over eastern North America that could affect us on Sunday. Successive runs of the GFS model have pushed this event further north and/or widened the precip area. With some luck it may turn out to be mostly rain, but if not, we may have to wait it out in Chicago.
1. We will be doing the trip in a 60.
2. It is winter.
3. We will be using a small but significant part of the superchargers built for Elon's cross-country trip.
Since I am not much of an essayist, I will rather post updates to this thread as we progress. The focus of the postings will be on data (energy use, range, temperature, wind, etc.) rather than drama (which has been adequately covered by the likes of David Noland).
Instead of complaining that Tesla did not complete the Eau Claire, Onalaska, Madison, Chicago and Maumee superchargers "on time", I will be thankful that we get to use the Mauston, Rockford, Mishawaka and Angola superchargers.
The current state of charging infrastructure makes a long distance trip almost exactly like flying a plane. I am therefore approaching the planning of the trip in the same way as planning a multi-stop flight.
Over the past month I have refined our flight- er drive plan as superchargers have come on line and as I have completed the performance table for the Model S (based on test drives up and down I-35 in various temperatures). The performance table shows energy consumption as a function of air speed and temperature, similar to an airplane performance table that shows fuel consumption as a function of air speed and altitude.
Since this weekend I have been watching the weather closely as there is a significant precipitation event setting up over eastern North America that could affect us on Sunday. Successive runs of the GFS model have pushed this event further north and/or widened the precip area. With some luck it may turn out to be mostly rain, but if not, we may have to wait it out in Chicago.
