Trip to Carmel

I'm guessing you have a 60, but should be no problem. We did this trip a few months ago in our S85 taking 101 on the way there, stopping at the Aquarium for a few hours, then 17 mile drive, a quick stop at the Hogs Breath and then back up Hwy 1. We encountered standstill traffic on the way back (car accident), but could see it far enough in advance on the NAV to drive around the accident coming back to Hwy 1 at Moss Landing. Then continued over the hill back home. The whole trip probably used 150 to 160 miles of range or so from Los Gatos. Very doable in a 60. If you're at all worried, reverse the route and use the Gilroy supercharger as your backup plan.

P.S. Driving over the hill to Santa Cruz is always fun - you'll consume about 20 miles of range to get to the top and gain 3 back by the time you get to the bottom.

Enjoy!

darthvdr said:

My wife and I are planning a short trip to Carmel in the MS. Anyone made this trek from the Bay Area? Did you need to charge on a round trip? TIA

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My advice: be prepared to charge at Gilroy on the way back if you're doing a day trip further than Monterey in the winter.

I live near the intersection of 85 and 17. My house to Monterey (Aquarium) and back is no problem with the S85.

What can be a challenge is deeper into Carmel Valley (go to Carmel, hang a left and go for more miles) in the winter if you have to run the defroster because you're coming back at night.

With the older on/off defroster, I was running well over 400 watts/mile, (I think >450) on the return trip - warming the cabin, defrosting the windshield, likely warming the battery and more air resistance because of low traffic and colder air. That eats up range in a hurry. I normally do about 335-345 watts/mile so jumping to >450 really hurts.

With the newer (cold/blue) defroster setting, I think things would be ok but I'm not sure.

The Intercontinental on Cannery Row has charging (although I've never stayed there). I know there are others in Monterey but not as many as I'd like. Very few in Carmel. Check PlugShare - EV Charging Station Map - Find a place to charge your car!.

darthvdr said:

Any known hotels in the Carmel or Monterey area with a L2 charger?

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From Plugshare:

I was at Spanish Bay with my Roadster last summer. Spanish Bay's chargers were broken. But Lodge @ Pebble had some working.

I go from San Jose to Monterey all the time (in S85). Sometime I charge in Gilroy on the way back just for the heck of it, but never really needed to.

Once I parked at the Clements parking where they bragged about "complimentary charging" (ChargePoint), which was true, but it wasn't until I got back that I realized that parking was a flat fee of $28... oops.

Once we added a side-trip to Carmel and futzed around there for a while. I don't recall if I had to charge in Gilroy on the way back or not. Think I did, but I would probably have made it home with some adjusted driving.

I've done a daytrip with our P85+ to Carmel and no issues there. Went all the way down to Point Lobos and stayed at the Intercontinental. At IC, they have a Level 2 charging system. Don't remember what our cost was, but it was included with valet.

Here's a Tesla charging map for Carmel and the surrounding areas. Isn't this the same that's displayed in the S?:

Tesla Charging - Carmel, CA

Smattering of L2 chargers...
Hayward Lumber in PG on Ocean Dr next to Asilomar Beach (Chargepoint)
Asilomar Conf center - 2 chargers (Chargepoint)
Pebble Beach Lodge - 14-50
Spanish Bay Inn - 14-50
Carmel Parking Garage
Del Monte Shopping Center
CHOMP Hospital
Carmel Valley Ranch

Further south...
Post Ranch Inn has Tesla 80A

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Also, if you want to continue south, distance from Gilroy to Atascadero via Montery/Big Sur/ Hwy 46/Hwy 101 is about 180 miles. Completely doable and very scenic this time of year.

Aren't there HPW chargers at the Hyatt Monterey? Don't know if you need to stay there to use them but maybe having lunch there works

I want to reiterate.

Daytime trips to Carmel shouldn't be a problem. Day trips when you come back at night and it's not during the winter - not a problem.

Potential problem - from experience - day trips in the winter to Carmel and especially a few miles more into Carmel Valley where the return trip is at night when it's cold and there's not enough traffic to decrease wind resistance. With range mode and the 3-level defrost, it will probably be ok. But I'm not sure. I'll know after this winter but I don't know now. With the old 2-level defroster, range was a problem and getting home without charging at Gilroy could be dicey.

wiztecy said:

Here's a Tesla charging map for Carmel and the surrounding areas. Isn't this the same that's displayed in the S?:

Tesla Charging - Carmel, CA

Click to expand...

I am thinking that with a 60, you will need to charge in Gilroy on the way back. It's 123 mi each way via 101. So with a 200 mi range, you'll need more electrons on the way unless your destination has a charge port. But it will only take you 20-30 min to charge. So that's a big nothing. And you can stop at the Coach store and buy lovely luxury leather things for your wife, which she deserves, of course.

We've been down to Carmel a dozen times in the last 4 months. The main carpark in Carmel has one L2 charger... It is free... And in use about half the time.
Using 101 to get there is about 310wh/mile for us. Using 17 is about 290wh/mile and about 10 miles shorter.
We just bought a house down there to use as a vacation rental... We have a dryer outlet in the garage and keep a 10-30 Tesla adapter in the place for guests... But I haven't advertised it on plugshare as yet.

I stop at the Gilroy Supercharger for 15 minutes on the way home to San Mateo and that trip is easy in an 85. I arrive home with 20 to 40 miles of range left.

The Gilroy SC is on the route, why not use it?

I see you are in Los Gatos so you are much closer to Carmel than I am.

If you are already on 280 then 17 can be 20 minutes faster due to traffic. If you do 101 you also have time to get on/off freeway, etc... For Los gatos I think 17 would save even more time. Not enough to be worth hunting down an L2 charger, but sufficient to avoid charging if you can.
Also, stopping at a supercharger wakes the kids.

The Hyatt Regency Monterey has free Tesla model S
chargers for people staying at the hotel. Give your
car to the Valet folks and they will see it is charged
over night. Nice hotel, we've stayed there a couple
times this summer, were just there Nov 5-7.

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Should have added that you *really* need to use your GPS to find that Hyatt.
It's right by hwy 1 and hwy 68 but following printed instructions to it...
difficult

Sorry if this sounds like an Ad (no hotel connection except
as customer) . But it was great having the car
charged overnight.

Have not tried the Gilroy chargers yet.