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Chicago trip advice?

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Rifleman

Now owns 2 Model S's!!!
Nov 29, 2011
996
88
Harrison Ohio
I will be making my first supercharger road trip next tuesday. I am going from Harrison Ohio (far west side of Cincinnati) to Chicago.

I will definitely need the Lafayette supercharger, but besides that I have a few options. If anyone who has either made this trip before, or is familiar with the chargers could offer any advice, I would appreciate the help.

First, from my house to Lafayette is 150 miles. With the cold weather and high speed limits on this route, will I be able to make Lafayette on my first charge, or should I take a 20 minute pitt stop at the Indy supercharger just to play it safe?

The Grand ave. service center is 124 miles from Lafayette, and is listed as having a supercharger on supercharge.info, but not on Tesla's map. It is also only 2 miles from my final destination. My destination has L2 charging, but I will only be there an hour or two, so I wont pick up a ton of range. I also have the option of hitting the country club hills supercharger on my way up, if I go that route I would probably just top off on L2 at my destination, and then head straight to Lafayette when I leave. This would be a slightly longer route, however. For those who know the area, what supercharger would you recommend that I hit?
 
I will be making my first supercharger road trip next tuesday. I am going from Harrison Ohio (far west side of Cincinnati) to Chicago.

I will definitely need the Lafayette supercharger, but besides that I have a few options. If anyone who has either made this trip before, or is familiar with the chargers could offer any advice, I would appreciate the help.

First, from my house to Lafayette is 150 miles. With the cold weather and high speed limits on this route, will I be able to make Lafayette on my first charge, or should I take a 20 minute pitt stop at the Indy supercharger just to play it safe?

The Grand ave. service center is 124 miles from Lafayette, and is listed as having a supercharger on supercharge.info, but not on Tesla's map. It is also only 2 miles from my final destination. My destination has L2 charging, but I will only be there an hour or two, so I wont pick up a ton of range. I also have the option of hitting the country club hills supercharger on my way up, if I go that route I would probably just top off on L2 at my destination, and then head straight to Lafayette when I leave. This would be a slightly longer route, however. For those who know the area, what supercharger would you recommend that I hit?

Your signature calls out a 60kWh battery. Combine that with the cold snap we're having in the Midwest, and I'd recommend briefly stopping by the Indy supercharger so you have no worries when headed to Lafayette.
 
Grand Ave. does have 2 Superchargers in the back of their building off the alley and is available 24/7. Whether it's because they use them to prep cars or they don't want people driving down the alley at 2 AM, they have chosen not to list them on the Tesla website. One of the service reps suggested to me a call ahead to make sure one was available when you got there.
 
The trip ended up going great! It turns out that I easily could have skipped indy, but in reality, the quick pit stop did not add much time to my trip. The supercharger network really is a game changer, more more so that I ever would have anticipated.

I also discovered that the frunk on a cold day is a great way to keep a Chicago deep dish pizza cold as I transport it back home as a surprise for my wife :)
 
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The trip ended up going great! It turns out that I easily could have skipped indy, but in reality, the quick pit stop did not add much time to my trip. The supercharger network really is a game changer, more more so that I ever would have anticipated.

I also discovered that the frunk on a cold day is a great way to keep a Chicago deep dish pizza cold as I transport it back home as a surprise for my wife :)

Lou Malnatis? :)
 
Next we'll find out that he puts ketchup on hotdogs :)
Can't be. I have it on reliable authority that only Volt drivers and some other PHEV drivers, among all EV users put stale-quasi-tomato sauce on their ersatz hotdogs. Real pizza aficionados will not accept any of the alleged pizza sold in the Chicago area, but we must make allowances for even those Tesla people whose geographical location preclude good judgement in that important respect.:rolleyes:
 
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Can't be. I have it on reliable authority that only Volt drivers and some other PHEV drivers, among all EV users put stale-quasi-tomato sauce on their ersatz hotdogs. Real pizza aficionados will not accept any of the alleged pizza sold in the Chicago area, but we must make allowances for even those Tesla people whose geographical location preclude good judgement in that important respect.:rolleyes:


Don't be trash talking our pizza in Chicago. We take it pretty seriously around here. Deep dish or thin crust, personal preference and tons of great pizza joints to choose from.
 
pizza in chicago, not including their deep dish monstrosities, imho is like pizza anywhere away from the NE USA and of course italy, if you suspend your knowledge of what a good tomato pie is and accept it on it's own merits can be quite tasty and enjoyable despite it being a poor imitation of the genuine article
 
I will be making my first supercharger road trip next tuesday. I am going from Harrison Ohio (far west side of Cincinnati) to Chicago.

I will definitely need the Lafayette supercharger, but besides that I have a few options. If anyone who has either made this trip before, or is familiar with the chargers could offer any advice, I would appreciate the help.

First, from my house to Lafayette is 150 miles. With the cold weather and high speed limits on this route, will I be able to make Lafayette on my first charge, or should I take a 20 minute pitt stop at the Indy supercharger just to play it safe?

The Grand ave. service center is 124 miles from Lafayette, and is listed as having a supercharger on supercharge.info, but not on Tesla's map. It is also only 2 miles from my final destination. My destination has L2 charging, but I will only be there an hour or two, so I wont pick up a ton of range. I also have the option of hitting the country club hills supercharger on my way up, if I go that route I would probably just top off on L2 at my destination, and then head straight to Lafayette when I leave. This would be a slightly longer route, however. For those who know the area, what supercharger would you recommend that I hit?

This weekend I'm going to go from Madeira to Chicago (Oakbrook) . I've got a P90D. You said that your 60D didn't need Lafayette - what speed did you average?
 
This weekend I'm going to go from Madeira to Chicago (Oakbrook) . I've got a P90D. You said that your 60D didn't need Lafayette - what speed did you average?

I actually have a classic 60, not the new 60d. Lafayette was the charger that I definitely needed, indy is the one that I was up in the air about. With a P90D, I would think that you should have no trouble making it from Madeira to Lafayette without stopping at indy.
 
I'm a Chicagoan and a Malnatis guy, but really enjoy this thread. Question -- heading from Chicago to Cincy in the cold with 4 people in my 3. Planning to Nav on AP and stay around 70 MPH, running the aero rims and tires at 45 PSI. As soon as we get to Cincy, we have to then go down to Lexington, KY (where there is a charger).

My questions is this -- does anyone know if the firmware gives you charging options on Model 3? I have an AWD LR version. I understand on the X and S the car will let you know estimated battery remaining if you use one supercharger or wait for the next one. It's our first trip and I want to play it safe, but also not stop every 60 miles to charge if I don't have to. Ideas and suggestions appreciated.
 
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