Sagamore Beach to Turkey Lake/First Family Vacation

Just did Berkshires to Coral SPrings. If you drive the Merritt Pkwy it is very pretty drive, the SC are in a service plaza and it is busy, but usually no problem, been there 2 times. THE GW bridge is free going S/W out of town but busy. Stay away from the Edison SC, the area is a disaster. DO NOT DRIVE THROUGH DC-Fredricksburg after 2pm W, T, F. It is a parking lot for 50 miles. Rocky Mount has SC at the DoubleTree Hotel. Nice place to spend the night. If you are going further south for the night, There are hotels surrounding the Lumberton SC and in Santee the SC is in the parking lot of a hotel. The SC in Savannah is at the airport but no hotels on premises, you would need to charge then find a hotel close by.

MassX1317 said:

How do you think 8-10am on Wednesday morning will be? Worried about the DC area. Was considering going south through DE, but the gap from Salisbury, MD to Rocky Mount is too far and there aren't any decent charging spots in between. Was hoping for a restaurant in the middle. Looks like going through DC is the only option.

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I am not a local, but going south in the Am should not be a major problem. WE were caught in the biggest traffic jam of my life arriving in the area around 230 on a Thursday. We finally got off at the Woodbridge SC and had dinner (530). The locals said no one goes on I95 W-F between 3 and 730pm. They are correct. Again going South in the morning is not a problem it is the people going home from DC, south in the afternoon. Good Luck.

Another route I would consider if I had to go in the PM, would be to go west through PA towards Hagerstown, then south in the direction of Fredricksburg towards Glen Allen. I have a 60 and think it could be done. If I knew I had to go through that area at that late time, would definitely go out of the way to avoid the Baltimore-DC-Fredricksburg route, REALLY BAD

I see a couple possibly decent alternatives for avoiding DC, and I would recommend doing so since it's the day before Thanksgiving:

Newark DE - Salisbury MD - Plymouth NC - Rocky Mount NC
The distance between Salisbury and Plymouth is 231 miles. Should be possible if you do a range charge and keep your speed down, just beware of the cold.
According to PlugShare, there are L2 chargers in the Norfolk area, mostly car dealerships, that could potentially help if you think you're running low. (Call to confirm first.)

Newark DE - Route 896 south - Route 301 south - Glen Allen VA
301 joins Route 50 and crosses the Chesapeake Bay Bridge into Annapolis, then it splits from 50 and heads south toward Richmond before you reach the mess that is DC.
That's about 210 miles, and probably faster overall. PlugShare L2 options look more promising as well if you're running low on range, with a Whole Foods in Annapolis and a MOM's Organic Market in Waldorf, among several others which I didn't look at too closely.
I'd still recommend range charging before making the jump, just in case. The weather is supposed to be crummy in this area on Wednesday.

Good luck!

DC traffic is generally just horrible. If you're going to hit at the morning rush-hour you will have delays. If you hit the afternoon rush-hour you will have impossible delays.

This routing around DC is how I would go:

paulkva said:

Newark DE - Route 896 south - Route 301 south - Glen Allen VA
301 joins Route 50 and crosses the Chesapeake Bay Bridge into Annapolis, then it splits from 50 and heads south toward Richmond before you reach the mess that is DC.
That's about 210 miles, and probably faster overall. PlugShare L2 options look more promising as well if you're running low on range, with a Whole Foods in Annapolis and a MOM's Organic Market in Waldorf, among several others which I didn't look at too closely.
I'd still recommend range charging before making the jump, just in case. The weather is supposed to be crummy in this area on Wednesday.

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The slower speeds off the interstate will help substantially with range.A problem with the superchargers is that range charging takes forever. It sounds like this might be the first of the day? If so, definitely start with a range charge.otherwise I think you should be able to make the 210 miles on these slower roads without issue.