Help: Boston to Pittsburgh - anyone with HPWC near Harrisburg?

gnychis · Nov 26, 2014

Hi all,

I am trying to find out if driving from Boston to Pittsburgh is feasible (anything is possible!).

Here is what the drive looks like:

Getting to Southern NJ is easy... From looking at supercharge.info, getting from Boston to the very edge of Pennsylvania on the way to Pittsburgh is relatively straight forward hitting a chain of Superchargers at Stamford, CT and then Trenton, NJ.

Getting from NJ to Pittsburgh is hard... There are no superchargers in-between NJ and Pittsburgh with 325 miles of driving left, including traversing the Appalachian mountains. The 603 miles in the screenshot is the total distance from Boston to Pittsburgh (not from Trenton to Pittsburgh). My only chance seems to be to find somewhere with an HPWC in-between, no further east than Harrisburg. Stops further east than Harrisburg (e.g., Allentown) would not leave me with enough charge to get to Pittsburgh. Therefore, even if the Allentown supercharger were built, it wouldn't exactly solve this problem.

Has anyone managed this trip before? Where did you stop? I'd greatly appreciate any help. Thinking about making this trip home for the Xmas holiday.

paulkva · Nov 26, 2014

So it's definitely not easy, but it is a bit easier than you say. The Somerset PA supercharger is 265 miles from the Hamilton NJ (Trenton) supercharger. Given the cold and the mountains, though, you'd still need at least a couple hours on level 2 charging in between to make it, even with a 100% range charge in Hamilton. There are several options in the Harrisburg area on PlugShare, though I can't personally vouch for any of them.

Since the L2 charging would cost you at least 2 additional hours, probably more, you might be better off taking a ~50 mile detour further south through Newark DE and Hagerstown MD.

If the Allentown supercharger comes online before your trip, it's "only" 215 miles from there to Somerset, which should be manageable if you keep your speed down and charge to 100% beforehand. But even then you'll probably want to research level 2 options in the Harrisburg/Hershey area, just in case.

I haven't made the trip between NJ and Pittsburgh in ~20 years, and I haven't taken my Tesla to Harrisburg/Hershey yet, so I can't say for sure how it will go. But I'm reasonably familiar with the I-95 and I-70 corridors, and I can say that Hamilton-Newark, Newark-Hagerstown, Hagerstown-Somerset, and Somerset-Pittsburgh should all be really easy range-wise.

HankLloydRight · Nov 26, 2014

paulkva said:
Since the L2 charging would cost you at least 2 additional hours, probably more, you might be better off taking a ~50 mile detour further south through Newark DE and Hagerstown MD.

Totally this. I did two trips this summer from the NYC area to Dayton, OH and Chicago, IL.. both times, taking the Newark<->Hagerstown route. It added a bunch of miles, but in the end, it alleviated any stress of getting where I was going. Sure, the Allentown SC would have made both trips A LOT easier, but with no SC in the eastern/central PA area, the Newark and Hagerstown SC route is the way to go.

edit: By some quick calcs, it looks like the difference between the two routes is about 65 miles... or about one hour. You'll wait a lot longer than that at an L2 charger or HPWC.

edit2: Actually, if you're going to stop at the Hamilton Marketplace, NJ SC on either route, the difference is only 50 miles. It's almost a no-brainer.

Mnlevin · Nov 27, 2014

Look on the TESLA Motors website and under the tab FIND US. You will see they list not only Superchargers, but sponsored HPWC. There is one listed right outside of Harrisburg, near Hershey. If the other suggestions don't solve your problem, this will answer your question. Good Luck, BTW stay away from the Edison SC. Use Hamilton Marketplace it is an easy off/on and Edison is a nightmare to find and get back on the highway.

JakeP · Nov 27, 2014

As silly as it sounds, the Hagerstown detour is indeed the way to go. We need a Carlisle/Harrisburg SpC so badly, along with State College. Either of the these would make PA crossable.

gnychis · Nov 27, 2014

Guys, major thanks for the responses. This is a huge help. It looks like my fatal mistake was "missing" the Somerset supercharger. For some reason I thought Somerset was north of Pittsburgh, but you're right: it's on the way to Pittsburgh from the east.

I used your help and did several calculations of different ways to get from Boston to Pittsburgh. Here is what I found. I am estimating the car will be 83% efficient in its range estimate. Therefore, the "burn factor" I am using is 1.17 miles i.e., for every 1 mile, I am estimating I will burn 1.17 miles of charge. "Add. Charge Miles Wanted" is charging beyond what is needed for a safety buffer, or to account for slowing charging in the next phase. The rest should be self explanatory.

Trip #1: Going through Harrisburg with an HPWC (13.06 hrs total)
This would be going through Harrisburg and using some HPWC I could find in the area, then hitting Somerset after that. The strategy would be to load up on range in Trenton NJ to spend the least time charging at the HPWC in Harrisburg, and to only charge what is needed to get to Somerset.

Trip #2: Going through Hagerstown (12.94 hrs total)
This trip would be entirely using superchargers, going through Newark, DE and Hagerstown, as Hank suggested (thanks, Hank!). Total time is roughly the same, with the tradeoff being more drive time and less charging time. Additionally, not having to worry about HPWC in Harrisburg.

Trip #3: Skipping Trenton on way to Newark (12.66 hrs total)
It seems feasible to skip charging in Trenton on the way to Newark.

Trip #4: When Allentown Supercharge is Complete (11.46 hrs total)
This makes the trip much easier, bridging directly to Somerset.

Not too bad in the end. Lots of trade-offs, but Allentown SC is the key.

HankLloydRight · Nov 27, 2014

This summer, I wrote a web app to help me track my SC trips and actual usage/charging, etc. A few people have beta tested it for me. Here are the actual results of my two Westbound trips using this route.

If you want to use the web app, just go to LogMySc.com and register an account, add a trip, then when you start, just record your energy stats at *every* arrival and departure at a Supercharger. If you record the data correctly, the results will appear like the two images above, so you can analyze your pre- and post- trip metrics. Of course, your results will be different in the winter with cabin and pack heating.

There are still a few bugs I need to work out on the app, which I intend to do next month. But for the most part, it works pretty well. The other option would be to take a photograph of your dashboard with the energy panel at every departure and arrival, and enter that information later-- but it's important not to miss/skip a step regardless if you do it in the car browser or take photos and enter the data later (I've done both).

gnychis · Nov 27, 2014

Awesome tool, Hank! I will definitely give using it a shot when I try to make the trip. I guess my estimate of 83% efficiency wasn't too far off afterall. The most inefficient leg I will need to worry about based on your results is that leg to Somerset due to the mountains. I'm additionally a little more concerned as I would like to make this trip in the winter. If your rated / actual ratio to somerset was 129% in 77 degree weather, I wonder what it'll be like in 20-30 degrees.

HankLloydRight · Nov 27, 2014

It's actually kinda funny... for my first trip to Dayton, I had a detailed spreadsheet much like your own, with every stop, mileage, charging times, elevations, stop times, etc. I had it all mapped out to the minute. By the time I got to the first SC stop, all calculations had been thrown out the window..and by the second stop, it was useless. But it was a great exercise to do to understand all the factors and variables.

By the time I took my second trip, I didn't do any pre-planning. Turns out that I would just estimate each stop charge time -- I'd see how far it was to the next SC station, add a 20%-25% buffer, and charge to that amount (or more). Most stops only needed 15 to 20 minutes of charging, but I'd usually stay a little longer because I was getting a meal, on the phone, or checking email, etc. I'd always arrive at the next stop at-or-above the number I estimated at the previous stop. If I had a longer stop and had a 50% or greater buffer, I'd drive a bit faster and not be concerned about range or efficiency. I think on only one or two legs was it "close" and I tried to keep Wh/m around 300 to 320.

I love doing SC trips.

EVSteve · Nov 27, 2014

HPWC 100A outside in Schnecksville, PA.

Mnlevin · Nov 27, 2014

HankLloydRight said:
It's actually kinda funny... for my first trip to Dayton, I had a detailed spreadsheet much like your own, with every stop, mileage, charging times, elevations, stop times, etc. I had it all mapped out to the minute.

When I did my round trip from Coral Springs to the Berkshires this summer I planned it out pretty good. The first day I was right on time, the second day/leg I was about 1 hour ahead of schedule until I lost 45 minutes trying to find my way back on the NJ Turnpike from Edison, then lost another 30 minutes finding my way around the Greenwich SC to go North. Got to our Pittsfield house right on the scheduled time. On both trips, Like HankLloydRight, I charged just enough to get to the next SC. However I cut it real close both times I was ending the night at Rocky Mount. The up trip with 8 Miles but that return trip hit the SC with 2 miles left. My wife was scared, I wasn't.

gnychis · Nov 27, 2014

HankLloydRight;824510By the time I took my second trip said:
With a little bit of experience, doing these kinds of trips probably become a lot more relaxed and worry free. That first time is probably filled with just a bit of nerves (hence my over-planning).

EVSteve said:

HPWC 100A outside in Schnecksville, PA.

Click to expand...

Thanks for the heads up! Would still love one right in Harrisburg to get closer to the mountain range.

Mnlevin said:

It's actually kinda funny... for my first trip to Dayton, I had a detailed spreadsheet much like your own, with every stop, mileage, charging times, elevations, stop times, etc. I had it all mapped out to the minute.

When I did my round trip from Coral Springs to the Berkshires this summer I planned it out pretty good. The first day I was right on time, the second day/leg I was about 1 hour ahead of schedule until I lost 45 minutes trying to find my way back on the NJ Turnpike from Edison, then lost another 30 minutes finding my way around the Greenwich SC to go North. Got to our Pittsfield house right on the scheduled time. On both trips, Like HankLloydRight, I charged just enough to get to the next SC. However I cut it real close both times I was ending the night at Rocky Mount. The up trip with 8 Miles but that return trip hit the SC with 2 miles left. My wife was scared, I wasn't.

Click to expand...

I would be extremely nervous, too! 2 miles is almost as close as it gets. I guess that's why you suggested to completely avoid the Edison charger all together. I took your advice and cut it out of all of my routes.

paulkva · Nov 27, 2014

Re: missing the Somerset supercharger, maybe you got it mixed up with Cranberry, which is indeed north of Pittsburgh and won't help you on this trip.

Re: avoiding Edison, I'm sure it's fine during off-peak times and if you know the roads around it reasonably well, but like most major malls I'd recommend avoiding it during holiday shopping season, unless you absolutely have no other viable choice. Since your trip is Xmas time, I definitely agree you should avoid Edison.

Re: estimating range, I highly recommend evtripper.com. If you put in all the stats of your trip, including weather, it's pretty accurate. When I drove from DC to FL and back, I charged to at least evtripper's estimate (and usually +10 or more extra miles) each time, and I always made it to the next stop with no problem.

donauker · Nov 27, 2014

gnychis said:
Thanks for the heads up! Would still love one right in Harrisburg to get closer to the mountain range.

I am about 25 miles east of Harrisburg and about 7 miles north of exit 266 of PA Turnpike and have an 80 amp HPWC you would be welcome to use. It is inside the garage so only available when someone is home. Also have a 14-50 outside available 24-7

teslasguy · Nov 28, 2014

Definitely Going the Newark, Hagerstown, Somerset route is the way to go at this time.

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Help: Boston to Pittsburgh - anyone with HPWC near Harrisburg?

gnychis

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paulkva

part of the supercharge.info dev team

HankLloydRight

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Mnlevin

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JakeP

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gnychis

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HankLloydRight

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gnychis

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HankLloydRight

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EVSteve

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Mnlevin

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gnychis

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paulkva

part of the supercharge.info dev team

donauker

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teslasguy

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