Are Tesla owners becoming inveterate long haul Florida drivers?

jbcarioca · May 14, 2015

Yesterday I drove from Miami to Santee, SC. Much to my amazement it turned out that there were four of us making that trip at the same time. They were an 85D which is almost identical in visuals with my P85D, a 60 and an 85. It became obvious that we were all traveling to similar destinations when we all kept appearing at Superchargers within minutes of each other. Following Santee our paths diverged, with the 60 and I continuing to Charlotte.

This was my first long trip in my car, and resulted in a deepening appreciation for the car, plus serious disdain for the deficiencies of the current version of navigation. Despite the weaknesses the potential advantages in trip planning are obvious. I only wish that, for example, it did not want me to return to the Santee Supercharger when I was already 50 miles away on the way to Charlotte. Deleting Superchargers from the route solved the problem.

Strangely and dismayingly none of us exchanged contact information despite our friendly conversations along the way.

This does suggest that there might be a very large number of us making the great North-South treks. The hotel receptionist in Santee said they often have 3-4 Tesla drivers per night staying at Clarks, causing her to say they regarding their Supercharger locations as a big asset to the hotel.

caddieo · May 14, 2015

I am just waiting for the supercharger gaps between FL and Chicago to fill up then you can count me in for at least 2 trips a year.

tinpandave · May 15, 2015

need some for western NY also

thx1139 · May 15, 2015

caddieo said:
I am just waiting for the supercharger gaps between FL and Chicago to fill up then you can count me in for at least 2 trips a year.

What gaps? We may be heading to Orlando around first of the year. Right now I see what could be a gap between Indianapolis and Nashville.

caddieo · May 15, 2015

thx1139 said:
What gaps? We may be heading to Orlando around first of the year. Right now I see what could be a gap between Indianapolis and Nashville.

Exactly what I meant - the Supercharger gap between Indianapolis and Chattanooga (Nashville is still a question mark). I would rather not deviate through Cincy, London, Lexington and Knoxville. Actually, my preferred route with the ICE is Chattanooga-Nashville-Paducah-Mt. Vernon, IL then up I-57 to Chicago. I think it is shorter/more direct and mostly rural/faster since it avoids the big city traffic around and through Louisville and Indy.

KennyB-FLL · May 25, 2015

JB

It certainly was nice meeting you! As you said in your original post, I will be one FL resident making several trips North/South throughout the year. I'm back in FL now after 5 days up in Delaware. Not sure how often you will be making the Charlotte trip, but anytime you want to get together outside the supercharger network feel free to PM me.

Take care,

KennyB

jbcarioca · May 26, 2015

KennyB-FLL said:
JB

It certainly was nice meeting you! As you said in your original post, I will be one FL resident making several trips North/South throughout the year. I'm back in FL now after 5 days up in Delaware. Not sure how often you will be making the Charlotte trip, but anytime you want to get together outside the supercharger network feel free to PM me.

Take care,

KennyB

Kenny,

It was nice meeting you too. day after your comments about my absent NG seats I received an email that they have arrived and are ready to be installed! They're scheduled for two weeks from now when I return to the US. My next rip is likely to be to Knoxville, TN sometime late next month. Depending on current negotiations I am also likely to be in Wilmington soon. As we both have noticed, a side effect of tesla ownership seems to be a compelling urge for road trips!:biggrin: I hope we meet in one of these places again, if not Santee.

OcalaHorse · May 27, 2015

I drive back and forth to Atlanta a couple of times per month. It is so easy it is ridiculous. Not the longest haul compared to others here but now with Tifton, Lake City and Ocala (home) [plus Macon if necessary], there is a good line of charging options depending on how you start your trip. I will be going Ocala to Savannah to Atlanta this weekend. Looking forward to seeing how the St. Augustine to Savannah "gap" drives.

jbcarioca · May 28, 2015

OcalaHorse said:
I drive back and forth to Atlanta a couple of times per month. It is so easy it is ridiculous. Not the longest haul compared to others here but now with Tifton, Lake City and Ocala (home) [plus Macon if necessary], there is a good line of charging options depending on how you start your trip. I will be going Ocala to Savannah to Atlanta this weekend. Looking forward to seeing how the St. Augustine to Savannah "gap" drives.

St Augustine to savannah is actually pretty easy. I have done it recently. There are slight quirks.

St Augustine Superchargers are in an out-of-the-way spot in a shopping centre near a pretty poor food court but it is also very convenient to I95.
Savannah, by contrast is in the airport and many tesla drivers have difficulty finding the Superchargers. Just remember to take the first parking exit left, not the second one for rental car return. Drive under one car park, across the exit ramps and the Superchargers will be visible in the next parking building on your left. While charging there don't forget to take your parking receipt for the visitor deck on the ground floor of the terminal, where they will validate the parking upon presentation of either the MY Tesla app on your smartphone or a key fob.

Most driers top up to 95% or so before doing the drive so they can go quickly. I do. However, 60kwh drivers also have no problem on the route. Driving 75mph or so I get to the other end with 50 miles or so left when I depart with 230 miles rated range. I note that there are windy conditions there from time to time which can either help or hurt, of course.

chriSharek · May 28, 2015

Being a Florida Native and almost an MS owner (96 days) I find it interesting that this is a post within the Florida section and we're posting wishes for SCs in other states! Just sharing the irony.

Also, I'm extremely thankful for the SC coverage in Florida and can't wait to take more weekend trips to scuba dive in the Keys, attend the annual earthworm celebration in Sopchoppy (in the panhandle), go scalloping in the gorgeous gulf, having rock shrimp in Cape Canaveral, taking photographs in the Everglades, and explore the caverns near Tallahassee. This state has so much to offer during all the different times of the year - we live in paradise and now we don't need to use a drop of oil to get around it.

jbcarioca · May 28, 2015

chriSharek said:
Being a Florida Native and almost an MS owner (96 days) I find it interesting that this is a post within the Florida section and we're posting wishes for SCs in other states! Just sharing the irony...

Ah, yes. Until a few weeks ago when mine arrived I would not have been thinking this way myself. Now i find myself looking for every chance to drive rather than fly. I admit it is a trifle ridiculous than I am driving from Miami to tampa to have my car properly set up by Pete. After all there are people who do that work in Miami too, but they are not sponsored links in this forum. Then there is the joy of silence and the sheer responsiveness of our vehicles. So, now I have driven more in a month than I typically have done in six months. So, would you care to wager how far north and west your definition of Florida might stretch? I'm already planning trips to New Orleans, Nova Scotia and Chicago. Will those actually happen? I do not know. I do know that I am giddy like a teenager since my car arrived!:biggrin:

chriSharek · May 28, 2015

jbcarioca said:
Ah, yes. Until a few weeks ago when mine arrived I would not have been thinking this way myself. Now i find myself looking for every chance to drive rather than fly. I admit it is a trifle ridiculous than I am driving from Miami to tampa to have my car properly set up by Pete. After all there are people who do that work in Miami too, but they are not sponsored links in this forum. Then there is the joy of silence and the sheer responsiveness of our vehicles. So, now I have driven more in a month than I typically have done in six months. So, would you care to wager how far north and west your definition of Florida might stretch? I'm already planning trips to New Orleans, Nova Scotia and Chicago. Will those actually happen? I do not know. I do know that I am giddy like a teenager since my car arrived!:biggrin:

SO funny you just posted this! I JUST got off the phone with Pete to discuss my coating! I'm leaning towards the Gtechniq Crystal Serum (?) if I can get the CFO, aka wife, to approve it.

jbcarioca · May 28, 2015

chriSharek said:
SO funny you just posted this! I JUST got off the phone with Pete to discuss my coating! I'm leaning towards the Gtechniq Crystal Serum (?) if I can get the CFO, aka wife, to approve it.

Me too. I checked with a few people who used Pete, all of whom seem happy, and the GTS seemed the best choice for me. I'll post photos when he finished in mid-June. It should be interesting because I have more than 4000 miles on my car already, so there are the typical driving blemishes for him to repair.

chriSharek · May 29, 2015

jbcarioca said:
Me too. I checked with a few people who used Pete, all of whom seem happy, and the GTS seemed the best choice for me. I'll post photos when he finished in mid-June. It should be interesting because I have more than 4000 miles on my car already, so there are the typical driving blemishes for him to repair.

I look forward to the pics! Thanks!

Search

Are Tesla owners becoming inveterate long haul Florida drivers?

jbcarioca

Guest

caddieo

Member

tinpandave

Member

thx1139

Active Member

caddieo

Member

KennyB-FLL

Member

jbcarioca

Guest

OcalaHorse

New Member

jbcarioca

Guest

chriSharek

Member

jbcarioca

Guest

chriSharek

Member

jbcarioca

Guest

chriSharek

Member

Similar threads