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My First Run thru Mid-Atlantic Corridor

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NOLA_Mike

Active Member
May 11, 2013
2,270
3,862
Colorado
Ok, I probably need my head examined for starting this trip during Memorial Day Weekend but it's happening.

I'm traveling from New Orleans to Basking Ridge, NJ next week early and then returning late week. It looks like a fully supercharged trip save for the leg from Atlanta to Charlotte, NC where I will likely have to pick up a few miles somewhere around Greenville, SC.

Any words of advice on the Charlotte ---> New Jersey route? I assume I'll just hit all the Superchargers (Charlotte, Burlington, South Hill, Glen Allen, Woodbridge (skip Bethesda?), Newark DE, Hamilton, Edison) but would appreciate any words of advice from those of you who travel this route (i.e., Range Charge @ XXXXX and skip XXXXX, etc.).

Also, looking at Google Maps it looks like there is a ton of construction along this route. :( Is that an issue right now?

Thanks in advance,
Mike
 
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Only advice is that Newark, DE is an original 90kw 4 stall that will likely be crowded, so you will likely be sharing a charging pair which means slower charging. Get a bigger charge than planned at Woodbridge (and Hamilton Marketplace on the return) to minimize the time needed at Newark.

Edit: I took a trip up and down the east coast over July 4th holiday weekend last year and Newark was at max capacity both ways, but we didn't have to wait in line. Trip report is here:

Electric road trip in a Tesla - Album on Imgur
 
Ditto on the Delaware advice.
New Jersey can be very congested ANYWHERE at ANYTIME.
There is construction on the turnpike at times, even off hours.
So don't push your range when heading up there.

Have a CHAdeMO adapter? I've had good luck with Nissan
dealers (L2 only) and am presently in Norfolk, VA charging
on L1 the whole time I am here.


There is also another post (started by BtrflyL8d?) about a trip north from FL.
People have suggested Route 301 around DC which can also have terrible traffic.
I hate traffic!
 
Ditto on the Delaware advice.
New Jersey can be very congested ANYWHERE at ANYTIME.
There is construction on the turnpike at times, even off hours.
So don't push your range when heading up there.

Have a CHAdeMO adapter? I've had good luck with Nissan
dealers (L2 only) and am presently in Norfolk, VA charging
on L1 the whole time I am here.


There is also another post (started by BtrflyL8d?) about a trip north from FL.
People have suggested Route 301 around DC which can also have terrible traffic.
I hate traffic!

I'm familiar with New Jersey traffic - usually I experience it after flying in to either Newark or Philadelphia. Has anyone had an update on the supercharger construction on the NJ Turnpike lately (Molly Pitcher and/or Joyce Kilmer)?

I do have a CHAdeMO adapter and am not afraid to use it... :)

You do want to skip Bethesda and you'll be much happier if you can time your trip to avoid DC during peak traffic hours.

I originally planned to make my way up there in 2 days (Monday & Tuesday - I need to be there by Wednesday morning) but when I realized it was Memorial Day Monday I decided to make a more "leisurely" trip of 3 days so I could better plan the urban areas travel times. Also, if Monday turns into a Memorial Day traffic nightmare I will just stop early and do the remaining bulk of it on Tuesday.

Mike
 
I have been through the Virginia/ Jersey corridor many times. I always take 207 / 301 up through Maryland from the Glenn Allen SpC to Newark , De. Full range charge at Glen Allen, slower driving on 301. I think it is about 210 miles this way.

During the week I have not run into crowding at Newark. However during a holiday week it could get busy. Note that the Supercharger is on the Southbound side of the service plaza which is between the north and south bound lanes. You just have to swing around the plaza and remember to do the same when you leave!
 
I have been through the Virginia/ Jersey corridor many times. I always take 207 / 301 up through Maryland from the Glenn Allen SpC to Newark , De. Full range charge at Glen Allen, slower driving on 301. I think it is about 210 miles this way.

During the week I have not run into crowding at Newark. However during a holiday week it could get busy. Note that the Supercharger is on the Southbound side of the service plaza which is between the north and south bound lanes. You just have to swing around the plaza and remember to do the same when you leave!

Yes. Charge in Glen Allen, skip W'bridge and Bethesda taking 301 to avoid 95 between Glen Allen and Springfield (south side of beltway). Depending on traffic, rejoin the beltway, go up to Baltimore or, if a complete disaster, cross the bridge to the eastern shore and come at Newark from due south.

I've traveled the corridor on holiday weekends and only seen one wait for a Newark SC slot and it was less than 5 minutes.
 
I do have a CHAdeMO adapter and am not afraid to use it... :)

Since you have a CHAdeMO adapter, for the great Charlotte to Atlanta void are you considering using the CHAdeMO DC charger in Greenville, SC? I'm doing this the following weekend as I am headed south to Mobile. For me its all about time. I'm doing the trip from near Chapel Hill, NC to Mobile, AL in one day and want to get there as fast as possible, so I'm not charging to 100% in Charlotte, probably 90%, and will gamble with the CHAdeMO in Greenville. Could end up biting me in the rear if the CHAdeMO is offline, but I'm going to gamble it! There is a report of it working with a Model S/CHAdeMO adapter recently so it looks like a good bet...

Richardson Street Garage | Greenville, SC | Electric Car Charging Station | PlugShare
 
Since you have a CHAdeMO adapter, for the great Charlotte to Atlanta void are you considering using the CHAdeMO DC charger in Greenville, SC? I'm doing this the following weekend as I am headed south to Mobile. For me its all about time. I'm doing the trip from near Chapel Hill, NC to Mobile, AL in one day and want to get there as fast as possible, so I'm not charging to 100% in Charlotte, probably 90%, and will gamble with the CHAdeMO in Greenville. Could end up biting me in the rear if the CHAdeMO is offline, but I'm going to gamble it! There is a report of it working with a Model S/CHAdeMO adapter recently so it looks like a good bet...

Richardson Street Garage | Greenville, SC | Electric Car Charging Station | PlugShare

I'm going to try it and I'll let you know either here or on plugshare whether it works for me or not.

That will probably be an early Monday stop for me.

Mike
 
Since you have a CHAdeMO adapter, for the great Charlotte to Atlanta void are you considering using the CHAdeMO DC charger in Greenville, SC? I'm doing this the following weekend as I am headed south to Mobile. For me its all about time. I'm doing the trip from near Chapel Hill, NC to Mobile, AL in one day and want to get there as fast as possible, so I'm not charging to 100% in Charlotte, probably 90%, and will gamble with the CHAdeMO in Greenville. Could end up biting me in the rear if the CHAdeMO is offline, but I'm going to gamble it! There is a report of it working with a Model S/CHAdeMO adapter recently so it looks like a good bet...

Richardson Street Garage | Greenville, SC | Electric Car Charging Station | PlugShare

If you can count on the CHAdeMO down the road, the optimum time to stop charging on the Supercharger is when the taper equals the charging power that you will get on the CHAdeMO later. More Supercharging after that will be at a slower charge rate than the CHAdeMO due to the taper limit with a pretty full battery at the Supercharger. If the next CHAdeMO is full power, then leaving the Supercharger at 40-45 kW or 110-120 Amps is probably a pretty good threshold to minimize total charging time.

Please remember that this plan depends on a reliable, full-power CHAdeMO for success. The less faith that you have in the CHAdeMO, the more you should charge on the Supercharger.

At any rate, if your insurance charger is a 14-50, then leave the Supercharger at 20 Amp charge rate, and if the insurance charger is an 80 Amp HPWC, then leave the Supercharger at 40 Amps charge rate to minimize total charge time. Those are approximate thresholds where it's faster to charge on the future L2 than on the Supercharger deep in the taper.

Good Luck!
 
If you can count on the CHAdeMO down the road, the optimum time to stop charging on the Supercharger is when the taper equals the charging power that you will get on the CHAdeMO later. More Supercharging after that will be at a slower charge rate than the CHAdeMO due to the taper limit with a pretty full battery at the Supercharger. If the next CHAdeMO is full power, then leaving the Supercharger at 40-45 kW or 110-120 Amps is probably a pretty good threshold to minimize total charging time.

Please remember that this plan depends on a reliable, full-power CHAdeMO for success. The less faith that you have in the CHAdeMO, the more you should charge on the Supercharger.

At any rate, if your insurance charger is a 14-50, then leave the Supercharger at 20 Amp charge rate, and if the insurance charger is an 80 Amp HPWC, then leave the Supercharger at 40 Amps charge rate to minimize total charge time. Those are approximate thresholds where it's faster to charge on the future L2 than on the Supercharger deep in the taper.

Good Luck!

Exactly! There are two big risks here... is the CHAdeMO DC fast charger working, and is it available or occupied. The parking shouldn't be an issue as there is an area to one side that is no parking that I can use and sit with the car. if the adjacent space is taken.

So it boils down to how much I want to gamble. I have to ask myself... "do I feel lucky". I do, and probably won't hedge much, if at all... As soon as I see the dash say 40kw in Charlotte, I'm tearing out of there, probably around 200 RM. Unless NOLA_Mike comes back and says "it's broke, yo", I'm going for it. If I fail, then I'll probably get a 2 hour L2 penalty on top of my planned charge time and have to drive slow to Decatur.

The whole trip I'm going to cut as close to the bone as I can, will be fun. Also I don't have tech, so no trip planner or any nav or range features, just a sextant and abacus! Actually the basic energy usage screen and google nav on my phone do just fine.
 
Can you make another blog entry, or keep us updated along the way? Hope you enjoy your trip! Thanks!!!

I'll probably post some of my charging/traveling adventures on Twitter @MikeE928 - even after experiencing it over and over I'm still amazed by the whole supercharging experience and feel the need to bore my (17) followers with an update each time I supercharge. :)

Mike
 
I'll probably post some of my charging/traveling adventures on Twitter @MikeE928 - even after experiencing it over and over I'm still amazed by the whole supercharging experience and feel the need to bore my (17) followers with an update each time I supercharge. :)

Mike

I know what you mean Mike. I'm more excited about the journey than the destination.

I'm going to try doing my live updates via a Google+ "collection". I know that's kinda off label, but after messing around with different options, I like the ease of posting with Google+ the most, and dropping it all in one " collection " seems to be the best option. Was looking at doing it as an "event", but it's just not as streamlined on mobile.

https://plus.google.com/collection/M71Tc
 
Started my trip today. Not quite in the Mid-Atlantic yet (still trekking through the Southeast) but thought I'd post an update.

Interesting that I got in the car at home and plugged in my overnight destination in Atlanta. I had 225 miles of rated range and was 165 miles from the Mobile, AL supercharger and the NAV insisted that I drive west through Texas, north up to the midwest and then south to Atlanta - some 2,400+ miles routing. Of course I ignored it and went east to Mobile, AL Supercharger.

Tomorrow I will range charger in Decatur, GA and head out to Charlotte, NC. Will check out the CHAdeMO charger in Greenville and report back.

Stopped at the Atlantic Station Supercharger in Atlanta this evening. 10 charging stalls in a parking garage:

IMG_0100.JPG


IMG_0102.JPG
 
If you're so inclined to track your progress from Supercharger to Supercharger, try out my Supercharger Trip logger: SuperCharger Trip Logger It's like EVTripPlanner, but tracking your actual energy usage and results.

I've used it on many long road trips to track the metrics between each Supercharging stop (or other L2 or non-charging stops also supported). It generates reports like below. You just have to enter a few values at the start and end of each SC stop, and it calculates the rest.

logmysc.jpg