Road Trip newbie

I've found EVtripplanner to be very accurate. 600lbs seems a bit light though, assuming they are adults. (weight doesn't make a huge difference though) The first leg seems like it should be no problem on the regular charge, although you might want to go a bit over the 'normal' charge level.

The problem with road trips where you can't charge at your destination is the difficulty in predicting how much juice will be used driving around town. Depends on how many days you are there and the weather, you can blow through a good amount of charge. Last time I went on a trip, I drove very slowly to and from my destination and tried to not use the air conditioner. My backup plan was to make a run to the supercharger one night if I was getting close to what EVtripplanner said it would take to get there. Happily, I didn't need to.

MichFin said:

of course I won't be able to charge while I'm there.

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Any outlets or charging opportunities available on PlugShare at your destination?

Yeah, I don't like starting off settling for that assumption "...of course I won't be able to charge while I am there". I think you should not settle for that. There is electricity in the city you are going to. Find a way to get access to it somewhere overnight. Are you planning to stay at a hotel or with family? Either way, if you can at least get access to a 120V wall outlet with an extension cord, you'll get about 3 miles of range per hour, so a 9 hour overnight will get you 27 miles each night. That's something to try to get that will make this a bit easier. Also, if you are planning to stay at a hotel, I would make choosing a hotel with charging as a high priority. Check on Plugshare.com to see what is available in the city you are going to, and you might be able to stay somewhere with a good charging source.

Rocky_H said:

Yeah, I don't like starting off settling for that assumption "...of course I won't be able to charge while I am there". I think you should not settle for that. There is electricity in the city you are going to. Find a way to get access to it somewhere overnight. Are you planning to stay at a hotel or with family? Either way, if you can at least get access to a 120V wall outlet with an extension cord, you'll get about 3 miles of range per hour, so a 9 hour overnight will get you 27 miles each night. That's something to try to get that will make this a bit easier. Also, if you are planning to stay at a hotel, I would make choosing a hotel with charging as a high priority. Check on Plugshare.com to see what is available in the city you are going to, and you might be able to stay somewhere with a good charging source.

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I agree, and if you don't find a hotel with a charger, call around and ask if the hotels you're considering have a 120V outlet available.

MichFin said:

For example I'm using EV Trip Planner and my first leg is 176 miles 69.4 KWH using a 1.15 speed multiplier.

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Just in case you were unaware, EV Trip Planner's multiplier speed is against the average speed traveled on the roads in question, not the posted speed limit. So if a road has a 55 mph speed limit, but 90% of people travel at 65 mph, EV Trip Planner is using 65 mph in its calculation. Also, the following blog posting might be of help... http://www.teslamotorsclub.com/entry.php/96-The-Rules-of-Model-S-Road-Tripping

I'm returning from my first hotel roadtrip right now. We went from Newburgh, ny area out to cape cod. The sagamore sc is nicely placed and allows an easy trip, even out to Provincetown (about 75 miles each way). Unfortunately, we had no charging at the hotel. I had to drive back out to the sc once (about 25 miles each way from our hotel) to top up so we had enough'running around' juice.

Obviously this isn't ideal. Multiple 10-15 mile trips each day run down more battery than you'd expect. Even a 110v when parked at the hotel would have saved us from the extra trip.

Time to pick a different hotel, one that at least has an outdoor 120V outlet you can plug into, or if you really like the hotel you're at show them the Tesla destination charging program information and say you'll stay there again if they install the HPWC:
Destination Charging | Tesla Motors

TexasEV said:

Time to pick a different hotel, one that at least has an outdoor 120V outlet you can plug into

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+1

Most hotels have outside receptacles (but call ahead) that you can get at least a 3mph charge rate. Please consider acquiring ALL the remaining Tesla UMC adapters (they are discontinuing them at an alarming rate (DISAPPOINTED!) and the 5-20 may come in handy on this very trip as it may provide you with 5-6mph charge rate).

I would encourage you to find a place to charge at night and stay there, even at 110. I would also encourage you to have backup charging in mind (sounds like you might have done that) in case you need it. I like to use the Energy:Trip function on the MS screen to figure out how much energy I will have left at the destination; I have not used EVTripPlanner but have heard very positive things about it.

MichFin said:

Wow. Never thought avg speed would be known. That link was perfect thanks.

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It truly is amazing how much info Google collects! I'm happy they take steps to "anonymize" the data or else I imagine many speeding tickets would be issued!

And Doug's blog post was one of the first I read. Should be mandatory reading (IMO) for any range anxious road tripper!

My rule of thumb is if I can get 125% of evtripplanner estimate in good weather, then I'm happy. Less than that, then I have to be careful, monitor range as I'm driving, etc.

Btw, make sure to do a full range charge before heading out, even if you don't think you'll need it since it'll come in handy later down the road. When on the road, I always leave the charge limit set to 100%.

Do ask about 120v plug in at the hotel, or consider a different hotel. Buy the Tesla NEMA 5-20 adapter just in case the hotel does have a 120v plug and it happens to be a 20A plug. What kind of hotel is it? A big chain? A motel? An small inn?

Don't underestimate your car!! I recently did this trip: Minden Nevada to Harris ranch with 3% remaining at Harris. 95 degrees AC on high the whole time.

Google Maps

TexasEV said:

Time to pick a different hotel, one that at least has an outdoor 120V outlet you can plug into, or if you really like the hotel you're at show them the Tesla destination charging program information and say you'll stay there again if they install the HPWC:
Destination Charging | Tesla Motors

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If you can't find a nearby hotel with charging options, scout the nearby RV parks (within walking distance usually) and call ahead to formally ask which ones will allow you to charge. For the ones that say yes, try to make a reservation or whatever -- ideally with email confirmation. This can be quite useful if you get someone else at the front desk when you arrive and they "aren't sure" (new person on night shift, etc.). Formal confirmation of a reservation goes a long way.

Lloyd said:

Don't underestimate your car!! I recently did this trip: Minden Nevada to Harris ranch with 3% remaining at Harris. 95 degrees AC on high the whole time.

Google Maps

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I would have needed extra AC due to excessive sweat the last 20 miles.

Good to know it's possible.