Welcome to Tesla Motors Club
Discuss Tesla's Model S, Model 3, Model X, Model Y, Cybertruck, Roadster and More.
Register

Road trips - feed back please.

This site may earn commission on affiliate links.
O.k., I used to drive pedal to the metal LA to SF, SF to Seattle... early seventies... mostly to get to gigs, but prefer the cruise-tour given the luxury of time. Lately, commuter types try to pin me down... How fast can a Tesla get to L.A. [from the S.F. Bay area]? This is as useless to me as the "gotta have a Roundtrip to Tahoe charge capacity" I am pretty sure these guys would not really want to go to L.A. with nothing more than 15 minute pit stop, but they insist.. So, are there any roadster owners who have made the trip and how did you pull it off timewise and routewise? I just need someone's experience, since I just don't have the range to even consider it.
Thanks for the info...
 
I spent my weekend installing (3) NEMA 14-50 outlets in my garages for simultaneous charging of multiple vehicles. If anyone is stuck and needs a charge in San Luis Obispo, CA on the mid-way on the 101 between SF and LA give me a call. Yes, my electrical service can handle it, I have 460 amps available.
 
I've driven Seattle to San Diego and back. At the time I went, it was a bit of a pain because 70A chargers were only SF and South, so I had to use slower campground outlets North of that. Now there is a chain of 70A chargers from Canada to Mexico. Actually I guess there is still a gap in Oregon, but they expect to have it installed in a week or so.

I wasn't going for the shortest possible trip; in addition to using campgrounds I was visiting people along the way, so it took 4 days each way.

In Southern CA what I'd generally do is charge overnight, start off full, then stop at every HPC along the way. I wouldn't fill up; just charge while I was visiting/eating/getting coffee/etc. That made it pretty easy to go 400 miles per day, although it sounds like your friends want to go farther than that. With some dedication you could do 600 miles per day, but that's probably about the limit for L2 charging--~8 hours charging (during the day, in addition to overnight) and ~10 hours driving.

OR, WA and CA are all installing DC fast chargers. The only car that can use them now is the Leaf, so you would have to stop often because the pack is small. It would have to be equivalent to stopping every 80 miles for 25 minutes; stopping less would definitely help with throughput. Assuming (?) the Model S has a DC fast charge port, that would be really nice...
 
From the german wikipedia web side
Die Schnellladung an 400-V-Dreiphasenwechselstrom dauert nur 30 Minuten, stellt aber auch nur 80 % der Kapazität wieder her.[9]

It looks like Nissan made an adaption on local issues. RWE already offers charging station all around Germany using the Menekes-socket with 3-phase 400V and up to 63A (usually 32A). With up to 44kW available nearly everywhere without expensive DC-charging station it makes no sense for level-3 DC charging.
 
Last edited:
I've driven Seattle to San Diego and back. At the time I went, it was a bit of a pain because 70A chargers were only SF and South, so I had to use slower campground outlets North of that. Now there is a chain of 70A chargers from Canada to Mexico. THanks Chad. May I ask you to review your trip more precisely for the time between <snip>
Thanks Chad. May I ask you to review your trip more precisely for the time between SF [or SV] and LA??? I am still hoping there are others testing the range envelope of their Teslas who have made this run. Not to sound sexist, but the guys asking hte question live in a normative world and respect data; each one gave me a set of parameters for the "trip" they "need" to make. Years ago they might've asked me if they could fit two golf bags in the Roadster.. The more precisely and concisely I am prepared with an answer, the more they respect the response.
thanks!
 
the problem is the ignorance of the carmaker. they want to sell what they think the customer has to buy. I as a customer want to have 3-phase charging. For me its a must and i am willing to pay for the extra.
Nissan leaf without 3-phase charging is for me an absolute no go. I wont by it. And if Elon Musk cannot confirm 3-phase charging for Modell S, when i will see him next week at the Tesla Store Opening in Milan, I will cancel my order for Models S SE #37.
Instead i will ask BRUSA how to integrate the BRUSA 22kW charger into my Roadster. I cannot live with a 300miles package and wait 14h until i will be able to hit the road, to get to final destination. i cannot book always a hotel for that.
 
Last edited:
Thanks Chad. May I ask you to review your trip more precisely for the time between SF [or SV] and LA???

Both directions I was visiting people in both LA and SF, so I left and arrived mid-day and spent the night in between, and I didn't keep track of exact times--so I can't give a meaningful number of hours that I was on the road, sorry.

However, Google says SF to LA is 381 miles, which will take about 6.5 hours of driving at the speed limit. Assuming I start with a full charge, at those speeds I'd need about exactly one full extra charge along the way to make that distance. It's around 4 hours for a full charge on the Rabobank HPCs; so I could make the trip in 10.5 hours.

That's assuming I drain the car, and then fill it up completely. I wouldn't (and didn't) do that; instead I stopped at every charger, and got a partial charge while doing something else--getting coffee, eating a meal, shopping, etc. That makes the drive more pleasant and is easier on the batteries, but more to the point it avoids charging the last 10% which goes slower. However, the multiple stops take a few extra minutes each, so it probably works out to about the same total amount of time.

If you don't make any stops (well, most gas cars would have to stop to refuel), and speed is your only goal, it's clear that a gas car is significantly faster--no argument there. If that's your daily commute, get a Volt or Prius. But if you stop for meals and restrooms and sightseeing anyway, and/or are concerned with cleaner/cheaper/more pleasant driving, I'd say the electric car wins. After a 3k trip, I would still much prefer to make my next trip in an EV than a gas car.

And if you usually drive the car for things other than this trip...well, the EV wins hands-down. Too many people focus on a little inconvenience for a once-a-year trip (for which they may well take another car, or fly instead anyway), but don't think about how much more convenient an EV is the other 364 days of the year.