Suggestions about Supercharges and range management after a 6,800 mile drive

Just returned from a 6,800 mile drive to California and back with my brother for TMC Connect. We stopped at more than 70 Superchargers and were faced with a number of situations when management of range proved critically important. Based on our experiences over the next few days I'm going to post observations, comments, and experiences on the following:

• The great value of drafting big rigs to conserve energy
• The inside scoop from the contractor who installs all the Superchargers for Tesla nationwide (they were at the Kansas City SC shooting a film when we were there charging and we had a long conversation)
• The inadequacy of navigation details for finding the precise location of Superchargers
• The quality of old versus new Superchargers
• The plusses and minuses of Supercharger locations
• The mileage differences between the Supercharger Nav page and the GPS calculations
• How we managed to avoid a speeding ticket after blowing by a cop at 85 mph (in a 65 mph zone) in St. Louis and getting pulled over

Let me start with how we avoided a ticket in St. Louis and drafting.

We were on I-70 east in heavy traffic going about 65 mph, the speed limit. My radar detector was not giving me any signals. I saw an opening in the traffic ahead and did a burst of speed right past a cop in an unmarked white Dodge Challenger in the lane next to us. He immediately lit up and pulled in behind me, so I graciously pulled over to the shoulder and stopped. He came over the right side of the car where my brother was sitting in the passenger seat with his dog, a very cute Cockapoo. I rolled down the window on that side. The cop told me right off that he had clocked me at 85. I responded by saying "I'm guilty." No excuses, no silly stories. He looks over my license and proof of insurance. Then he asks what kind of car I'm driving. I said a Tesla. He responds by saying "Didn't I pull you over for speeding last week?" I said we were driving home to Maryland from California so it must have been another Tesla. Through all of this the dog is demonstrating very cute puppy behavior. The cop asks a few more questions about the car and then acknowledges that it couldn't have been us that he pulled over a week ago. He then tells us to take it slower and get on our way. All in all, it was a very pleasant experience.

As far as drafting is concerned we used it very successfully on three or four segments when the yellow warning appeared on the navigation panel about slowing down to reach our destination. My strategy was to slow down to about 60-65 mph then wait for a rig pass us going 70-75 mph. I then pulled in about 3-4 car lengths behind. When the trucker wanted to pass another car and put on his turn signal, I immediately pulled into the left lane to give him cover from trailing cars for the lane change, then followed him back into the right lane after his pass. The truckers seemed to appreciate my giving them cover -- in several instances we were given a courtesy flash when we finally sped past them.

Typically, when we decided to draft, the energy graph was indicating 3-5 percent of charge remaining at destination and was slowly but steadily declining at 70 - 75 mph. Given the distance we were trying to cover I wanted to maintain speed rather than slow down to 60-65 mph. When we were drafting the energy reserve steadily climbed, typically about one percent every 2-3 miles, and the yellow warning bar disappeared after about five miles. When we reached 10 - 15 percent of reserve, I would pass the truck and resume normal speed to the next supercharger, which typically would be 70 - 80 mph (speed limits in some states were 75 or even 80).

Drafting proved especially effective in the 212 mile run between the Independence, Mo and St Charles Superchargers. I first I was very nervous about this run and even went on this forum to see what I could discover from people who had successfully made this run. Based on several posts I read, we were prepared to stop at the Tiger Hotel in Columbia, MO, which has a HPWC. But with drafting when we reached Columbia (114 miles from Indpendence) we had a 15 percent reserve, and we reached the St Charles SC with 35 miles of range left.

So for me, drafting proved to be a highly successful strategy for staying close to the speed limit and preserving energy as well. It was a much better option than slowing down, as it had the same impact on preserving energy. There was never a dangerous situation of any kind and only in Nevada was debris kicked up by the truck tires a concern.

It seems that the giga factory is not the only thing that distinguishes Nevada. I've never seen more fine dirt particles on roads. In fact, my bother quipped, "This is what it must be like to drive through Afghanistan." My car was filthy with the stuff after driving through the state, and because of it drafting was not prudent. In every other state, no problem.

bluefuego said:

I swear I wasn't the red S that that cop had pulled over previously!

Anyway, glad that you were able to draft your way across Missouri. I have done the STL->KC run several times in decent weather and with some rain (but not cold yet) and have always been able to make it without any problems or in between stops. However, the Columbia supercharger which should begin construction next week will make the trip even easier.

Click to expand...

Yes, one in Columbia will ease range anxiety. Actually the trip planner wanted to route me north way out of the way.

Regarding the inadequacy of nav details regarding supercharger locations, we had a 50 percent first-try rate, that is we failed to make contact on our first attempt. It would be much better if Tesla added some instructive details regarding visual cues, such as "in the Holiday Inn Express parking lot" or "in the parking lot behind the McDonalds." Having my brother as a spotter was a big help.

And the new versus old superchargers. The construction firm manager we met at the Kansas City SC told us his company has been responsible for installation of all of the new supercharger versions, which have a red plastic cover on the inside and TESLA ighted in red letters. The old are all white sheet metal and have the Tesla logo painted on, which is already fading and worn looking on many of the SCs we visited. The cosmetics of the new versions will be much more durable and a better representation of the Tesla brand. My guess is that Tesla will replace all of the older versions with the new over time. BTW, the manager was driving a black Model S on loan from Tesla. There was a film crew of about 6 people that arrived just as we were about to leave the SC. They were a very friendly bunch and we chatted with them for about 30 minutes before we departed. They were going to shoot a film of the manager's Tesla backing in to a supercharger and charging up. They had quite sophisticated professional equipment.

The manager told us that prior to his firm being contracted by Tesla to do all of the supercharger installs around the country, Tesla worked with independent contractors at every SC, creating challenges with management, quality control, and timeliness. He also indicated that the configuration of each supercharger location was driven by local, regional, or even state interests and regulations and often by the owner of the parking lot real estate. For example, he told us that one municipality insisted on the SC's being setting up like gas pumps, so each one could be approached head in. As ridiculous as this sounds, this is some of the craziness Tesla has to deal with as it installs superchargers. And it explains why we often see oddball set ups or locations. He also indicated that Tesla was looking to cut more deals with nationwide chains, even gas stations, for supercharger installs.

My brother, who is a BMW enthusiast, said to me that if he owned a gas station he'd be installing charging capability right away.

BTW, here's a photo of the decals delanman made for both our cars for the drive to TMC connect. Interestingly enough, many people we encountered thought the signs indicated that we worked for Tesla. BTY, these are old Superchargers