Be honest: is SCing on a long trip annoying?

[sdorn]

I would expect it would be easier - so long as the SCs are near parks or playgrounds - kids get sick of being chained to the back seat for too long - get them out to run around every so often = happier kids = happier trip!

I haven't seen any indications online (e.g. Plugshare comments, etc.) that mention parks near superchargers. Also, with my kids (2 and 4 years old) any car ride over about 2.5 hours and they lose their minds. Stopping for 15 or 20 minutes and then making them get back in the car again would only make it worse. Much better to power through and get to the destination ASAP.

I remember the last longer road trip of about 6.5 hours we took with my daughter when she was two years old. I am pretty sure she screamed for 3 of those hours. Lots of fun.

 

[Chuq]

I haven't seen any indications online (e.g. Plugshare comments, etc.) that mention parks near superchargers. Also, with my kids (2 and 4 years old) any car ride over about 2.5 hours and they lose their minds. Stopping for 15 or 20 minutes and then making them get back in the car again would only make it worse. Much better to power through and get to the destination ASAP.

I remember the last longer road trip of about 6.5 hours we took with my daughter when she was two years old. I am pretty sure she screamed for 3 of those hours. Lots of fun.

Could be an age thing - mine are a bit older (5, 7, 9). Also the fact that where I live, most trips aren't more than 3 1/2 hours, you can't drive for more than about 5 hours without running out of road!

 

[wdolson]

I haven't seen any indications online (e.g. Plugshare comments, etc.) that mention parks near superchargers. Also, with my kids (2 and 4 years old) any car ride over about 2.5 hours and they lose their minds. Stopping for 15 or 20 minutes and then making them get back in the car again would only make it worse. Much better to power through and get to the destination ASAP.

I remember the last longer road trip of about 6.5 hours we took with my daughter when she was two years old. I am pretty sure she screamed for 3 of those hours. Lots of fun.

When I was a kid, there was less concern about kids being belted in when in back (though my father was always hyper about safety he didn't enforce backseat seatbelts). My mother insisted on one vacation a year at least a week long, sometimes two and we always drove. We all brought our own pillows, so they would stack them up in the back and I'd sit on the pile. Being able to see helped keep me entertained. I also would often get down off the pillows, make it into a nest and sleep. Though I'd also pester my sister, who quit going on vacations as soon as she could (she's ten years older).

I've always been ultra sensitive to motion sickness so trying to read or do any activity that didn't involve either having my eyes closed like sleeping or watching the road ahead were pretty much off the table. I usually slept on mountain roads when I started feeling queasy. Though once I could drive, I have always loved driving mountain roads.

I do remember many a trip being bored to death on long trips. There are some parts of California that are horribly boring.

 

[kort677]

Could be an age thing - mine are a bit older (5, 7, 9). Also the fact that where I live, most trips aren't more than 3 1/2 hours, you can't drive for more than about 5 hours without running out of road!

when my children where that young they'd sleep for a good portion of a long road trip.

 

[gavine]

I do remember many a trip being bored to death on long trips.

Smartphones and iPads have made traveling with kids much more "doable".

 

[Babasnoopy]

When we did Boston to North Carolina coast and back this summer, we left at 7:30PM when our 10 month old falls asleep, and drove all night. That leg of the trip was a breeze. All 3 passengers, wife, sister, and our son, slept soundly for 2-2.5 hour stretches between SC's. It gave me a chance to go to the bathroom, get a coffee, etc. I never got the worn down long drive feeling that I've had on long 12hr+ road trips in the past.

We averaged 20-40 minutes per charge. I got very comfortable with arriving close to 0% if necessary. That made the charging faster, and more efficient. the car always wanted to maintain arrival % closer to 20%, which was a nice buffer for me to drive faster. We never saw more than 1 or 2 other Teslas charging during that leg of the trip.

The return trip was during the day, baby didn't sleep as much, nor the adults, chargers were busier, traffic was WAY worse. But we took the scenic route via Virginia coast, Delaware beach, etc, so we enjoyed the sights. The act of SCing was in no way worse during the return trip, but with the passengers a bit more antsy, we sort of set up a picnic blanket at a couple of chargers to get a higher state of charge every other charger, so that we could do quick charges at the other interval. That seemed to work well, and kept the passengers in line.

 

[SW2Fiddler]

Galleria store mentioned they were the one of the busier Tesla store nation wide. Not sure I believed them, but that's what they said.

Be honest: is is really a Store?

 

[WannabeOwner]

when I add up the time saved by not gassing up my ICE regularly due to daily at home charging, I see this as a wash

Its a wash for the driver, assuming that normally s/he is the only person in the car, day-to-day, but if you have passengers on a road trip, who would not have been there for weekly ICE 5-10 minute refuels, its not a wash for them.

traveling with a family would make it much harder....but it would also make ANY road trip with or without a Tesla more challenging

As the driver I'm very happy with the rest-stop and leg-stretch-stop every couple of hours, but recharging can add 25% to the travel time and that's a significant addition for my passengers - whether kids, teenagers or adults. They've already done all their Emails, reading, sleeping ... and are just tired and bored.

The only gain on a roadtrip is when we do a food + fuel stop. Before we would stop for 5 - 10 minutes for fuel (fill it to the brim) and then drive to the parking lot for food. Now we save the time for the refuel, and by the time we have eaten the car is charged, but that big-food stop is probably only once during a long day's trip so we only nett 5-10 minutes per day, and until Superchargers are more prevalent it can be hard to get the food-you-want to coincide with the charger-you-need!

 

[RogerHScott]

so long as the SCs are near parks or playgrounds

I wouldn't call my SpC experience "extensive" at this point, but thus far I can't recall a single SpC that fits this description. Most are
in places that are, if anything, child unfriendly. My kids are past the playground stage, so not an issue personally, but I don't envy
someone needing to have their small child cool their heels for 30-60 minute at most SpCs.

 

[RogerHScott]

There are some parts of California that are horribly boring.

Yeah, when I was a kid growing up I couldn't wait to get out of boring California and on to the scintillating excitement that is northern
Nevada!

Btw, my parents put seat belts in our cars before they were required by law. My brother became a paramedic and
you'd better believe that once he'd cleanup up what remains of a 9-year-old who's gone through a windshield at freeway speeds
he was militant about seat belt usage.

 

[RogerHScott]

kept the passengers in line

What, you don't have the aftermarket cattle-prod attachment for your Tesla?

 

[Bargo]

For short trips not at all. For long 1,000+ mile one way trips, yes.

First keep in mind that your route must include superchargers which may add a few extra hours of drive time. Second, stopping to charge for 40-50 minutes every 2 hours make it very hard to make decent time. For every 2 hours driving you spend 1 hour and some change pulling off finding a charger, letting it sit for 40-50 minutes then getting back on the road. Factor in the extra trip time and time of day. You may find that you may need to get a hotel for the night and continue driving the next day.

 

[napabill]

Only thing I find annoying is when the road trip ends. My favorite pastime.

For those of you commenting on difficulty in traveling with young children, just blink and they'll be grown and gone!

 

[Max*]

For short trips not at all. For long 1,000+ mile one way trips, yes.

First keep in mind that your route must include superchargers which may add a few extra hours of drive time. Second, stopping to charge for 40-50 minutes every 2 hours make it very hard to make decent time. For every 2 hours driving you spend 1 hour and some change pulling off finding a charger, letting it sit for 40-50 minutes then getting back on the road. Factor in the extra trip time and time of day. You may find that you may need to get a hotel for the night and continue driving the next day.

I'm sorry, what? Where do you drive for 2 hours to spend 1 hour charging?

On my regularly scheduled ~7 hour one way road trip, SpC time adds 1 hour (we can split hair and say it's a little under an hour in the summer, and about an hour and 5 minutes in the winter).

 

[Bargo]

It all depends on where you live. Temperature affects drive range and charging time.

If you are only stopping to charge once then you are not on a "long" trip and you are not counting your time charging up for the next leg. You may also not be counting any of the time spent leaving the interstate to drive to a charger and returning.

I have driven my Model S over 3,000 miles in 4 days. I do have some experience in long trips in my Tesla.

 

[Max*]

It all depends on where you live. Temperature affects drive range and charging time.

So you can't even answer the question? lol

If you are only stopping to charge once then you are not on a "long" trip and you are not counting your time charging up for the next leg. You may also not be counting any of the time spent leaving the interstate to drive to a charger and returning.

I assume this was related to my comment, so I'll ask another question to which I'm sure the answer you'll give me will also be "it depends" -- And where can you drive for 7 hours to only stop once to charge? FTR my 7 hour trip has 3 charging stops.

I have driven my Model S over 3,000 miles in 4 days. I do have some experience in long trips in my Tesla.

This isn't a measuring contest.

 

[ohmman]

I've taken plenty of long trips with kids. Superchargers are not in kid-friendly locations, at least not up and down the West Coast. In many cases, walking to restaurants involves crossing dangerous roads. I frequently drop my family off safely at our restaurant of choice, drive to the charger myself, and risk only my own life getting to the dining establishment.

My kids are understanding of stop and go. We've done long trips with them in the Tesla since 2014, when they were 4 and 7. I recognize that not all kids are. My wife does a great job of bringing worksheets and other distractions, and of course we have iPads for games or just watching a movie or TV show. However, we hold those back as long as possible.

I don't know that Supercharging makes it better or worse with kids. I'll call it neutral. Stretching is always good, but sometimes we're all very well stretched but we still have 30 minutes left of charging.

 

[Max*]

@Bargo, anyways, the point I was trying to make is that I'm sure there's a deserted location somewhere which will force you to drive for 2 hours and to stop for 1 hour of charging, but that's not the norm. So you shouldn't route plan with the assumption that 2 hours of driving = 1 hour of charging.

My case is probably more on the opposite end of the spectrum, I'd assume the true "average" is somewhere in the middle. I'd guesstimate that about 3 hours of driving for every 45mins of charging.

 

[K-MTG]

I've taken plenty of long trips with kids. Superchargers are not in kid-friendly locations, at least not up and down the West Coast. In many cases, walking to restaurants involves crossing dangerous roads. I frequently drop my family off safely at our restaurant of choice, drive to the charger myself, and risk only my own life getting to the dining establishment.

My kids are understanding of stop and go. We've done long trips with them in the Tesla since 2014, when they were 4 and 7. I recognize that not all kids are. My wife does a great job of bringing worksheets and other distractions, and of course we have iPads for games or just watching a movie or TV show. However, we hold those back as long as possible.

I don't know that Supercharging makes it better or worse with kids. I'll call it neutral. Stretching is always good, but sometimes we're all very well stretched but we still have 30 minutes left of charging.

At the Buttonwillow Supercharger at 3 AM, I continuously watched my car through the Denny's window making sure nobody would break in. Harris Ranch felt a little bit more safer at 4 AM but still, the walk to the gas station was distant. I felt the most safe at Dublin at 5 AM since they were other Tesla's

 

[houstonian]

Be honest: is is really a Store?

Fair enough. Could not get "the Galleria gallery" to flow right.

Its a wash for the driver, assuming that normally s/he is the only person in the car, day-to-day, but if you have passengers on a road trip, who would not have been there for weekly ICE 5-10 minute refuels, its not a wash for them.

Good point - solo driver 80% of the time regularly (and 100% of my long trips). Certainly see how that could be an issue for some.