How to save a lot of time on long trips

[brec]

Another nice trick is to enter your next Supercharger or destination in the Nav after charging has started. Then bring up the Energy:Trip screen and it will update the predicted battery energy at your next stop. I usually aim for 15% or so. This static prediction while charging is based on average conditions. ...

But I assume it includes elevation changes as Energy::Trip does when not charging.

 

[Ugliest1]

Nonetheless, I'll add one other personal observation: I've never felt less fatigued after long drives. I really put that down to ~4 supercharging stops per day. Making it from point A to point B fast is sometimes essential. But, when it isn't, there's nothing wrong with an additional 15 minutes spent at charger... it makes the trip much less tiring. For me.

Echo, echo. Huge difference over ICE (other threads go into details I think). Model S has brought back road trips for us and lack of fatigue at the end of the day was a surprising side benefit we hadn't realized until we actually experienced it. My guesses as to why, in sort of descending order: "forced" 15-20 minute stops every 3-4 hours (longer ones for coffee/lunch/dinner/go look at something); no engine vibration; no constant hear/feel droning of the engine; one-pedal driving; the fun factor of a totally responsive and quick car. Also, supercharger stops are more fun in and of themselves over a gas station because of meeting new, friendly, interesting people there and just chatting. No one does that at an ICE filler.

 

[Cottonwood]

But I assume it includes elevation changes as Energy::Trip does when not charging.

Yes, Energy:Trip includes elevation changes, typical weather conditions, and typical driving styles when it does its estimate during charging. If it's snowy, cold, you have a head wind, and you want to drive aggressively, add an appropriate additional buffer.

While driving, Energy:Trip updates the estimate based on the actual usage relative to its model to come up with a good prediction for what you will have at the destination.

 

[David99]

Nonetheless, I'll add one other personal observation: I've never felt less fatigued after long drives. I really put that down to ~4 supercharging stops per day. Making it from point A to point B fast is sometimes essential. But, when it isn't, there's nothing wrong with an additional 15 minutes spent at charger... it makes the trip much less tiring. For me.

I made the same experience driving on many long road trips. We have the natural tendency to drive fast without stops to get the trip over with as soon as possible. We don't realize that the pain of sitting behind the wheel for 5 or more hours without stopping becomes more painful that taking stops and get our blood flow going again and give our eyes and mind a little rest. The difference became very obvious to me when we drive the same route (2000 miles between Minneapolis and Los Angeles) both in an ICE car and the Tesla. While it takes longer in the Tesla, making frequent stops made the trip less painful overall.

I also agree on the trip energy graph. It's the most important and most helpful update since I got the car. It helps so much planning and optimizing a trip. In fact, before it was guesswork unless you knew the trip well. Now you can drive anywhere and know how much energy you'll need.

 

[jerry33]

I made the same experience driving on many long road trips. We have the natural tendency to drive fast without stops to get the trip over with as soon as possible. We don't realize that the pain of sitting behind the wheel for 5 or more hours without stopping becomes more painful that taking stops and get our blood flow going again and give our eyes and mind a little rest. The difference became very obvious to me when we drive the same route (2000 miles between Minneapolis and Los Angeles) both in an ICE car and the Tesla. While it takes longer in the Tesla, making frequent stops made the trip less painful overall.

Agreed, except that the total trip time for me is no longer than I would have taken in an ICE car. And yes, the trip metre and being able to sync the calendar are the two best upgrades so far.

 

[CHGolferJim]

I'm traveling from home to central NJ this Sunday to see friends and watch one of my high school players in the US Amateur. Ordinarily, I avoid I-95, so I had a route planned up I-81 and across PA (Lexington / Strasburg / Harrisburg / Allentown). Then, the friends convinced me I could take on I-95 since it's Sunday, and save 1.5 hours and arrive for cocktail hour!

Plan to range charge to 240 at home, then stop at South Hill / Glen Allen / Woodbridge / NewarkDE. I generally supercharge to the EVTripPlanner rated mileage to the next location + 50, and drive 75 mph, but recently along the east coast this has been a bit conservative in the absence of rain. Going to try using the graph + 20% on the route and compare elapsed time, and perhaps build confidence to cut the reserve to 15% in the future. Otoh, it's usually takes only a few minutes to go the extra 12 miles.

 

[Diede]

Awesome info and tips guys. Helps me decide whether to buy or not. This is for me a mayor point

 

[xkwizit]

Awesome info and tips guys. Helps me decide whether to buy or not. This is for me a mayor point

@Diede - there are several posts in the buying/ordering subcategory that should assist you with the decision. This particular thread is about road trips so your question is off-topic for this thread.

 

[wga22]

Autopilot makes everything else worthwhile.

 

[theslimshadyist]

The Model S and X are the only EVs that can do long distance traveling in a reasonable amount of time. Compared to an ICE car it takes about 20-25% longer for charging on the way. The shorter the trip, the less charging makes a difference. For example on a 300-400 mile trip, you start with a full charge, stop once at a Supercharger and then you can run the battery down to your destination where you (hopefully) have a charger. For 5-6 hours driving you would only have to spend maybe 40 min at a Supercharger.

The longer the trip, thought, the more charging stops you will need and the ratio between drive time and charge time is about 1:4 to 1:5. That's a significant amount of time on long trips. One mistake a lot of new owners make is to charge to a pretty high level mostly out of uncertainty how much they will need to make it to the next Supercharger. While this is safe it slows you down overall significantly.

Superchargers are fast, but the charge speed depends very much on the state of charge. IOW, how much is left in your battery when you arrive has a big impact on how fast it'll charge.

Here are some number that show how big the difference is. Let's say you arrive with 0%.
In the first 10 minutes you will gain 70 miles
in the next 10 minutes you will gain 46 miles
in the next 10 minutes you will gain 36 miles
in the next 10 minutes you will gain 29 miles

In 40 minutes you got 180 miles. The average is 4.5 miles per minute

Now lets see how the numbers look when you arrive at 30% battery left.
In the first 10 minutes you will gain 29 miles
in the next 10 minutes you will gain 27 miles
in the next 10 minutes you will gain 20 miles
in the next 10 minutes you will gain 18 miles

In 40 minutes you got 94 miles. The average is 2.35 miles per minute

The difference is huge! Almost twice the speed when you arrive at 0% vs 30%!

Now of course it's not very good for the battery to run it down to zero. It is also very stressful on you and if anything goes wrong, you have absolutely no buffer. You should always allow yourself a buffer. But just from a time point of view, you should aim to arrive at the next Supercharger at a low state of charge to significantly cut down charge time.

I remember a trip where I met another Model S owner going the same route. I arrived 15 min later than she did at the first Supercharger with almost zero on my battery. I charged just enough to make it to the next Supercharger. It was 100 miles away, but I charged to 150 knowing I was going fast and had head wind. I left the Supercharger before the other driver. I arrived at the next Supercharger with 10 miles left. Again I charged just enough to make it to the next one. As I was done charging and pulled out, I saw the other driver pull in. Not only did she charge much more than she needed at the previous Supercharger, she also arrived at a high state of charge slowing her down again. Over a 200 mile distance I gained aprox one hour over the other driver. Same cars, same driving speed, same conditions. Just by optimizing the charge speed.

Again, I don't advocate to run your battery down too low. My message is: don't add in a big buffer just to be safe and then drive slow on top of it. It'll slow you down a lot. As I said in the beginning, it won't matter much on trips where you only have one or maybe two Supercharger stops. But the longer the trip, the more it makes a difference.

Use the trip energy app. It will predicts (based on your driving and the conditions) how much you will have in your battery when you arrive. Keep an eye on it and use it to aim for a low state of charge without risking anything. It's very useful to optimize your trip.

Excellent strategy, never looked at it this way before but makes perfect sense. Similar to commercial aircraft where they fuel the plane based on destination and additional fuel in case they have to go into a short holding pattern. Thanks again for sharing!

 

[gavine]

Here are some number that show how big the difference is. Let's say you arrive with 0%.
In the first 10 minutes you will gain 70 miles
in the next 10 minutes you will gain 46 miles
in the next 10 minutes you will gain 36 miles
in the next 10 minutes you will gain 29 miles

In 40 minutes you got 180 miles. The average is 4.5 miles per minute

Now lets see how the numbers look when you arrive at 30% battery left.
In the first 10 minutes you will gain 29 miles
in the next 10 minutes you will gain 27 miles
in the next 10 minutes you will gain 20 miles
in the next 10 minutes you will gain 18 miles

In 40 minutes you got 94 miles. The average is 2.35 miles per minute

The difference is huge! Almost twice the speed when you arrive at 0% vs 30%!

Do these numbers still apply? It is my understanding that the new 90kWh batteries charge faster and have a later taper. If anyone has the same kind of specs as above with the latest charging capabilities, please share.

 

[jbcarioca]

Msybe I am one of only a few who kept ICE vehicles at 1/4 tank or more, and stopped every 150 miles equivalent or so for a coffee and refreshment break. Yes, that takes longer, but I always arrived relaxed, alert and unfrazzled. I do the same thing with my Tesla, typically charging to 90% and refilling at >20%. That is easier on the car, on me and on passengers.

Some people want to minimize trip elapsed time. When I want to do that I normally fly.

 

[Cyclone]

Do these numbers still apply? It is my understanding that the new 90kWh batteries charge faster and have a later taper. If anyone has the same kind of specs as above with the latest charging capabilities, please share.

This is not the answer to your question, but for my 2013 85 kWh battery (B pack). Rather than have display be in Miles, I have it in Energy/Percent. As such, it makes things much easier (IMO) to compare what charge is capable. From a trip I took not too long ago...

My car's Charge
battery level level
---------------- -----------
11% 105 kW
12% 115 kW
13% 112 kW
14% 112 kW
15% 116 kW
20% 116 kW
25% 114 kW
30% 109 kW
35% 102 kW
40% 94 kW
45% 87 kW
50% 80 kW
55% 72 kW
60% 65 kW
65% 58 kW

This was at the Kingsland, GA Supercharger, which is a 135 kW Supercharger. Thus, when I plugged in at 11%, only 25 kW was left over for any car in the alternate stall to mine. However, by the time I was at 60% charge, the other could be at 55% or greater without being limited because of my car. Sadly, I did NOT write down how long it took me to get from 11% - 65%, but I know it wasn't long since I waited there to charge and then join friends for dinner. So probably somewhere around 15-20 minutes.

 

[Matthew Short]

I researched and saw that when charging from 10% to 80% takes about forty minutes and

"Charging from 80% to 100% doubles the charge time because the car must reduce current to top off cells."
-Tesla Website.

So in all it takes around 75 minutes to charge a 90kwh battery Model S to full from 0%

 

[David99]

Do these numbers still apply? It is my understanding that the new 90kWh batteries charge faster and have a later taper. If anyone has the same kind of specs as above with the latest charging capabilities, please share.

The new 90 software keeps power a little higher, but the taper still happens the same way. Just not as strong as before. So the concept of arriving at a low state of charge still applies the same. The time savings on the 90 might not be as much as my numbers. These number still apply to every car sold before the 90 came out so they will never be outdated for all those cars.

 

[BertL]

@gavin, I can only offer an anecdotal observation for you on my early-build S90D that may be of some help. If my charge is down around 20% and I charge to 90%, that will be done on my 100A HPWC with dual-chargers in 3-4 hours, but if I then trip charge from 90% to 100%, the time it takes is highly variable especially in the last 5% most likely due to load balancing. I can't predict the trip charge time as I've had it take less than 30 minutes and go nearly an hour ...

 

[drsrichardson]

Any idea how these charging times would look on the new 100 battery? We are doing our annual road trip from Chicago to Charleston and hope to be doing it in a 100D next year. We are wondering what time it will take to charge to about 250 miles range on the bigger battery. We try to arrive at SCs with about 20-30 left "in the tank". Just curious if anyone has done the math on this.

TIA,
Susan

The Model S and X are the only EVs that can do long distance traveling in a reasonable amount of time. Compared to an ICE car it takes about 20-25% longer for charging on the way. The shorter the trip, the less charging makes a difference. For example on a 300-400 mile trip, you start with a full charge, stop once at a Supercharger and then you can run the battery down to your destination where you (hopefully) have a charger

Superchargers are fast, but the charge speed depends very much on the state of charge.

Here are some number that show how big the difference is. Let's say you arrive with 0%.
In the first 10 minutes you will gain 70 miles
in the next 10 minutes you will gain 46 miles
in the next 10 minutes you will gain 36 miles
in the next 10 minutes you will gain 29 miles

In 40 minutes you got 180 miles. The average is 4.5 miles per minute

Now lets see how the numbers look when you arrive at 30% battery left.
In the first 10 minutes you will gain 29 miles
in the next 10 minutes you will gain 27 miles
in the next 10 minutes you will gain 20 miles
in the next 10 minutes you will gain 18 miles

In 40 minutes you got 94 miles. The average is 2.35 miles per minute

The difference is huge! Almost twice the speed when you arrive at 0% vs 30%!

.

 

[No2DinosaurFuel]

Any idea how these charging times would look on the new 100 battery? We are doing our annual road trip from Chicago to Charleston and hope to be doing it in a 100D next year. We are wondering what time it will take to charge to about 250 miles range on the bigger battery. We try to arrive at SCs with about 20-30 left "in the tank". Just curious if anyone has done the math on this.

TIA,
Susan

I can tell you from experience tesla should figure out temperature and charging rate.

When I was on my road trip, several stations had reduced charging rate not because of the small battery capacity but heating. It was 100F outside and parked in the sun. The fan would kick in immediately and I would experience reduce charging pretty much the whole time.

The point is even with the 100KWh battery unless they can have better cooling, I suspect the charge rate would also reduce hence increasing your charging time overall.

 

[David99]

Any idea how these charging times would look on the new 100 battery? We are doing our annual road trip from Chicago to Charleston and hope to be doing it in a 100D next year. We are wondering what time it will take to charge to about 250 miles range on the bigger battery. We try to arrive at SCs with about 20-30 left "in the tank". Just curious if anyone has done the math on this.

I don't have data from a 100 but since it is the same cells the charge curve would be similar. The 90 improved the charge rate a little. It charges at a higher rate for a little longer but overall the characteristics are similar. It charges much faster in the beginning and then slows down more and more.

From that point of view, the recommendation to charge only as much as you need still remains true. But I'm pretty sure the 100 will charge a little faster than older batteries.

 

[NOLA_Mike]

When I was on my road trip, several stations had reduced charging rate not because of the small battery capacity but heating. It was 100F outside and parked in the sun. The fan would kick in immediately and I would experience reduce charging pretty much the whole time.

I don't think that is due to inadequate cooling in the car - I believe it is inadequate cooling of the superchargers. Lots of people are having this issue at many different chargers this year (me included). I never saw this issue with my car before this summer.

Weird Supercharger Incident (Reduced Charge)