How to save a lot of time on long trips

[tpedwards]

We went to Santa Rosa Beach Fl from Lafayette In during Christmas. I just got my P85 so I decided to take it as well. OMG!!! my wife took the Honda Odyssey and her round trip average was 11 hours 45 minutes. It took me 17.5 hours to get there and 18 hours to get home. Averaged 393 kWh with heat down to 64. Left the supercharger when the car told me to I would arrive at my next destination.

My brother delivered my P85 from Dallas to me in Nashville. He and his son felt nearly stranded. They took I-20 to I-65 (Arkansas still has NO superchargers).
The 10 hour drive from Dallas to Nashville took 23 hours. They think I made a mistake buying this car.
They did a range charge in Birmingham and only a half hour later the nav system was indicating they weren't going to make it to Nashville. Luckily I was following them with the Remote S app. I found a Nissan dealer with an open and free EV plug in Cullman, AL at midnight thanks to PlugShare.
Why could they not make it to an adjacent SC? 1. Distance (there are plans for an additional SC near Athens, for now it is >180 miles between SC's); 2. Temperature. It hit record lows. Being a new Tesla owner I had no idea how much an effect cold would have on range. Nine degrees Fahrenheit is quite unusual around here, though. I also did not realize how much time was wasted range charging at every SC along the way.
I am learning a great deal reading this thread.

 

[kort677]

My brother delivered my P85 from Dallas to me in Nashville. He and his son felt nearly stranded. They took I-20 to I-65 (Arkansas still has NO superchargers).
The 10 hour drive from Dallas to Nashville took 23 hours. They think I made a mistake buying this car.
They did a range charge in Birmingham and only a half hour later the nav system was indicating they weren't going to make it to Nashville. Luckily I was following them with the Remote S app. I found a Nissan dealer with an open and free EV plug in Cullman, AL at midnight thanks to PlugShare.
Why could they not make it to an adjacent SC? 1. Distance (there are plans for an additional SC near Athens, for now it is >180 miles between SC's); 2. Temperature. It hit record lows. Being a new Tesla owner I had no idea how much an effect cold would have on range. Nine degrees Fahrenheit is quite unusual around here, though. I also did not realize how much time was wasted range charging at every SC along the way.
I am learning a great deal reading this thread.

I have no answers to your questions other than that driving a tesla on a long road trip requires planning.
If you just jump into the car and go you will wind up with issues that you experienced.
Next time you want to venture on a long trip you need to plan your routes carefully.
Always knowing where your next charge is going to happen is crucial. You should think of it like you would think if you were flying a plane, you'd never take off not knowing your range and where more fuel is available, you'd never take off ignorant of the weather conditions and how the climatic conditions will affect your actual range.
once you plan a trip properly you'll find that it is rarely necessary to do a full range charge and when you do have a long hop that requires a range charge you'll build a meal or sleep break into your planning. Good luck with your car and once you get more familiar with the nuances of driving an EV I think you'll enjoy the experience more than your first attempt at a road trip.

here's some resources for your planning
supercharge.info
EV Trip Planner
PlugShare - EV Charging Station Map - Find the nearest location to charge your electric car!
Find Us | Tesla

 

[KJD]

2. Temperature. It hit record lows. Being a new Tesla owner I had no idea how much an effect cold would have on range. Nine degrees Fahrenheit is quite unusual around here, though. I also did not realize how much time was wasted range charging at every SC along the way.
I am learning a great deal reading this thread.

Make sure you also read read this thread on cold weather driving.
Cold Weather Driving

 

[BerTX]

So is the state of EV practicality analogous to gasoline vehicles a century ago? There were few gas stations, so long distance travel was difficult. A horse made sense, because you could get fuel everywhere. People could just get on their horse and go. Hauling things with a horse just made more sense.

Then as the infrastructure got built out, the gasoline powered vehicle took over. I think the EV will do the same thing. But in the meantime we have to plan.

 

[gavine]

A horse made sense, because you could get fuel everywhere.

Electricity is basically everywhere too. Problem is, those wall outlets don't charge very fast.....but at least you won't get stranded.

There are parts of the county, by the way, that are so dense with Superchargers, that planning isn't really necessary.

 

[BerTX]

There are parts of the county, by the way, that are so dense with Superchargers, that planning isn't really necessary.

By personal preference, I avoid those areas, unfortunately. I live in a bustling metropolis of 354, 60 miles from the nearest supermarket.

But I agree, some day planning will not be required.

 

[jerry33]

Depending upon where you live and where you are going, planning may or may not be required. However, I can assure everyone that there is less need for planning now than there was four years ago when I took delivery A lot less.

 

[SFOTurtle]

Depending upon where you live and where you are going, planning may or may not be required. However, I can assure everyone that there is less need for planning now than there was four years ago when I took delivery A lot less.

Bingo. When we took delivery of our MS60 in Feb. 2013, I believe there were only 6 Superchargers in the USA, with 4 of them here in CA. Even so, we had to plan quite carefully how we would travel to places that didn't have any Superchargers like Santa Barbara or Yosemite. Now (and with the benefit of an MS85), we basically don't have to plan for virtually any trip we take. We just logged over 1,200 miles on a trip to SoCal where we had multiple roundtrips between Orange County and West LA for 3 straight days, and I did no planning whatsoever other than to figure out in advance what restaurants were located next to each Supercharger that was on or near the freeways we were taking. Really so easy now.

 

[alawson999]

Good Discussion

I am 18 months into my MS 70D - couple of 2,000 mile + trips - another one coming in March. 70D is a bit more challenging to plan, but I've always gotten where I need to go...

the only thing I would add, that no one has mentioned, is that at the end of the day, if the weather is cold

CHARGE WHILE THE BATTERY IS STILL WARM.

If you wait till the next morning - expect it to be painfully slow - a cold soak at -5F overnight really destroyed the charging time.

And keep in mind - sometimes it really is about the journey rather than the destination

;-)

 

[TexLaw]

This thread has some excellent information in it. I'm just a couple weeks into the order/manufacture/wait process, but I already feel far more confident about how to handle longer drives. Thank you, all.

And keep in mind - sometimes it really is about the journey rather than the destination

;-)

I like to make it about both.

 

[Shock-On-T]

Good Discussion

I am 18 months into my MS 70D - couple of 2,000 mile + trips - another one coming in March. 70D is a bit more challenging to plan, but I've always gotten where I need to go...

the only thing I would add, that no one has mentioned, is that at the end of the day, if the weather is cold

CHARGE WHILE THE BATTERY IS STILL WARM.

If you wait till the next morning - expect it to be painfully slow - a cold soak at -5F overnight really destroyed the charging time.

And keep in mind - sometimes it really is about the journey rather than the destination

;-)

1. Always charge warm.
2. Leave home with 100%.
3. Never supercharge to 100% unlesss you really need to.
4. Overnight at destination charger.
5. Enjoy!

 

[David99]

3. Never supercharge to 100% unlesss you really need to.

You should always Supercharger to 100% if you are busy doing other things (like eating at a restaurant). If the car is waiting for you, always keep charging to 100%. On a road trip, there is never an advantage to charge less when you are busy doing other things.

 

[Shock-On-T]

You should always Supercharger to 100% if you are busy doing other things (like eating at a restaurant). If the car is waiting for you, always keep charging to 100%. On a road trip, there is never an advantage to charge less when you are busy doing other things.

Also true. I meant don't sit in your car waiting for 100%.

 

[kort677]

You should always Supercharger to 100% if you are busy doing other things (like eating at a restaurant). If the car is waiting for you, always keep charging to 100%. On a road trip, there is never an advantage to charge less when you are busy doing other things.

I'm sorry but I disagree, your charging times will be faster if you drive the bottom of the battery, arriving at the next SpC with a very low SOC. charging to 100% when it isn't necessary is a waste of your time and isn't efficient.
the only time I will charge to 100% is when that extra range is necessary to make it to the next charging stop.

 

[BerTX]

I'm sorry but I disagree, your charging times will be faster if you drive the bottom of the battery, arriving at the next SpC with a very low SOC. charging to 100% when it isn't necessary is a waste of your time and isn't efficient.
the only time I will charge to 100% is when that extra range is necessary to make it to the next charging stop.

So let me be sure I understand your theory. You are saying that if I need to charge to 60% at my next Supercharger stop, it is better to arrive with 5% than to arrive with 30%? I doubt it.

The point being made is that, if you are staying at a Supercharger anyway because you are doing something that keeps you from leaving, you might as well keep charging. You are arguing that this is incorrect?

 

[kort677]

So let me be sure I understand your theory. You are saying that if I need to charge to 60% at my next Supercharger stop, it is better to arrive with 5% than to arrive with 30%? I doubt it.

The point being made is that, if you are staying at a Supercharger anyway because you are doing something that keeps you from leaving, you might as well keep charging. You are arguing that this is incorrect?

if there is a reason to be there how could it be incorrect? I am saying that it is unnecessary. you don't win a prize for arriving at a SpC with range left to spare. the battery will charge faster with a low SOC.
why waste the time putting in X amount of range when only Y is necessary to make it to your next stop?
of course operating the car like this requires a good amount of planning, also being aware of emergency charging options would be wise.
If you are concerned about climatic conditions or want to drive at excessive speeds then you certainly could need extra range.
it's my experience that with proper planning and having a good "feel" for my car's capabilities driving the bottom of the battery usually works well for me.

 

[Max*]

BerTX is correct. If you're already there and eating, or whatever, overcharging helps if you have a multi-SpC trip.

There's no need to overcharge on purpose, but if I'm eating, and my kids need to go to the bathroom, there's no advantage for me to run to the car (if it's not crowded) and move my car and stop supercharging. It's the opposite, there's an advantage to keep going until I'm ready to go.


You arrive at the next stop with more than you need (let's say 30% vs. 5%), but if you only need 50% to get to the 3rd stop you'd only need to charge 30%->50% instead of 5%->50%.


Even if charging from the bottom of the pack is faster, if you have the same target goal, arriving with more SOC will always charge you faster.

 

[TexLaw]

Guys, you agree with each other.

 

[bxr140]

Kort--you missed the point. You're arguing that the ideal solution for minimizing trip time is to charge only as much as you need to get from one supercharger to the next. Nobody is arguing against that.

D99's point was that, when reality sets in and your charging stop is governed by your time and not your car's time, overcharging is the right choice because it minimizes your total trip time [that was just reset by your longer-than-ideal stop].

 

[BerTX]

Guys, you agree with each other.

Exactly, and @kort677 is very experienced and knowledgeable about the intricacies of long distance driving in a Model S. He is trying to educate, and I was trying to allow him to clarify his position. He runs his range to low levels so that the majority of his time spent Supercharging is at it's most efficient rate. He plans his longer stops for meals to charge longer, and skips the next Supercharger if feasible (or plans the stop so that this is feasible).

The way the message read to ME was arguing against this practice, which I knew he didn't mean to do.