Is it safe to do a trip from Phoenix USA to Calgary Canada with family plus luggage in RWD Model 3

[Chandan Rai]

Hello friend ,
This is first time I am planning for a 1600 miles trip on my tesla model3 rear wheel drive. i am traveling with wife and 2 kids and full of luggage in the car. Though I checked the route in tesla map Inam very nervous about this. Because many blogs talks about battery range etc.
Can someone help with my travel how much battery buffer I should maintain and how frequently I should be charging .

A deatil help would appreciate .

Thanks
Chandan

 

[starship42]

Enter your destination address into the car’s navigation map while at home, and wait for the route result to be displayed. If the screen plots you a successful route with charge stops and durations shown, you’ll be fine. Stick to the speed limit and there should be no issue. The car will monitor your progress en route and make an alternate suggestion if usage is more than predicted. There’s a whole other discussion about other charge networks and what adapters are needed, but see what the car says about your route and available Superchargers first.

 

[smogne41]

Yes, absolutely! We drove last November from Pennsylvania->Michigan->Denver in 3 days in our LR RWD. No issues whatsoever. The nav is usually very accurate with the charging stop estimates. Just put in your first nights destination into the nave and let it tell you where to charge. If you are nervous, feel free to add an extra 5-10 minutes of charging at each stop for more buffer. It looks like your longest stretch between Superchargers will be between Great Falls MT and Milk River AB at 132 miles. Should not be an issue unless you really floor it for that stretch. Enjoy the trip!

 

[NeverGoingBack]

Yeah ….. the advice from ….. @smogne41 is right on target. Do what he says and you will have a great trip. Then when you get back, you can reply to the next new owner that worries about this by saying what he said. Enjoy the drive!

 

[Chisale]

The only thing I'd add to the excellent responses above is just to make sure your family is on board with the charging stops and what's necessary. It does take longer to drive cross country in an EV, even a Tesla. You can minimize this somewhat by booking hotels with chargers or charging during meal stops. But it still takes longer and there's going to be some more downtime than if you were in an ICE car. So just be honest and ask yourself if complaining about it taking longer is going to be an issue. Wife? Kids? Are the old enough to know or young and won't know better? Reason I bring this up is that with my family? I'd be hearing complaining. a one or two charging stop trip would be fine. But 8-10? More? Nope. But just as far as making it? Easy peasy.

 

[Chandan Rai]

with the MAP this is what it looks like. the longest stretch is yes the last one.

question - at every supercharging station shall I charge the 100% battery or 90%?

 

[jjrandorin]

View attachment 960498 with the MAP this is what it looks like. the longest stretch is yes the last one.

question - at every supercharging station shall I charge the 100% battery or 90%?

The car will tell you what to charge to, and its not 100% or 90%, in general. Just add 5-10 minutes more charging time at each stop than the car tells you. You are generally not "filling up" like you do in a gas car.

I dont know what that spreadsheet is from, but you can also use a site like abetterrouteplanner and put in the route just to see how long it recommends each stop is going to be.

 

[Mr Limpet]

If you charge up to 100% when starting out you will most likely make it to Flag on a single charge. The computer will typically tell you how much charge to add to make it to your next stop. It takes a lot longer to charge from 80-90% and longer from 90-100%. Your stop in Beaver will likely be very short- 10 minutes or skipped all together by overnighting in Cedar City . How many miles do you plan to do a day? ~427 miles will get you to Cedar City which will probably take you about 6.5-7+ hours with stops/charges doing 75 mph
Overnight you can charge again to 100% at a destination charger, which should get you to Nephi. If you time eating with charging at Nephi, you can charge up to 90 or 100% and then make it to Tremonton. Charging in Tremonton and the stopping in Idaho Falls for the night which is another ~474 miles or 7-8+hours of driving.
If you are able to do that, you will eliminate 2 charging stops in the first 2 days reducing the number to 7 from 9.
I would probably use Plugshare or ABRP to look for alternate charging options between Fort MacLeod and Calgary just in case. You will probably need to charge to 90-95% on that last leg.
Once you get on the road, and you go through your first charge, you will get a better feel for how things will progress.

 

[Chandan Rai]

Thank you all for your valuable response.

I am planning to drive 600 Miles in a day and then hotel stay. Yes ABRP is suggesting a bit different route with frequent stops with the longest drive 2 hrs.

what is the recommendation around tire pressure to get better mileage? I see some are recommending 50ps but specification says 45ps

 

[Rice&Curry]

suggest carry a 50/30 amp connecter /Adapter for your car mobile charger the type that works in RV campsites just in case you run into range issues. Also I understand the Canadian RV sites use a different type of plug connector. Speed is your big enemy for mileage range so please pay attention to this parameter as driving speed is in your control once you cross 60/65 the Whr/mile increases significantly . you can go up to 49/50 psi if you like, but the ride will be bumpy. Range improvement may be ~ 3%. Remember Tesla does not come with a spare tyre, so it may be advisable to carry a tyre repair kit. costs a few $ and easily available. Best of luck with your trip.

 

[Krash]

Superchargers will dial you down to 80% if they’re more than half full. Make sure you both dial them up to 100% AND keep an eye on your phone to dial them back up in case they get to half full after you leave the car.

Do this just in case you get delayed in getting back to the car or even while in the car if you get distracted. If you take a nap, set an alarm.

The only thing worse than the car stopping charging while you are waiting is to get charged $1 a minute for the privilege.

 

[scottf200]

Superchargers will dial you down to 80% if they’re more than half full. Make sure you both dial them up to 100% AND keep an eye on your phone to dial them back up in case they get to half full after you leave the car.

Do this just in case you get delayed in getting back to the car or even while in the car if you get distracted. If you take a nap, set an alarm.

The only thing worse than the car stopping charging while you are waiting is to get charged $1 a minute for the privilege.

I'd suggest setting it to 90% then if you get notified on your phone of hitting the limit use the phone app to bump it up to 95% and if need be again getting the mess then bump it to 100%. No surprises and avoid that $1/min charge.

 

[bmah]

In addition to all the excellent tips above:

You should realize that the most efficient road-tripping has you using the "bottom" part of your battery capacity (closer to empty) because that's where charging is the most efficient. You'll usually just charge at each stop to make it to the next charger (plus some extra). You usually don't "fill 'er up" at a EV charging station except if you're starting a really long driving leg where you need the range, or if you happen to be stopped in one place anyways (e.g. stop for a meal break, hotel). Filling your battery unnecessarily wastes time. This is a change in mindset from road-tripping an ICE car.

Be flexible if you can (this goes for your family too if possible). Right now you're still developing the intuition for how to do this EV road-tripping thing, and events might not unfold quite as you expect. If you can, treat this as an adventure!

The nav display will estimate how much battery charge you'll have at your next nav destination. There is also an energy graph that can give a more detailed view of this. If you're uncomfortable with what you see, slow down.

Bring whatever charging adapters, mobile connector, etc. you have. You might not need them, but they won't do any good if you're on the road and they're sitting in your garage.

Bring some windshield cleaning supplies if you have them...you won't be hitting up gas stations to clean the windshield.

A lot of this stuff will seem super-obvious once you've gotten out on the road and have a day's experience. Have a great trip, and be sure to tell us how it goes!

Bruce.

 

[kpanda17]

Long trips up and down the east coast USA in M3RWD
Never and issue
Love the 2023 RWD LFP battery running 100% down to 5%, ~260 miles between stops
LFPs do charge slower
Good luck and enjoy the stops
Kids love them

 

[Zcd1]

… Yes ABRP is suggesting a bit different route with frequent stops with the longest drive 2 hrs.

what is the recommendation around tire pressure to get better mileage? I see some are recommending 50ps but specification says 45ps

ABRP suggests a plan for the quickest overall travel time, and personally I’d or save that plan to your phone or print it out so that you can refer to it if needed.

Yes, roughly 2 hours between stops is generally the quickest way to travel in a Model 3.

Tire pressure isn’t a huge factor in range - less than 3% (8-10 miles) difference from very high pressure (45+ PSI) to a more comfortable pressure for ride quality (38 psi). I wouldn’t stress about that part at all.

The toughest part will likely be believing that more frequent stops is quicker overall, but it is. It’s a different way to travel, but very relaxing.

One final tip: where possible, use V3 (250KW) Superchargers. They don’t share power with other Superchargers so you’ll always get the maximum charging speed the car is capable of. V2/V1 Superchargers’ (150/72KW) charging speed is cut in half if another car starts charging on the Superchager that share your Supercharger’s circuit.

Safe travels and enjoy!

 

[scottf200]

V2/V1 Superchargers’ (150/72KW) charging speed is cut in half if another car starts charging on the Superchager that share your Supercharger’s circuit.

V2 ... meaning be on a unique number. 1A and 1B share; 2A and 2B share; ....


Re: End of day planning ... when I know where I'm going to stop at the end of the day I often put in the VERY next supercharger stop for the next day. WHY? Because the Tesla trip planner always assumes you will charge at your end of day destination. If I put in the next stop then I know how much I'm going to need to charge up that night over dinner (preferred) or the next day .... just enough to make the follow supercharger plus (10-ish %).

 

[Grabthar]

I have driven that route from MT to Phoenix many times. A suggestion - don't go through Flagstaff. It shaves maybe 20 minutes off and the road is 2 lane and if you get behind traffic, it can be a slow slog. The charger at Cordes Lake stinks from people peeing all around the chargers. I go Wickenburg/Henderson (avoid Vegas..chargers are always crowded)/Mesquite...then up as you indicated. The road from Phoenix to Henderson is a mix of 2 lane but has a lot of 4 lane as well; plus in the winter, you don't get the elevation change as much as going through Flagstaff so usually the road is better and you get better efficiency too.

 

[ucmndd]

Charge to whatever it takes to get to your next charging stop plus about a ~20% buffer. The car will happily guide you. Don’t sit longer than necessary at any charging stop to get to 90 or 100% if you don’t need to (or of course if you want to because you’re eating, sight seeing, whatever).

Easy peasy.

 

[bckelowna]

Yes, absolutely! We drove last November from Pennsylvania->Michigan->Denver in 3 days in our LR RWD. No issues whatsoever. The nav is usually very accurate with the charging stop estimates. Just put in your first nights destination into the nave and let it tell you where to charge. If you are nervous, feel free to add an extra 5-10 minutes of charging at each stop for more buffer. It looks like your longest stretch between Superchargers will be between Great Falls MT and Milk River AB at 132 miles. Should not be an issue unless you really floor it for that stretch. Enjoy the trip!

Where did you check that? At Tesla app? Website? It at your car? (Share link if it's website) thanks

 

[smogne41]

I just eyeballed it off of supercharge.info then check the actual distance in google maps between those two. For a better more systematic way, something like ABRP with your car info correctly put in is a good place to start. Also, for finding lodging with overnight charging, use plugshare.com with the lodging filter turned on.