Newbie, and still learning

[Woody5575]

OK, you've got a navigator with taste! (i.e., your spouse ).
Now for the secret weapon: supercharge.info.

Let's take this from the top, literally:

1. There's that mileage/percent battery full number at the top of the screen. The car gets that number by grabbing the number of kW-hr's available in the battery and multiplying it by the Official Range of the car. You got a tailwind? You driving at 90 mph? You going uphill forever? This number is the least accurate. For me running around the East Coast where 80 mph is not a lifestyle, it's roughly OK, but no winner.
2. Energy Screen, Take One: Tap the triple-dot at the bottom of the screen. One of the icons says Energy. There's three tabs: Pick the right-most one, labeled (I think) Consumption. This one averages out your actual energy consumption of the past N number of miles you've been driving. Accelerate like mad? It's in there, and it's averaged in. Run ten miles downhill with a tail wind? It's amazing how much energy regen will dump into the battery. It'll display two numbers: The "rated", which is roughly that number at the top of the screen, and the average of what you're currently doing, what with hills and all. You're expected to look at this graph and do some mental math of sorts. If you've got 80 miles to go and it says you've only got 60 miles at the rate you're going, then there's Trouble. (Highly unlikely, that last, as you'll see in a moment.) In terms of guessing how far you can get, tons better than #1, above.
3. Energy Screen, Take two: The first tab. A weird looking plot if ever there was one, but it includes all sorts of interesting factors as to what's affecting your range. How fast you're going. Weather. Outside temperature. HVAC usage. And so on. So, if you're wondering why your range is decreased and the HVAC is the cause, then maybe it's time to turn on the seat heaters and get the internal temperature set point off of 80F. More accurate than #'s 1 and 2.
4. The Car's Range Estimator. It's weird, but true: When you're got NAV active and you're on a trip, there's that little box at the bottom of the screen with your estimated arrival time and the #of battery when you get there. That last is where Tesla has truly done their magic. Going over a mountain and down the other side? It's in that %battery number. Your current driving habits? It's in that %battery number. Weather, as in headwinds/tailwinds/rain/whatever? It's in there. IT'S ALL IN THERE. One Single Blame Number. And it's as accurate as Tesla can make it. It's got all that's in #3 plus whatever NAV can predict about what you're doing and where you're going. So, Now You Know.

First, my navigator says thank you!

This is precisely what I was hoping to see! Understanding what I’m seeing in these graphs/charts makes me SO much more comfortable than just seeing a range or energy level. Now I’m going to go out, sit in the car, and learn to see what you describe in #3.

Thank you all. Again.

 

[JWhite65]

OK, you've got a navigator with taste! (i.e., your spouse ).
Now for the secret weapon: supercharge.info.

It's a web site and it runs super on cell phones. The main attraction is the map function, which kinda looks like this:
View attachment 1017889
which looks like the US has broken out in a bad case of measles. Now, all the map applications (plugshare, EV-go, etc., etc.) look like this. The attraction of this tool is not when it's zoomed out, it's when it's zoomed in. It's based upon Open Street Map.

So, suppose you've got 80 miles of range, the NAV says you should stop in, I dunno, 60 miles, but there's several Superchargers are all roughly in range and on on your route: Maybe another in the same town where the Supercharger is located, but a few miles further away. Or another one in 20 miles, and so on. How to quickly figure out the services?

Have the Navigator haul out the cell phone (hoping you've got coverage, but that's not unusual), and zoom in, with ye fingers, one at a time on the SC's of interest. When you get close, you get this:
View attachment 1017890
Ha. A Cracker Barrel and a Hilton. There's a museum there, too. The above is one SC in St. George. There's another in St. George:
View attachment 1017891
That's a lot more restaurants, all within walking distance.

This is a lot more fun than breaking out the AAA guide. And, frankly, easier than messing with the NAV, which will show one the same stuff. PlugShare and the others will tell one what the amenities are, but I like the above: How Darn Close That Nice Restaurant is (because if it's a good one, then one wants to spend some time savoring the food/attracting the attention of a server) and you're going to have to move the car in 20-30 minutes .

Other things that you'll have to weigh: The SC's on the NAV screen will tell you how many stalls are free. If there's a handful of stalls open, then there's no trouble. If it's down to one stall, or there's the infamous 'clock' symbol, you'll have to wait. We have a lot of that right now in, say, NYC with all the Uber drivers going nuts trying to charge their cars at the (very few) SC's that aren't in high-priced parking lots, but this is likely not an issue in the wide-open West, especially with respect to parking.

Now, I think you mentioned skiing. All my advice has been under the rough assumption that you're banging around in civilization (such as it is in the 'States). Once you've veered off the beaten path things do not get impossible, but one has to pay attention.

First off: Somebody mentioned Energy Screens. Let's take this from the top, literally:

1. There's that mileage/percent battery full number at the top of the screen. The car gets that number by grabbing the number of kW-hr's available in the battery and multiplying it by the Official Range of the car. You got a tailwind? You driving at 90 mph? You going uphill forever? This number is the least accurate. For me running around the East Coast where 80 mph is not a lifestyle, it's roughly OK, but no winner.
2. Energy Screen, Take One: Tap the triple-dot at the bottom of the screen. One of the icons says Energy. There's three tabs: Pick the right-most one, labeled (I think) Consumption. This one averages out your actual energy consumption of the past N number of miles you've been driving. Accelerate like mad? It's in there, and it's averaged in. Run ten miles downhill with a tail wind? It's amazing how much energy regen will dump into the battery. It'll display two numbers: The "rated", which is roughly that number at the top of the screen, and the average of what you're currently doing, what with hills and all. You're expected to look at this graph and do some mental math of sorts. If you've got 80 miles to go and it says you've only got 60 miles at the rate you're going, then there's Trouble. (Highly unlikely, that last, as you'll see in a moment.) In terms of guessing how far you can get, tons better than #1, above.
3. Energy Screen, Take two: The first tab. A weird looking plot if ever there was one, but it includes all sorts of interesting factors as to what's affecting your range. How fast you're going. Weather. Outside temperature. HVAC usage. And so on. So, if you're wondering why your range is decreased and the HVAC is the cause, then maybe it's time to turn on the seat heaters and get the internal temperature set point off of 80F. More accurate than #'s 1 and 2.
4. The Car's Range Estimator. It's weird, but true: When you're got NAV active and you're on a trip, there's that little box at the bottom of the screen with your estimated arrival time and the #of battery when you get there. That last is where Tesla has truly done their magic. Going over a mountain and down the other side? It's in that %battery number. Your current driving habits? It's in that %battery number. Weather, as in headwinds/tailwinds/rain/whatever? It's in there. IT'S ALL IN THERE. One Single Blame Number. And it's as accurate as Tesla can make it. It's got all that's in #3 plus whatever NAV can predict about what you're doing and where you're going. So, Now You Know.

Now, if you are going to a ski resort in the Middle Of Nowhere, it's Not A Good Idea to be at 10% when one had to go over a major mountain to get to the ski resort; so, when you leave, you have to go back over the mountain you just went over, and that way lies nothing good.

So, in situations like this, you locate the final supercharger or whatever before you head into the wilds, and charge the car up. If said ski resort is 50 miles away, so it's a 100 mile round trip to get back, then putting 200+ miles on the car is a right good idea. You get the drill. This is the time when a large number of Level 2 chargers at said resort would be Useful.

Good luck!

Thanks for this Energy Screen explanation. Should be a sticky for new owners.