Okay my 2nd trip from Plano to Austin and back had more drama than I bargained for. As luck would have it, my wife was with me too, her first time on a long trip on a Tesla. Here is what happened:
- from my home in Plano to Waco SC no issues.
- Charged to 240 miles at Waco SC for the 208 mile round trip to Austin and back to Waco SC. I figured 240 should give me enough buffer for me to do the 208 mile round trip.
- But then I hit a construction traffic jam crawling 2-4 miles an hour - yes walking speed. To cross that 3 miles stretch it took us over an hour. With the temps in 103F, with AC in full blast, I noticed that our consumption was hitting 450+ whr. We reached Austin with 115 miles remaining at an average rate of 385 Whr. I noticed that in my daily commute cruising at 70, I typically can get close to 300 whr, but in this stretch it consistently stayed above 400.
- with 104 miles to get back to Waco and with only 115 miles as rated range, it was decision time.
- With no Chademo adapter and no J1772 adapter either (I left it at home), local charging is completely ruled out.
- One option is to drive further south (opposite to my intended direction) for 25 miles to San Marcos SC to get the charge. That will add another 90 minutes extra to my trip. (50 miles extra driving and 50 miles extra charging needed). The Tesla routing was telling me to do just that.
- The other option is to take our chance, bring in all of my hyper-miling techniques I had learnt over the years and beat the rated range and do it.
We chose the last option. Drove for 50 miles with no AC at 100F+ weather and drafting trucks. My consumption was a very healthy 250 Whr. And my buffer was climbing to a healthy 20 miles with 50 more miles to go. So I drove the rest of the way at 70 mph with AC full blast and reached Waco SC with 15 miles remaining.
Partly I blame myself for not charging to 100% and that would have given an additional 15 miles, but then the real issue here is although 250 miles is good for most of your road trips over 200 miles, it does make it difficult on those edge days. The fact that it was 100F+ itself is not an issue, but getting stuck in traffic for over an hour pushed it over the edge. Hot days don't bother me as much, and I can - when push comes to shove - drive without AC to conserve some power. But had this been a cold day, there is no way I can drive freezing. Just need a few more Superchargers. SC density needs to double.
Had some nice sandwiches and free coffee at CSB both up and down stops.
Over all the stops at the SC was a total of around 90 minutes (together both up and down). I am guessing that was 30 minutes more than my usual gas trips. While the extra time itself is not a big deal, it does makes it less convenient on where you want to take a break. Ideally I would have preferred to drive all the way to Austin and take a break while I am there, doing whatever that is.
