Road-trip range concerns - Southeast

[Brian_2024]

I’m planning to get an MY this fall but after seeing the thread about real world range (going 80mph with a/c on) I have some concerns about range and road trips.
We don’t mind stopping every three hours of driving but it does seem like we’d have to stop much more frequently for our typical trips. We’re in the Southeast so not the best network (from what I’ve heard) and I also have some concerns about charging stations becoming full and having to wait extended periods. It’s tough to gauge whether adding all the stops would be worth it on road trips.

Thoughts?

 

[Ostrichsak]

You're overthinking it. Just go for a drive.

 

[MattM24]

Download the ABRP app and plan it out.
It takes longer, yes.
Does that matter, maybe.

 

[Haydn31]

I’m planning to get an MY this fall but after seeing the thread about real world range (going 80mph with a/c on) I have some concerns about range and road trips.
We don’t mind stopping every three hours of driving but it does seem like we’d have to stop much more frequently for our typical trips. We’re in the Southeast so not the best network (from what I’ve heard) and I also have some concerns about charging stations becoming full and having to wait extended periods. It’s tough to gauge whether adding all the stops would be worth it on road trips.

Thoughts?

This whole range anxiety thing is a myth promoted by the ICE industry. You’ll have plenty of range. The car will plan the stops. I’ve yet to find a full Supercharger (in the East) and you’ll find the charging stops coincide nicely with meal/bathroom breaks.

 

[MattM24]

This whole range anxiety thing is a myth promoted by the ICE industry. You’ll have plenty of range. The car will plan the stops. I’ve yet to find a full Supercharger (in the East) and you’ll find the charging stops coincide nicely with meal/bathroom breaks.

This doesn’t sound like range anxiety, so much as the realities of driving a Model Y at 80mph. You won’t get 3 hours between charges unless you have great conditions and you started at 100%.

 

[GtiMart]

Ideally you need to change your mindset when driving an EV. If you only stop every 2.5-3h your battery will be empty and you'll want it full for the next ~3h of driving. Charging a battery to full takes a while since charging speed slows as the battery gets full. Although counter-intuitive, it is faster overall to stop more often but charge less each time. Instead of doing 95% -> 10% SOC and charging back to 95% (which would take forever), you do a first 95% -> 10% (or 15%, whatever you're comfortable with) and then only charge enough to get to the next reasonable supercharger on your way. That will often mean 15% -> 65% -> 15%, rinse and repeat. That will provide the fastest charging speed for the trip overall. You'll stop every 1.5-2h instead. That's what I did on my Quebec <-> Florida road trips, often driving over 80mph following traffic.

 

[MattM24]

Ideally you need to change your mindset when driving an EV. If you only stop every 2.5-3h your battery will be empty and you'll want it full for the next ~3h of driving. Charging a battery to full takes a while since charging speed slows as the battery gets full. Although counter-intuitive, it is faster overall to stop more often but charge less each time. Instead of doing 95% -> 10% SOC and charging back to 95% (which would take forever), you do a first 95% -> 10% (or 15%, whatever you're comfortable with) and then only charge enough to get to the next reasonable supercharger on your way. That will often mean 15% -> 65% -> 15%, rinse and repeat. That will provide the fastest charging speed for the trip overall. You'll stop every 1.5-2h instead. That's what I did on my Quebec <-> Florida road trips, often driving over 80mph following traffic.

While I agree that’s the best way to go about it and have successfully many times, it does take more time (than stopping for gas).

Only the OP can decide if that’s a problem for them.

 

[zoomer0056]

It’s tough to gauge whether adding all the stops would be worth it on road trips.

What do you mean, worth buying the car?

 

[GtiMart]

All depends on what type of bladder the passengers have Even in an ICE, either me or my wife would need stopping after 2h, sometimes less, and only occasionally 3h. I plan my EV stops in the 1.5-2h range and we're always happy. Superchargers are fast enough that by the time we go to the bathroom and grab a drink, the car's ready to go. For us, an EV is really not that much slower overall, even on long trips.
People that have bladders of steel and can go 6h without stopping will indeed lose more time in an EV.

At the 3h mark you're on the verge. You can do it, it won't be that bad, but it will be slower than ICE. You can reduce that additional time by stopping more often but you can't completely remove it.

 

[jcanoe]

75 MPH in a Tesla Model Y will be 10% more efficient than driving at 80 MPH. This will provide 20+ miles of additional range to each charge.

Enter your destination in the Tesla Navigation system and stop when and where the Navigation system route planner indicates a charging stop.

Charge to 90% or 95% before leaving, there is no need to charge to 100% when the Supercharger network in North America has over 2000 locations. On the east coast you would rarely be more than 75 miles from a Supercharger.

Plan to charge when the battery state of charge is at ~20% and end the Supercharger charging session when the battery state of charge is 80%. A 50% to 60% charging session is the fastest way to get back on the road, i.e charging will take less than 20 minutes.

 

[howardnj]

^^^^
I travel frequently thru NC from NJ to Florida
There is no problem whatsoever

31-May-23	13720	398 Miles	39%	Loves, Exit 4 Va. Skippers, VA	08:12 AM Bathroom
31-May-23	13739	416 Miles	31%-90%	Tesla Halifax, NC Exit 168	9:15 AM	$17.20	35 Min Dunkin Donuts
31-May-23	13807	485 Miles	63%	Rest Area Johnson County NC	10:30 AM Near Smithfield
31-May-23	13858	536 Miles	44%-90%	Fayetteville, NC Exit 49 Cracker Barrel Here	11:40AM	$12.87	30 Min
31-May-23	13911	589 Miles	71%	Rest Area SC
31-May-23	13948	625 Miles	58%-90%	Florence, SC Magnolia Mall	2:10 PM	$9.12	25 Min

From Virginia thru NC into SC from 8:12 AM to 2:10 PM I made five stops to eat, pee and charge along I 95
Use PlugShare to plan your stops

 

[MattM24]

^^^^
I travel frequently thru NC from NJ to Florida
There is no problem whatsoever

31-May-23	13720	398 Miles	39%	Loves, Exit 4 Va. Skippers, VA	08:12 AM Bathroom
31-May-23	13739	416 Miles	31%-90%	Tesla Halifax, NC Exit 168	9:15 AM	$17.20	35 Min Dunkin Donuts
31-May-23	13807	485 Miles	63%	Rest Area Johnson County NC	10:30 AM Near Smithfield
31-May-23	13858	536 Miles	44%-90%	Fayetteville, NC Exit 49 Cracker Barrel Here	11:40AM	$12.87	30 Min
31-May-23	13911	589 Miles	71%	Rest Area SC
31-May-23	13948	625 Miles	58%-90%	Florence, SC Magnolia Mall	2:10 PM	$9.12	25 Min

From Virginia thru NC into SC from 8:12 AM to 2:10 PM I made five stops to eat, pee and charge along I 95
Use PlugShare to plan your stops

I think you are missing a stop or two at the beginning.
From how I read it, it looks like your first stop to charge was after 416 miles and you had 31% left.

 

[Brian_2024]

You're overthinking it. Just go for a drive.

True. I have too much time to think about things before I can buy the car. After my test drive I was sold, but need to wait a few more weeks to order

What do you mean, worth buying the car?

I’m pretty sure I’ll buy the car. My other car will be a high mileage ICE that I could also use for road trips. The Tesla should be much nicer to drive, will just need to get used to planning a bit for road trips - will download the route planning app. But other than a little more time, it shouldn’t be a problem.

 

[MattM24]

Also, it’s probably worth noting that the EPA range that Tesla provides isn’t useful for actual long distance driving.

We have entered the point where non-car obsessed people are buying these cars on mass and are surprised they can’t go their stated range (or anywhere close sometimes) on highways.

While I agree with all the advice above and practice it myself, the reality is a 330 mile range Model Y isn’t going to anywhere near that at 80 mph.

I don’t blame Tesla for this. There need to be better standards for posting range.

 

[kpanda17]

OP read about Tesla BMS, that’s the secret sauce

 

[kpanda17]

Every USA vehicle manufacturer only advertises rhe EPA rating. You can believe in 330 miles of theoretical, but real world tested range with these range negative hits:
Overloading rhe vehicle
Driving in extreme temp and humidity
Any roof top rack and boxes affecting drag
Tires not new and at optimal pressuee
Vehicle not perfectly aligned
Etc

The above are real.
Also consider:
we don’t discharge an EV to zero, therefore subtract the bottom 5% kw available; note no one drives ICE to empty.
You can, if absolutely necessary, charge to 100%, def an ICE advantage here

I’d all is perfect you can expect 313 mile range
BMS plus the NAV will get you there

 

[Rocky_H]

and I also have some concerns about charging stations becoming full and having to wait extended periods.

That is definitely a non-issue. You've been seeing headlines of this, but that's in the Los Angeles or San Francisco areas where a very high density of Teslas are. Throughout the Southeast and the rest of the country this just doesn't happen. I've been driving mine for 9 years and used Superchargers in more than 30 states, and I only had to wait one single time, and it was about 5 minutes.

We’re in the Southeast so not the best network (from what I’ve heard)

Well, take a look. This is a very helpful user-maintained map of the Superchargers, including the sites that have been found with building permits or under construction. I'll take a glance here sometimes just to make sure the highway route to where I'm going is covered, and if it is, then it doesn't need a second thought.

www.supercharge.info

 

[MattM24]

View attachment 958329
Every USA vehicle manufacturer only advertises rhe EPA rating. You can believe in 330 miles of theoretical, but real world tested range with these range negative hits:
Overloading rhe vehicle
Driving in extreme temp and humidity
Any roof top rack and boxes affecting drag
Tires not new and at optimal pressuee
Vehicle not perfectly aligned
Etc

The above are real.
Also consider:
we don’t discharge an EV to zero, therefore subtract the bottom 5% kw available; note no one drives ICE to empty.
You can, if absolutely necessary, charge to 100%, def an ICE advantage here

I’d all is perfect you can expect 313 mile range
BMS plus the NAV will get you there

I don’t disagree that all manufacturers report EPA results, I’m just saying that is a misleading measurement at a time where distances matter.

You mention ICE here, which is important.
There are gas stations everywhere and they only take a few minutes to refill. The other thing to note is that it is much cheaper to put a larger fuel tank on than a larger battery. So, range, if an issue, can be mitigated (long term).

If you think about it, other than delivery drivers, what real world use is the EPA ratings.
It’s certainly not to compare between companies when companies like Tesla use 5-cycle to their advantage Vs companies like Porsche that deliberately lower their ratings.

 

[Msicario]

I’m planning to get an MY this fall but after seeing the thread about real world range (going 80mph with a/c on) I have some concerns about range and road trips.
We don’t mind stopping every three hours of driving but it does seem like we’d have to stop much more frequently for our typical trips. We’re in the Southeast so not the best network (from what I’ve heard) and I also have some concerns about charging stations becoming full and having to wait extended periods. It’s tough to gauge whether adding all the stops would be worth it on road trips.

Thoughts?

I wish I could have asked the same question before I purchased my MYP

I’m retired (Anaheim Ca.) and have grandkids in Chandler AZ. 375 mile one way; I have to stop 3 times while staying with traffic; Means sometimes I might exceed 80 mph.
There are no SC stations in Chandler or Gilbert
If you’re planning on going 80+mph, you’ll probably get about 220 miles per full charge

 

[NeverGoingBack]

Sheesh ….. the whole road trip range thing just isn’t real. Superchargers are everywhere …. Unless you’re going to Big Bend Park down in Texas for an “off road trip”, you have nothing to worry about. Every time we stop at a supercharger on a road trip, the car is ready to go before we are.