Thanksgiving traffic SF to Santa Barbara or LA

[listy]

Trying to determine whether to rent a van or drive the Model S 70D during the Thanksgiving weekend. We will leave on Tue or Wed morning that week and return on Sunday.

Santa Barbara seems like the supercharger network will be no too busy
LA looks like there could be too much usage, and may be better to rent a van.

Side Note
May need to rent a van if passenger count goes from 4 to 6 people

 

[taminatorv]

I've been down 101 a bunch of times, but rarely during a big holiday like Thanksgiving. From my experience, Atascadero is typically pretty full, Buelton is usually empty, and Oxnard is pretty full being in a shopping mall. It should help when they open a Supercharger in SLO and Santa Barbara.

I think you'll be fine heading down on Tuesday, but Wednesday could be pretty crowded and returning on Sunday is going to be really bad. It's bad in an ICE car with lines at gas stations, coffee shops, and restaurants. The best time to travel is Friday after Thanksgiving when everyone is shopping. That was the only time we went through LA without traffic.

 

[davinci2017]

If you leave early, there is hardly anyone at those stations. Once you cross into the mid-day times, then its hit/miss depending on many factors and you have to really factor in some additional time for charging.

I'd either drive overnight, or leave really early especially on long weekends.

 

[siucity]

FWIW, the slowest traffic I've ever encountered on I5 was driving north on the Sunday after Thanksgiving.