What is the best way to plan a trip (locating charging locations)?

[Shumdit]

Is there a website that seems to be best for planning a trip. I am thinking of picking up a car and driving it about 1000 miles home, but obviously I need to plan it out to make sure it's feasible/possible to do so. Any help would be appreciated.

Also, Do I need to have certain adapters to make charging possible since there are no Supercharger Stations on the intended route?

 

[purplewalt]

You might consider reading the attached thread, as I will be traveling from DFW to Savannah and SC, returning through NC and Tennessee.

http://www.teslamotorsclub.com/show...dbrass-in-South-Carolina-(and-North-Carolina)

I plan on driving around 400 miles a typical day, will be stopping at Marietta, GA Service Center to top up.
Yes, there will be about 8 hours each day reading, maybe catching u on email, etc.
There are multiple threads and a couple of blogs about planning successful trips into the wild: you can do it, it just takes a bit of pre-planning and patience.
Burlington NC Supercharge station should be on-line in two weeks or so, and I intend to use it at least twice as I go to and leave Durham.
Have a back-up plan at the ready.

What direction will you be coming from?
Do you have single or dual superchargers?
RV Parks with 14-50 outlets for supplemental charging, maybe a Nissan dealership or two and sleeping @ hotels that have charging will be my primary tacts to accomplishing the trek to and from.
Plugshare, Blink and other charging stations as need be.

Feel free to PM me for further specific resources.

 

[Shumdit]

Coming from the NJ shore to Greenville, SC so basically I-95 and I-85. I know I can use the one Delaware Supercharger station (although it always looks packed when I see pics of it).The car has the twin chargers. Will that benefit me on the trip?

 

[Cottonwood]

Coming from the NJ shore to Greenville, SC so basically I-95 and I-85. I know I can use the one Delaware Supercharger station (although it always looks packed when I see pics of it).The car has the twin chargers. Will that benefit me on the trip?

Twin chargers help you in the wild when you can find 240/208 Volt AC sources with more than 40 Amps. Those are Tesla Service centers, other owners with HPWCs, or Roadster 70A HPCs with adapters, and high power J1772 EVSEs. I have found PlugShare to be the best source of info. Also, go to one of the RV search sites. If you can find an RV park with 14-50 connections and cabins, that can be a great overnight. Happy hunting.

 

[purplewalt]

The other immediate question is HOW SOON are you wanting to take your trip?

Looking at Google Maps, it looks like you could be well suited to use the soon to be opened SC station in Burlington, NC.
It is currently under construction, looks like another two weeks or so before it is ready to operate.

WHEN they exist, and are operating (even prior to ribbon cutting), they are THE FASTEST way to charge.

Next best charging would be a 14-50, 40 Amp outlet in an RV Park for daytime charging, and a hotel with a charging station for night time.

Timing is everything.
In 75 days: none of this conversation will be probably be relevant, because most of the East Coast Network will be in place and operational (according to TM Map projections).

There are multiple threads about Tesla owners/advocates spotting, sharing photos and monitoring construction for charging stations, and a couple of Wiki pages.

 

[efusco]

I think the easiest answer to your question is "no". Not one best way at all.
On a trip of that distance I expect you'll want to spend at least one night along the way. I would find your half-wayish point and see if I could find a hotel with a charging station of any sort (other than 120v/15amp). Make that your main way-point. I like Plug-share as my first option as it seems to have the best combination of public and private chargers as well as Level 3 chargers including the Tesla Superchargers. If there are still gaps in my trip plan I'll try other apps like ChargePoint, Blink and some other similar apps, though they rarely add anything that wasn't already on plugshare.

If I still have gaps, then I go to an All-Camps app that is for RV parks. It is pretty powerful and can be tuned to your needs for locating RV parks with 50 amp service that might serve as a stop-gap if you need a bit of extra charge to reach your various other destinations.

 

[PhilBa]

Also, the PC version of Plugshare has a trip planner that will list EVSEs along your route. It don't appear to be in the app, though. I wish Tesla would integrate one of the EVSE databases into the map.

 

[Robert.Boston]

There is no one resource that will do everything you need. The two resources I think are best are:

1. Plugshare (PlugShare - EV Charging Station Map - Find the nearest location to charge your electric car!), now owned by Recargo. Set the filter (behind the little gear to the right of the search box) to exclude wall outlets, Chademo, and HPWC Roadster. Use the Trip Planner function. The default is to look 6 miles around the road, which works well in some areas of the country, but you may need to expand that in more rural areas.
2. Allstays Camp & RV iOS app. This app has the best list of RV grounds with 50A charging (= NEMA 14-50 outlets). Set the Filter to show only 50-Amp.

You need both of these apps (or competitors) to plan trips outside the EV-friendly corridors.

 

[Liz G]

Another good resource. KOA.com

 

[EdA]

Coming from the NJ shore to Greenville, SC so basically I-95 and I-85. I know I can use the one Delaware Supercharger station (although it always looks packed when I see pics of it).The car has the twin chargers. Will that benefit me on the trip?

I supercharged in Delaware on a Monday and then the following Monday - 1 guy was there when we got there on the way in he left and someone else showed up (met him in CT). On the way back there were no other Teslas there.

 

[Robert.Boston]

Coming from the NJ shore to Greenville, SC so basically I-95 and I-85. I know I can use the one Delaware Supercharger station (although it always looks packed when I see pics of it).The car has the twin chargers. Will that benefit me on the trip?

Superchargers don't use you car's on-board charger(s) at all. The SCs have 12 10kW chargers, compared to the 2 in your car. The SC bypasses your on-board chargers to give huge charging rates.

The twin chargers allow you to charges at Level 2 chargers up to 80A / 20kW. Not many of these on the East Coast, although I'm increasingly seeing 80A HPWCs on PlugShare and the Canadian Sun County Highway is creeping southward.

 

[rlang59]

Coming from the NJ shore to Greenville, SC so basically I-95 and I-85. I know I can use the one Delaware Supercharger station (although it always looks packed when I see pics of it).The car has the twin chargers. Will that benefit me on the trip?

I have only ever seen one other Tesla there in all of my times of using the Delaware Supercharger.

 

[woof]

For planning a road trip, a friend of mine created this site:

Furkot - A Road Trip Planner

At one point he had the ability to search for charging stations (because I asked!), but I don't see them on the current version. Still a very interesting site, that pulls from a lot of public databases to provide a unique travel planning ability. At the bottom is a link for "Questions or suggestions", so don't hesitate to ask for EV charging to be added.

Edit:
Ah, EV charging is still there. It is (inexplicably) under "EAT"->Show Filling Stations->Show Electric Car Charging Stations.

 

[mgemmell]

For planning a road trip, a friend of mine created this site:

Furkot - A Road Trip Planner

...

That is an awesome tool. Congratulations to your friend. Good work.

Now if it just included altitude info to help plan charging requirements....