First Tesla Road Trip. A Quick Recap

[Gone_2022]

For those Curious about chargers and their route. Here is just our surrounding area. All the red locations are open superchargers. Normally about 8-10 stalls in each. If you go over to california they have a few stations with 40+ Chargers in them. They look like big gas stations. All the grey icons are coming soon this year or early 2019.

basically you can go anywhere and be close to a charger on a trip.

 

[Spivitz]

I was just watching videos of this car cracking 10 in the 1320.


Rocket

 

[Gone_2022]

This is awesome, but people are stubborn and don't like any inconveniences at all, so it will be a long time until it's accepted.

For example, a coworker of mine said "I'll buy one of those when they can go anywhere I want to go, like my GASOLINE car"

To which I replied, when is the last time you've driven more than 200 miles in one trip.

He has no answer, he's literally never driven that far as long as he can remember, yet old stubborn people "Doesn't matter, what IF I want to go, it'll never do it"

Whatever.

I mean I will admit. If you are a road trip warrior who does splash and dash gas station stops. This car probably isn’t for you.

But if you enjoy stretching your legs for 10-15 mins ever 2-1/2-3 hours..... or if possibly you have a family and especially a baby in the car that needs changing. It makes sense. I mean, I did a road trip to northern Wisconsin with a buddy and our families last year. Each time we stopped at a gas station it was at least a 15 minute affair. With bathrooms and snacks, and the kids wanting to get out of car seats etc.

 

[boostedguy05]

Yes but it would have taken a lot more time. The general rule of thumb is to only charge as much as you need to reach the next supercharger. From like 5%-60% battery it charges super fast. I’m taking like 100 miles back in the pack in a matter of minutes. After that it slows down gradually as it reaches a higher state of charger. By the time you hit 90% charged it’s only going about 30kws per hour vs the 100kws it may have started with.

Unless you are sitting in one spot for a reason. Lunch/dinner etc. it’s best just to move on and follow the nav

and that's the part that would have annoyed me. i would have rather sat at first stop another 20 minutes or so, to not have to stop in an hour for 40 minutes to make it to that 3rd stop.

 

[Gone_2022]

Does it look up non-Tesla chargers too? Just curious if it gives options.

Sorry I missed this earlier. On the screen navigation it only shows Tesla superchargers and Tesla destination chargers.

If I ever needed to use a 3rd party I have the PlugShare app as well as charge point etc. on my phone.

 

[Gone_2022]

How long did the trip take, door to door.

Total time without charging (if we would have went non stop only splash and dashes) eating lunch in the car etc..

7 hours 54 minutes (per google maps)

Total time for our trip:

9 hours and 15 minutes.


Keep in mind we stopped for lunch. Sitting down at lunch took about 15 minutes longer than the car really needed. So let’s basically say charging added a total of 1 extra hour to the trip.

 

[MikeyLikesIt]

But if you enjoy stretching your legs for 10-15 mins ever 2-1/2-3 hours..... or if possibly you have a family and especially a baby in the car that needs changing.

With my family and their annoyingly small bladders, we do this anyway.

 

[CMNTMXR57]

On Tesla's supercharger map, I just traced my trip I did around Memorial Day from Portland, ME back to Chicago (really, the return trip, simply because the trip out there, I was driving the U-Haul, and it needed gas every 50ft it seemed, so we stopped often).

The trip was basically I-90 from Albany, NY. I took back-roads from Portland to Albany to avoid I-95 into Bahhhston (I did that route on the way out there...) and then coming back north to Albany on I-90 anyway.

The trip was done in my fuel swilling Suburban. However that fuel swiller has a 42 gallon tank. I stopped four times (twice for gas and once to piss like a race horse because my dumbass bought a Big Gulp at one station, and the last time just before the Ohio/Indiana border because I just couldn't keep my eyes open any more so I grabbed an hour of shut-eye)... In that distance and made it from Portland, ME to my house in Elgin in roughly ~20 hours. This was with me getting gas at the gas stations right along the interstate. Not having to exit and drive to some little town a mile or two away

So looking at this map, something else sticks out at me that would annoy me, I find NONE of the Tesla superchargers that are along I-90 to be right along I-90. They're off the interstate a mile or two, in some private hotel parking lot or gas station, etc... This may seem trivial, but aside from extra time to recharge, having to back-track back to the interstate is also time wasted.

One particular large stretch of distance that would cause a bit of fretting and hyper-miling to me, would be the stretch of I-90 between Cleveland and Buffalo. Cleveland has them, Buffalo has a charger north of 90 in Williamsville (again, having to exit the interstate and drive a bit to find it), and only one charger in between... In Erie, Penisylvania (which again, is not directly on the interstate).

I'm trying hard to get into this new form of tech, but again and again, until it becomes as painless/seamless and time efficient as a ICE vehicle, this isn't going to work.

 

[CMNTMXR57]

Oh, another stretch as I zoom in on the map... Toledo to Cleveland...

 

[Gone_2022]

On Tesla's supercharger map, I just traced my trip I did around Memorial Day from Portland, ME back to Chicago (really, the return trip, simply because the trip out there, I was driving the U-Haul, and it needed gas every 50ft it seemed, so we stopped often).

The trip was basically I-90 from Albany, NY. I took back-roads from Portland to Albany to avoid I-95 into Bahhhston (I did that route on the way out there...) and then coming back north to Albany on I-90 anyway.

The trip was done in my fuel swilling Suburban. However that fuel swiller has a 42 gallon tank. I stopped four times (twice for gas and once to piss like a race horse because my dumbass bought a Big Gulp at one station, and the last time just before the Ohio/Indiana border because I just couldn't keep my eyes open any more so I grabbed an hour of shut-eye)... In that distance and made it from Portland, ME to my house in Elgin in roughly ~20 hours. This was with me getting gas at the gas stations right along the interstate. Not having to exit and drive to some little town a mile or two away

So looking at this map, something else sticks out at me that would annoy me, I find NONE of the Tesla superchargers that are along I-90 to be right along I-90. They're off the interstate a mile or two, in some private hotel parking lot or gas station, etc... This may seem trivial, but aside from extra time to recharge, having to back-track back to the interstate is also time wasted.

One particular large stretch of distance that would cause a bit of fretting and hyper-miling to me, would be the stretch of I-90 between Cleveland and Buffalo. Cleveland has them, Buffalo has a charger north of 90 in Williamsville (again, having to exit the interstate and drive a bit to find it), and only one charger in between... In Erie, Penisylvania (which again, is not directly on the interstate).

I'm trying hard to get into this new form of tech, but again and again, until it becomes as painless/seamless and time efficient as a ICE vehicle, this isn't going to work.

Agreed. Some chargers are right off the highway. Some take about 5 mins or so to get to. (Example Champaign Illinois)

It’s a slight inconvenience, but you filled up that giant tank 4 times

Let’s just say it was an average of 3 dollars a gallon. You spent nearly 500 dollars in gas. Where as I would spend $0 dollars to do the same trip.

Yea I know it’s an expensive car. But any used Tesla can do the same trip. Whether it’s 90k or 40k to buy. For $0 dollars.


To each his own. Like I said. This car isn’t for everyone yet. You have to be sold on the tech currently and the way stuff is knowing it will continue to massively improve year over year

 

[CMNTMXR57]

I know I'm nit picking...

I actually filled up twice. The other two were for me to empty MY tank And get some shut-eye.

I think it came to $200 give or take some in gas. I don't need fancy premium in an old school small block. It'll take water if it could combust.

 

[FirstWorldProblems]

Good write up, based on the initial post i'm surprised that it only added an hour to the trip.

As superchargers increase in volume it'll only get easier. Still though, if i had a tesla, we'd be taking the wife's car on any road trips. Similar to KJ, I'm not a fan of being locked in to a route or having to sit for 30 minutes with no attractions.

For the hell of it I just plugged in driving from my work to Cleveland (something i'll be doing monthly pretty soon) and the commute time increased 37 minutes on tesla's route planner when compared to google maps. For a drive that i'd be making solo and that can be made with no more than a 5 minute stop, that would drive me nuts. Especially considering there doesn't look to be much to do in Maumee, OH where the charging station is

 

[CMNTMXR57]

I'm shocked that there aren't more on the way to Detroit on 94 as well as in/around Detroit. After all, it is the car capital of the world.

You've got one in in Benton Harbor/St. Joseph, Battle Creek, then Ann Arbor.

 

[FirstWorldProblems]

I'm shocked that there aren't more on the way to Detroit on 94 as well as in/around Detroit. After all, it is the car capital of the world.

You've got one in in Benton Harbor/St. Joseph, Battle Creek, then Ann Arbor.

Considering the only jobs that exist in Detroit are due to the big 3, I’m not surprised at all

 

[CMNTMXR57]

If that were the case, you wouldn't see any imports there either, but I see plenty there.

 

[Gone_2022]

Considering the only jobs that exist in Detroit are due to the big 3, I’m not surprised at all

I’m not really surprised either. Michigan as well as the big 3 have not been nice to Tesla. They gave them lots of grief about selling directly to consumers. I assume the way Michigan treats them is a direct reflection of the other automakers there.

 

[Fish]

I was going to ask why you took the long way to Nashville. You are like the third person Ive heard taking this route recently instead of going down 65.

However, if you went that way, there is only Indy and Louisville it appears for charging. Which kinda sucks.

 

[Flyn]

Interesting write up.

Looks to me like there is a current shortage of chargers in lesser populated areas of the country. Sometimes that won't be a problem but I wonder how a trip that went through the Dakotas and Montana, for instance, would work?

 

[DEEZUZ]

It.... Wouldn't...?

 

[Mr_Roboto]

Very cool real automotive journalism on TCG.

 

[torquelover]

I'm shocked you had zero wait for a charger. I travel a lot for work and have been watching charge stations for a while. Seems a lot are full, and several have spots blocked by ICEholes.

Your stops were practically deserted. Awesome.

 

[DEEZUZ]

So how much difference would your milege be if you had done this trip in the winter?

 

[Gone_2022]

I was going to ask why you took the long way to Nashville. You are like the third person Ive heard taking this route recently instead of going down 65.

However, if you went that way, there is only Indy and Louisville it appears for charging. Which kinda sucks.

It’s actually the way google maps wanted to go as well. It’s actually the same mileage. There is a charger as well in bowling green. I would have stopped the same amount of times.... but I would have had to pay tolls.

I didn’t go out of my way at all to charge. The chargers are literally off the highway on 57.

 

[Gone_2022]

I'm shocked you had zero wait for a charger. I travel a lot for work and have been watching charge stations for a while. Seems a lot are full, and several have spots blocked by ICEholes.

Your stops were practically deserted. Awesome.

In California this is a real problem. This is why they are building 40 stall ones out there, as well as a crap load of charging stops.

Out here it’s not such an issue. Also my navigation tells me if it’s full or not. These stations report back to Tesla when you plug in. So I can actually see how many spots are free before I even get there.

The most cars I saw on the actual drive was 3 people charging with me.

Nashville’s Tesla store was pretty full. Nearly all the stalls were taken but.... there was only 6. It’s a smaller than normal stop. They are building another in downtown because of this

 

[Gone_2022]

Example of how it looks on the navigation. It tells you how many are available and what amenities are there as well. (Food, wifi, hotels etc)