Hello everyone,
Any tips for road tripping? Wife and I are picking up our model Y Saturday
This is our first EV
Wife will be going to visit her mom during spring break which starts the weekend after.
Already got the CCS adapter, Amazon man brought us that last night
Aside from 'planning around charging' ie stop to eat when you stop to charge, any neat ideas that could save time/money/frustration?
You didn't mention how far of a trip it was. Makes a difference.
First, just ask the car to route you to the destination. It's very conservative and makes sure that you get in with over 10% charge.
In the manual Tesla indicates that it is quite alright to start at 100% charge, don't be afraid to do so.
As long as it is routing, it will let you know if it doesn't look like you are going to make the destination and tell you to slow down.
For about every 5 mph over 60 that you do, you'll lose about 10% of the range. Going 80 eats up a lot of range. Dependent on how far you are going (or distance to the next Supercharger) that may not make a difference.
Once you see the route in the car, hit the screen and turn on the chargers on the upper right corner popup with the lightning bolt. You'll then see what your options look like if something happens. There may be an intermediate charger that may make more sense to stop at, maybe because you need to take a break or have some lunch.
ABETTERROUTEPLANNER.com will give you yet another view of a possible route and charger options.
Load the PlugShare.com app on your phone (and wife's). While it shows Superchargers, it also shows effectively every known charger. CCS, CHAdeMO, and J-1772.
The J-1772 chargers will take 3+ hours to charge the car, so not the greatest to stop at, ut if you find yourself running low, it's better than nothing and also goes a long way to help with range anxiety.
J-1772 are great for locations where you are going to stay for a while, hotels, restaurants, malls, etc.
I don't remember of the cars come with the 120V adapter these days, but if you have one, get a heavy duty extension cord (12g for 50ft and 10g for 100 ft) to charge at your moms. This will add about 50 miles per 12 hours.
And remember, charge up before you get to your destination, because once you get there, you'll want to go somewhere else or show the car off. Sitting in empty takes the fun out of it.
Superchargers are easy, just plug in. Take a look at the rate on the station's charging rates, The V3 stations charge at 250 kW and the V2 are 150 KW. The V3 stations charge faster, but only if you are below 30% charge (above that the V2 charges at same rate) (and above 90%, the J-1772 charges the same).
At V2 stations, you need to look at the numbers on the pedestals, You'll see 1A, 1B, 2A, 2B, etc. The A and B stations are paired and if someone is using the other one, you may not get as fast of a charge. So you want to try to park at an unpaired station. Also, look closely at the number, while 1A, 1B, 2A, 2B, order is common, they may be 1A, 2A, 3A, 1B, 2B, 3B.
At a Supercharger, you probably don't want to go beyond 80% charge, definitely don't go beyond 90% (unless you really need to) It just takes too long.
But most importantly, just enjoy the car and the trip.
