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On this article, I relate our Supercharging adventures on a long-distance EV highway journey going west. My spouse and I’ve simply accomplished our annual journey with two huge ebikes on again on a receiver mounted tray-type bike rack (see Determine 1) from Three Lakes in Northern Wisconsin to Lindon, Utah, close to Salt Lake Metropolis. We usually take three days in our Tesla Mannequin 3 Lengthy Vary similar to we did beforehand with our Toyota Highlander gasmobile. Nevertheless, this time we made a cease in Madison, Wisconsin. The detour added a day to our journey.Do we have now to make too many stops and spend an excessive amount of time charging? I begin the journey with an in a single day cost to 80% and I enhance the cost restrict to 90% an hour earlier than departure. You will notice under that we charged 21 instances on our four-day, 1601-mile journey. Three of these had been the place we spent the evening, so didn’t enhance our journey time. I’ll clarify under why we charged so many instances. I estimate that 75% of the Superchargers are within the parking zone of a lodge or comfort retailer with entry to a clear toilet. The others are in grocery store parking tons. At age 84, I don’t cross up an opportunity to make use of a toilet. In the meantime, my spouse Mary walks our small canine Zuni.
If we’re hungry, we cease for quick meals and eat whereas charging. On this journey, I as soon as walked the 200 yards to a McDonalds subsequent door. Getting out and strolling for a bit is sweet for the well being of your legs and can stop thrombosis. In any case, if we solely want cost to 60%, we’re able to go after the lavatory break. If we have to cost to 80% or 90%, we have to sit a bit longer and browse the web for an additional 15 min. Backside line: we nonetheless make our 500-mile purpose for the day and discover the journey much less aggravating. On this journey and our others from coast to coast, we have now by no means discovered a Tesla Supercharger out of order. Out of a whole bunch of stops, we solely needed to wait as soon as for five minutes for a free stall. Most Superchargers have 8 or extra stalls and we have now solely discovered a number of instances the place a person stall was not working.
My Supercharging Technique
The 2 huge mountain ebikes on again destroy the arduous work Tesla has executed to cut back the coefficient of friction of the automotive. It’s a bit of like dragging a sea anchor behind the automotive. The marketed vary on my Tesla Mannequin 3 Lengthy Vary was 310 miles, however it’s a lot much less with two huge ebikes on again. Nevertheless, charging is just not optimum for us when the Superchargers are greater than 100 miles aside. Why? As a result of then we have to cost over 80%. Our charging would begin at a price of 135 to 200 kW relying on the charger. Nevertheless, by the point we attain 80% state of cost (SOC), the charging price is already right down to about 50kW, and it’s even slower when you want attain 90% SOC. Tesla reduces the cost price because the battery fills as much as stop harm to the battery. Backside line: It prices loads of time to cost over 80% SOC, so it really saves time to cease extra typically. I joke that at 84 my bladder and my Tesla have the identical vary.
Be aware: If you happen to enter the following Supercharger into your vacation spot, your Tesla will precondition the battery for quicker charging once you arrive. After I didn’t precondition the battery, I discovered myself charging at lower than 50 kW. Additionally, you positively have to cost simply earlier than you cease for the evening. If you happen to wait to cost on a chilly battery within the morning, you can be charging at even lower than 50 kW.
Be aware the orientation of our automotive on the Chamberlain Supercharger in Fig. 1. We don’t again into the stall like everybody else if we will help it. It’s because the rear distance sensors don’t enable you to with bikes on again. On the common Tesla back-in Superchargers stalls, my spouse wants get out and inform me precisely how far to again up. Some Superchargers have one drive-by stall which is ideal for us. If there have been no different vehicles on the Supercharger, we parked sideways as you see in Fig. 1. It is a small drawback for us, however a non-negotiable requirement if you’re pulling a trailer. The one various is to detach the trailer once you cost. On the Lincoln, Nebraska, Supercharger, we had been shocked to see a person pulling a U-Haul trailer behind his Mannequin Y, which you’ll see in Fig. 2 under. He parked sideways like we normally do. It was a very fascinating story. The older man was driving his model new Mannequin Y from California to Manhattan, NY, to behave as guardian to his 10-year-old granddaughter who was chosen for a task within the play Gypsy on Broadway. He was going to look at over her for the following 6 months. He mentioned he might typically drive 200 miles between Superchargers, however provided that he decreased his pace to 55 mph.
One other enjoyable discovery: On the Supercharger in Shelby, Iowa, we met a girl driving her Mannequin S serial quantity 75 delivered in 2012 (see Fig. 3). In 12 years, she solely had about 30,000 miles on the odometer.
One other enjoyable sight on Interstate 80: Identical to on our spring journey east this 12 months, we noticed two big tractor trailer rigs carrying extremely lengthy wind turbine blades (such as you see in Fig. 4)
What did Supercharging price on our current 1601-mile journey? Due to readers utilizing my Tesla referral code, my Supercharger price was zero. Unusually, at about half the Superchargers, I might see (on my display screen) my theoretical invoice growing second by second whereas charging. At different Superchargers, the cost price learn zero throughout the entire cost. Nevertheless, my bank card invoice, I discovered that I used to be not billed for any Supercharging through the journey.
Supercharging runs from Three Lakes, Wisconsin, to Lindon, Utah:
- Three Lakes, Wisconsin, to Wausau, Wisconsin: 84 miles
- Wausau, Wisconsin, to Madison, Wisconsin: 143 miles
- Madison, Wisconsin, to Dubuque, Iowa: 94 miles
- Dubuque, Iowa, to Cedar Rapids, Iowa: 74 miles
- Cedar Rapids, Iowa, to Grinnell, Iowa: 76 miles
- Grinnell, Iowa, to Des Moines, Iowa: 60 miles
- Des Moines to Shelby, Iowa: 88 miles
- Shelby, Iowa, to Lincoln, Nebraska: 94 miles
- Lincoln, Nebraska, to Grand Island, Nebraska: 95 miles
- Grand Island, Nebraska, to Lexington, Nebraska: 77 miles
- Lexington, Nebraska, to Gothenburg, Nebraska: 101 miles
- Gothenburg, Nebraska, to Kearny, Nebraska: 41 miles
- Kearny, Nebraska, to North Platte, Nebraska: 97 miles
- North Platte, Nebraska, to Ogallala, Nebraska: 51 miles
- Ogallala, Nebraska, to Sidney, Nebraska: 68 miles
- Sidney, Nebraska, to Cheyenne, Wyoming: 100 miles
- Cheyenne, Wyoming, to Laramie, Wyoming: 56 miles
- Laramie, Wyoming, to Rawlins, Wyoming: 96 miles
- Rawlins, Wyoming, to Rock Springs, Wyoming: 108 miles
- Rock Springs, Wyoming, to Evanston, Wyoming: 101 miles
- Evanston, Wyoming, to Lindon, Utah: 99 miles
That’s 21 Supercharger runs for 1,601 whole miles.
Be aware: Solely 17 required a cease through the day.
Whole Supercharger Price = $ 0.0
I estimate the effectivity of an identical measurement sasmobile with two huge ebikes on again = 25 mpg.
1601/25 = estimated 64 gallons used
Gasoline costs ranged close to $3.00 for the journey
Estimated Whole Price for a Gasmobile = $192.00
Financial savings ~ $200. Thanks to these of readers who used my referral code!
The next Tesla drivers are Supercharging free of charge: Those that have referrals like me, those that have one of many authentic Mannequin S or X Teslas that got here with lifetime free Supercharging, and those that had been in a position to switch their free Supercharging to a brand new Tesla throughout one in all Teslas promo provides providing that. I estimate that the associated fee for driving an identical measurement gasmobile on lengthy journey is about the identical because the of the price of driving a Tesla for these with out free Supercharging. Nevertheless, keep in mind that when charging at dwelling the price of driving an EV is about ⅓ the price of driving a fuel automotive.
Including the detour by way of Madison, Wisconsin, to our western journey this 12 months meant that we had been doing the entire thing on I-80 as a substitute of totally on I-90. The nice half is that the Superchargers are extra intently spaced. The unhealthy half is that the visitors is far heavier on I-80 and visitors by way of Des Moines and Omaha is worse.
Be aware: Most Superchargers are spaced each 70 to 100 miles aside on Interstate highways. On this case, I set my pace to 75 mph and don’t fear about it. The utmost spacing on my route was 143 miles from Wausau, Wisconsin, to Madison, Wisconsin. There’s a Supercharger in Stevens Level, Wisconsin, in between which might have decreased the gap between chargers. Subsequent time I’ll cease there quite than Wausau. The opposite factor that may scale back the vary of your automotive is a headwind. We had a 25-mph headwind in japanese Wyoming. For sturdy headwinds and longer charger spacing, I’ll begin with my pace at 60 mph and even 50 mph and activate my flashers on to be sure that I’ll make the following charger. I watch the estimated arrival SOC for the following Supercharger. If the estimated arrival SOC will increase, I enhance my pace one mph at a time. I normally discover myself at 75 mph for the final ~40 miles.
Usually, Tesla Superchargers are lower than one mile off the Interstate Freeway. Nevertheless, in Cheyenne, Wyoming, the Supercharger was not out of the way in which, however you needed to drive 15 miles by way of the city to get to the charger. After we bought there, there have been solely 4 stalls and we had been charging at lower than 50 kW. The subsequent cease in Laramie, Wyoming, was solely 56 miles away, however with a 25-mph headwind, it was a problem to make it. Please, Tesla: Set up a 250-kW charger with 8 or extra stalls close to I-80 in Cheyenne, Wyoming. On a earlier journey driving from Wisconsin to North Carolina, there was one detour of ~50 miles. In any other case, we have now by no means needed to make a detour to achieve a Supercharger on an Interstate Freeway.
CCS to Tesla Charger Adapter
Crisscrossing the USA from Wisconsin to North Carolina, North Carolina to Utah, and Utah to Southern California, Tesla Superchargers are a godsend. Nevertheless, there are a number of locations I do know, just like the North Rim of the Grand Canyon and a few components of the Higher Peninsula of Michigan, the place the Tesla Supercharger system is insufficient. I’m certain that there are lots of different locations off the overwhelmed observe the place driving your Tesla could be tough. The almost common customary for non-Tesla charging is CCS.
In the previous couple of years, Electrify America, automotive dealerships, and different firms have put in hundreds of CCS chargers. With cash from President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Invoice, there shall be many extra hundreds of CCS chargers put in across the nation within the subsequent years.
If there’s a place you need to go however you possibly can’t as a result of there isn’t a Supercharger in your route: Deliver up the PlugShare app in your cellphone. Swap the automotive specification from a Tesla to, say, a Mustang Mach-E and see if there are CCS chargers that might make the journey potential.
Discover the CCS-to-Tesla adaptor on Tesla’s web site and order one for $250. However not so quick! In case your Tesla was bought earlier than October of 2020 like mine, it received’t work. Schedule an appointment with Tesla Service to have your automotive upgraded in order that the CCS-to-Tesla adapter will work. The final time I attempted this, Tesla mentioned the improve was not out there but!
Tesla’s Superchargers have turn into the North American Charging Normal (NACS). Almost each automotive manufacture is planning to make use of them within the subsequent few years. This might imply that Tesla Superchargers will turn into busier, however Tesla may even have authorities cash to construct extra chargers. Additionally, I count on non-Tesla chargers to transform some stalls to NACS, so it is best to be capable to plug in your Tesla at any quick charger with out an adapter sooner or later.
Referral Program: In case you are shopping for a brand new Tesla, Tesla has reactivated its referral program. If you happen to discover any of my articles useful to you, please use my referral hyperlink: https://ts.la/arthur73734 (make sure to use it once you make your order). In case you are shopping for a brand new Tesla and use my hyperlink, I consider you’ll obtain $1,000 off the acquisition value of a Mannequin S or X, or $500 off the value of a Mannequin 3 or Y. Additionally, you will get 3 months of Full Self-Driving (Supervised). Simply be ready to intervene instantly if it screws up.
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