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In my travels 740 miles each way for Holiday I only saw approx 10 Teslas going north on I-95 with out of state plates.
Coming back I only saw maybe 5 or 6 Teslas and just one Polestar, mostly from up north, heading south far from home.
So people are taking them on long trips and I know cuz I saw them but it's the minority of owners cuz there has to be more EV's out there than what I saw.
So, this is my route when I go to WV. The gold pins with the Tesla logo are Tesla Superchargers, the gold pins with the electric bolt are Level 3 fast chargers. So plan with an EV is I would stop in either Raphine or Lexington along 81 before getting on 64 to head over the mountains and rapid charge there to 80%, Thats about half way, so I should have plenty of charge when I get there even for running around, and there are Superchargers and Level 3 Chargers in Beckley now, I could stop there on the way home, and would have no problem getting all the way back to the DC Metro area if not all the way home on one charge.
Stopping for 15-30 min is no big deal there, I can go to the bathroom and eat and be on the road again.
Also, most of us make the same trips over and over, so we know the route and where to stop etc, I already stop on that trip at the same places every time because I've been making it so long.
This is the Tesla map, it agrees a 20 min stop in Lexington:
What happens when you are not one the few that needs charging? Pit stops typically arent very large except where they park Semis. What happens when people leave their cars charging for 30 mins and you need to charge? Are you going to sit there and wait?
In my travels 740 miles each way for Holiday I only saw approx 10 Teslas going north on I-95 with out of state plates.
Coming back I only saw maybe 5 or 6 Teslas and just one Polestar, mostly from up north, heading south far from home.
So people are taking them on long trips and I know cuz I saw them but it's the minority of owners cuz there has to be more EV's out there than what I saw.
I'm sure there are people that does that and they prob dont mind the trip taking longer than usual.
What happens when you are not one the few that needs charging? Pit stops typically arent very large except where they park Semis. What happens when people leave their cars charging for 30 mins and you need to charge? Are you going to sit there and wait?
I would go to another charger, there are chargers in Staunton, Raphine and Lexington, there are also chargers down 64 they're just not level 3 chargers, the charging would just take longer. In Lexington I would still have lots of range to keep going.
We take our Tesla on long trips often. Just recently drove from Missouri to Colorado and back. The temperatures were from 10-20 degrees and we experienced a blizzard/snow storm in Denver. In the last week, we've gotten a ton of snow in Missouri and have been operating in similar sub-20 degree temps and driving through a lot of snow and ice.
The Tesla is a beast in the snow even on all-seasons, I love it's AWD system
I would go to another charger, there are chargers in Staunton, Raphine and Lexington, there are also chargers down 64 they're just not level 3 chargers, the charging would just take longer. In Lexington I would still have lots of range to keep going.
And this doesnt sound tedious to you? When everyone is driving an EV, you and many others will be hunting for chargers and can be downright stressful when the weather is cold and your charge drops like a rock. It will be like looking for parking spaces in NYC at that point.
And this doesnt sound tedious to you? When everyone is driving an EV, you and many others will be hunting for chargers and can be downright stressful when the weather is cold and your charge drops like a rock. It will be like looking for parking spaces in NYC at that point.
This is a long long time away. By then, we will have infrastructure to match.
What happens when you are not one the few that needs charging? Pit stops typically arent very large except where they park Semis. What happens when people leave their cars charging for 30 mins and you need to charge? Are you going to sit there and wait?
These guys are the "pioneers" in my opinion.
Like the video above, what is real and what's not, and what to expect!
That's what makes it fun, not for me but they are doing it.
We take our Tesla on long trips often. Just recently drove from Missouri to Colorado and back. The temperatures were from 10-20 degrees and we experienced a blizzard/snow storm in Denver. In the last week, we've gotten a ton of snow in Missouri and have been operating in similar sub-20 degree temps and driving through a lot of snow and ice.
The Tesla is a beast in the snow even on all-seasons, I love it's AWD system
Nice review signdetres!
So in your experience, running the heat full blast the whole time (and maybe seat warmers too?) did you even notice slightly lower range or was it insignificant to even worry about?
Or- did you turn down heat just a little to conserve power.
I'm back home in Florida and would post a pic of the temps but don't wanna make you feel bad since I see the snow up there. haha
And this doesnt sound tedious to you? When everyone is driving an EV, you and many others will be hunting for chargers and can be downright stressful when the weather is cold and your charge drops like a rock. It will be like looking for parking spaces in NYC at that point.
Its not ideal, no. The point is though in my normal day to day use I would never have to think about refueling the car and I would pay for no fuel. Avoiding buying an EV because one stop on one trip I take a couple times a year and challenges that might happen frankly is silly. Plus at the end of the day, if its a huge PITA I will just drive the gas car on that trip a couple times a year.
If I made that trip every week I would feel differently. But, its 2-3 times a year.
This is still pioneer technology to a certain extent and there are drawbacks. As EVs become more and more commonplace you will have more and more chargers, gas stations will add chargers, you'll have chargers at the rest areas etc. Business enterprise will grow to meet that need. That stretch of highway is a HUGE trucking route, and every exit is chock full of fast food and gas stations, there are huge truck stops and travel areas, plenty of room to build lots of chargers, and where theres money to be made people will build the chargers to make the money.
At current there are no EVs that really do it for me, but if I were looking at a 7 Series, honestly I think I would get the EV...
We take our Tesla on long trips often. Just recently drove from Missouri to Colorado and back. The temperatures were from 10-20 degrees and we experienced a blizzard/snow storm in Denver. In the last week, we've gotten a ton of snow in Missouri and have been operating in similar sub-20 degree temps and driving through a lot of snow and ice.
The Tesla is a beast in the snow even on all-seasons, I love it's AWD system
I agree with you on the AWD. The traction the car has with AWD is unlike any ICE AWD car I’ve owned, it puts the power down so well. I also put all season tires on my car but with 305 width tires in the back I don’t think I would fare as well as you did.
Was that your first long trip in the Tesla and if so, how was it stopping for charging, etc.?
To give you an idea, this is the new Loves in Low Moor, VA. This is along 64, in the mountains where it gets much more rural than on 81. If you don't think the people that opened this have a plan to add chargers, thats naive. If they add chargers I would be able to go all the way here to charge, and I would have TONS of range once I reached my destination.
Nice review signdetres!
So in your experience, running the heat full blast the whole time (and maybe seat warmers too?) did you even notice slightly lower range or was it insignificant to even worry about?
Or- did you turn down heat just a little to conserve power.
I'm back home in Florida and would post a pic of the temps but don't wanna make you feel bad since I see the snow up there. haha
There was lower range alright but I don't think it had anything to do with running the interior heat/seat heaters. We pretty much use those freely and don't really ever notice a hit from the climate control system in hot or cold weather. The real hit came from the exterior temperature. Once the temps dropped below 20, our range got cut A LOT. Our car is rated at over 300 miles of range (combined city/highway) and in those temps, we were only seeing a max range of 200 miles (highway only). The range anxiety was real as this was our first long trip in weather like this so it was our first time seeing our range get cut so badly. Luckily the cars navigation system is really accurate and takes weather/wind/etc etc into account so when it said we would in fact reach our next charger, even with a few battery % left, it was always right and it became easy to trust that we'd get to our next stop just fine.
Originally Posted by patgilm
I agree with you on the AWD. The traction the car has with AWD is unlike any ICE AWD car I’ve owned, it puts the power down so well. I also put all season tires on my car but with 305 width tires in the back I don’t think I would fare as well as you did.
Was that your first long trip in the Tesla and if so, how was it stopping for charging, etc.?
Not our first long trip in the Tesla, but first long trip in very wintery conditions and below freezing temps. Stopping for charging was a non-issue. There were always chargers available, never had to wait for any, they always worked just fine. Due to the temps, we had to charge a bit longer than we normally would have because we needed to charge to 100% to ensure we'd have enough range to reach the next charger. In normal weather on these trips, we'd only have to charge to like 80% or so, sometimes less, which is easily 10-20 mins+ faster per charge. They charge slower the closer you get to 100%.
12-29-22 | 05:59 AM
