CHARGING THE BEAST ….11 stops in 1,000 miles trip from Dallas to Florida

[LDRHAWKE]

I wonder how long that battery will last before degrading.

Realistic projection with 50% daily charging + good habits (home AC Level 2 charging, moderate temperatures, avoiding frequent Supercharging or extreme heat/cold) — 15–20+ years or 300,000–500,000+ miles before reaching ~70–80% capacity. Many owners see only 0–6% degradation in the first 1–2 years / 20–30k miles under normal use; 50% charging should make degradation even slower. recharged.com

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[Ty77064]

I have done two trips to Florida and one trip to Gatlinburg, TN from Houston. I'm at the age where I can't drive for more than a few hours at a time. The bathroom/stretching breaks are welcomed. And, every Buccee's has Super Chargers .

I don't try alternative routes or anything else. The truck does all the work. I just follow what the computer tells me, works out perfectly.

People who don't have a Tesla, comment all the time, "too many stops to charge" or "it takes too long to charge"

I would still stop at a Buccee's with an ICE car regardless. And you if you ever been to one, you know that you never stop for less than 20 minutes or $20.

 

[NealC]

Cool. I made myself a little charge curve chart when I got my 2025 AWD, a year ago. I overlaid the data on an older chart I made for my 2018 Model 3. Those little blue stars were my actual charge figs from my first drive home from the delivery center in NJ to Maine. It's nice to see that the chart you posted seems to have the same curve.

I suppose what surprised me is that the Model 3 and CT showed the same curve, once the SOC level hit 30%, given the different cell types, etc. Oddly, I'm quite happy with it, as adapting to it, basically meant just adding 50% more charge minutes to everything I already knew about my Model 3.

As for travel planning; I usually budget 60mph as my all-in average. I don't even think about the number of stops. Is it faster or slower than in my car? Honestly, I've been driving a 600mi route from Maine to Baltimore since college, 46yrs ago, and that route took me 10hrs with 4 stops. It still took me 10hrs with the same 4 stops in my Model 3; the CT might be 30mins more.

Here are a couple days of driving I did recently:

That's 871mi estimated at 16hrs, and I got to Omaha a little quicker than estimate. Notice how cold it was! Minus 4°f. Only a 54mph average. Lots of short legs due to the cold.

And the next day:

775mi with only 6 stops and 13.2hrs. That's ~59mph, on average. The temps were better, and I got there half an hour late, so 56.5mph. And longer legs due to better temps, but also charger placements seem farther apart in the west.

Anyhow, I budget 60mph when trip planning, no different than when I drive an ICE. YMMV.

Cool. I made myself a little charge curve chart when I got my 2025 AWD, a year ago. I overlaid the data on an older chart I made for my 2018 Model 3. Those little blue stars were my actual charge figs from my first drive home from the delivery center in NJ to Maine. It's nice to see that the chart you posted seems to have the same curve.

I suppose what surprised me is that the Model 3 and CT showed the same curve, once the SOC level hit 30%, given the different cell types, etc. Oddly, I'm quite happy with it, as adapting to it, basically meant just adding 50% more charge minutes to everything I already knew about my Model 3.

As for travel planning; I usually budget 60mph as my all-in average. I don't even think about the number of stops. Is it faster or slower than in my car? Honestly, I've been driving a 600mi route from Maine to Baltimore since college, 46yrs ago, and that route took me 10hrs with 4 stops. It still took me 10hrs with the same 4 stops in my Model 3; the CT might be 30mins more.

Here are a couple days of driving I did recently:

That's 871mi estimated at 16hrs, and I got to Omaha a little quicker than estimate. Notice how cold it was! Minus 4°f. Only a 54mph average. Lots of short legs due to the cold.

And the next day:

775mi with only 6 stops and 13.2hrs. That's ~59mph, on average. The temps were better, and I got there half an hour late, so 56.5mph. And longer legs due to better temps, but also charger placements seem farther apart in the west.

Anyhow, I budget 60mph when trip planning, no different than when I drive an ICE. YMMV.

Tell me you're an engineer without saying you're an engineer ... nicely done.

 

[TyPope]

The hidden time in an EV road trip is the time it takes to get from Freeway to charging location in (almost all in my experience) a lot of places. That extra 5-10 minutes slogging around looking for the grocery store with the oddly very good a being camouflaged Superchargers adds up when you do it 5-10 times in a day. That ICE refueling station? Right on the highway. Maybe 2 minutes tops to get to.

Timing charging stops to bathroom/lunch/dinner time is an art form. You really can't count the time spent charging if you are performing an essential function at the same time.

Most ICE users don't eat WHILE they are refueling. Or at least they shouldn't.

 

[HaulingAss]

The hidden time in an EV road trip is the time it takes to get from Freeway to charging location in (almost all in my experience) a lot of places.

The Tesla Nav software is easy to configure. I have it include the suggested Supercharger stops and it includes the time and mileage to the charger and back onto the highway. So there is no "hidden time", it's included in the Nav calculations.

That extra 5-10 minutes slogging around looking for the grocery store with the oddly very good a being camouflaged Superchargers adds up when you do it 5-10 times in a day. That ICE refueling station? Right on the highway. Maybe 2 minutes tops to get to.

I select Supercharger stops that don't require going out of my way. If it's more than about 1/2 mile off the highway, I avoid it unless there is something good there, like a cafe or deli I like.

I can't imagine having trouble locating a Supercharger that is part of your route. If you have FSD it will drive you right there. If you don't have FSD, you can just zoom in on the nav screen and see EXACTLY where they are located. I leave my screen on satellite images so I can see the actual trees and parking spaces. If you are spending 5-10 minutes "slogging around looking for the grocery store" your brain is probably too frazzled to be driving manually.

 

[TexasRaider]

Honestly, not a fan of the splash and dash. That’s one area where I’m happier with my Sierra EV. However, I’m frequently on long trips so I get that I’m an outlier.

How is the GMC when you DO have to stop and charge on a trip?

 

[VAF84]

How is the GMC when you DO have to stop and charge on a trip?

Amazing. Seriously, to me it fixed the charging and range issues that I had. For the long trips, the stop duration isn't much different than a smaller battery truck, just less stops. For example, our TX->CO was much less stressful than the prior year in the Lightning and didn't feel like our trip was built around the EV's limitations rather than what we wanted to do. I prefer more untethered time between charges so that when I do stop I can relax, rather than multiple fast stops. You can see the difference on the Out of Spec Eastern Edge race. The guys in the Model X were constantly in/out versus the IQ. I feel the bigger battery is a more relaxing experience. Some people keep implying that there's this massive delta in charging time when there's not, at least not when using a charger that maximizes its capabilities.

The only time it slows me down a little is when I'm off to my work projects in an area without a lot of charging infrastructure. For example, I was in MS having to charge at a V3 (only fast charger in the city) to 100% and it took some extra time. However, it also meant I went nearly two weeks without having to to back to it and charge. In fact it still saved me time, because I would have had to go out of my way twice (in this case 30-40 min of driving RT) over the same duration, instead of once due to the larger battery/range.

I'm not sure what the added costs would have been to Tesla, but I still think they should have offered a CT range extender; one that is removable would be awesome. I'd happily give up the bed space for it.

 

[CyberGus]

Most ICE users don't eat WHILE they are refueling. Or at least they shouldn't.

 

[TyPope]

The Tesla Nav software is easy to configure. I have it include the suggested Supercharger stops and it includes the time and mileage to the charger and back onto the highway. So there is no "hidden time", it's included in the Nav calculations.



I select Supercharger stops that don't require going out of my way. If it's more than about 1/2 mile off the highway, I avoid it unless there is something good there, like a cafe or deli I like.

I can't imagine having trouble locating a Supercharger that is part of your route. If you have FSD it will drive you right there. If you don't have FSD, you can just zoom in on the nav screen and see EXACTLY where they are located. I leave my screen on satellite images so I can see the actual trees and parking spaces. If you are spending 5-10 minutes "slogging around looking for the grocery store" your brain is probably too frazzled to be driving manually.

1. the "hidden time" that I was talking about was the extra time it takes to go from highway to charging when compared to just getting gas. It's getting better but it's still irritating sometimes.
2. The 5-10 minutes driving around is based on 4 different times when I was confronted with a one-way street that caused me to have to go around, an access road that approached the shopping center at the far end and I had to slowly go through the parking lot in front of the stores... people everywhere... One other time, the charging station was about 3 lights down and 2 over. It just took a while and I had to go.

I'm far from frazzled from driving. I enjoy it, actually. I know FSD would get me to the stations but one was during a week-long visit and I was just going out to charge and then go back to the inlaw's house. It was a bit exa sketchy.

To be fair, I haven't had FSD drive me to a charging location yet. But, it doesn't matter. It still takes time to go through the town to get to the charger.

Out in the great fly-over states, anyway.

 

[Cactusrick]

At my age I need to stop and drain the lizard, before I need to charge and walk the dog and stretch a bit.. I so much more relaxed now especially with FSD doing the heavy lifting... 95% FSD... The only truck that gets newer as it gets older

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