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

[LDRHAWKE]

CHARGING THE BEAST ….11 stops in 1,000 miles.

I know many of you that do long distance drives with the Cybertruck understand how optimum charging works, but it was an education for me the first time. On my 1,000 mile return from Dallas to Florida.

At the start I simply asked Grok to plan the shortest fastest route and all Tesla Super Charging stops. I planned to drive straight through. It all makes sense now, but it didn’t at first. It only charges the battery between 5% to 50% to optimize charging rates for the fastest charging time. Which over a 1000 miles that is plus or minus 11 stops to charge. Some stops are only 10 minutes and others are up to 40 minutes.

At first it was a little frustrating, but once I understood why, I relaxed and enjoyed the ride. It probably adds an extra hour to the trip compared to ICE, but it is more relaxing.

More detailed explanations…….

How Long To Add Driving Range

Alternatively, we could ask how long it would take to add a certain number of miles. In the test at a V3.5 Supercharger, the Tesla Cybertruck needed 4.2 minutes to add 50 miles of range (out of 325 miles estimated at full charge). Adding 100 miles of range required 9.3 minutes. To add another 100 miles of range, one would have to sit at a charger three times longer (over 27 minutes).

According to specs, the Tesla Cybertruck AWD can replenish up to 137 miles of range in 15 minutes. In our case, it was 14.8 minutes, so we can confirm the specs.

Because charging power decreases through the session, there is not much value in charging longer than necessary to reach the destination or another charging point.

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[SlegMD]

Ya, old news, had some popcorn ready now it’s goin stale

 

[no%X#XMVk65v#cq]

This is what people who have never experienced living with an EV don't understand. The most common question they ask is "how far will it go on a charge?" which is actually irrelevant, even on road trips.

 

[VAF84]

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.

 

[BlueLightning]

Cool, AWD can should most likely make that route with same amount of stops.

 

[mcm4ss]

Many new EV owners here. CT is amazing. Glad you are not stressed anymore. I enjoy the stops a LOT.

 

[Granch]

If you don’t like 100 mile stops gotta get a GM double stacker max pack, helps cut stops in half. No FSD though.

 

[Cyberham]

Yeah my wife's Ioniq5 will maintain a 300kw charge till near 80%

 

[Granch]

Yeah my wife's Ioniq5 will maintain a 300kw charge till near 80%

Honestly I think Tesla is penny pinching and wants to reduce warranty claims & reliability vs charging speed they don’t care at all.

 

[CTOWannabe]

I think optimization is more complex. I ostensibly want to stop for 20-30 minutes for bathroom break and food break. It makes sense to let the car charge up more then and then fewer stops. But the stops at 150-200 mile hops are for human reasons that let the car charge up more fully.

That said I the ideal world for battery health vs charge speed you’d come in at say 10% battery and leave near 80% over a 30min stop.

That’s what I’d strive for in theory. In reality I end up more around 20-25% on the low side and 75% on the high side. But that also reduces nervousness and gives you more cushion for unforeseen stuff popping up

 

[Beetlebug62]

CHARGING THE BEAST ….11 stops in 1,000 miles.

I know many of you that do long distance drives with the Cybertruck understand how optimum charging works, but it was an education for me the first time. On my 1,000 mile return from Dallas to Florida.

At the start I simply asked Grok to plan the shortest fastest route and all Tesla Super Charging stops. I planned to drive straight through. It all makes sense now, but it didn’t at first. It only charges the battery between 5% to 50% to optimize charging rates for the fastest charging time. Which over a 1000 miles that is plus or minus 11 stops to charge. Some stops are only 10 minutes and others are up to 40 minutes.

At first it was a little frustrating, but once I understood why, I relaxed and enjoyed the ride. It probably adds an extra hour to the trip compared to ICE, but it is more relaxing.

More detailed explanations…….

How Long To Add Driving Range

Alternatively, we could ask how long it would take to add a certain number of miles. In the test at a V3.5 Supercharger, the Tesla Cybertruck needed 4.2 minutes to add 50 miles of range (out of 325 miles estimated at full charge). Adding 100 miles of range required 9.3 minutes. To add another 100 miles of range, one would have to sit at a charger three times longer (over 27 minutes).

According to specs, the Tesla Cybertruck AWD can replenish up to 137 miles of range in 15 minutes. In our case, it was 14.8 minutes, so we can confirm the specs.

Because charging power decreases through the session, there is not much value in charging longer than necessary to reach the destination or another charging point.

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.

 

[J.Graham]

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.

Long trips without FSD

 

[Granch]

The 150kw rate limiting by charging stations is very concerning for long distance drives.

 

[GmP]

I think optimization is more complex. I ostensibly want to stop for 20-30 minutes for bathroom break and food break. It makes sense to let the car charge up more then and then fewer stops. But the stops at 150-200 mile hops are for human reasons that let the car charge up more fully.

That said I the ideal world for battery health vs charge speed you’d come in at say 10% battery and leave near 80% over a 30min stop.

That’s what I’d strive for in theory. In reality I end up more around 20-25% on the low side and 75% on the high side. But that also reduces nervousness and gives you more cushion for unforeseen stuff popping up

I would like a routing option that would stop around every two hours plus/minus 15 minutes, and stop time 30 minutes, only Tesla superchargers. I have not found a simple way of getting that routed. Being able to feed the route planner some wishes (max miles, max time, min stop time) besides what is possible now would be helpful/appreciated.

 

[VAF84]

Long trips without FSD

Around town I agree, but long distance driving once on the highway, Super Cruise is good enough. My recent Texas to Mississippi trip was about 90% hands-free driving.

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