Maximum speed driving cross country

[hemiarch]

I keep thinking Burt Reynolds’s and Dom delouise when you guys use that term. Very distracting.
https://m.imdb.com/title/tt0082136/

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[Hazard One]

Yes, all those accounts generally support what I was saying, even though they were using different vehicles, with different charging abilities. The Cannonball Run involves human factors as much as charging. It is not practical to think one could remain at 160 mph for long, or that speeds much over 130 mph would be safe at all. And because the time savings decrease to nearly insignificant at very high speeds, they are used sparingly, only when they make sense.

The vehicle my comments applied to were a Dual Motor Cybertruck. My answer was pointing out the fallacy of determining any particular speed that was fastest overall, taking into account charging time. That speed is generally as fast as the Cybertruck will go but this is an impractical and illegal speed (and there is no one "quickest" speed since it depends so much on the charging infrastructure available). The original question had the false assumption embedded in it that the fastest speed would would be a practical speed, perhaps somewhere around 85-90 mph. That is not the case if there is typical charging infrastructure in place.

In other words, it's a useless question with no real answer.

It certainly turned into an academic exercise...EXCEPT for towing and places where the distance between chargers is long....then it still has value. I'm working on a towing analysis right now. Initial results towing with a CT is best speed to go somewhere and get there as soon as possible is between 60 and 70 mph, depending on all the factors one would expect.

 

[HaulingAss]

It certainly turned into an academic exercise...EXCEPT for towing and places where the distance between chargers is long....then it still has value. I'm working on a towing analysis right now. Initial results towing with a CT is best speed to go somewhere and get there as soon as possible is between 60 and 70 mph, depending on all the factors one would expect.

Again, you cannot arrive at a single number, even for a particular vehicle and trailer, because no route has the same charging infrastructure spacing. The REAL answer for any given vehicle/trailer configuration and any given route could easily vary by 30 mph between different legs (each "leg" being the distance between two DCFC).

FULL STOP.

 

[mongo]

Again, you cannot arrive at a single number, even for a particular vehicle and trailer, because no route has the same charging infrastructure spacing. The REAL answer for any given vehicle/trailer configuration and any given route could easily vary by 30 mph between different legs (each "leg" being the distance between two DCFC).

FULL STOP.

Sure there is not a single number, but one can derive a formula and use that to populate a table (or set of tables) with general guidance as to the best speed for a given leg.

 

[PungoteagueDave]

29.5 minutes is how long a 250 kW charger takes to go from 20% to 80%. Your stops are shorter since you plan around being sub 20% on arrival and charging to ~60%. 5 minutes to exit highway, park in spot, plug in, unplug, drive back to highway, and get up to speed. Seems not enough to be honest. Some chargers are not located immediately off the highway, or get caught at a red light, or a line of cars waiting to get on the highway...etc etc. It's an analytic assumption...just a number that can easily be changed. Planning to be below 20% can be risky if you run into high winds in the desert as you ride along, which, even though I'm a newbie, has happened to me...went from planning to arrive at 25% charge to an actual 10% on arrival. Had I planned for 15% on arrival could have been bad. That said, clearly it's advantageous from a time perspective to do as you say: arrive low and depart early. I wish the built in Tesla route planner would allow you to set an arrival energy at the next charging stop. Maybe some of the third party apps do this? Which one do you recommend?

Even assuming your scenario, if driving competently, you would adjust on the fly - if you see excess kWh consumption due to high winds for which you didn’t leave a cushion, dial it back - use the energy graph in the on-screen app and follow what’s it says. I routinely plan on 5% remaining energy and have never had a problem getting to a charger even when consumption was far above plan. However there was one night at 17 degrees below zero in Custer state park in South Dakota, headed to Rapid City, when I had to slow to 20 mph for the last 40 miles. That was in 2015, things have gotten much better since, and I find it no issue to run 5%-60%. The exception is when towing my 12’-high 9,300-lb boat rig with 110 miles max range at 65 - then I wait out whatever it takes to get 100% charged.

 

[seussiii]

I'll be doing my first road trip here soon. How do you guys handle surprise traffic like in a situation where you are trying to push under 15%?

I vaguely remember reading that Teslas are very efficient in stop and go traffic but what does that look like?

 

[HaulingAss]

Sure there is not a single number, but one can derive a formula and use that to populate a table (or set of tables) with general guidance as to the best speed for a given leg.

I suppose. But unless you're pulling a trailer it's generally going to be a lot faster than anyone wants to drive.

 

[HaulingAss]

I'll be doing my first road trip here soon. How do you guys handle surprise traffic like in a situation where you are trying to push under 15%?

I vaguely remember reading that Teslas are very efficient in stop and go traffic but what does that look like?

If you run into unexpected traffic slowdowns, you are most likely going to end up at your charger with a lot more range remaining than originally anticipated. It could be enough to skip your planned charger and hit the next one.

 

[Darmie]

This gives you an idea of speed vs efficiency. Close to 20,000 miles recorded.

 

[TyPope]

On the highway I typically stay around 70-75MPH - but will get up to about 80 if necessary. Just put it in FSD and stay in the right lane.

372 Wh/mi over the last 29k miles - I do a lot of 'avoid highways' because they're simultaneously boring and insane around here

Except for 4 South of Suitland Parkway, that is...

 

[SlegMD]

69 MPH is the holy sweet spot

 

[CyberGus]

I keep thinking Burt Reynolds’s and Dom delouise when you guys use that term. Very distracting.

If you have a Burt Reynolds poster on your bedroom wall, I'm blocking you

 

[dalton108]

69 MPH is the holy sweet spot

Giggity.

 

[hemiarch]

If you have a Burt Reynolds poster on your bedroom wall, I'm blocking you

Why must you share pictures from your home to illustrate your point? I found the image more than a little distressing. The internet is a place of anonymity sir.
Anyway…if I was going to have any picture of that sort it would be of this caligulated Dom Deluis.
Just saying.

 

[Hazard One]

Except for 4 South of Suitland Parkway, that is...

Are the percentages percent of rated range? (clicked wrong post sorry, question is for @Darmie)

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