Road trip capable?

[CyberGus]

There is no harm in charging to 100%, but doing it regularly will erode your range faster. (Range will slowly reduce with usage, this is normal.)

The charge rate is slowed as the battery gets full, such that you can charge up to 80% in less time than going from 80% to 100%. So on a road trip, it's more expedient to charge only as much as you need to make it to the next SuperCharger. If you were stopping for a break anyway, then let it charge as much as it can take, it will save you idle fees.

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[Mini2nut]

Our normal at home charging pattern is Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday. We always charge at “off-peak” hours (after 9pm) as their is a significant difference in Kwh pricing between “peak“ and “off-peak”.

I did two things to help preserve battery health with our 326 mile range DM Model Y. I set the charging limit to 80% (roughly 260 miles) when home charging. I also limit the charge current to 80% of the 220v 30amp circuit breaker rating (24 amps).

Expect “real world“ battery range to be roughly 15-20% less than the advertised range. Going up long grades or towing eats up battery range quickly.

 

[ajdelange]

Normally, when leaving home on a long trip you should try to leave home with 100% SoC (state of charge) if possible.

Bad advice. You should only charge to 100% if it is necessary. A little fiddling with ABRP will show you that it is seldom necessary.

If not using route planner, the typical pattern is roughly:
start your trip with 100%, make the first stop at Tesla SC when car charge drops to 15-20% and then charge back to 70-85%. Stop again when ever charge drops to 15-20% SoC and then charge back to 70-85%.

The proper program is to pick convenient places to charge based on your experience with the route, the location of restaurants you like, the fact that this charger is not particularly busy (ABRP will tell you that) and, of course, that you can get there with at least 20% remaining in the battery. Load oly as much charge as you need to get to that stop with a comfortable margin (preferrably over 20%), stop there and charge from 20 back to 70 - 85%. Rinse and repeat with respect to the next SC. If you find that you can get to the first charging stop with 20% margin leaving home with 80% and reason that if you leave home with 90% you can get there with 30% and thus save having to charge 10% at the SC (6 minutes) then sure, charge up to 90%. No problem. But try to stay below 90% if you can.

If you do use a route planner, it will be a similar pattern but each stop will be optimized for conditions. Stop times and SoC might vary for each stop.

The route planner is an optimization program. It will plan a route that depends on what you tell it your optimality criteria are and what restrictions you place on it (must not charge over 85%, do not drive more than 10% over the speed limit, carrying 300 lbs extra weight, do not consider the Paramus super charger....). The paid version of ABRP will consider traffic reports and the current weather. Either version considers terrain and speed limits but, as noted, you can tell it to drive over or under those by a desired percentage.

 

[ajdelange]

I did two things to help preserve battery health with our 326 mile range DM Model Y. I set the charging limit to 80% (roughly 260 miles). I also limit the charge current to 80% of the 220v 30amp circuit breaker rating (24 amps).

What charger are you using? With the HPWC you must either take off the cover and operate a rotary switch (Gen 2) to do that or log into the HPWC (Gen 3) hot spot. You can, AFAIK, only do that with a Tesla charger while sitting in the car. I really wish you could control the charging rate from the app (through the API).

Expect “real world“ battery range to be roughly 15-20% less than the advertised range.

That's true in parts of the country where speed limits are 75 or 80 but it's not true where they are 55 or 65. There you can expect 0 - 10% reduction.

Going up long grades or towing eats up battery range quickly.

As do rain, snow and headwinds.

 

[ajdelange]

There is no harm in charging to 100%, but doing it regularly will erode your range faster.

Doesn't the second clause sort of contradict the first?

 

[CyberGus]

Doesn't the second clause sort of contradict the first?

Doesn't nit-picking sort of make you a pedantist?

 

[ajdelange]

Enough of one, I guess, to point out that there is no such word as "pedantist" in the English language (other than as slang and where the context doesn't fit here).

 

[madquadbiker]

If the trip is 500 miles, you will almost certainly need to make at least 1 stop because "500 miles" is the rated range and actual almost always falls short by 10-20% (or more if you have a hitch rack, trailer, or load in the bed).

You can play with this site and get a good idea. https://abetterrouteplanner.com/?plan_uuid=40258d04-3b2e-4a91-94b4-2187ff559d94

If you set it to Tesla, it limits it to Supercharges by default, but there are often other chargers available.

Not with grandma in the bed sitting in a rocking chair.

 

[Crissa]

Doesn't the second clause sort of contradict the first?

No.

It's time spent at max charge that seems to be the worst.

-Crissa

 

[ajdelange]

If the trip is 500 miles, you will almost certainly need to make at least 1 stop because "500 miles" is the rated range and actual almost always falls short by 10-20% (or more if you have a hitch rack, trailer, or load in the bed).

A couple of things here need clarifying. The vehicle's most important spec is its rated consumption which is how much energy it uses to travel 1 mile under nominal driving conditions. Its rated range is how far it will go on a fully charged battery in the course of completely discharging it at an average rate equal to the rated consumption rate. This is the EPA range. For the CT it is expected to be 500 miles. As you never, except in dire circumstances, charge a battery to 100% and then discharge it completely you will never realize the 500 mile range on a single charge. Most guys think in terms of a working range which assumes using 80% of the battery and is thus 80% of the rated range or 400 miles in the case of the CT. A lot of people like to stay between 20% and 80%. This represents a conservative working range. in this case 300 miles.

All of these ranges are for nominal, as defined by the USG & SAE, driving conditions. If you drive relatively conservatively you will acheive close to the rated consumption. If you drive above the speed limit on highways with posted speeds of 75 mph and above you will not. Consumption will go up and miles driven in any of the above battery SoC ranges will be less than the numbers given above. Other things that reduce the realized range are rapid and frequent acceleration and decelleration, headwinds, anything on the road (water, snow, sand), positive grade, using the heater or air conditioner, driving with the windows open and pulling a trailer. One of the first things a new driver wants to do is "calibrate" his driving that is, find out how his realized Wh/mi compare to the rated for his vehicle and correlate that with driving conditions. There are "trip odometers" in the vehicle to help you do that.

You can play with this site and get a good idea. https://abetterrouteplanner.com/?plan_uuid=40258d04-3b2e-4a91-94b4-2187ff559d94

I whole heartedly endorse ABRP.

If you set it to Tesla, it limits it to Supercharges by default, but there are often other chargers available.

You can tell ABRP what kinds of chargers you want it to consider. There are only three types the Teslas in the US can use:
A)Tesla Superchargers
B)CHAdeMO
C)J1772

ABRP lets you select any combination of the three types. Since A) is so much faster than either B) or C) most of the time you will limit your selection to A) but occasionally using the CHAdeMO will make sense. If you go into some parts of Canada CHAdeMO and J1772 are all that is available.

 

[ajdelange]

One thing I'd do, that I don't think has been mentioned yet, is bring a generator on your first trip as a security blanket. I did this when I took a trip across the Sierra Nevadas in my model 3, but never had to use it.

Oh, no, I don't think that's necessary, not where this man is planning to drive. When I started out with Tesla two years ago I was, as most are, nervous and travelled with a security blanket but it consisted of every adapter Tesla sold (including CHAdeMO which I do recommend to OP if he thinks he'll be knicking across the border) and several they didn't and a 50' RV extension cord with 14-50 connectors at the ends. The only part of this kit I have ever used is the CHAdeMO adapter which I use quite a bit in Canada.

 

[Ogre]

One thing I'd do, that I don't think has been mentioned yet, is bring a generator on your first trip as a security blanket.

Unless the trip has a leg which is greater than 90% of the truck's range, this seems unnecessary.

Maybe if it's super cold and there are lots of mountains.

 

[tmeyer3]

I'd hope a Genny would never be necessary! Just a good emotional security blanket for the neophyte ev driver that is so certain they're going to be stranded

 

[Ogre]

I'd hope a Genny would never be necessary! Just a good emotional security blanket for the neophyte ev driver that is so certain they're going to be stranded

Think about this for a moment.

Recharging a Cybertruck with a portable generator is probably going to add back miles at a rate of 2-3 miles per hour! How much gas are you bringing along for that generator? How many hours are you planning on sitting on the side of the road?

That's not much of a security blanket if you ask me.

 

[BillyGee]

Think about this for a moment.

Recharging a Cybertruck with a portable generator is probably going to add back miles at a rate of 2-3 miles per hour! How much gas are you bringing along for that generator? How many hours are you planning on sitting on the side of the road?

That's not much of a security blanket if you ask me.

You'd just about be better off with a few solar panels and an inverter from harbor freight. Probably cost and weigh less too.

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