First Road Trip from Sacramento to Los Angeles Using Tesla Adapter Not So Good

[Lightning101]

I received my Tesla adapter several weeks ago ahead of our road trip which I was really excited about. I tested it out locally at 3 different Tesla chargers near my home worked flawlessly. My plan was to rent a vehicle if I had not received my adapter in time. Left the house on a full charge arrived at Firebaugh Tesla charging station off interstate 5. There were plenty of chargers available plugged in and started charging. Went on with our trip wanted to make another charge stop before arriving into Los Angeles as I didn’t want to worry about range with getting stuck in traffic then trying to look for a charger. Also I was unsure how much range I would loose going up the grapevine. We stopped at the Tesla Chargers at Tejon Outlets right before the grapevine. Connected to the charger and worked flawlessly. Great stop as there were plenty of chargers available and we did a little shopping to pass the time.

Here’s when things went bad. On our trip back we had a full charge as the hotel had charged us up. I was feeling confident in the Tesla chargers and felt no range anxiety pushing the limits I planned to stop at Tesla Kettleman City. With only 8 miles of range left I pulled in It appeared as they had a Tesla lounge and plenty of chargers available. Plugged in as usual and an error on my screen appeared “charger fault.” Okay no problem checked the charger port connection still got the same error message. Well I thought must be a bad charger moved to 4 different chargers still the same error message. Looked at the Tesla app to see if there were chargers listed that were inoperable nothing displayed. At this point all the Tesla owners were staring at me probably saying what is this idiot doing here, this is a Tesla station. Turned the truck off closed the app multiple times no charge. Now I started to panic a bit as I had only 8 miles of range left. Looked at the Electrify app and yes there was one just across the way. Quickly headed over as I was approaching I noticed a long line of cars. It was the line for the chargers about 20 cars in line waiting to use the chargers! There were 10 chargers 3 of them broken. I was really worried about draining my battery down to 0 so I turned off the AC with it 103 degrees outside we were miserable sweating it out. Waiting almost 2.5 hours to get to the charger and only getting a 44 kilowatt speed charge even though it says up to 350 kilowatt. We charged 1.5 hours at Electrify and figured we can get to Tesla Firebaugh chargers to get a full charge which was approximately 60 miles away. As they worked flawlessly on our way to Los Angeles we had confidence in them. We arrived plenty of chargers available and feeling confident plugged in and nothing! Oh no not again! We had enough charge to go find other chargers however not enough to get home. Well once again went to another charger nothing and then another and finally started charging it was a sigh of relief. I’ll be honest this was a very stressful situation and not a great way to end a vacation. The wife stated she will never take the Lightning on another roadtrip.

Sponsored

 

[Wsh68]

There’s two Kettleman Superchargers. The one you went to with the lounge is just for Teslas< there’s one 2x as big just East by In N Out. That’s where we have to go with our Lightning even though we haven’t yet. I have the NACS adapter but if/when I need a little juice on this trip (it’s midpoint between our cabin and our house on the coast) I grab a burger and stop at the Kettleman Caltrans station for 20 minutes and top off for free. It’s just 50KW. I’ve seen the horrible line for the awful EA chargers and literally told people where the free stations are (2) and they’ve ignored me like I was crazy. Not all gen 3 tesla superchargers will be made available. You really need to follow the apps Directions as this will be more of a thing as tesla opens up some to non teslas and reserves others just for their fleet. We have a Tesla Y and a Lightning.

 

[Wsh68]

BTW, I’m so sorry your trip went so bad. I know that stress first hand. We are gearing up for a trip to PNW and in to canada and plan to use the Tesla network. There’s so many special cases when it comes to having a good experience and the on,y reason I know most of these special cases is 1. Had a tesla since 2016 2. I’ve made similar mistakes myself 3. Had to redeem myself to my wife after a painful trip to Vegas where we almost ran out of juice. I’m sure your wife will have a better impression the next trip. The app does provide guidance but those two super chargers are literally across the street from each other but not visible to one another. I found the secret free station using Plugshare. That’s been my go to source for knowing my options. One time with my S in 2017 I literally knocked on a guys door and asked if I could plug in. He was kind enough to register his tesla home chargers on the app and gave me the two hours I needed to get to the next super chargers. This was up in Sea Ranch which is still a charger desert for all EV’s.

 

[RickLightning]

Unfortunately seems like 100% user error. And AC barely uses power.

 

[Newton]

You really don’t need the Tesla chargers in the PNW at this point (although 4th of July might be a different story). I have never had to wait and have been all over the place. Someone is cutting charge cords in Seattle so be advised, one staton was out at the Federal Way K*Mart when we went through, but there were open stations.

However, this might change - a couple of times the stations were full as I approached but somebody left just as I got there. Gotta love those fast charging Kias!

 

[Lightning101]

Thank you guys for the helpful information I appreciate it. I wouldn’t have expected Tesla to install two large charging stations across from each other. I wasn’t sure how much power the AC would consume so I turned it off as a precaution. It does make me feel better about the situation.

 

[ryun]

For what it's worth, I would have turned off the AC and baked as well. Especially after seeing forum posts talking about the truck spontaneously shutting down with <10% SoC after multiple rounds of DCFC.

Sucks that happened to you.

 

[MyJoule]

I'm sorry you did't know about the 2nd station at Kettleman city- Indeed, do a little pre checking of chargers before heading out. That's a hard lesson to learn.

We just completed a trip in our Model S from WA-AZ along I-5 and I-10 using the Tesla Superchargers and saw only a few non-Teslas charging along the way

Next week, we'll be doing the reverse trip from AZ-WA in the Lightning, and we have already checked out the situation with which V3 and V4 stalls will be available to us- We also made note of those stations where we'll have to use up 2 stalls to get the Lightning close enough to charge, hopefully, we'll be able to get spots where available that will allow us to use only one stall space.

 

[Kit2874]

I received my Tesla adapter several weeks ago ahead of our road trip which I was really excited about. I tested it out locally at 3 different Tesla chargers near my home worked flawlessly. My plan was to rent a vehicle if I had not received my adapter in time. Left the house on a full charge arrived at Firebaugh Tesla charging station off interstate 5. There were plenty of chargers available plugged in and started charging. Went on with our trip wanted to make another charge stop before arriving into Los Angeles as I didn’t want to worry about range with getting stuck in traffic then trying to look for a charger. Also I was unsure how much range I would loose going up the grapevine. We stopped at the Tesla Chargers at Tejon Outlets right before the grapevine. Connected to the charger and worked flawlessly. Great stop as there were plenty of chargers available and we did a little shopping to pass the time.

Here’s when things went bad. On our trip back we had a full charge as the hotel had charged us up. I was feeling confident in the Tesla chargers and felt no range anxiety pushing the limits I planned to stop at Tesla Kettleman City. With only 8 miles of range left I pulled in It appeared as they had a Tesla lounge and plenty of chargers available. Plugged in as usual and an error on my screen appeared “charger fault.” Okay no problem checked the charger port connection still got the same error message. Well I thought must be a bad charger moved to 4 different chargers still the same error message. Looked at the Tesla app to see if there were chargers listed that were inoperable nothing displayed. At this point all the Tesla owners were staring at me probably saying what is this idiot doing here, this is a Tesla station. Turned the truck off closed the app multiple times no charge. Now I started to panic a bit as I had only 8 miles of range left. Looked at the Electrify app and yes there was one just across the way. Quickly headed over as I was approaching I noticed a long line of cars. It was the line for the chargers about 20 cars in line waiting to use the chargers! There were 10 chargers 3 of them broken. I was really worried about draining my battery down to 0 so I turned off the AC with it 103 degrees outside we were miserable sweating it out. Waiting almost 2.5 hours to get to the charger and only getting a 44 kilowatt speed charge even though it says up to 350 kilowatt. We charged 1.5 hours at Electrify and figured we can get to Tesla Firebaugh chargers to get a full charge which was approximately 60 miles away. As they worked flawlessly on our way to Los Angeles we had confidence in them. We arrived plenty of chargers available and feeling confident plugged in and nothing! Oh no not again! We had enough charge to go find other chargers however not enough to get home. Well once again went to another charger nothing and then another and finally started charging it was a sigh of relief. I’ll be honest this was a very stressful situation and not a great way to end a vacation. The wife stated she will never take the Lightning on another roadtrip.

As I used to say in the Army, you had a headspace and timing issue.

100% user error

 

[RickLightning]

Thank you guys for the helpful information I appreciate it. I wouldn’t have expected Tesla to install two large charging stations across from each other. I wasn’t sure how much power the AC would consume so I turned it off as a precaution. It does make me feel better about the situation.

I strongly advise you and your wife to take another trip with the Lightning using better tools (ABRP and PlugShare).

We bought our first Mach-E in July 2021. Was on the Lightning reserve list since May 2021. Our May 2021 ordered Mach-E came in in May 2022, so we sold the 21 and took the 22. When we got a chance to order the Lightning, prices were way up and features removed... Wife said "no way we go 100% EV".

We took some trips. In spring 2023 she said "fine, if you must, go get a Lightning". We got ours in May 2023. In late fall 2023 we sold our 2013 F-150 and went 100% EV.

We have driven to Florida multiple times. We did 10 states and 8 national parks in October 2023. We drove to California, via Colorado and Utah, then back via Utah, and Wyoming in March, then to Vermont first week of April. I do all the planning, and she's fine with it.

I will also be happy to review a planned trip (send me a DM) if you want. I use ABRP to plan, then PlugShare to check chargers before and during trip. I use EA and Tesla's apps to check pricing, sometimes a particular charger (or state) is much less, or much more.

 

[FirstF150InCasco]

As for how much energy the AC uses, during this recent heat wave, I had to leave the truck on with the AC on for 6 hours (as my dog needed to stay in the truck). I don't have the exact kw used, but it was virtually nothing.

 

[edcoble]

I strongly advise you and your wife to take another trip with the Lightning using better tools (ABRP and PlugShare).

We bought our first Mach-E in July 2021. Was on the Lightning reserve list since May 2021. Our May 2021 ordered Mach-E came in in May 2022, so we sold the 21 and took the 22. When we got a chance to order the Lightning, prices were way up and features removed... Wife said "no way we go 100% EV".

We took some trips. In spring 2023 she said "fine, if you must, go get a Lightning". We got ours in May 2023. In late fall 2023 we sold our 2013 F-150 and went 100% EV.

We have driven to Florida multiple times. We did 10 states and 8 national parks in October 2023. We drove to California, via Colorado and Utah, then back via Utah, and Wyoming in March, then to Vermont first week of April. I do all the planning, and she's fine with it.

I will also be happy to review a planned trip (send me a DM) if you want. I use ABRP to plan, then PlugShare to check chargers before and during trip. I use EA and Tesla's apps to check pricing, sometimes a particular charger (or state) is much less, or much more.

As an aside: I find the Tesla app helpful and easy to use. ( I also pay the $12.99/mo to get their discount because of our road trips between Texas and Colorado but that's not necessary for using the app). ABRP is good for estimating charge remaining at your destination--makes planning much more comforting! But it's road guidance is not in the same league with Google Maps or Waze. I use PlugShare when necessary for non-Tesla options; my PlugShare is not showing Tesla superchargers for NACS yet. When PlugShare begins showing them, I'll use it more.

 

[Ventorum94]

As an aside: I find the Tesla app helpful and easy to use. ( I also pay the $12.99/mo to get their discount because of our road trips between Texas and Colorado but that's not necessary for using the app). ABRP is good for estimating charge remaining at your destination--makes planning much more comforting! But it's road guidance is not in the same league with Google Maps or Waze. I use PlugShare when necessary for non-Tesla options; my PlugShare is not showing Tesla superchargers for NACS yet. When PlugShare begins showing them, I'll use it more.

In Plugshare app under “Map Filters”/“Vehicles and Plugs”, be sure vehicle is F150 Lightning, and under “More Plugs” select “NACS (Tesla).” I’ve found that compatible Superchargers show up on the Plugshare map, while incompatible Superchargers do not. It’s been 100% accurate for the locations I’ve visited.

 

[Heybucket]

sorry to hear about your trip, its my fear too when traveling with family. So far we have fared pretty well using Tesla, EA was a mess on 1 camping trip but luckily was able to pivot to plan B so no minimum fuss from fam!

I use ABRP connected to dongle to see accurate % and it seems to also predict state of arrival % better than apple maps ( carplay is WAY more conservative and will freak my wife out if she sees the % under 10% when ABRP will be closer to 20% and be closer at end).

Just back from monterey weekend to SF Bay. had 2 tesla hickups, 1 I thought I was clever and nice and picked the far right stall to not take up 2 spots, couldn't get it to start after multiple tries. After switching to another stall ( it was 9pm I went out for quick top off while family at hotel) realized that the "tesla" letters were not lit. plugged into a broken stall! Second time was on way home at Gilroy outlets. only 1 stall available but it woudn't connect, but it was peak get home sunday and all stalls were full and I didn't really need the charge (got home with 20%). So probably operator error on my part.

We have a trip to LA in Sept, so thanks for the tip on kettleman city That was actually my fear when I first connected to bad station, I knew that there were 2 SC stations near by and thought I may have gone to the wrong one. and since I forgot my phone at hotel couldnt check!

 

[LSP]

I received my Tesla adapter several weeks ago ahead of our road trip which I was really excited about. I tested it out locally at 3 different Tesla chargers near my home worked flawlessly. My plan was to rent a vehicle if I had not received my adapter in time. Left the house on a full charge arrived at Firebaugh Tesla charging station off interstate 5. There were plenty of chargers available plugged in and started charging. Went on with our trip wanted to make another charge stop before arriving into Los Angeles as I didn’t want to worry about range with getting stuck in traffic then trying to look for a charger. Also I was unsure how much range I would loose going up the grapevine. We stopped at the Tesla Chargers at Tejon Outlets right before the grapevine. Connected to the charger and worked flawlessly. Great stop as there were plenty of chargers available and we did a little shopping to pass the time.

Here’s when things went bad. On our trip back we had a full charge as the hotel had charged us up. I was feeling confident in the Tesla chargers and felt no range anxiety pushing the limits I planned to stop at Tesla Kettleman City. With only 8 miles of range left I pulled in It appeared as they had a Tesla lounge and plenty of chargers available. Plugged in as usual and an error on my screen appeared “charger fault.” Okay no problem checked the charger port connection still got the same error message. Well I thought must be a bad charger moved to 4 different chargers still the same error message. Looked at the Tesla app to see if there were chargers listed that were inoperable nothing displayed. At this point all the Tesla owners were staring at me probably saying what is this idiot doing here, this is a Tesla station. Turned the truck off closed the app multiple times no charge. Now I started to panic a bit as I had only 8 miles of range left. Looked at the Electrify app and yes there was one just across the way. Quickly headed over as I was approaching I noticed a long line of cars. It was the line for the chargers about 20 cars in line waiting to use the chargers! There were 10 chargers 3 of them broken. I was really worried about draining my battery down to 0 so I turned off the AC with it 103 degrees outside we were miserable sweating it out. Waiting almost 2.5 hours to get to the charger and only getting a 44 kilowatt speed charge even though it says up to 350 kilowatt. We charged 1.5 hours at Electrify and figured we can get to Tesla Firebaugh chargers to get a full charge which was approximately 60 miles away. As they worked flawlessly on our way to Los Angeles we had confidence in them. We arrived plenty of chargers available and feeling confident plugged in and nothing! Oh no not again! We had enough charge to go find other chargers however not enough to get home. Well once again went to another charger nothing and then another and finally started charging it was a sigh of relief. I’ll be honest this was a very stressful situation and not a great way to end a vacation. The wife stated she will never take the Lightning on another roadtrip.

Sorry that you had a stressfull experience and from the responses so far, an answer to your issues. As someone who has done the OC to NoCal trip in the Lightning a few times I would recommend bypassing Kettleman City and stopping at Harris Ranch 27 miles up the road. Many Tesla and EA chargers with a pretty nice sit down restaurant at the Harris Ranch Resort right next to the charging stations.