On the Road with Ralph
Well-known member
- First Name
- Ralph
- Joined
- Feb 6, 2023
- Threads
- 13
- Messages
- 194
- Reaction score
- 474
- Location
- Mojave Desert, California
- Vehicles
- 2023 Ford Lightning Pro
- Occupation
- Real estate/biz consultant
- Thread starter
- #1
At least twice a year, I travel between a home in Southern California and a log house in the Ozark Mountains. Typically, it’s a little more than 1500 miles. Since January 2023, I’ve been making the trip in my SR Lightning Pro. I just completed my 9th one-way journey, and this time, I kept a record of all my charging stops. A summary:
Not including the charging at my destination to restore the battery level to 100% for the purposes of calculating total cost (I didn’t actually charge to 100% - I estimated the kW/hours needed to do so), I stopped 13 times in 1568 miles, an average of about 121 miles. If that seems high, well… it includes charging done at convenience stops and two overnight hotel stays. Also, my 70-year-old bladder. The average charge was 61.5 kW/h (about 63% in my SR).
For context, I averaged 2.0 miles/kWh (I think I’d managed 2.1 if not for headwinds on the last 250+ miles) driving at speeds between 65 and 75 mph. I varied my speed based on situation - for example, on long downhill stretches, I sped up. I didn’t do much drafting.
Here is the interesting part: Because of free charging opportunities along the way, including one of the hotel nights (the other involved a $10 charge), my average cost per kilowatt/hour was only 25¢, for a total cost (including restoring 100% at the end) of $197.10 for the trip - or 13¢ a mile.
As someone who is sensitive to the cost of charging on the road (as compared to home charging), I’m actually pretty pleased with this number. Typically, an Electrify America station charges me 42¢/kW (I’m Pass+), and there are lots of stations at 60¢ or more (literally, highway robbery).
This was the first long trip that I made use of Tesla Superchargers - four stops out of 13. The most I paid was 44¢, and least was 23¢ (I have a Tesla subscription). Overall, the experience was OK, though parking close enough for the cable to reach was always a little unnerving. I also found the chargers to be a bit fussy about the plug in order - adapter first, then NACS cable, then initiate charge in the app. I appreciated the flexibility the Tesla stations gave me with respect to convenience stops, and in a couple cases, the opportunity to avoid awful EA locations.
Side note: Both hotel stays involved Tesla destination chargers. Having both the CCS and J1772 adapters is a long distance travel necessity. Also, Tesla destination chargers always seem to be slightly faster than the J1772 units that hotels deploy.
A final comparison: Had I made the trip in an ICE F-150 4x4, I would have likely burned about 85 gallons of gasoline for a total cost (based on an average of $2.85 a gallon) of $242. So, even on the road, I saved money compared to an ICE truck.
Not including the charging at my destination to restore the battery level to 100% for the purposes of calculating total cost (I didn’t actually charge to 100% - I estimated the kW/hours needed to do so), I stopped 13 times in 1568 miles, an average of about 121 miles. If that seems high, well… it includes charging done at convenience stops and two overnight hotel stays. Also, my 70-year-old bladder. The average charge was 61.5 kW/h (about 63% in my SR).
For context, I averaged 2.0 miles/kWh (I think I’d managed 2.1 if not for headwinds on the last 250+ miles) driving at speeds between 65 and 75 mph. I varied my speed based on situation - for example, on long downhill stretches, I sped up. I didn’t do much drafting.
Here is the interesting part: Because of free charging opportunities along the way, including one of the hotel nights (the other involved a $10 charge), my average cost per kilowatt/hour was only 25¢, for a total cost (including restoring 100% at the end) of $197.10 for the trip - or 13¢ a mile.
As someone who is sensitive to the cost of charging on the road (as compared to home charging), I’m actually pretty pleased with this number. Typically, an Electrify America station charges me 42¢/kW (I’m Pass+), and there are lots of stations at 60¢ or more (literally, highway robbery).
This was the first long trip that I made use of Tesla Superchargers - four stops out of 13. The most I paid was 44¢, and least was 23¢ (I have a Tesla subscription). Overall, the experience was OK, though parking close enough for the cable to reach was always a little unnerving. I also found the chargers to be a bit fussy about the plug in order - adapter first, then NACS cable, then initiate charge in the app. I appreciated the flexibility the Tesla stations gave me with respect to convenience stops, and in a couple cases, the opportunity to avoid awful EA locations.
Side note: Both hotel stays involved Tesla destination chargers. Having both the CCS and J1772 adapters is a long distance travel necessity. Also, Tesla destination chargers always seem to be slightly faster than the J1772 units that hotels deploy.
A final comparison: Had I made the trip in an ICE F-150 4x4, I would have likely burned about 85 gallons of gasoline for a total cost (based on an average of $2.85 a gallon) of $242. So, even on the road, I saved money compared to an ICE truck.
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