18 month old Lightning first road trip

[Warren]

Wife and I made the trip from Akron Ohio, to Indianapolis Indiana over the weekend. 2023 standard range Pro, total trip of about 300 miles. I had never charged anywhere except home, prior to this. Intended to stick with the Tesla chargers, as I was more concerned with reliability than price. Trip progressed like this:

Charged to 100 % before leaving Akron at 6:45 A.M. on Friday. Temps were in the mid 40's
Stopped in Columbus (approximately 120 miles) at Tesla near a grocery chain. Back up to 90% in about 20 minutes. Snack and restroom break, Perfect!
Stopped in Dayton (approximately 75 miles) First Tesla wouldn't work (maybe older??) Ended up at EVGo about 10 miles further. Longer cables were nice. 20 minutes
Made it to Indianapolis with about 50 miles range. Charged up at daughters, had to use my travel charger, as her husbands Tesla charger was finicky
Drove around town for two days, then departed with about 160 range.
Stopped in Richmond Indiana, after a 45 minute traffic jam, Tesla charger at Meirer store. Easter shopping, restroom, perfect again. Probably 25 minutes to charge
Stopped again at Columbus, same site as before, with about 34 miles of range left. Longer charge time, almost 45 minutes to get 90%
Got home with 40 miles of range

We took note of other charging sites while we were traveling, as we will likely make this trip often. Will probably try more non Tesla, as it was indeed pricey, probably the equivalent of gas. I had more range anxiety than the wife, as it was the first time doing it, and it didn't want to push it too far. Will probably not have that anxiety next time, as we were pretty successful each time.

Regarding the 45 minute traffic jam, true to form, the range was virtually unaffected. I feel more anxiety in a gasser in that situation, because the fuel continues to burn while you sit. All in all a great experience.

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[RickLightning]

If you charged to 80% instead of 90%, you'd be on your way faster.

Tesla Destination Charger requires a different adapter...

Use ABRP and PlugShare to plan.

 

[pullinggs]

Nice write-up, and glad you had a successful trip. I've done a bunch of 200-300 mile trips in my '23 SR and I've seen the charging infrastructure grow and become more reliable in just the last two years. Many won't believe this, but even my last 3 or 4 stops at EA were a first-try success.

Planning is still a very good idea, but traveling in an EV world is getting easier every day.

 

[Warren]

If you charged to 80% instead of 90%, you'd be on your way faster.

Tesla Destination Charger requires a different adapter...

Use ABRP and PlugShare to plan.

For sure, but if you noticed, I ended each leg near 40 mile range. Would have been way too tight with only 80 percent.

 

[Firn]

Sounds like a nice trip.

Hit up the Electrify America station in Huber Heights (Dayton). It's only a short distance off 70 and in a decent enough location. That's if you don't try the IONNA in Springfield. Not sure where the Tesla station you used is, the only one I know of is WAY away from 70 and it does work with the Lightning.

In Indianopolis, if you can, hit The AMP at 16 Tech. Fast Tesla chargers and The AMP has a great selection of food and a super cool Farmer Market. Well worth the stop and easy enough to let it charge as high as it can while you enjoy something to eat and some shopping.

 

[RickLightning]

For sure, but if you noticed, I ended each leg near 40 mile range. Would have been way too tight with only 80 percent.

Whatever you are comfortable with. That's why I use ABRP, because I can set the minimum charge level to arrive at a charger, and it will tell me what SOC% I need to leave with for that to happen.

I was just mentioning it because many people charge to 90%, or higher, because they don't know not to (unless you need the range). And they're not aware of the significant drop in charging speed at 80%.

 

[Brons2]

I stopped in Columbus once, in 2005, and we won the game. I would not stop in Columbus again if you paid me.

 

[flyct]

@Warren

Just wondering. Now that you took your first road trip would you buy an Extended Range truck next time?

 

[cobracosta]

I'm a bit confused. i have a SR as well. at 100% charge I think I have like 240 range. Why wouldnt you travel at least 200 miles and then charge? you wouldnt have to stop as much. As a side note I only drive 55 miles round trip to work and charge to 80% with about 60% left over each day.... Furthest I've gone is to LA which is like 100 miles away and just recharged for the trip back ( had about 25% left over when I got to LA).

 

[Firn]

I'm a bit confused. i have a SR as well. at 100% charge I think I have like 240 range. Why wouldnt you travel at least 200 miles and then charge? you wouldnt have to stop as much. As a side note I only drive 55 miles round trip to work and charge to 80% with about 60% left over each day.... Furthest I've gone is to LA which is like 100 miles away and just recharged for the trip back ( had about 25% left over when I got to LA).

At highway speed 200 miles would be at or over 100% of the battery capacity in an SR.

 

[RickLightning]

I stopped in Columbus once, in 2005, and we won the game. I would not stop in Columbus again if you paid me.

LMFAO

GO BLUE!

 

[Warren]

I'm a bit confused. i have a SR as well. at 100% charge I think I have like 240 range. Why wouldnt you travel at least 200 miles and then charge? you wouldnt have to stop as much. As a side note I only drive 55 miles round trip to work and charge to 80% with about 60% left over each day.... Furthest I've gone is to LA which is like 100 miles away and just recharged for the trip back ( had about 25% left over when I got to LA).

This is Ohio, in March, driving 70 to 75 MPH. You will get about 160 to 170 miles with 100% charge. Big cities have the best assortment of chargers. Columbus, from home is about 120 miles, Dayton is about another 50 miles. Wasn't going to reach that. Also, most chargers slow down after 80%, so we stopped at 90 each time.

 

[Warren]

@Warren

Just wondering. Now that you took your first road trip would you buy an Extended Range truck next time?

Nope, this suits me just fine. First time driving more than 100 miles in 18 months. Wasn't worth the $20,000 for me to get the larger one. I have the stock Pro, which ended up at about 47k after the rebate. It fits my needs to a tee.

 

[VTbuckeye]

I stopped in Columbus once, in 2005, and we won the game. I would not stop in Columbus again if you paid me.

Judging by your Texas Longhorns avatar.... I was at that game . Your QB was magic and Jim Tessel was still convinced that Justin Zwick was the answer (he wasn't and Troy Smith had not yet matured). We only go back to Ohio to visit family at this point. Gosh that was a long time ago as a college student.

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