How to road trip, EV style
Plan for optimal range, Tesla superchargers, and other new worries
Originally published Sep. 23, 2022. Updated June 9, 2023
Commencements. Summer wedding invites. Kids in prom clothes. Memorial Day weekend.
These are the unofficial signs summer’s kicked off, and you may also be planning ahead for a summer of road trips.
Now that most rental car agencies offer electric vehicles (EVs) and as a Tesla driver myself for a couple of years now, I’ve learned how to optimize my driving, routing, and charging for maximum door-to-door driving efficiency.
Other great news: In early March, Tesla announced it would make 3,500 Supercharger stations available for non-Tesla EVs. An adaptor for your particular car make/model should do the trick.
If you’re a fairly new Tesla or EV driver, or planning to rent one, then here are my tips for driving with less anxiety and most importantly, not running out of juice.
City Tesla Mouse vs. Country Tesla Mouse
In 2022, after driving a performance Tesla Model Y (with a range up to ~300 miles) in the confines of greater Miami for a full year, I finally took it on a 223-mile road trip from Charlotte, North Carolina, to Charleston, South Carolina.
Then, I rented a long range Model 3 (lasting up to ~350 miles), and drove roughly 333 miles through the Canadian wilderness, from Whistler to Penticton to Vancouver in British Columbia.
Since then, there have been other road trips and more city driving here and there, so here’s what I learned about driving Teslas in the city versus on longer-haul journeys.
A road trip in an EV or Tesla requires more planning
With a Tesla, you have to do a bit more planning than if you were driving a regular gas-powered car.
Seems counterintuitive because the car’s so smart on its own, right?
Well, there’s a slight learning curve … but once you know the ins and outs you can make each trip go way more smoothly.
Map out supercharging locations by wattage and time
Not only do you have to plan to charge your Tesla along the way, you also have to budget for the time it takes to charge your car — especially if you’re someone who wants a full charge with each stop.
Tesla of course makes it easy to locate supercharging stations en route and even helps you map your route by model, but for novices it’s not obvious which charging stations offer the faster 250kW charging versus the noticeably slower 150 kW.
Time-wise, it’s the difference between 20-30 minutes of charging time for the former, and 40-50 minutes for the latter.
Check online or on Google Maps before you drive or lose a lot of time waiting around, and look at the wattages by station.
I made this mistake which was not fun in a food desert.
Because sitting in the car and waiting is wasteful on the car’s resources and just plain unbearable in hot weather, especially if you don’t have a moonroof shade.
One benefit: Cost-wise, it’s less expensive to fully charge a Tesla, which comes in around $10-$12 per charge, versus the $25-$45 per tank for gas.
Don’t forget your home’s wall charger
The home charging kit that comes with your car might just save you.
If you’re able to charge your car via any wall outlet overnight, this can top your car up to 20-30 miles in your sleep, which is ideal if you’re just driving locally during your travels.
For fun, this guy debates whether it’s possible to survive on only home charging:
Verdict: It’s possible, but better to have a home-installed charger or a supercharger backup nearby.
Use Google Maps as a backup
Don’t rely solely on Tesla’s built-in mapping service. Just don’t. Even with Tesla’s premium connectivity traffic-enabled maps.
Tesla’s GPS will recommend charging stations and pit stops along the way, along with the minimum charging time at each stop to get to your destination.
You can ignore the advice, but it’s all a bit difficult to maneuver, especially if you’re on your own. You’ll find yourself tapping furiously on a screen, trying to figure out which stations offer what charging capacity, all while attempting to stay on course.
Tesla’s mapping also does not always sync with the latest traffic conditions and closures. Nor does it find an optimal route as quickly as Google Maps. To me, it’s always routing based on what’s best to avoid losing juice.
So long story short, have Google Maps on hand.
Crosscheck both at the beginning of your journey and along the way for directional advice.
A Tesla’s true battery level and range aren’t obvious
The range says 250 miles so I should be good for a 223-mile trip, right?
Wrong.
If you’re carrying a heavy load, driving faster interstate speeds, and running the air conditioner, all these factors will take a toll on the range, which you will see dwindling right before your eyes.
And that can be nerve-wracking when you’ve got big distances between superchargers.
Keep an eye on it and plan a backup supercharger location stop or two along your journey.
In hot weather, a roof shade is a necessity
Tesla made these beautiful moon roofs that span the entire cabin length of their models.
But despite UV-treatments or tints, they’re impossible to drive long-haul in hot summer conditions.
After suffering during my Canada road trip, where I could feel my head baking under the hot sun, I smartened up and bought these Model Y sunshades on Amazon for a fraction of the recommended Tesla versions, which added much needed relief.
So, despite encountering a few hiccups with charging, navigation, and comfort …
Road handling is a dream … and so is storage
Driving a Tesla is an absolute joy. The steering, the road handling, the way the car hugs the curves and moves ever so quietly — it’s all sublime.
The space is also surprising, especially for a Model 3 and Y, and the “frunk” (front trunk) allows just enough for non-perishable groceries or shoes or small rucksacks. With the seats folded down, 2-3 people, luggage, and dismantled bikes also manage to fit.
My general comfort level overall was happiness, and of course you’ll get where you need to go in style.
Though a gas-powered car is a familiar friend, and offers creature comforts — knowing what I know now, any time I can be bothered to plot out my journey in advance, I will.
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Until next time,
Shindy
On Instagram + TikTok
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