# Wise to do long trip over holidays?



## Nom (Oct 30, 2018)

I’m considering a long drive from New England to Florida before Christmas and then back afterwards. Many reasons not to do so, including weather concerns. 

Curious about superchargers. Plenty along the way but I’m expecting them to be pretty busy. And I recently experienced a slow charge rate at a pretty full SC lot. Slow charging would ruin the trip. I thought individual super chargers were supposed to be independent now. Am I wrong? 

Is there a pretty decent risk I’d experience slower charging rates during this trip?


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## FF35 (Jul 13, 2018)

If you charge during or right after driving, you’ll get pretty good charging rates. Do the trip. I do winter trips.


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## Silvermagic3 (Dec 18, 2017)

There are currently 3 main types of "Superchargers". Urban chargers are limited it 72kW, but each is independent so you don't have to worry about sharing. The traditional Podium charger is either 120kW or 150kW and are shared. Then the very new and rare Supercharger V3, which top out at 250kW and are independent.

I do a lot of road trips and 90% of the time the stations are only half full so you don't have to worry about sharing. I even did a 2000 mile trip over 4th of July weekend on the West Coast and didn't have any problems with charging up quick. Really the only time I've come across full stations are in cities.


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## PTE (Jun 14, 2019)

I just made a similar trip from Hobe Sound, Fl. to Syracuse , NY. Up July 25th arrive July 26th and back August 14th Home on the 15th. About 23 hours of drive time in either direction. The only , what I would consider a SLOW supercharger was in lower Ga ( Kingsland ) just off of I-95. There was only one other Tesla charging there During my stay. Cheers _PTE_


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## Ed Woodrick (May 26, 2018)

Pretty much all of the Superchargers are shared load. It's not really that bad though. It's often only about 10 minutes before you move to at least 50%.

But don't stop at Superchargers to charge. Stop at locations for breaks or meals that happen to have Superchargers. It's much nicer that way.
During holiday traffic days, a lot of stations will be close to full or have probably short lines. You don't think that you are the only one doing the trip do you?
If you can travel on off days and not be in a rush, it can be a nice ride.
If you allocate a specific amount of time for the trip and travel on the wrong days, it may not be the best experience.
Doing things like overnighting at the Biltmore to break the trip up can make a great trip and vacation.


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## Bigriver (Jan 26, 2018)

In addition to what @Silvermagic3 said, I believe that Tesla has said that they will retrofit the 120/150 super chargers so that they are independent rather than coupled. But I've not heard of that actually happening.

I have travelled the last 2 winter holidays (Christmas-ish time frame) in Tesla's and while I understand that theoretically the SC's might be busier, I've not actually experienced that. The few times I've experienced a full or near-capacity SC, my rate was never limited for long, as once the coupled car has been there 15-20 min, their rate is going to have naturally fallen substantially and most people aren't at a SC for much longer than 30 minutes anyway. If you are there first, your charging rate isn't restricted at all by someone else starting to charge at the coupled location. I would estimate that others at superchargers never delayed me by more than 5 min.

As @FF35 referred to, tho, cold weather can affect the charging rate. There have been firmware updates that are to have improved that somewhat, and it can largely be counterbalanced by charging only when the battery is warm. Cold weather (and heater use) also bring worse efficiencies, meaning it will take more energy and charging time (relative to a trip now).

A Tesla long trip is a slower trip than in an ICE and I think all passengers need to be on board with that idea. It's also a safer and, I think, a more relaxed trip.


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## Nom (Oct 30, 2018)

Thanks all. @Bigriver - good perspective. As mentioned, my main concern is how busy the chargers will be. Your experience and wisdom is helpful.


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## PEIEVGUY (Dec 19, 2018)

Our family is making a similar trip from Prince Edward Island, Canada to Orlando in early February in an SR+. 

Since we will expect lower charging rates (100kw max) we know that we will have time to explore while we wait. We are quite looking forward to the adventure! More time to poke around parts of the cities that we would normally blow through if we only stopping for Dino-juice.


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## Ed Woodrick (May 26, 2018)

PEIEVGUY said:


> Our family is making a similar trip from Prince Edward Island, Canada to Orlando in early February in an SR+.
> 
> Since we will expect lower charging rates (100kw max) we know that we will have time to explore while we wait. We are quite looking forward to the adventure! More time to poke around parts of the cities that we would normally blow through if we only stopping for Dino-juice.


And that's the most awesome way to experience a trip! Superchargers are great places to meet other owners. In my travels, there's been only a few times that I've waited on the car to charge. I end up charging more than needed and have to even move it during a few meals to keep from getting idle fees.


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