# Tesla Y - Drive Time



## Snamburi (Dec 20, 2020)

Hey Folks ,, 

I am going to order a Y soon and wanted one final perspective and experience from the Tesla owners here ... 

Typically On a long drives for around 6 to 7 hours on an average... ,compared to the Gasoline vehicles does the drive time increases because of the time to spend to charge the vehicle .
I think if we are spending 1 hour of time for charging ( May be 2 times) in a span of 6 hours drive vs 10 to 15 mins to fill the gas ... is predominantly high ...

what’s your thoughts and let me know if I am thinking otherwise ...
w.r.t - Model y long range


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## garsh (Apr 4, 2016)

A LR Model Y has a rated range of 326 miles.
Under real-world conditions (i.e. - highway speeds, not going the whole way down to 0 miles remaining, etc), you can probably go 260 miles between charges.
And you generally only charge enough to make it to the next charger (because charging slows down a LOT as the battery gets close to full).

At 65mph, 6 hours of driving takes you about 400 miles.
In that scenario, I think your charging time will actually be less than 30 minutes.

On my last 1400-mile road trip, I _never_ had a stop longer than 30 minutes.
On the final 335-mile leg of that trip, it took 8 hours (only 1/3 was on an interstate), and I only had to charge one time for 15 minutes.


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## Long Ranger (Jun 1, 2018)

On longer drives like that, I'm often going to stop to eat something. I'm usually able to combine a Supercharger stop with the food break, so I don't really lose much time at all. 

On some trips, it will take longer. This was something I was concerned with before purchasing an EV. However, after owning it for a while, I came to the surprising conclusion that I was actually spending less overall time waiting for my vehicle to charge than I did at gas stations. That's because you just plug in overnight and start each day with a "full tank". No more trips to the local gas station. I also take a lot of ~200 mile trips, and I can always do those without stopping, while with my ICE vehicle it depended upon the tank level when starting the trip.


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## shareef777 (Mar 10, 2019)

Snamburi said:


> Hey Folks ,,
> 
> I am going to order a Y soon and wanted one final perspective and experience from the Tesla owners here ...
> 
> ...


I generally do an 800mi one way drive a couple times a year in 12 hours in an ICE. Generally I stop after about ~300mi for bio breaks and snacks. I've done the identical drive in my 3 a couple times and it took about 14 hours and we stopped 4 different times. I will say that NoA was well worth the two extra hours. Only issue I had is the ICE we usually take is a large SUV and there's plenty of room for my family. I wouldn't repeat the experience in my 3, but would definitely give it another go if we had a Y (with 3rd row).


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## FRC (Aug 4, 2018)

I find that if google maps says a trip's drive time is X, then it will take 1.1X in my Model3. More importantly, I find that forced stops for charging help me arrive refreshed and ready to go. Detractors like to focus on the negative of increased road trip travel time. They never consider the time saved by leaving home with a full tank every day, and we never sit and wait for our oil to be changed(remember oil?).


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## Ed Woodrick (May 26, 2018)

The time of a trip can be near the same or slightly longer. If you are a driver who has to remind passengers that no one is allowed to go to the bathroom except for the gas stop, then it will take longer.
My trips are very similar to when using an ICE. I take a regular break around 200 or so miles, and that happens to be a charging location. Time to get out, empty the bladder and refill the tummy and stretch the legs. Then the car should have enough charge to make it to the next or skip a chargers. Depending on the location, chargers are around 100 miles apart. 
I've had 10 hour trips that have been less than 20 minutes different than the ICE trip.

Best recommendation about a road trip, relax and smell the roses. Enjoy the journey.


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## sduck (Nov 23, 2017)

Yes. It will take longer. I've done many long road trips in my model 3 and typically it takes about an hour longer each day to cover the amount of distance you would in a gas car. It usually doesn't bother me. Except in those few cases where the supercharger I need to use is a major expedition to get to off from the route i'm taking. Like the one in Cheyenne Wyoming, or St. George Utah.


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## D. J. (Apr 11, 2016)

Note that below-freezing temperatures (even below 50°F) and headwinds will significantly reduce your range more in an EV than an ICE car. This definitely bit us on an I80 traverse across Wyoming in the winter. The https://abetterrouteplanner.com/ site will let you plug in those factors (temperature, headwinds, and extra weight) and is widely recommended here to plan long road trips.
If you're pulling a trailer or have a roof box on your rack, you'd increase your base kWh consumption when planning to account for those factors.


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## JWardell (May 9, 2016)

It all depends on bladder size.
If I plug in to a supercharger every time I need to pee and maybe get a bite, long trips take NO longer at all.
Can't pump gas at the same time...

Meanwhile, your drive is twice as pleasurable, twice as less stressful, and much less tiresome. Well, well, well worth it. These are the ultimate road trip cars.


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## Bigriver (Jan 26, 2018)

Snamburi said:


> I think if we are spending 1 hour of time for charging ( May be 2 times) in a span of 6 hours drive vs 10 to 15 mins to fill the gas ... is predominantly high ...


All really good answers above. I will address your specific scenario because I do a 6 hour trip all the time. In a gas car, it was usually about 6 hours driving, one 20 min gas/bathroom break. In a Tesla, it is 6 hours of very easy driving time (I am a big fan of autopilot) and 2 charging stops of about 30 min each. So overall it adds 40 min to the trip. But I arrive more rested and better hydrated. In a new model Y that can charge faster than my 2017 model X, the stops would be even shorter.

When people say charging makes a trip a lot longer, there are several possibilities:

They are trying to fill up the battery at each stop. It is usually more time efficient to make 2 shorter stops than 1 longer stop. The longer stop can be the right choice though if you want to sit down and have a restaurant meal (that will again be a possibility soon!)
The charger locations are a bit out of the way. I have done some trips where the charger was 20 min from my route, which makes an extra 40 min round trip. Yeah, that is going to add time.
If there is no charging option at your destination, there may be need for more charging time to arrive with adequate charge. But I would also note that charging from a regular 120 outlet is an option, just a bit slow.


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## Needsdecaf (Dec 27, 2018)

Snamburi said:


> Hey Folks ,,
> 
> I am going to order a Y soon and wanted one final perspective and experience from the Tesla owners here ...
> 
> ...


I think for 6-7 hour drive you're almost certainly stopping twice. So that's 45-60 minutes of charging. How much extra is that vs. bio breaks and potentially one refueling stop in an ICE? I guess that depends on how long you take to use the bathroom! Seriously though, that would probably be two 10 minute bio breaks for my family, so 25-40 extra minutes. Less so if you can make one fit into the lunch stop. You get used to it.

Now, we've done road trips from Houston to Vail in our ICE SUV. That's an 1,100 mile trip each way and we've got it pretty streamlined. Taking a Tesla (if we had one that was the same size as our SUV) would mean not only 4-6 charging stops, but also altering our route. That would turn a trip of "leave one morning, arrive the next day in time for lunch" into "leave one morning, roll in for a late dinner". To me, that's a significant drawback.

But on a 6-7 hour trip? Even an extra hour isn't a deal breaker.


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## Needsdecaf (Dec 27, 2018)

Bigriver said:


> All really good answers above. I will address your specific scenario because I do a 6 hour trip all the time. In a gas car, it was usually about 6 hours driving, one 20 min gas/bathroom break. In a Tesla, it is 6 hours of very easy driving time (I am a big fan of autopilot) and 2 charging stops of about 30 min each. So overall it adds 40 min to the trip. But I arrive more rested and better hydrated. In a new model Y that can charge faster than my 2017 model X, the stops would be even shorter.
> 
> When people say charging makes a trip a lot longer, there are several possibilities:
> 
> ...


Agree with all of this. I would say your third bullet point is particularly important to highlight.


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## shareef777 (Mar 10, 2019)

Needsdecaf said:


> I think for 6-7 hour drive you're almost certainly stopping twice. So that's 45-60 minutes of charging. How much extra is that vs. bio breaks and potentially one refueling stop in an ICE? I guess that depends on how long you take to use the bathroom! Seriously though, that would probably be two 10 minute bio breaks for my family, so 25-40 extra minutes. Less so if you can make one fit into the lunch stop. You get used to it.
> 
> Now, we've done road trips from Houston to Vail in our ICE SUV. That's an 1,100 mile trip each way and we've got it pretty streamlined. Taking a Tesla (if we had one that was the same size as our SUV) would mean not only 4-6 charging stops, but also altering our route. That would turn a trip of "leave one morning, arrive the next day in time for lunch" into "leave one morning, roll in for a late dinner". To me, that's a significant drawback.
> 
> But on a 6-7 hour trip? Even an extra hour isn't a deal breaker.


100% accurate. The added time in an EV accumulates over longer distances as shorter trips usually account for a low SOC at arrival. A 6hour/400mi trip would take an extra 30min in an EV while a 12hr/800mi trip would take an extra 1.5hrs. This all goes back to the idea that we can reasonably get ~200 miles per segment. See below:

400mi trip
Start ---> 200mi/30min charge ---> 200mi/arrive

800mi trip
Start ---> 200mi/30min charge ---> 200mi/30min ---> 200mi/30min ---> 200mi/arrive


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## Snamburi (Dec 20, 2020)

Needsdecaf said:


> I think for 6-7 hour drive you're almost certainly stopping twice. So that's 45-60 minutes of charging. How much extra is that vs. bio breaks and potentially one refueling stop in an ICE? I guess that depends on how long you take to use the bathroom! Seriously though, that would probably be two 10 minute bio breaks for my family, so 25-40 extra minutes. Less so if you can make one fit into the lunch stop. You get used to it.
> 
> Now, we've done road trips from Houston to Vail in our ICE SUV. That's an 1,100 mile trip each way and we've got it pretty streamlined. Taking a Tesla (if we had one that was the same size as our SUV) would mean not only 4-6 charging stops, but also altering our route. That would turn a trip of "leave one morning, arrive the next day in time for lunch" into "leave one morning, roll in for a late dinner". To me, that's a significant drawback.
> 
> But on a 6-7 hour trip? Even an extra hour isn't a deal breaker.


This is a very important feed back . The only way to think of is how many times in an year would you make in 1100 mile trips ... if it's not more then it's ok to spend couple more hours ...


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## FRC (Aug 4, 2018)

Snamburi said:


> The only way to think of is how many times in an year would you make in 1100 mile trips ... if it's not more then it's ok to spend couple more hours ..


There is another way to think of this. I used to be a white knuckled, get there a fast a possible type of road trip driver. In almost three years and 50K miles of road trips in my Tesla, I have learned that frequent breaks help me relax and arrive rested. I NEVER sit and wait for my car to charge. If the small extra time isn't used for meals, snacks, or bio-breaks; then I use the time to clean the car, read my book, plan the next leg of my trip, visit with other Tesla owners, read something on the internet(most often TOO), or simply take a short walk around the area. If my road trip in my Tesla takes more time than it used to in my ICE, it's generally because I enjoyed the drive too much!

To paraphrase Dr. Suess...Oh the wonderful things that I have seen! Thanks for the lifestyle adjustment Tesla!!


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## quentinsf (Dec 27, 2020)

Yes, I agree with FRC. I've just switched to a Tesla from a car with around a 60-70-mile range! Here in the UK, there were enough charging points to make that feasible (though occasionally challenging). But it meant that on long trips I would, roughly, drive for an hour and charge for half an hour. These trips therefore took quite a bit longer, but I arrived much less tired and, I think, having travelled more safely and been more alert on the way.

It never really bothered me and, as Robert Llewelyn is fond of saying, "What's your bladder range, anyway?"  

Long trips took longer, but it was balanced by never having to go to a petrol station for the whole of the rest of the year!

Tesla charging times are insignificant in comparison


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## Snamburi (Dec 20, 2020)

FRC said:


> There is another way to think of this. I used to be a white knuckled, get there a fast a possible type of road trip driver. In almost three years and 50K miles of road trips in my Tesla, I have learned that frequent breaks help me relax and arrive rested. I NEVER sit and wait for my car to charge. If the small extra time isn't used for meals, snacks, or bio-breaks; then I use the time to clean the car, read my book, plan the next leg of my trip, visit with other Tesla owners, read something on the internet(most often TOO), or simply take a short walk around the area. If my road trip in my Tesla takes more time than it used to in my ICE, it's generally because I enjoyed the drive too much!
> 
> To paraphrase Dr. Suess...Oh the wonderful things that I have seen! Thanks for the lifestyle adjustment Tesla!!


Good ... thanks ...


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## Needsdecaf (Dec 27, 2018)

Snamburi said:


> This is a very important feed back . The only way to think of is how many times in an year would you make in 1100 mile trips ... if it's not more then it's ok to spend couple more hours ...


I would say those types of trips are infrequent, but they are important. I don't want to blow an entire day of vacatation (two half days at either end of the trip) because I'm charging the car. To me, it's not worth it. I'll take the gas car.
on a trip that extends one long day into a longer day? Yeah sure, I'm good with that. But arriving before lunch vs after dinner....that's a pretty big deal.


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## Long Ranger (Jun 1, 2018)

Needsdecaf said:


> I would say those types of trips are infrequent, but they are important. I don't want to blow an entire day of vacatation (two half days at either end of the trip) because I'm charging the car. To me, it's not worth it. I'll take the gas car.
> on a trip that extends one long day into a longer day? Yeah sure, I'm good with that. But arriving before lunch vs after dinner....that's a pretty big deal.


Everyone has different travel patterns and preferences, but for me, if I'm traveling 1100 miles and concerned with travel time, then I'm flying, not driving. Regardless of whether my car is gas or electric, it'll just be parked at the airport.


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## eiaine (Feb 22, 2021)

I just purchased a standard Y, so only 244 range and took my first 300 mile trip. I found that driving ~78 mph in a 70mph speed limit zone ate up the battery very quickly!!! The trip took me quite a bit longer than it normally does. I adjusted speed down on the way back, but still about 25% longer to get home than on a normal trip.


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## Achooo (Oct 20, 2018)

I think a good rule of thumb when planning out a road trip is to plan on roughly 1 hour of charging time for every 5 hours of driving time. That gives me a very rough estimate, but brings me close enough.


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## FRC (Aug 4, 2018)

eiaine said:


> I just purchased a standard Y, so only 244 range and took my first 300 mile trip. I found that driving ~78 mph in a 70mph speed limit zone ate up the battery very quickly!!! The trip took me quite a bit longer than it normally does. I adjusted speed down on the way back, but still about 25% longer to get home than on a normal trip.


Don't know what route you were driving; but, generally, drive as fast as you like and make more charging stops. Charge only enough to reach the next charger(plus buffer). The bottom half of the battery charges much more quickly than the top. On road trips, only charge in the upper half of the battery when you must.


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## Ed Woodrick (May 26, 2018)

eiaine said:


> I just purchased a standard Y, so only 244 range and took my first 300 mile trip. I found that driving ~78 mph in a 70mph speed limit zone ate up the battery very quickly!!! The trip took me quite a bit longer than it normally does. I adjusted speed down on the way back, but still about 25% longer to get home than on a normal trip.


But after some experience, you may start to find ways to make the trip not that much longer. 
Yes, 78 will drop your range significantly. Have you watched the energy graphs?


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## eiaine (Feb 22, 2021)

Ed Woodrick said:


> But after some experience, you may start to find ways to make the trip not that much longer.
> Yes, 78 will drop your range significantly. Have you watched the energy graphs?


Thank you Ed. No, I have not yet paid much attention to the energy graphs. Thank you for the suggestion.


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## eiaine (Feb 22, 2021)

FRC said:


> Don't know what route you were driving; but, generally, drive as fast as you like and make more charging stops. Charge only enough to reach the next charger(plus buffer). The bottom half of the battery charges much more quickly than the top. On road trips, only charge in the upper half of the battery when you must.


Thank you. I did read about the speed to charge, which makes sense.


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## eiaine (Feb 22, 2021)

Achooo said:


> I think a good rule of thumb when planning out a road trip is to plan on roughly 1 hour of charging time for every 5 hours of driving time. That gives me a very rough estimate, but brings me close enough.


Thank you. A good measure for planning as I'm getting used to battery behavior.


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