Tesla Supercharger only road trip -- Mt Airy, MD to Disney World FL

[Electrified Outdoors]

I had a lot of fun making this one. Road trip exclusively via the Tesla supercharger network. It was an excellent experience.

I also ran into a guy that was trying to use a level two Tesla adapter to charge with the superchargers ?. He was a nice guy though and I didn't record that cuz I'm not about embarrassing people.

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[VSG]

Road trip exclusively via the Tesla supercharger network.

Sure, this may be possible on the East Coast corridor.

But please, when you say things like this, make it clear that this isn't the case everywhere.

Here in the West, there are entire STATES where there are NO open Tesla superchargers. So making a trip with only the supercharger network is not possible.

When you present it the way you have, you do a great disservice to many people who are not familiar with the details. They may assume that they don't have to worry about planning trips, and may assume that they can ignore networks other than Tesla. While in some places this may be true, in other places you are just going to be responsible for causing some people a lot of trouble and potentially turning them off to all EVs as a result.

And BTW the converse is also true - it's possible, even trivial, to make that journey using only CCS networks. The Tesla superchargers give people additional choices, but realistically they are only one part of the national network and there are are large charging "deserts" where there are no available Tesla chargers.

 

[Electrified Outdoors]

Thanks for your feedback. I appreciate your perspective.

We have traveled quite a bit and found the Tesla network is much more reliable than the others. Having had particularly bad experiences with CCS1 in the Southeast. I think that's why we have a lot of excitement regarding the Tesla supercharger access. Especially since we owned Teslas previously and so we know how good the experience can be.

I admit this will not be possible everywhere and that EV road trips still require advanced planning for the most stress free experience possible.

https://www.tesla.com/findus?v=2&bounds=59.10581932412977,-72.16834240543605,17.597518423093547,-102.57849865543605&zoom=4&filters=party,nacs

 

[RandomMcRandomFace]

Sure, this may be possible on the East Coast corridor.

But please, when you say things like this, make it clear that this isn't the case everywhere.

Here in the West, there are entire STATES where there are NO open Tesla superchargers. So making a trip with only the supercharger network is not possible.

When you present it the way you have, you do a great disservice to many people who are not familiar with the details. They may assume that they don't have to worry about planning trips, and may assume that they can ignore networks other than Tesla. While in some places this may be true, in other places you are just going to be responsible for causing some people a lot of trouble and potentially turning them off to all EVs as a result.

And BTW the converse is also true - it's possible, even trivial, to make that journey using only CCS networks. The Tesla superchargers give people additional choices, but realistically they are only one part of the national network and there are are large charging "deserts" where there are no available Tesla chargers.

Really? Which states have zero superchargers that aren’t magic dock/adapter compatible?

 

[Electrified Outdoors]

Really? Which states have zero superchargers that aren’t magic dock/adapter compatible?

I-80 in Nevada and not much in Wyoming or SD. Still looks like at least one NACS available in each state though admittedly that isn't enough.

 

[RandomMcRandomFace]

Yea, not questioning the statement that you can’t do a supercharger only road trip everywhere. More curious if there were really states with none (I would assume in those states, EV owners would know they need to plan trips - I am betting those states aren’t packed with chargers generally).

 

[R1Thor]

Sure, this may be possible on the East Coast corridor.

But please, when you say things like this, make it clear that this isn't the case everywhere.

Here in the West, there are entire STATES where there are NO open Tesla superchargers. So making a trip with only the supercharger network is not possible.

When you present it the way you have, you do a great disservice to many people who are not familiar with the details. They may assume that they don't have to worry about planning trips, and may assume that they can ignore networks other than Tesla. While in some places this may be true, in other places you are just going to be responsible for causing some people a lot of trouble and potentially turning them off to all EVs as a result.

And BTW the converse is also true - it's possible, even trivial, to make that journey using only CCS networks. The Tesla superchargers give people additional choices, but realistically they are only one part of the national network and there are are large charging "deserts" where there are no available Tesla chargers.

I would argue the opposite.
At least from stories we read, hearsay, and supercharger network maps.

The West Coast seems WAY more equipped than the East Coast for road tripping on SC networks.

At least that's my perspective.

I live in a supercharging desert, and I'm only about 2 hours from where @Electrified Outdoors started his trip. SO, this is encouraging to me whenever I receive my NACS adapter from Rivian (or borrow my neighbor's as he's graciously offered to loan it to me for road trips).

That said, my takeaway wasn't at all 'this is ubiquitous and easy,' from the original post. It was just a 'hey check out what's possible with this network and our vehicles.'

That said, all perspectives are welcome, for sure.

 

[Electrified Outdoors]

I would argue the opposite.
At least from stories we read, hearsay, and supercharger network maps.

The West Coast seems WAY more equipped than the East Coast for road tripping on SC networks.

At least that's my perspective.

I live in a supercharging desert, and I'm only about 2 hours from where @Electrified Outdoors started his trip. SO, this is encouraging to me whenever I receive my NACS adapter from Rivian (or borrow my neighbor's as he's graciously offered to loan it to me for road trips).

That said, my takeaway wasn't at all 'this is ubiquitous and easy,' from the original post. It was just a 'hey check out what's possible with this network and our vehicles.'

That said, all perspectives are welcome, for sure.

Yes, we really found it much easier from our location to go through PA when traveling to Boston. Prior to supercharger access the PA route was risky at best. On our most recent trip we went through PA and it was a much more pleasant drive. We also opted for the Mario Cuomo bridge over the GW bridge plus the garden state parkway. Mapping apps say its a longer route but it seems shorter when we drove it...I think because we skipped a lot of traffic hot spots.

 

[mkg3]

There's West, and then there's West.

ALL EV CHARGERS follow population density and where the vehicles are.

Just as there are more grocery stores where more people are. If one choses to live in a remote area, then all infrastructures are less. You do get more space and privacy tho...

There are more Superchargers with 20+ stalls everywhere in the populated and heavily traveled corridors in the West...

 

[R1Thor]

Mapping apps say its a longer route but it seems shorter when we drove it...I think because we skipped a lot of traffic hot spots.

I swear, there are times adding 30 minutes feels faster because you 'keep driving' versus sitting in traffic.

I appreciate your perspective!

 

[R1Thor]

There's West, and then there's West.

ALL EV CHARGERS follow population density and where the vehicles are.

Just as there are more grocery stores where more people are. If one choses to live in a remote area, then all infrastructures are less. You do get more space and privacy tho...

There are more Superchargers with 20+ stalls everywhere in the populated and heavily traveled corridors in the West...

I actually think this is the wrong take, personally (from the infrastructure builders, not you).

I think the goal shouldn't be to put the charging networks where people ARE.

I think the goal should be to put the chargers between where people are and where they're going.

I see too many examples (regional bias for sure) around me, where I can point out chargers close to larger cities (where people already are), but nothing between there and the next point. This is a risk for me. My commute is a charging desert. It's fine for the range my vehicle has in the current ideal trip. BUT, if I was massively diverted or there was some kind of major incident or highway closure, I'd be BONED. For this, I overcharge my vehicle by almost 15% during the days I go into the office, POTENTIALLY compromising the longevity of my battery.

What'd be IDEAL, is if there was (even one) a SC between home and work that I could stop at if I had to. But there are literally only level 2 chargers, and most of them are 9.6kW, and most of them are at apartments or hotels that are in use for the locals. And to be fully transparent: I've never had to use one of those, but their ratings are also awful, so there's no reliability even if I did need to use one in an emergency...

Just my .02.

 

[Electrified Outdoors]

If one choses to live in a remote area, then all infrastructures are less. You do get more space and privacy tho...

I try to explain this to folks all the time. its a cost trade off between space and privacy vs low maintenance & convenience. Some home buyers prefer to be close to everything and have a low maintenance living situation while others prefer privacy and space with slightly more property maintenance.

I think the goal shouldn't be to put the charging networks where people ARE.

I think the goal should be to put the chargers between where people are and where they're going.

I thought this was the original goal for Tesla was to connect the most traveled routes to enable easier long distance EV travel.

It can also be said that chargers are where they are needed too because of the real estate aspect. You will find that many charging locations are near businesses that will benefit from increased traffic. In places where there is a higher rate of folks utilizing public charging vs having access to it at home or work.

Its not financially viable to build and buy for Tesla or other operators. Its better for them to partner with existing businesses as it significantly reduces the costs to put stations in and usually provides amenities as well. Gas stations make their margins on conveniences store sales and car washes more so then selling fuel.

In Orlando, FL area the Tesla chargers tend to be pretty busy so there are multiple chargers in fairly close proximity to one another.

Its probably a combination of both at this point. The places where there are deserts may have multiple challenges such as infrastructure, regulatory approval, and real estate. I hope all of these can improve with time.

 

[R1Thor]

I try to explain this to folks all the time. its a cost trade off between space and privacy vs low maintenance & convenience. Some home buyers prefer to be close to everything and have a low maintenance living situation while others prefer privacy and space with slightly more property maintenance.


I thought this was the original goal for Tesla was to connect the most traveled routes to enable easier long distance EV travel.

It can also be said that chargers are where they are needed too because of the real estate aspect. You will find that many charging locations are near businesses that will benefit from increased traffic. In places where there is a higher rate of folks utilizing public charging vs having access to it at home or work.

Its not financially viable to build and buy for Tesla or other operators. Its better for them to partner with existing businesses as it significantly reduces the costs to put stations in and usually provides amenities as well. Gas stations make their margins on conveniences store sales and car washes more so then selling fuel.

In Orlando, FL area the Tesla chargers tend to be pretty busy so there are multiple chargers in fairly close proximity to one another.

Its probably a combination of both at this point. The places where there are deserts may have multiple challenges such as infrastructure, regulatory approval, and real estate. I hope all of these can improve with time.

Conversationally, I think we need to get to a place where superchargers/fast chargers are at least half as ubiquitous and available as gas stations.

They don't need to be 1:1 because the vast majority of EV adopting homeowners will have Level 2 Wall chargers and (let's face it) we're not road tripping as much as the conversations would have you believe.

BUT.

For the sake of the world being willing to universally adopt EVs, we need to remove that mental limitation and barrier to entry. And, I also believe EV charging stations really don't require staffing like convenience stations do, so that's a benefit, not a detractor. THEN, it can be a benefit for small convenience stations or vendors to pop up adjacent to them (or on concert with them) to make some profits on the side. Win for everyone?

 

[Arnie1]

I had a lot of fun making this one. Road trip exclusively via the Tesla supercharger network. It was an excellent experience.

I also ran into a guy that was trying to use a level two Tesla adapter to charge with the superchargers ?. He was a nice guy though and I didn't record that cuz I'm not about embarrassing people.

What was total cost for 430KW

 

[Jiri]

We just did Clarksburg, MD to Hilton Head Island. Absolutely effortless. And Tesla superchargers is mainly what Rivian nav picked out. Never waited for the truck to charge. Smooth and easy. Sidebar … completely worth it to have the Max battery. Makes the drive even less of a battery issue in any shape or form.

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