I am the one who dehydrates before a trip to match my bladder to my Prius gas tank. The Prius that I just traded for a Tesla M3 long range RWD. And this change is going to be much better for my health. I took my first mini road trip last weekend and enjoyed being able to drink a coffee and not worry about it!
@ …more kidney stones. Like I said; the move to a Tesla will be better for my health. I take it you’ve experienced the joys of peeing sharp rocks as well?
Interesting tests, kinda simplification of things. I would suggest - if Tesla owner just default to car guidance - or short stops/charges to continue journey with toilet breaks/leg back stretch, but also full/long charge during meal break. This way simply charging when doing other things so you never really wait. Recent 3+ hour trip to Stone Henge one way, 7minute charge to continue journey at very busy Oxford. Then full charge stop whilst having meal at Amesbury, near venue. Top-up 8minute charge on way back Leicester. Cold Winter driving, 260mile range LFP RWD MY, pleasant easy no problem. Busy charges though, but still no waiting. Makes journey pleasant, relaxed & no bladder straining (or less!).
At Tebay I would have increased the charge % in the app, to allow me more time to enjoy my dinner, and not have to hoof it back to car. That would also have added more charge arriving at Perth to give a better margin for error.
@@tucker9162 at busy times Tesla limit your ability to increase the charge over 80% at very busy locations. When it’s quiet you can charge upto 100% if you wanted too. Tesla knows how many people are on their way to the charger, it’s a feature you benefit from when planning a trip. If the charger will be busy when or by the time the route planer knows you arrive it will change the planned stop. Even give you a pop up on the route planner. That’s why splash and dash charges are planned and not long charge stops. It keeps the charger availability higher for more people. This is all monitored real time and adjusted real time. For everyone’s benefit. Would be interesting to know if @Justgetatesla has had stop change especially during the summer months as T bay gets really busy at that time due to its location. That’s why T bay is expanding the charging bays. That was quite a large freshly leveled new car park extension behind that fence.
The key is to always be doing something else you already would be doing while the car is charging at which point it really isn't adding much more time to the trip. Getting coffee / bio break, Lunch, arranging for the night's hotel, checking emails/texts on phone etc.
Depends. I often do a 600km trip. I can make it on one deep charge, 25 minutes or two 8 minutes stops on V3 chargers roadside. If I go really early I can get there by lunch and use the latter but most of the time the one stopper makes more sense, have a quick meal and stretch the legs.
We used to holiday in mainland Europe. Taking petrolmobiles to the ferry at Dover, we would do it with stops at Carlisle, midlands (Knutsford?) , Cambridge and overnighting at Canterbury for an early ferry next day. If I was doing it now in my MG5 (or a Tesla, or most any modern EV), the range means I wouldn't have to even think about when I would need to charge. For that reason, I don't see that I would do it any differently to my petrol days. Whatever the means of propulsion , stopping every 2-3 hours seems about right in terms of enjoying the drive and avoiding fatigue.
I'd say you're onto something. Every time you pull off the highway to charge you are wasting time by having to slow down and possibly travel some distance out of your way just to get to the charger. Better to keep going to the next stop and let your battery get more depleted with the added benefit that it charges faster as well. Win win.
I regularly do a 400 mile round trip in a 2024 Kona. I make sure the charge is below 50% before charging to get the best speeds. This means over 2 hrs driving (there are lots of contraflows). I then charge for 20 - 25 mins while having a coffee. I need a total of 3 stops on a 400 mile round trip which is what I used to do in my ICE car. Its just that I plug in when stopped and am generally at better locations. Charging and range anxiety aren't issues. Rushing to make sure I don't have to much charge on the last stop is. I have Non-Tesla membership and all my charging on this route is on V4 chargers.
I always set to 100% when I stop. Why so that I do not have to worry about getting back if I take longer than I expected. Hardly ever it gets to 100%, but It eliminates the fear of getting idle charges.
You are a lucky guy. Here in Portugal, despite the fantastic sales that Tesla has made, we only have 7 locations in all the country with 150KWh super charging V2, with around 12 stall each. Stops, depends time you have to travel. I agree with you, 30 min is the right time to relax... Thanks a lot for your video.
Good morning. I just stumbled on this video. My wife and I drive an EV in New York and we love to vacation in your amazing country. I’ve been reluctant to hire and EV there because I am never sure there are many charging stations out in the typical tourist areas I am also very impressed with how forward thinking Scotland is with the very large amount of wind energy you have. We are already planing our next trip to come see your country. We always end in Dumfries at the Dalscone farm. It’s a long story but an important place for my wife. Cheers
The splash and dash method of charging on the supercharger network is good for those with a packed lunch, and who don't have their own RUclips channel.
I have based my charging habit on cost. I drive on off peak hours and charge longer on cheaper sites. Scotch corner supercharger is cheapest I've seen so far. As it takes me almost 7 hours to drive to Glasgow, it is easier to autopilot all the way at night plus pay cheaper electrons.
I am an Enyaq IV60 driver, and my strategy is to use my Tesla for long trips, though now there are more Tesla Public Chargers it is becoming easier to use the Enyaq, with the advantage of being able to eat without having to worry about having to go and move the car half way through the meal. I am about to use the Enyaq to drive down to Gibraltar next week, charging solely on Tesla Chargers and I am confident it will be an easy trip
Always enjoy your vids even as a non-tesla (Volvo EV and now Renault Scenic EV) driver. For me, I operate in a different direction .. being in the South East and easily slipping across to Europe ... so, Ionity is well placed .. better placed than Tesla (non-Tesla) dispensers. With a real world range of 360m in Summer and just below 300m in Winter, I charge for 30mins once a week at 43p whilst shopping. Even on a long trip, I like to stop after 200miles and charge for no more than 30mins
Totally agreed, around 3 hours of driving, I am ready to stop and now I have a Tesla it is far too quick and I barely have time to finish my coffee, let alone have food. My previous EV a Kia E Niro was fantastic as it seemed 40-45 minutes was the perfect time for a charge and a stop, it was a great match for us. Always 100% charge before leaving home and then top up to reach destinatoion. Biggest trip in my Kia was Disneyland Paris to Lincolnshire. Home to South Coast, a top up at Channel Tunnel whilst waiting, then an hour or so into France stopped for lunch, then left and made it to DLP, and used one of their at the time free chargers to top up. That got us back to the chunnel and up to Maidstone services where we stopped for food. Then eneogh to drive home with no more stops. Plugged in at home and again had a 200+ mile range in the morning.
MG4 driver here. The point about being able to choose your rest breaks. I would normally plan a long motorway holiday trip around scouring google maps to find nice places to stop. Sometimes farm shops, sometimes KFC or Krispy Kreme, petrol doesn't factor into it. Whereas now I have an EV it is entirely focussed on where has chargers; how many chargers are there available, how busy is it? With the actual stop for us being secondary even to the extent we'd stop twice, once for charging and once for a toilet break somewhere else. But none of that is really that important as when on a long trip on trunk roads chargers exist. The tricky bit is when you get to the caravan park or holiday let and you can't charge there but still want to do day trips out.
I stay in Larkhall, 5 mins from the Radstone, didn't actually know there were chargers there as I charge my Model 3 pretty much exclusively at home, seems I've learned something really useful today, superb Job!
Currently drive a 330e, Tesla Model 3 standard range on order. I do about 25k miles per annum, and I am not remotely bothered about range. I average about 70-150 miles a day usually with the occasional 300 mile trip thrown in every couple of months. I would add, though, that we are getting a charger for our drive on Octopus Intelligent Go. Without this I would not even consider an EV at the 7p/mile that the company pays for EV mileage. I'd be cutting my own throat.
Ive said for a while, if a car can do 3h it's far enough for the majority. As that's about a bladder's range. And in the UK, 3h motorway is about 180 miles. It's rare you can do 70mph average in the UK. France would be different, their tolls are amazing. As are their trunk roads.
Drive from the south coast to Leeds a couple of times a month in my LRDM Performance Polestar 2 and the car can do it with one stop in the summer but I can’t. I usually stop every 2-2.5h for a pee, coffee and check my email which takes around 20 mins. I only charge the car at Tesla Annesley on the way up (2nd or 3rd stop) and on the way back (1st stop). It’s a nice hotel, toilets clean, the coffee is good and it’s a 250kw charger. Charging to 80% for the trip home gets me back with around 10% charge to spare even in cold weather.
In a non Tesla longer stops often are best due to payment and hand shaking time wasting but equally sitting on a de rated charger can be a waste of time so again often a mix of long and short stops are needed.
Haven’t had the pleasure of a really long journey yet… but one thing for sure.. that Perth site desperately needs expanded and upgraded. Or they need to introduce a site between Perth and Aviemore with v4 chargers or something
Range usually become an issue when talking about a return trip, particularly in winter. The number of Destination chargers really need sorting in the UK
I got from Calais to nice with 4 sub 20 min stops, plus an overnight AC charge, but I could of done in 5 sub 20min for a total of 18h trip. In my Cupra born with 60kw battery I personally had to stop more than the car. But I'm no longer in my 20s (far from it). I did once do it in one, from north west, that one was for the boat. 😂
I've owned two etrons, a 55 Launch Edition sportback and now a Q8 55 estate. On road trips, I charge to 100% at home on AC and then stop when I need too, either for food, a coffee or whatever. I charge while I am stopped. I don't drive more than three hours without stopping and then charging for 20-30 mins works fine. On my longer trips through Europe I try to choose hotels with destination chargers and if they are AC, I probably go up to 90% or 100%. If my family are with me, I may plan a little more but even so, they want to stop too and even though I could plough on, we tend to stop every 2.5 hours or so. I always plan to arrive home with around 10% left. I don't have range anxiety nor do I really have charger anxiety. In Europe I tend to prefer Ionity, Fastned and Tesla. In the UK I tend to prefer Ionity (I have a subscription card) but I will use any that are convenient using my Octopus card which works well on a great many chargers. It's not a problem.
Tebay really do need additional chargers. We queued for 15-20 mins at the weekend (twice). Granted, it was a weekend and peak time, but it wasn’t a great advert for supercharging. Given it’s the main charging hub for Cumbria and the lakes, they really need to add more & preferably on the Northbound side! Saying that, the pie and chips made the wait worthwhile! Great vid as always Ian. HNY.
There’s a new supercharger in planning at the Rheged visitor centre in Penrith. Personally I plan my journeys to skip Tebay altogether. As you say it’s gotten far too busy during afternoons. Larkhall -> Preston southbound. Trentham Gardens -> Gretna northbound. I do personally think though that there’s been a lot of improvements on the M6 M74 corridor lately. But now the big constraint is back in the highlands of Scotland. Aviemore and Inverness in particular are found to be frequently queuing with V2 speeds. They also have different customers: Less long distance, more: “my hotel / campsite doesnt have a reasonably priced charger”. That’s not good, and it reeks of market failure.
@ ah that’s great news. I was feeling slightly disappointed that I would not get to stop at Rheged anymore, on my trips to the lakes as I have to use Tebay due to supercharging. Rheged is arguably my favourite place to stop on any road trip, so that’s awesome they are getting charging! Thanks for the update.
I think the issue in Inverness is planning permission - there aren’t sites where they can install them. There was supposed to be one going in at Tesco on the A96/A9 junction but that has disappeared off the rollout map
Top tip…instead of wolfing down your quinoa and cress of free range granary rye and giving yourself indigestion you can just up the charge limit above 80% on your phone app, yes even on a high usage station, I’ve done it
Yes I know I can do that. Keenwa and what? I had Mac Cheese and Chips. As you saw. You’ve heard me speak, what part of cress do you think I am into…? 🤔
On both runs the chargers average rate was 100kW to 120kWh it seems that if you want 100 miles or 30kWh of chargers the battery curve is the limiting factor. I have to hand it to Tesla because the cars I have experienced are averaging 60 to 70 kW per hour chargers rates.
I’m planning a drive from Yorkshire to the south of Spain. I’ve mapped it out that we stop every 90-120 mins for 20 mins, through France and Spain most the stops are on Ionity / total energy / Zunder chargers, pretty much all 350-360kW. However I’m in an ID.Buzz with lots of luggage, so will be expecting 400Wh per mile.
Good video! I suppose, if you are able to plan well, the stops can be adjusted to allow a longer stop for eating and a shorter one or two for charging and biological discharge. I live in Norway so Tesla chargers are everywhere. So on a family trip over the mountains we stopped for charging (V4) halfway and I had to move the car to a normal spot before the food came to the table! But that was a holiday and was fully fine with me 😊
Love the video and the lots of little stops one, I have a nissan leaf and a lot of people find it funny when I tell them I drive it 190 miles single trip but honestly its no bother for me in the slightest as now I prefer more stops now on long journeys as I don't feel as tired at the end of it, but that said I'm planing on getting an EV with more range this year but will likely still adopt the more stops strategy when driving distance, 👍.
@justgetatesla honestly it's pretty good in fact grid serve just fitted 4 brand new ones on a bank of 12 in Stockport near me and also 4 more brand-new ones on birch services also there are 3 in the town I live in so it looks like they are still supporting them for now at least.
Totally agree, other than ionity which are plentiful now. I stop when I need to not when dictated by the car, and eating or doing RUclips filming determines how long I stop for not the car. On a short trip like Edinburgh to Manchester the car doesn't even need a stop but my bladder can't do that, it's close to a four hour drive even in a diesel car and i need a loo stop at todhills or ionity Carlisle. maybe we should do a tesla versus enyaq comparison 😂 i bet it would end up being your bladder range v my bladder range though 😎
Motorway journeys are reasonably well covered in the UK and will only improve. However, journeys on A roads are not so good. Hopefully this will improve in 2025.
Tbh I tend to do a combination of the 2, short and longer charges depending on what I have to do after. That said I do tend to charge for longer as I don't have home charging (99% supercharger as I type) so I tend to think about what I'm doing days in front. But the great thing about charging is the ability to do other things while stopped like having a bite to eat, go to the loo or whatever and stretch the legs. Yes, there are times where I wish I could drive for longer but as you say normally by the time I've driven for a couple of hours I'm ready for a break. The only annoyance I find with the MY I have the nav's insistence on the shorter breaks at random places, I now tend to ignore it and navigate to the one I'd rather stop at.
Great content as ever Ian - whenever we end up at a busy charger that has an 80% limit on it because it's busy, I've found that I've been able to increase that to 90% via the app if we're not going to make it back to the car on time and I want to avoid late fees. Might be worth a try?
Dumb question from an ICE owner, if stopping for a longer time because you need to eat, why not extend the "fill up" to 100%? I understand the last 20% takes longer? that will give you more time to eat and perhaps reduce the time or number of other stops.
I am always surprised by how much battery pre-heating uses. It might charge quicker with a warmer battery but then it needs to put more charge back in. Never navigate to the charger if you are going to be tight on range to avoid automatic pre-heating Re. charging strategy, I just adapt to suit where chargers are and when I want to stop. Generally I prefer fewer longer stops, even if that does not lead to the minimum total journey time.
My philosophy is to stop when I need to stop for as long as I feel I need to. I've no fixed rule. If I have enough to get to the next stop, I go. Unless I'm still doing something, then I'll finish doing that, then i'll go. When on a trip, I usually set the limit to 100% even though I won't be going that high, just to give me a bit of leeway before I'm charged for taking up a spot when I'm not charging. If there are passengers in the car, that's a whole other story. The car is ALWAYS ready to go before they are. And if they are staying in the car while you pop for a pee, remember to stick it in dog mode, or turn off the intruder detection, as they are guaranteed to move about or just pop the door open. I still haven't had the need to be up at Tebay since getting the Tesla, but it's a very nice service area.
Why do we have to worry ourselves so much? Back then people drove horses, they couldn't go very far and have to make many stops to let the horses rest, drink and eat.
Hi, in the video you drive down a very steep hill to dead end by the sea and turn around. Can you tell me where that was/is please? Great video with good info BTW.
Longer stops for me as well. When on a trip, it is always surprising how much time it takes when you grab lunch and sort the kids out. The key for me is just the reliability of the charging stations. At the last Tesla Chargers we stopped at, we had to wait, even though the app said there were free chargers 🙁 Blocked by EVs not charging.
Using wipers manually is easily done without even looking in most cars so why not use the manual option in your tesla ...assuming it has one. To save the annoyance
how about timing the extra time to make each stop? More stops would take extra time getting to the charger and back on the road? DOes the faster rate of shorter but more stops save time overall? It seems not for you but given different weather and days, who knows?
Before I got a Tesla charging times were normally dictated by price if I needed to get a few kWh in just to get me down the road to a Tesla charger where I could fill up at half the price that's what I would do. Now I have a Tesla my charge times are normally determined by what facilities are available Tesla chargers are a bit variable and if you don't know them it's a bit of a problem, I once stopped at a closed Tesla Demo/ charging station busting for a pee and had to add a few kWh just to get me to next Tesla charging location where I could put in the charge I needed to get me to the destination :).
With stops, how are you timing them? Time parked or time slowing on highway to rejoining highway. (being a truck driver, these things are crucial to my day) Less stops are more practical and as you say they give you time to take a break. I still think it would be better for you to show a recap of number of stops, battery percentage at each, total miles and cost of each trip, to build a long-term picture of daily use.
I’ve had a few people ask about time lost. What time lost? As I have said on video after video I would have stopped anyway - I’ve taken a break after around 3 hours ever since my days of driving 50k miles a year a few decades ago.
Well, lucky me. Tebay is 110 miles south of my home, and in the winter my SR MG4 reliably does 110 miles at motorway speed before I'm down to something like 4%. So obviously I have a loyalty card for the hot drinks there. A few comments about the non-Tesla charging there. I'm not sure if you realise it, but there are *16* non-Tesla plugs at Tebay. Twelve on the northbound carriageway to match the 12 Tesla chargers on the southbound carriagway (maybe there are 13, I thought I saw another one tucked in a corner) AND these four extra ones opposite the Teslas on the southbound carriageway. So if you arrive in your non-Tesla, going south, and these four are taken, then you just move to the northbound carriageway (dodging all the Teslas coming the other way) and Bob's your uncle. (I do hope that's more chargers going in though, the more the merrier.) They are advertised as being 150 kw, not 105 kw. I am not in a position to comment, because my car tops out at 88 kw anyway. So I don't really care, except if a site is busy then obviously the more the people with the super-fast-charging cars have to pour the coffee down their throats and run, the happier I am. This slightly fell apart on 23rd December. All four southbound plugs were taken and what with these fences your video showed and Teslas converging on that corner and a guy in a high-viz vest with a clip-board, I turned smartly out of it and headed for the northbound side. To find more people in high-viz vests with clipboards efficiently marshalling a queue. There were seven cars in front of me. That actually didn't sound so bad, with 12 chargers, except there was a Swarco engineer there trying to fix a recalcitrant charger (and his MG4 was occupying one of the other available plugs). I'd waited longer than I expected before I was called for my turn (did I mention they were efficient? they were even giving out tickets), and I got the newly-repaired charger. Still, I got plugged in and started the charge and headed for the coffee and scones. I was only going to Halifax (another 75 miles, yes I know, if I'd bought the LR model I wouldn't have had to stop at all) so really didn't need to go over (or indeed up to) 80%, but the car seemed to be charging slowly, even for the SR. Then it stopped altogether. I abandoned the cappuccino and ran back to the charger, where it refused to accept the card it had just accepted 20 minutes ago. A bit more wrestling and the damn thing threw a complete "I am not working" message. Again. The marshal got me right in to a working plug though, sharing the charger with what appeared to be my car's twin but was in fact the LR model with the 145 kw charging speed. Some slight envy there for a moment. But by the time I'd got back to the coffee, retrieved my possessions which a vigilant waitress had removed for safe-keeping and accepted the free refill offered for my inconvenience, the car was already heading past 80%. All in all though, what was meant to be a half-hour stop at Tebay had become two hours and it's just as well I was in plenty of time. I was unlucky, particularly getting the broken charger, but also with the queue. On the equivalent day the previous year with nothing at Tebay I found the Instavolts at Booth's in Penrith queueing and headed straight for the Rheged Centre where I got a 50 kw plug immediately and (because the shared plug was the CHAdeMO) I didn't have to share power. I was actually MORE delayed this year despite the abundance of faster chargers at Tebay, because everybody and his EV seemed to be congregating there. I really really hope this experience (well-managed though it was) spurs them on to lots and lots of new chargers. You make a good point about the time window for charging. Obviously I'm going to go down to 4% and charge up above 80% anyway, because, hey, not a long-range car. 110 miles to Tebay takes 2 hours though, and I'm ready for lunch (or at least coffee) by then. I really really don't mind that I'll be stopped there for maybe 45 minutes to get the car up over 80%, because I need to go to the loo then queue for the grub, and as you say there are usually hordes of people in ICE cars thronging the eatery. And I want to eat my lunch in peace, not pour hot coffee down my throat without actually swallowing. So sure, if you're in a hurry, do not buy my car. But if you don't do motorway trips very often, and you're not in a desperate rush, it's absolutely fine. I reckon to get to the south coast of England, which is 450 miles, I do Tebay (lunch), Trentham Park Gardens (afternoon coffee) and Cherwell Valley (evening snack to keep me going). Although in summer I can do Forton (147 miles, but food not as good as Tebay), Solihull (no food but you get to look at snazzy Teslas for a bit) and a quick range-extender at Cobham. It's all good.
I've got Sheffield to Peterhead to do in my Model Y standard range next month. Will be my first big road trip with an EV. Dont know whether I'm looking forward to it or not.. 😅
@justgetatesla should I have added it will be with my 2 year old for company?? Can see several more stops for nappy changes, than the car will need for charging!
Hi Ian, longer stops for me especially if I am having a full English! Over 67 Supercharger stops I averaged 43kwh of charge and average stop time of 31mins, (pushing up to 90% charge so I can finish eating.... ). Suggestion for a video. As you approach the 50k Basic Vehicle Limited Warranty, will you have the car inspected for any warranty issues or potential MOT issues in September? There are several EV mobile tech companies that do this sort of thing. (See James & Kate video on Utube)
I drive 25k a year similar to you and was told many years ago to drive no more than 2.5 hours between breaks the same as truck drivers which is perfect to refresh your concentration and is perfect for the longer stop strategy which is my preference. My question is when I add a supercharger stop early in my journey the battery starts to pre-condition and as you say drinks some range, so what is the best time to add the stop to allow preconditioning to occur to optimal levels without drinking range for the fun of it?
2022 Kia Soul Maxx with the "big battery"; best charge rate I can ever possibly get is (allegedly) 70KW, most I've seen from a charger is 64KW, and even then, that was for all of 5 minutes. Given 80%/20% running, I'm going to be having a 45 minute stop at the best of times... Big whoop; 80% will get me 3 hours of driving easy (well over 200 miles. I get tired of it in less than that and appreciate a break. Summer and winter, I visit the continent (South London to Portsmouth, then St Malo to Vannes), and I get that journey in a single charge no bother.
you had your charge limit set to 80% from tobey and you said that to Perth was 180 with predicted range of 179. WOuld you just increase it to 90% charge limit for extra buffer to make it comfortably?
The difference between doing short stops compared to the longer stops is as you pointed out, not much in it but that 6 minutes is the time it takes to fill an old fashion out dated smelly diesel car or van ready for 600 miles plus.
Wondered about getting the acceleration boost for my Model Y LR, but I'm not convinced that it's worth forking out £1,500. Since you did your upgrade, what percentage would you estimate that you've driven in Chill mode versus Sport mode? Your answer will help me decide and is much appreciated. Thanks 😊
So when you're not filming in the car you use Sport mode 100% of the time as all your videos show you driving in Chill mode. Perhaps it's to stop you from continuously laughing on your videos 😂
Hi, I’ve got an MG 4 standard range and I did a long journey recently I found it very annoying because I got to one charging station and where there was meant to be six working there were only 3, on this journey I used ionity app to plan my route and used only ionitys network, I normally use Electroverse because it’s part of the octopus energy company and you get slightly cheaper rates from my last experience that’s what I’ll be using from now on, personally now I’ve had the experience of owning an electric car and trying to plan routes I will probably go back to petrol because I can’t really afford a Tesla even though it does seem to look very simple to plan and charge.
I have a Tesla and it is very easy and cheaper but I do think I could manage with an MG 4. The standard range is very Limited given the range and charging speed but most of the time my Tesla LFP which charges slower than the AWD and performance charges faster than I need. I’m rushing back and not waiting for it
The standard range MG4 should do over 200 miles so, unless you do long trips regularly, it should be fine. If you do lots of long trips, maybe the long range would have been a better choice? For sure, my MG5 is great for trips between Edinburgh & Leeds to visit my son.
MG5 - From Inverness to Edinburgh (via Aberdeen) will plan 2 x 30 mins stops to get to 80% before moving on (Aberdeen IONITY and Perth Tesla Supercharger, l use the spot at the top at Perth also as have to straddle the lines and do not want to get in the way of other EV users). Should have just got a Tesla :)
Did you take the time including slowing down and finding the chargers not just the car being stationary. One stop can take 15 minutes just to get to the Supercharger and plug in. Even on a motorway it will take time out of your journey to slow down and get to the charger, then pull out and get up to speed again.
@@justgetatesla Me. Try driving down the A1 doing small jumps. Ferrybridge, Scotch Corner, Grantham all take time from slowing down to getting to the charger and back on the road again. Then travel to France. Most are off the Autoroute. Some 10 kilometers away. Small jumps would be a nightmare, adding hours to the journey time.
Try? I’ve done repeated trips up and down the A1. In the summer it’s 2 stops only to get to Dartford - Edinburgh and Ferrybridge. Edinburgh is 2 mins off the motorway. Ferrybridge 1 minute off. South of there? Blyth services. Grantham services etc - all directly on the route
Anybody getting a lot of cabin rattles in their tesla MY, I picked my 24 plate last month and there is a vibration buzz coming from somewhere thats driving me mad!
Charge anxiety is real when at a Tesla stop. If I'm eating I'll push the max charge to 100% too buy me an extra 20 mins. Save me from the pound a min fine fear.
It set itself to charge as the place was full. Empty bays when I arrived. Full as I left. I could have extended by changing the charge limit. But i was ready (just). And it’s RUclips…
Hi, looking to “just get a Tesla “ when my currant lease ends, quick question, it looks like you went to the Tebay chargers without going on the motorway, is this correct ?
Because the rate of charge slows down dramatically the closer you get to 100%. It’s the trick used by The MacMaster to make his charging stops extra long
@@justgetateslabut if you want to enjoy your break a little longer you can easily change charge limit using the app so you don’t have to rush back to move it!
@@justgetatesla ahh nice one. I’m new to all this only got my model 3 2 weeks ago. Is it normal to hear noise also when the car is warming up / pre condition ?
I find this hilarious. I live in the Pyrenees and drive my Model 3 LR to St Malo or Calais. If I followed the advice of Tesla Nav and stopped more often for eg.8 or 16 minutes and other arbitrary times, the journey that takes 6 and 8 hours respectively in the Peugeot Rifter diesel, would require a tow off an autoroute (motorway) to a supercharger. As it stands, doing the right thing and charging to realistic levels which get us to the next supercharger with about 10%, we charge less often and the St Malo trip takes about 10 hours and to Calais requires an overnight stay in Le Mans and another several hours to Calais but in terms of driving 12 hours. In the Peugeot with lunch and stops average 9 hours with no overnight stop. I know the Cult of Tesla is going to challenge these facts because their favourite billionaire has had them invest heavily in his dreams and I know they’ll use Zapmap to argue that 6minute stops are what I should do…. let’s see.
I’ve been planning a trip down to Alicante. Stops don’t look to add more time than I would be stopped for anyway. Your Peugeot - do you drive it non stop?
@ First of all, I’m not saying that it cannot and has not been done. We have the Long Range 2021 model 3 because it makes longer trips a bit easier. We’ve met very few people who have made it this far south in anything with lower range batteries because it’s expensive and hellish. The max range of the LR battery on dry summer roads, is 409km/250miles BUT at m’way speeds 90-130km/hr/60-80mph, that drops to about 180-200mile max. The real value of Teslas is the Supercharging but they’re always 10 mins to get to and and back to the autoroute BUT always cheaper per kW than other networks. Total cost for the St Malo trip is about €60 of charge and €80 péage fees. Total cost in the Peugeot is about the same and the only stops are for a stretch and lunch, depending on time of journey. The Tesla needs very careful planning because Nav makes stuff up. The real issues start when off the autoroutes because there are so many networks. Many work with Chargemap etc but many are 7-22kW units and they are maddeningly slow and costly. The only way to know is to do it but I would urge caution and keep a very close eye on your real range and where the nearest superchargers are. Another issue I have found, is when using autopilot. In short, I stopped using it after a few weeks of downright scary nonsense which it caused and have tested it a couple of times a year since but my wife will not allow it while she’s in the car and I distrust it to do any more than basic cruise.
I totally agree with you, apart from the last paragraph. How often do you do that long drive? You may do it regularly so fair enough. It’s that I see that argument a lot and I don’t get why people put 99% of the buying decision into 1% of their annual use. They are missing out for a little inconvenience 1% of their use. As a level headed thinker and an enjoyer of tech. The 1% of my use of the car per year ie 2 x 7hr trips I do the south west each year isn’t going to make up 99% of my buying decision. I’m looking forward to buying a Tesla and not worrying about how much time I’ll add to 2 long drives each year.
@ Teslas were and still are sold based upon their tech prowess. Tesla is a tech company which installs its tech into cars. When the most expensive aspects of that tech are dysfunctional and unusable, that 1% you refer to, translates to ten grand spent on it in real terms. When I need something to work and it doesn’t, that makes it useless. So before EVERY drive I settings-autopilot-off forward collision warning and off lane keeping with emergency avoidant steering. So regardless of how often I need it, when I do and can’t… you take my point. Why not make it a subscription? Teslas aren’t well balanced, are over powered, are inextricably linked to a Aspergic lunatic who corrupts global far right politics… The only reason we still have it (I have three cars) is because like all EVs, it costs little to run. However, insurance is THREE times that of our second car and €800-1000 of tyre every two years puts a huge dent in that.
@@LysanderLH if that how it works for you then that is your Experian e and I cannot argue with that. Generally if it was that bad for everyone else then the sales figures don’t reflect your experience. I’m not going to get into politics on this channel. Except to say one persons enemy is another persons freedom fighter. Tesla as a company is doing great things and so aspects of his opinions I don’t like. In the same way I don’t like how every goes on about the global manufacturer being a communist state but every one still buys there stuff and is happy with our companies using that country as its workforce. Hypocrisy depending on what the media says. Just me as a level headed thinker and not a media sheep.
Spot the deliberate mistake lol 14.04 ( ish ) I thought you drove a model Y, not a model 3? lololol. Must be an age related slip, or too much Christmas spirit lol. Happy New Year Ian to you and your family.
Who wants to make any stops? On an 8 hour journey? Everyone! What is it with you FUDdy keyboard warrior types who insist you drive all day non stop? No, you don’t.
I am the one who dehydrates before a trip to match my bladder to my Prius gas tank. The Prius that I just traded for a Tesla M3 long range RWD. And this change is going to be much better for my health. I took my first mini road trip last weekend and enjoyed being able to drink a coffee and not worry about it!
and hopefully avoid kidney stones!
@ …more kidney stones. Like I said; the move to a Tesla will be better for my health. I take it you’ve experienced the joys of peeing sharp rocks as well?
Interesting tests, kinda simplification of things. I would suggest - if Tesla owner just default to car guidance - or short stops/charges to continue journey with toilet breaks/leg back stretch, but also full/long charge during meal break. This way simply charging when doing other things so you never really wait. Recent 3+ hour trip to Stone Henge one way, 7minute charge to continue journey at very busy Oxford. Then full charge stop whilst having meal at Amesbury, near venue. Top-up 8minute charge on way back Leicester. Cold Winter driving, 260mile range LFP RWD MY, pleasant easy no problem. Busy charges though, but still no waiting. Makes journey pleasant, relaxed & no bladder straining (or less!).
At Tebay I would have increased the charge % in the app, to allow me more time to enjoy my dinner, and not have to hoof it back to car. That would also have added more charge arriving at Perth to give a better margin for error.
Agreed! There were many free stalls too
Not when I got back. It was chocka
@@tucker9162 at busy times Tesla limit your ability to increase the charge over 80% at very busy locations. When it’s quiet you can charge upto 100% if you wanted too.
Tesla knows how many people are on their way to the charger, it’s a feature you benefit from when planning a trip. If the charger will be busy when or by the time the route planer knows you arrive it will change the planned stop. Even give you a pop up on the route planner.
That’s why splash and dash charges are planned and not long charge stops. It keeps the charger availability higher for more people.
This is all monitored real time and adjusted real time. For everyone’s benefit.
Would be interesting to know if @Justgetatesla has had stop change especially during the summer months as T bay gets really busy at that time due to its location.
That’s why T bay is expanding the charging bays. That was quite a large freshly leveled new car park extension behind that fence.
On my 400 mile trips from the south coast to Cumbria, I have 2 small 10 minute or so stops and one longer one to eat. Works well.
For long distance i like to alternate short and long stops. That gives about the correct time between meals.
Yeah the Auto wiper setting stinks in most of the US too. At least they made improvements to how the manual wiper settings work.
I am a drive 120 mins stop 20 mins driver. I did that with my ICE cars, and I do it with my Tesla M3LR. I charge from 15ish to 65ish.
Great content as always, cheers Ian
Great video. I don't own a Tesla yet but if I did I think I'd do fewer long stops on a road trip.
The key is to always be doing something else you already would be doing while the car is charging at which point it really isn't adding much more time to the trip. Getting coffee / bio break, Lunch, arranging for the night's hotel, checking emails/texts on phone etc.
Depends. I often do a 600km trip. I can make it on one deep charge, 25 minutes or two 8 minutes stops on V3 chargers roadside. If I go really early I can get there by lunch and use the latter but most of the time the one stopper makes more sense, have a quick meal and stretch the legs.
We used to holiday in mainland Europe. Taking petrolmobiles to the ferry at Dover, we would do it with stops at Carlisle, midlands (Knutsford?) , Cambridge and overnighting at Canterbury for an early ferry next day. If I was doing it now in my MG5 (or a Tesla, or most any modern EV), the range means I wouldn't have to even think about when I would need to charge. For that reason, I don't see that I would do it any differently to my petrol days. Whatever the means of propulsion , stopping every 2-3 hours seems about right in terms of enjoying the drive and avoiding fatigue.
I'd say you're onto something. Every time you pull off the highway to charge you are wasting time by having to slow down and possibly travel some distance out of your way just to get to the charger. Better to keep going to the next stop and let your battery get more depleted with the added benefit that it charges faster as well. Win win.
Time lost to decelerate/accelerate: 30 seconds? Time lost pulling off the road into the car park? 30 seconds
I regularly do a 400 mile round trip in a 2024 Kona. I make sure the charge is below 50% before charging to get the best speeds. This means over 2 hrs driving (there are lots of contraflows). I then charge for 20 - 25 mins while having a coffee. I need a total of 3 stops on a 400 mile round trip which is what I used to do in my ICE car. Its just that I plug in when stopped and am generally at better locations.
Charging and range anxiety aren't issues. Rushing to make sure I don't have to much charge on the last stop is.
I have Non-Tesla membership and all my charging on this route is on V4 chargers.
Brilliant cars!
I always set to 100% when I stop. Why so that I do not have to worry about getting back if I take longer than I expected. Hardly ever it gets to 100%, but It eliminates the fear of getting idle charges.
You are a lucky guy.
Here in Portugal, despite the fantastic sales that Tesla has made, we only have 7 locations in all the country with 150KWh super charging V2, with around 12 stall each.
Stops, depends time you have to travel.
I agree with you, 30 min is the right time to relax...
Thanks a lot for your video.
Good morning. I just stumbled on this video. My wife and I drive an EV in New York and we love to vacation in your amazing country. I’ve been reluctant to hire and EV there because I am never sure there are many charging stations out in the typical tourist areas I am also very impressed with how forward thinking Scotland is with the very large amount of wind energy you have. We are already planing our next trip to come see your country. We always end in Dumfries at the Dalscone farm. It’s a long story but an important place for my wife. Cheers
Great! Glad you found me 😁
The other advantage of longer stops is that less time is lost navigating off the motorway and through car parks etc.
Great video, totally agree with the longer stops to have a quick bite to eat, have a drink etc. For me a 20 minute stop is perfect 👍
The splash and dash method of charging on the supercharger network is good for those with a packed lunch, and who don't have their own RUclips channel.
I have based my charging habit on cost. I drive on off peak hours and charge longer on cheaper sites. Scotch corner supercharger is cheapest I've seen so far. As it takes me almost 7 hours to drive to Glasgow, it is easier to autopilot all the way at night plus pay cheaper electrons.
Thanks for sharing, since it’s not a black and white question but requires some sensible thought about what you’ll do with the time
I am an Enyaq IV60 driver, and my strategy is to use my Tesla for long trips, though now there are more Tesla Public Chargers it is becoming easier to use the Enyaq, with the advantage of being able to eat without having to worry about having to go and move the car half way through the meal. I am about to use the Enyaq to drive down to Gibraltar next week, charging solely on Tesla Chargers and I am confident it will be an easy trip
@@Sp_75-76 would be great to find out how you get on , we have the Enyaq 85 👍
Always enjoy your vids even as a non-tesla (Volvo EV and now Renault Scenic EV) driver. For me, I operate in a different direction .. being in the South East and easily slipping across to Europe ... so, Ionity is well placed .. better placed than Tesla (non-Tesla) dispensers. With a real world range of 360m in Summer and just below 300m in Winter, I charge for 30mins once a week at 43p whilst shopping. Even on a long trip, I like to stop after 200miles and charge for no more than 30mins
Totally agreed, around 3 hours of driving, I am ready to stop and now I have a Tesla it is far too quick and I barely have time to finish my coffee, let alone have food. My previous EV a Kia E Niro was fantastic as it seemed 40-45 minutes was the perfect time for a charge and a stop, it was a great match for us. Always 100% charge before leaving home and then top up to reach destinatoion.
Biggest trip in my Kia was Disneyland Paris to Lincolnshire. Home to South Coast, a top up at Channel Tunnel whilst waiting, then an hour or so into France stopped for lunch, then left and made it to DLP, and used one of their at the time free chargers to top up. That got us back to the chunnel and up to Maidstone services where we stopped for food. Then eneogh to drive home with no more stops. Plugged in at home and again had a 200+ mile range in the morning.
MG4 driver here. The point about being able to choose your rest breaks. I would normally plan a long motorway holiday trip around scouring google maps to find nice places to stop. Sometimes farm shops, sometimes KFC or Krispy Kreme, petrol doesn't factor into it. Whereas now I have an EV it is entirely focussed on where has chargers; how many chargers are there available, how busy is it? With the actual stop for us being secondary even to the extent we'd stop twice, once for charging and once for a toilet break somewhere else.
But none of that is really that important as when on a long trip on trunk roads chargers exist. The tricky bit is when you get to the caravan park or holiday let and you can't charge there but still want to do day trips out.
I stay in Larkhall, 5 mins from the Radstone, didn't actually know there were chargers there as I charge my Model 3 pretty much exclusively at home, seems I've learned something really useful today, superb Job!
Currently drive a 330e, Tesla Model 3 standard range on order. I do about 25k miles per annum, and I am not remotely bothered about range. I average about 70-150 miles a day usually with the occasional 300 mile trip thrown in every couple of months. I would add, though, that we are getting a charger for our drive on Octopus Intelligent Go. Without this I would not even consider an EV at the 7p/mile that the company pays for EV mileage. I'd be cutting my own throat.
My Honda civic has wipers that have a mind of its own.
My wife used to have a Mazda that were exactly like your Honda. Odd behaving auto wipers isn't just a Tesla thing.
Ive said for a while, if a car can do 3h it's far enough for the majority. As that's about a bladder's range. And in the UK, 3h motorway is about 180 miles. It's rare you can do 70mph average in the UK.
France would be different, their tolls are amazing. As are their trunk roads.
Drive fast, charge fast!
Drive from the south coast to Leeds a couple of times a month in my LRDM Performance Polestar 2 and the car can do it with one stop in the summer but I can’t. I usually stop every 2-2.5h for a pee, coffee and check my email which takes around 20 mins. I only charge the car at Tesla Annesley on the way up (2nd or 3rd stop) and on the way back (1st stop). It’s a nice hotel, toilets clean, the coffee is good and it’s a 250kw charger. Charging to 80% for the trip home gets me back with around 10% charge to spare even in cold weather.
Longer stop at Bishop Auckland = best cat toy I’ve ever bought
Get as far as I can on the first charge leaving home at 100% then low SOC arrivals and 15-20 min charges
In a non Tesla longer stops often are best due to payment and hand shaking time wasting but equally sitting on a de rated charger can be a waste of time so again often a mix of long and short stops are needed.
Haven’t had the pleasure of a really long journey yet… but one thing for sure.. that Perth site desperately needs expanded and upgraded.
Or they need to introduce a site between Perth and Aviemore with v4 chargers or something
Perth has had a huge upgrade - loads of non-Tesla chargers have gone in which took away the pressure on the Tesla ones
Range usually become an issue when talking about a return trip, particularly in winter. The number of Destination chargers really need sorting in the UK
Driver of many different EVs - I stop when I want and plan around that
I got from Calais to nice with 4 sub 20 min stops, plus an overnight AC charge, but I could of done in 5 sub 20min for a total of 18h trip. In my Cupra born with 60kw battery
I personally had to stop more than the car. But I'm no longer in my 20s (far from it). I did once do it in one, from north west, that one was for the boat. 😂
I've owned two etrons, a 55 Launch Edition sportback and now a Q8 55 estate. On road trips, I charge to 100% at home on AC and then stop when I need too, either for food, a coffee or whatever. I charge while I am stopped. I don't drive more than three hours without stopping and then charging for 20-30 mins works fine. On my longer trips through Europe I try to choose hotels with destination chargers and if they are AC, I probably go up to 90% or 100%. If my family are with me, I may plan a little more but even so, they want to stop too and even though I could plough on, we tend to stop every 2.5 hours or so. I always plan to arrive home with around 10% left. I don't have range anxiety nor do I really have charger anxiety. In Europe I tend to prefer Ionity, Fastned and Tesla. In the UK I tend to prefer Ionity (I have a subscription card) but I will use any that are convenient using my Octopus card which works well on a great many chargers. It's not a problem.
Tebay really do need additional chargers. We queued for 15-20 mins at the weekend (twice). Granted, it was a weekend and peak time, but it wasn’t a great advert for supercharging. Given it’s the main charging hub for Cumbria and the lakes, they really need to add more & preferably on the Northbound side! Saying that, the pie and chips made the wait worthwhile! Great vid as always Ian. HNY.
There’s a new supercharger in planning at the Rheged visitor centre in Penrith. Personally I plan my journeys to skip Tebay altogether. As you say it’s gotten far too busy during afternoons. Larkhall -> Preston southbound. Trentham Gardens -> Gretna northbound.
I do personally think though that there’s been a lot of improvements on the M6 M74 corridor lately.
But now the big constraint is back in the highlands of Scotland. Aviemore and Inverness in particular are found to be frequently queuing with V2 speeds. They also have different customers: Less long distance, more: “my hotel / campsite doesnt have a reasonably priced charger”. That’s not good, and it reeks of market failure.
@ ah that’s great news. I was feeling slightly disappointed that I would not get to stop at Rheged anymore, on my trips to the lakes as I have to use Tebay due to supercharging. Rheged is arguably my favourite place to stop on any road trip, so that’s awesome they are getting charging! Thanks for the update.
I think the issue in Inverness is planning permission - there aren’t sites where they can install them. There was supposed to be one going in at Tesco on the A96/A9 junction but that has disappeared off the rollout map
@@justgetateslawhere can you view the rollout map?
Shown as greyed out on their map
Top tip…instead of wolfing down your quinoa and cress of free range granary rye and giving yourself indigestion you can just up the charge limit above 80% on your phone app, yes even on a high usage station, I’ve done it
Yes I know I can do that. Keenwa and what? I had Mac Cheese and Chips. As you saw. You’ve heard me speak, what part of cress do you think I am into…? 🤔
On both runs the chargers average rate was 100kW to 120kWh it seems that if you want 100 miles or 30kWh of chargers the battery curve is the limiting factor. I have to hand it to Tesla because the cars I have experienced are averaging 60 to 70 kW per hour chargers rates.
I’m planning a drive from Yorkshire to the south of Spain. I’ve mapped it out that we stop every 90-120 mins for 20 mins, through France and Spain most the stops are on Ionity / total energy / Zunder chargers, pretty much all 350-360kW. However I’m in an ID.Buzz with lots of luggage, so will be expecting 400Wh per mile.
Ouch
Good video! I suppose, if you are able to plan well, the stops can be adjusted to allow a longer stop for eating and a shorter one or two for charging and biological discharge. I live in Norway so Tesla chargers are everywhere. So on a family trip over the mountains we stopped for charging (V4) halfway and I had to move the car to a normal spot before the food came to the table! But that was a holiday and was fully fine with me 😊
Love the video and the lots of little stops one, I have a nissan leaf and a lot of people find it funny when I tell them I drive it 190 miles single trip but honestly its no bother for me in the slightest as now I prefer more stops now on long journeys as I don't feel as tired at the end of it, but that said I'm planing on getting an EV with more range this year but will likely still adopt the more stops strategy when driving distance, 👍.
How is the availability of Chademo these days? So many new charging locations - are you restricted to the older slower ones?
@justgetatesla honestly it's pretty good in fact grid serve just fitted 4 brand new ones on a bank of 12 in Stockport near me and also 4 more brand-new ones on birch services also there are 3 in the town I live in so it looks like they are still supporting them for now at least.
Totally agree, other than ionity which are plentiful now. I stop when I need to not when dictated by the car, and eating or doing RUclips filming determines how long I stop for not the car. On a short trip like Edinburgh to Manchester the car doesn't even need a stop but my bladder can't do that, it's close to a four hour drive even in a diesel car and i need a loo stop at todhills or ionity Carlisle. maybe we should do a tesla versus enyaq comparison 😂 i bet it would end up being your bladder range v my bladder range though 😎
The 80% battery on the Y outlasts my bladder!
My approach is to enjoy my lunch on trips and use the app to increase the Max. charge to 95% rather than the usual 80%
Works well when there a many chargers, but causing a queue is not ideal or kind of course. Charging is too fast, that’s the pleasing reality
Motorway journeys are reasonably well covered in the UK and will only improve.
However, journeys on A roads are not so good. Hopefully this will improve in 2025.
Tbh I tend to do a combination of the 2, short and longer charges depending on what I have to do after.
That said I do tend to charge for longer as I don't have home charging (99% supercharger as I type) so I tend to think about what I'm doing days in front. But the great thing about charging is the ability to do other things while stopped like having a bite to eat, go to the loo or whatever and stretch the legs. Yes, there are times where I wish I could drive for longer but as you say normally by the time I've driven for a couple of hours I'm ready for a break.
The only annoyance I find with the MY I have the nav's insistence on the shorter breaks at random places, I now tend to ignore it and navigate to the one I'd rather stop at.
The wipers on Tesla when you come out of a overhead covered area into direct head on sunlight. bonkers
You can change the charge limit to 100 even when its busy.
Great content as ever Ian - whenever we end up at a busy charger that has an 80% limit on it because it's busy, I've found that I've been able to increase that to 90% via the app if we're not going to make it back to the car on time and I want to avoid late fees. Might be worth a try?
I know you can do that. Was ready to go
Dumb question from an ICE owner, if stopping for a longer time because you need to eat, why not extend the "fill up" to 100%? I understand the last 20% takes longer? that will give you more time to eat and perhaps reduce the time or number of other stops.
I was ready to go
@@justgetatesla OK but why not let it run to 100% in case you get delayed a bit, it would save you rushing.
I would do that. I find it harder to avoid 100% than I do waiting for the charger😊
At busy sites like Tebay, tesla limit you to 80%of there is lots of demand
@@DaveG7920 I think that ICE mentality is rather different to an EV brain. 😁
I am always surprised by how much battery pre-heating uses. It might charge quicker with a warmer battery but then it needs to put more charge back in. Never navigate to the charger if you are going to be tight on range to avoid automatic pre-heating
Re. charging strategy, I just adapt to suit where chargers are and when I want to stop. Generally I prefer fewer longer stops, even if that does not lead to the minimum total journey time.
My philosophy is to stop when I need to stop for as long as I feel I need to. I've no fixed rule. If I have enough to get to the next stop, I go. Unless I'm still doing something, then I'll finish doing that, then i'll go. When on a trip, I usually set the limit to 100% even though I won't be going that high, just to give me a bit of leeway before I'm charged for taking up a spot when I'm not charging. If there are passengers in the car, that's a whole other story. The car is ALWAYS ready to go before they are. And if they are staying in the car while you pop for a pee, remember to stick it in dog mode, or turn off the intruder detection, as they are guaranteed to move about or just pop the door open. I still haven't had the need to be up at Tebay since getting the Tesla, but it's a very nice service area.
Why do we have to worry ourselves so much? Back then people drove horses, they couldn't go very far and have to make many stops to let the horses rest, drink and eat.
Before watching my bet is on more charges with a 50% charge max. That is what happened on a cross USA trip anyway.
Hi, in the video you drive down a very steep hill to dead end by the sea and turn around. Can you tell me where that was/is please? Great video with good info BTW.
On which video? Likely Crovie in Aberdeenshire
@@justgetatesla Spot on, I Googled it and yes. Now on my list to visit next trip on the NC 500 now via Aberdeen. Many thanks.
Longer stops for me as well. When on a trip, it is always surprising how much time it takes when you grab lunch and sort the kids out. The key for me is just the reliability of the charging stations. At the last Tesla Chargers we stopped at, we had to wait, even though the app said there were free chargers 🙁 Blocked by EVs not charging.
Using wipers manually is easily done without even looking in most cars so why not use the manual option in your tesla ...assuming it has one. To save the annoyance
how about timing the extra time to make each stop? More stops would take extra time getting to the charger and back on the road? DOes the faster rate of shorter but more stops save time overall? It seems not for you but given different weather and days, who knows?
What extra time getting back on the road?
Before I got a Tesla charging times were normally dictated by price if I needed to get a few kWh in just to get me down the road to a Tesla charger where I could fill up at half the price that's what I would do. Now I have a Tesla my charge times are normally determined by what facilities are available Tesla chargers are a bit variable and if you don't know them it's a bit of a problem, I once stopped at a closed Tesla Demo/ charging station busting for a pee and had to add a few kWh just to get me to next Tesla charging location where I could put in the charge I needed to get me to the destination :).
With stops, how are you timing them? Time parked or time slowing on highway to rejoining highway. (being a truck driver, these things are crucial to my day) Less stops are more practical and as you say they give you time to take a break.
I still think it would be better for you to show a recap of number of stops, battery percentage at each, total miles and cost of each trip, to build a long-term picture of daily use.
I’ve had a few people ask about time lost. What time lost? As I have said on video after video I would have stopped anyway - I’ve taken a break after around 3 hours ever since my days of driving 50k miles a year a few decades ago.
Well, lucky me. Tebay is 110 miles south of my home, and in the winter my SR MG4 reliably does 110 miles at motorway speed before I'm down to something like 4%. So obviously I have a loyalty card for the hot drinks there.
A few comments about the non-Tesla charging there. I'm not sure if you realise it, but there are *16* non-Tesla plugs at Tebay. Twelve on the northbound carriageway to match the 12 Tesla chargers on the southbound carriagway (maybe there are 13, I thought I saw another one tucked in a corner) AND these four extra ones opposite the Teslas on the southbound carriageway. So if you arrive in your non-Tesla, going south, and these four are taken, then you just move to the northbound carriageway (dodging all the Teslas coming the other way) and Bob's your uncle. (I do hope that's more chargers going in though, the more the merrier.)
They are advertised as being 150 kw, not 105 kw. I am not in a position to comment, because my car tops out at 88 kw anyway. So I don't really care, except if a site is busy then obviously the more the people with the super-fast-charging cars have to pour the coffee down their throats and run, the happier I am.
This slightly fell apart on 23rd December. All four southbound plugs were taken and what with these fences your video showed and Teslas converging on that corner and a guy in a high-viz vest with a clip-board, I turned smartly out of it and headed for the northbound side. To find more people in high-viz vests with clipboards efficiently marshalling a queue. There were seven cars in front of me.
That actually didn't sound so bad, with 12 chargers, except there was a Swarco engineer there trying to fix a recalcitrant charger (and his MG4 was occupying one of the other available plugs). I'd waited longer than I expected before I was called for my turn (did I mention they were efficient? they were even giving out tickets), and I got the newly-repaired charger. Still, I got plugged in and started the charge and headed for the coffee and scones. I was only going to Halifax (another 75 miles, yes I know, if I'd bought the LR model I wouldn't have had to stop at all) so really didn't need to go over (or indeed up to) 80%, but the car seemed to be charging slowly, even for the SR.
Then it stopped altogether. I abandoned the cappuccino and ran back to the charger, where it refused to accept the card it had just accepted 20 minutes ago. A bit more wrestling and the damn thing threw a complete "I am not working" message. Again. The marshal got me right in to a working plug though, sharing the charger with what appeared to be my car's twin but was in fact the LR model with the 145 kw charging speed. Some slight envy there for a moment. But by the time I'd got back to the coffee, retrieved my possessions which a vigilant waitress had removed for safe-keeping and accepted the free refill offered for my inconvenience, the car was already heading past 80%.
All in all though, what was meant to be a half-hour stop at Tebay had become two hours and it's just as well I was in plenty of time.
I was unlucky, particularly getting the broken charger, but also with the queue. On the equivalent day the previous year with nothing at Tebay I found the Instavolts at Booth's in Penrith queueing and headed straight for the Rheged Centre where I got a 50 kw plug immediately and (because the shared plug was the CHAdeMO) I didn't have to share power. I was actually MORE delayed this year despite the abundance of faster chargers at Tebay, because everybody and his EV seemed to be congregating there. I really really hope this experience (well-managed though it was) spurs them on to lots and lots of new chargers.
You make a good point about the time window for charging. Obviously I'm going to go down to 4% and charge up above 80% anyway, because, hey, not a long-range car. 110 miles to Tebay takes 2 hours though, and I'm ready for lunch (or at least coffee) by then. I really really don't mind that I'll be stopped there for maybe 45 minutes to get the car up over 80%, because I need to go to the loo then queue for the grub, and as you say there are usually hordes of people in ICE cars thronging the eatery. And I want to eat my lunch in peace, not pour hot coffee down my throat without actually swallowing.
So sure, if you're in a hurry, do not buy my car. But if you don't do motorway trips very often, and you're not in a desperate rush, it's absolutely fine. I reckon to get to the south coast of England, which is 450 miles, I do Tebay (lunch), Trentham Park Gardens (afternoon coffee) and Cherwell Valley (evening snack to keep me going). Although in summer I can do Forton (147 miles, but food not as good as Tebay), Solihull (no food but you get to look at snazzy Teslas for a bit) and a quick range-extender at Cobham. It's all good.
I've got Sheffield to Peterhead to do in my Model Y standard range next month. Will be my first big road trip with an EV. Dont know whether I'm looking forward to it or not.. 😅
It will be fine! And the Bloo Toon at the end
@justgetatesla should I have added it will be with my 2 year old for company?? Can see several more stops for nappy changes, than the car will need for charging!
Hi Ian, longer stops for me especially if I am having a full English! Over 67 Supercharger stops I averaged 43kwh of charge and average stop time of 31mins, (pushing up to 90% charge so I can finish eating.... ).
Suggestion for a video. As you approach the 50k Basic Vehicle Limited Warranty, will you have the car inspected for any warranty issues or potential MOT issues in September? There are several EV mobile tech companies that do this sort of thing. (See James & Kate video on Utube)
I drive 25k a year similar to you and was told many years ago to drive no more than 2.5 hours between breaks the same as truck drivers which is perfect to refresh your concentration and is perfect for the longer stop strategy which is my preference.
My question is when I add a supercharger stop early in my journey the battery starts to pre-condition and as you say drinks some range, so what is the best time to add the stop to allow preconditioning to occur to optimal levels without drinking range for the fun of it?
I used to drive 50k a year - we had similar policy advice from the company about breaks.
As for early stops, I don’t really do them
2022 Kia Soul Maxx with the "big battery"; best charge rate I can ever possibly get is (allegedly) 70KW, most I've seen from a charger is 64KW, and even then, that was for all of 5 minutes. Given 80%/20% running, I'm going to be having a 45 minute stop at the best of times... Big whoop; 80% will get me 3 hours of driving easy (well over 200 miles. I get tired of it in less than that and appreciate a break. Summer and winter, I visit the continent (South London to Portsmouth, then St Malo to Vannes), and I get that journey in a single charge no bother.
i feel like the wipers prioritise the autopilot more than the driver lmao
Had my first Tesla charging experience last week.. what a sh1t show at Scotcorner, I ended up going 5 mins down the road to Gridserve.
you had your charge limit set to 80% from tobey and you said that to Perth was 180 with predicted range of 179. WOuld you just increase it to 90% charge limit for extra buffer to make it comfortably?
I knew that my rate of consumption had dropped significantly
My bladder dictates my charging intervals.
The difference between doing short stops compared to the longer stops is as you pointed out, not much in it but that 6 minutes is the time it takes to fill an old fashion out dated smelly diesel car or van ready for 600 miles plus.
600 miles non stop?
You would take a stop in those 600 miles though
Wondered about getting the acceleration boost for my Model Y LR, but I'm not convinced that it's worth forking out £1,500. Since you did your upgrade, what percentage would you estimate that you've driven in Chill mode versus Sport mode? Your answer will help me decide and is much appreciated. Thanks 😊
My wife drives on Chill. I mostly drive on sport. And giggle at the lunacy I can deliver with my right foot
So when you're not filming in the car you use Sport mode 100% of the time as all your videos show you driving in Chill mode. Perhaps it's to stop you from continuously laughing on your videos 😂
I use chill not that often when off camera
Hi, I’ve got an MG 4 standard range and I did a long journey recently I found it very annoying because I got to one charging station and where there was meant to be six working there were only 3, on this journey I used ionity app to plan my route and used only ionitys network, I normally use Electroverse because it’s part of the octopus energy company and you get slightly cheaper rates from my last experience that’s what I’ll be using from now on, personally now I’ve had the experience of owning an electric car and trying to plan routes I will probably go back to petrol because I can’t really afford a Tesla even though it does seem to look very simple to plan and charge.
I have a Tesla and it is very easy and cheaper but I do think I could manage with an MG 4. The standard range is very Limited given the range and charging speed but most of the time my Tesla LFP which charges slower than the AWD and performance charges faster than I need. I’m rushing back and not waiting for it
The standard range MG4 should do over 200 miles so, unless you do long trips regularly, it should be fine. If you do lots of long trips, maybe the long range would have been a better choice? For sure, my MG5 is great for trips between Edinburgh & Leeds to visit my son.
MG5 - From Inverness to Edinburgh (via Aberdeen) will plan 2 x 30 mins stops to get to 80% before moving on (Aberdeen IONITY and Perth Tesla Supercharger, l use the spot at the top at Perth also as have to straddle the lines and do not want to get in the way of other EV users). Should have just got a Tesla :)
Naah, I have a lot of respect for the MG5
I position my MG5 at the right hand side of the bay and find that the cable (on type 2 at least) fits just fine.
Did you take the time including slowing down and finding the chargers not just the car being stationary. One stop can take 15 minutes just to get to the Supercharger and plug in. Even on a motorway it will take time out of your journey to slow down and get to the charger, then pull out and get up to speed again.
It takes 5 minutes to cross north to south and back again at Tebay. Most SC sites in the UK are directly next to the road. Who fed you “15 minutes”???
@@justgetatesla Me. Try driving down the A1 doing small jumps. Ferrybridge, Scotch Corner, Grantham all take time from slowing down to getting to the charger and back on the road again. Then travel to France. Most are off the Autoroute. Some 10 kilometers away. Small jumps would be a nightmare, adding hours to the journey time.
Try? I’ve done repeated trips up and down the A1. In the summer it’s 2 stops only to get to Dartford - Edinburgh and Ferrybridge. Edinburgh is 2 mins off the motorway. Ferrybridge 1 minute off. South of there? Blyth services. Grantham services etc - all directly on the route
Longer stops are better for me. I’m going to stop for at least 30 minutes anyway for the toilet and something to eat & drink.
Anybody getting a lot of cabin rattles in their tesla MY, I picked my 24 plate last month and there is a vibration buzz coming from somewhere thats driving me mad!
Charge anxiety is real when at a Tesla stop. If I'm eating I'll push the max charge to 100% too buy me an extra 20 mins. Save me from the pound a min fine fear.
Why don’t you charge up to 90% or even 100% so you can have more time to rest instead of rushing your lunch?
I could - but I’m trying to make the point that the stress is charging too quickly, not too slowly
Why did you not charge to more than 80% at Tebay, giving yourself time to eat your lunch and not needing to stop at Perth 🤷🏼♂️
I was ready to go!
Why set your charge to 80% when you haven’t finished your dinner?
It set itself to charge as the place was full. Empty bays when I arrived. Full as I left. I could have extended by changing the charge limit. But i was ready (just). And it’s RUclips…
Hi, looking to “just get a Tesla “ when my currant lease ends, quick question, it looks like you went to the Tebay chargers without going on the motorway, is this correct ?
You can cross North to South using the service roads. It’s signposted
Why do you only charge to 80% when doing long trips mate ?
Because the rate of charge slows down dramatically the closer you get to 100%. It’s the trick used by The MacMaster to make his charging stops extra long
@@justgetateslabut if you want to enjoy your break a little longer you can easily change charge limit using the app so you don’t have to rush back to move it!
I really like Trentham & Larkhall on my trips north. V4s. Both have good facilities.
@@justgetatesla ahh nice one. I’m new to all this only got my model 3 2 weeks ago. Is it normal to hear noise also when the car is warming up / pre condition ?
Why not charge to 100%?
Charging to 100% takes hours
I find this hilarious. I live in the Pyrenees and drive my Model 3 LR to St Malo or Calais. If I followed the advice of Tesla Nav and stopped more often for eg.8 or 16 minutes and other arbitrary times, the journey that takes 6 and 8 hours respectively in the Peugeot Rifter diesel, would require a tow off an autoroute (motorway) to a supercharger. As it stands, doing the right thing and charging to realistic levels which get us to the next supercharger with about 10%, we charge less often and the St Malo trip takes about 10 hours and to Calais requires an overnight stay in Le Mans and another several hours to Calais but in terms of driving 12 hours. In the Peugeot with lunch and stops average 9 hours with no overnight stop.
I know the Cult of Tesla is going to challenge these facts because their favourite billionaire has had them invest heavily in his dreams and I know they’ll use Zapmap to argue that 6minute stops are what I should do…. let’s see.
I’ve been planning a trip down to Alicante. Stops don’t look to add more time than I would be stopped for anyway. Your Peugeot - do you drive it non stop?
@ First of all, I’m not saying that it cannot and has not been done. We have the Long Range 2021 model 3 because it makes longer trips a bit easier. We’ve met very few people who have made it this far south in anything with lower range batteries because it’s expensive and hellish. The max range of the LR battery on dry summer roads, is 409km/250miles BUT at m’way speeds 90-130km/hr/60-80mph, that drops to about 180-200mile max.
The real value of Teslas is the Supercharging but they’re always 10 mins to get to and and back to the autoroute BUT always cheaper per kW than other networks. Total cost for the St Malo trip is about €60 of charge and €80 péage fees. Total cost in the Peugeot is about the same and the only stops are for a stretch and lunch, depending on time of journey. The Tesla needs very careful planning because Nav makes stuff up.
The real issues start when off the autoroutes because there are so many networks. Many work with Chargemap etc but many are 7-22kW units and they are maddeningly slow and costly.
The only way to know is to do it but I would urge caution and keep a very close eye on your real range and where the nearest superchargers are. Another issue I have found, is when using autopilot. In short, I stopped using it after a few weeks of downright scary nonsense which it caused and have tested it a couple of times a year since but my wife will not allow it while she’s in the car and I distrust it to do any more than basic cruise.
I totally agree with you, apart from the last paragraph.
How often do you do that long drive? You may do it regularly so fair enough. It’s that I see that argument a lot and I don’t get why people put 99% of the buying decision into 1% of their annual use. They are missing out for a little inconvenience 1% of their use.
As a level headed thinker and an enjoyer of tech. The 1% of my use of the car per year ie 2 x 7hr trips I do the south west each year isn’t going to make up 99% of my buying decision.
I’m looking forward to buying a Tesla and not worrying about how much time I’ll add to 2 long drives each year.
@ Teslas were and still are sold based upon their tech prowess. Tesla is a tech company which installs its tech into cars. When the most expensive aspects of that tech are dysfunctional and unusable, that 1% you refer to, translates to ten grand spent on it in real terms. When I need something to work and it doesn’t, that makes it useless. So before EVERY drive I settings-autopilot-off forward collision warning and off lane keeping with emergency avoidant steering. So regardless of how often I need it, when I do and can’t… you take my point. Why not make it a subscription?
Teslas aren’t well balanced, are over powered, are inextricably linked to a Aspergic lunatic who corrupts global far right politics… The only reason we still have it (I have three cars) is because like all EVs, it costs little to run. However, insurance is THREE times that of our second car and €800-1000 of tyre every two years puts a huge dent in that.
@@LysanderLH if that how it works for you then that is your Experian e and I cannot argue with that. Generally if it was that bad for everyone else then the sales figures don’t reflect your experience.
I’m not going to get into politics on this channel. Except to say one persons enemy is another persons freedom fighter.
Tesla as a company is doing great things and so aspects of his opinions I don’t like. In the same way I don’t like how every goes on about the global manufacturer being a communist state but every one still buys there stuff and is happy with our companies using that country as its workforce.
Hypocrisy depending on what the media says.
Just me as a level headed thinker and not a media sheep.
Spot the deliberate mistake lol 14.04 ( ish ) I thought you drove a model Y, not a model 3? lololol. Must be an age related slip, or too much Christmas spirit lol. Happy New Year Ian to you and your family.
Lol well spotted!
@@justgetatesla Proves one thing. I watch and digest lol
Who TF wants to make ANY stops ?? Buy a diesel folks I’m in heaven since I flogged my ev,Ahhhh bliss 🇬🇧
Who wants to make any stops? On an 8 hour journey? Everyone! What is it with you FUDdy keyboard warrior types who insist you drive all day non stop?
No, you don’t.