The number one question that we are asked by friends is “How Will You Charge Your Tesla?”
Yes, we are driving almost 3,000 miles and the Tesla has about 330 miles range on a full battery charge. There are chargers now in every state and worldwide, Tesla now has installed over 30,000 chargers.
Our GPS indicates where the different chargers are on our route map. Our preference is always to have the fastest level of charge - which will charge almost 300 miles in an hour of charge. And, as the car was purchased in 2018, we qualify for free charging at any of the Tesla Station.
Today, we left the hotel in Philadelphia with 92 miles range on the battery. So, we stopped at a Tesla charging stop next to a WAWA store - near the Philadelphia Airport.
Here is MASIE Tesla charging for about 30 minutes in a row of over 12 chargers.
In addition, there are what are called Destination Chargers - which are usually located at a hotel or restaurant - with a slower rate of charge and always free for customers. Plus, there are now 3rd party and government supplied charging stations - which may require us to use an adaptor to fit the Tesla plug format.
Charging is clearly one of the questions we ask every day as the route is planned and the GPS provides real time status of which charging stations we can stop in. It will even indicate how many of the charging stations are open at the time - plus the speed of the chargers.
Our plan is to use charging stops as also bathroom, coffee or a short meal pause.
When I got the my first Tesla almost 7 years ago, charging was much more challenging. But the automobile world is going EV and Hybrid - and charging is easier and almost a “no-brainer” along the way.
Emergency Note: If we can’t get to any charger, and the battery is almost empty, we can plug into a normal 110 volt plug at a house or store - where it will juice up about 5 miles an hour. But, haven’t had to use that emergency route in over 6 years.