Tesla waypoints make it easy to decide how long to Supercharge on multi-stop road trips, safely skipping nav's suggested extra charging stop

Posted by Paul Braren on Jan 13 2022 (updated on Apr 29 2022) in
  • Efficiency
  • EVs
  • Tesla
    • 2022-03-29_12-12-51
    Initially, I saw 251 kw | 1024 miles per hour of V3 Supercharging speed!

    In the screenshot above, you'll note that Tesla Navigation is suggesting I stop to Supercharge twice on this family road trip. Because of the automatic preconditioning (battery warming) that my 2018 Tesla Model 3 Long Range did enroute to my first Supercharge, it calculated that I was only going to need to charge for 10 minutes at that first Supercharge stop, but I wanted to see what would happen if I chose to charge for 20 minutes instead. Below you'll see how I avoided an unnecessary second charging stop by leveraging the new waypoints feature built right into the Tesla Navigation. The car's UI assured me I'd easily make it to my final destination with a safe amount of battery charge left. Follow along with the video and see for yourself, or use this step-by-step guide with screenshots.

    If you find this tip comes in handy for you, or if you have suggestions for improvement, please leave a comment. Thank you!

    Step-by-step

    2022-03-11_09-53-40
    Adding Waypoints while Supercharging is straight-forward, even if your travel plan isn't. Boston wasn't our final destination, so I tapped the "+ Add" button.
    2022-03-11_10-03-02
    I've added my final destination of Wethersfield CT, then tapped Done to recalculate the trip.
    2022-03-11_10-09-37
    I had adjusted the charge level up to 90% instead of the default of 80%, so that we wouldn't have to stop to Supercharge again on this day trip, which is what the trip calculator had originally suggested.
    2022-03-11_09-58-21
    I verified 18% estimated state of charge upon arriving at my final destination, making it easy to decide that choosing 90% was the right choice, even at the expense of 10 extra minutes of charging. My family was busy shopping at IKEA anyway. We also wanted that extra buffer for some flexibility, should we stop for some errands on the way home as well.
    2021-12-29-trip-stats
    Dec 29 2021 road trip summary, from TeslaFi. With cold weather and about an hour of preconditioning, efficiency took a hit, but it also reduced the time needed to Supercharge.

    Here's the scenario. You're heading on a road trip and multiple stops are involved, and you know one or maybe even two Supercharging stops will be recommended by the car's on-screen navigation system. Why? Because Tesla's nav tends to simply tell you you're done charging as soon as you have enough juice to make it to your next destination. But what if that destination isn't your final destination of the day? What if you'd rather only Supercharge once? What if you still have other places to go first but you still want to know what your battery charge level be when you arrive at your final destination? Simple. Just use the Tesla's new navigation feature called waypoints. In the 4K video below, you'll see me demonstrate exactly how, during my recent real-world example on an actual road trip with my family, from Connecticut through Rhode Island and up to Boston, then back to Connecticut.

    2022-01-13_22-34-49
    TeslaFi automatically keeps a trip log and map for me, here's our Dec 29 2021 road trip.
    Charging-Graph
    TeslaFi-Affiliate-2022
    Click the screenshot above to get started with TeslaFi using the TinkerTry referral code.

    I was recently driving with family from home in Connecticut to Fall River Massachusetts and onward to Boston, then back home again. I decided to stop in Stoughton MA for a little Target and IKEA shopping while V3 Supercharging. Since I set the navigation to this Supercharger nearly an hour earlier, so there was plenty of time for the automatic preconditioning to do its thing, bringing the battery up near 130°F. You'll be able to see my main battery's temperature in this video actually, using my OBD device. This pre-warmed battery also meant I had a very speedy Supercharging initially, briefly hitting the fastest V3 Supercharging speeds that I've ever experienced at 251kW and 1024 mi/hr, despite the 44°F/6.7°C outdoor temperature!

    The car will sometimes optimize your multi-stop route with multiple Supercharging stops, which can be the shortest travel time since charging above 80% slows down quite a bit. In this video, I chose to go to 90%, and I explain why in the video.

    Video

    While parked, you'll then see and hear me:

    1. Set up my multi-stop route home.
    2. Easily view the estimate of what my battery will be at once I arrive home after stopping in Boston first.
    3. Manually adjust my battery charge level to arrive home with about 20% battery and avoid the need to stop to Supercharge again for the rest of the day.
    4. Get out of the car to use Target's facilities and buy stuff, then look very dorky taking numerous photos of the parking lot.
    New v11 UI waypoints makes planning multi-stop trips even easier while Tesla Supercharging at 251 kW

    Photos

    IMG_3322.JPG
    There it is, 251 kw / 1024 mi / hr at 17% state of charge on my 2018 Tesla Model 3 Long Range.
    TeslaFi-record-fast-Supercharging-curve
    TeslaFi-record-fast-Supercharging-sheet
    Preconditioning
    You can see my car was preconditioning for nearly an hour in the 41˚F outdoor temps that day while navigating to the Supercharger. This is why it's so important to set your destination in your nav, so your Tesla can reduce the time needed to charge.

    Social

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    Mar 01 2022 Update

    1498435748504219649

    in the more recent V3 Supercharge video, at this spot
    https://youtu.be/7jPq9pH7SN4?t=0m12s
    you'll see my peak temp was briefly 136.4°F (58°C), but ambient temp was only 44°F.

    See also at TinkerTry

    tesla-stats-for-nerds

    See also

    Disclosure: My family owns no stock in Tesla. Tesla doesn't advertise at TinkerTry, or anywhere else, and this is not a sponsored post. We purchased two Tesla Model 3s, replacing my 2006 Honda Civic Hybrid in December of 2018 and replacing my wife's 2005 Honda Civic EX in December of 2019. These big moves to an all-electric household were an expression of our mutual desire to go green, avoid gasoline, be safe, have fun, and save money in the long run. Mostly for my job, I drive a lot, 25,000 miles in 2019 for example, and I thoroughly enjoy sharing what I've learned with you. I hope you can tell!

    TinkerTry - PCs, EVs, home tech, efficiency and more, including virtualization. My opinions here, not my employer's.

    Paul Braren, MCSE in 1998, VCP #2681 in 2005, vExpert 2014 to 2024, Veeam Vanguard Emeritus, 2015 to 2019.

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