Tesla’s Supercharging Network Propels EV Charging
My wife and I visit Baltimore, using Tesla’s Supercharging Network, and average $0.08 cents/mile.
By Tim Benford, Past President of the
Dayton EVA Chapter
Tesla’s Supercharging network is changing the game for electric vehicle (EV) charging in 2023. Recently, my wife and I drove to Baltimore from Dayton, OH, for our grandson’s high school graduation. With five years of experience driving my red Tesla Model 3 Long Range – Sparky – with Navigate On Autopilot and Full Self Driving (FSD), I no longer have a whiff of range anxiety when embarking on a road trip.
Moreover, I’m so used to the accuracy of the onboard computer’s planner application that I don’t even feel the need to charge to 100% before setting off.
For the recent trip, I ran a simulation or two on the Tesla mobile phone app to learn where I would need to recharge for my first stop. I knew the Supercharger location from the App and only required 90 percent of battery capacity at home to reach the first stop.
“Because the Supercharger stall recognizes my EV’s VIN and my credit card is connected to my Tesla account, the cost – $18.72 – of the electrons Tesla supplied to my EV (48 kWh) appears on my EV’s screen once charging has stopped. ”
At home, I have a NEMA 14-50 electric socket on the garage wall, solar panels on the house roof, and a Tesla Mobile Cable to connect the socket to my EV. So, sunshine powered the first leg of the trip. I get about 30 miles per hour of charging using this method–perfectly satisfactory for local driving and road trip preparation.
The first stop on the road to Baltimore was the Supercharger in Cambridge, OH, at a Sheetz truck stop. There was no wait for a charging port, and the charger was fully serviceable – as were all the Superchargers on this trip. This Tesla Supercharging station had 150 kWh stalls, which was more than adequate to get us on our way in the time it took to use the bathroom, buy, and consume a coffee and donut.
During the visit, the Tesla mobile phone app let me know when my EV was ready to drive after charging. Because the Supercharger stall recognizes my EV’s VIN and my credit card is connected to my Tesla account, the cost – $18.72 – of the electrons Tesla supplied to my EV (48 kWh) appears on my EV’s screen once charging has stopped.
From there, we drove to our next Supercharger location in Washington, PA, and repeated the exercise.
Tim’s trip was $0.08 cents a mile versus $0.12 with an ICE vehicle.
Since our Model 3 has FSD, I use it whenever I can on city streets, and did so on this round trip to and from Baltimore while Navigate on Autopilot did the heavy lifting on the highways. I have the latest version — at the time — of FSD, Beta v11.4.3, and found it very reliable. I always pay attention while using FSD and noticed no disconnections on this trip. It even drove us safely through Toll Booths unaided! I always find that I am less tired from driving when leaving most of the work for FSD.
Our third and final stop en route to Baltimore was at the Sheetz truck stop at Breezewood, PA. Again, all but one of the twelve Supercharger stalls were open, and the one we used was serviceable. We quickly added 19 kWh for $6.27 in the time it took to freshen up inside Sheetz.
Avoiding Tolls Option with Full Self Driving
Everyone can agree road trips can be about adventure and freedom. So, I learned how to set the onboard navigation settings to avoid toll roads and have a little fun. The rest of the journey to our Airbnb in the Canton District of Baltimore routed us on the Lincoln Highway. This route was mostly a two-lane road which was a little slower and more arduous driving. However, the scenery was beautiful and bucolic. We avoided that on return to Dayton by deselecting Avoid Tolls in Sparky’s settings.
Our delightful Airbnb on Decker Avenue did not offer Level 2 charging, but this was not a problem. Ten minutes – 2 miles – away were twelve 250 kWh Superchargers located next to Harris Teeter, Target stores, and other shops within sight of the Patapsco River. We could top up here before driving back to Dayton later in the week. We didn’t have the opportunity to get any free charging on this trip, but as you can see from this Google Sheet, we saved at least $40 over the gasoline cost of refueling an ICE car while Supercharging with Tesla.
Our journey home on Autopilot and FSD reversed the charging stops detailed above. Again, we never had to wait to charge, and each stall was fully serviceable. We were fortunate that the weather was sunny on both journeys and we weren’t troubled by road works or traffic jams.
Scheduling EV Charging Stops
We could easily have done only two charging stops in each direction on this trip. However, although I don’t have EV range anxiety, at 76, I do have bladder range anxiety, requiring the extra stop.
We enjoyed seeing our daughter and family and attending our grandson’s HS graduation. Also, we can highly recommend visiting Fort McHenry, of Star Spangled-Banner fame, and the spectacular Baltimore National Aquarium the next time you visit this city.
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