Should I rent a Tesla?
November 5, 2019 9:28 PM   Subscribe

Over Christmas I'll be traveling with my family to a small US vacation town and I have the opportunity rent a Tesla. I'd love to do this - is it practical?

Looking at the town, there are chargers everywhere, but I have questions!
1. There isn't a charging station where I am staying, so we'd have to charge up elsewhere. How long does this take and how long does the car stay charged for?
2. We'd be traveling to a national park 2 hours away and driving around that park - where I doubt there will be chargers - can we make it there and back on a single charge?
3. The town we are staying in looks like it has charging stations all over the place - but can Teslas use just any charger, or do I need to look for a specific type?
4. Anything I need to know about Teslas that I wouldn't think of?
posted by Toddles to Travel & Transportation (9 answers total) 2 users marked this as a favorite
 
Here are some charging data for the standard range Model 3. This particular one is a UK specific page - so you might want to look for something more US specific.
posted by rongorongo at 10:25 PM on November 5, 2019


We travelled from San Jose to Los Angeles and back with a Telsa Model 3 extended range. If there are Tesla superchargers in the area you are visiting, those can get the battery up to about 80% in less than 45 minutes and close to a full charge in a hour. We just stopped and got a meal while it was charging it worked well for us. It did mean planning the route around where would need to recharge. Superchargers are the way to go if you don't have overnight charging.

Once charged, the car will use power as you drive. The distance will depend on both the model and also the weather (lower mileage in colder weather) I would google to find some guidance from drivers about the mileage that they get in the area where you are going.

Note, in cold weather, if you keep the car colder but use the seat warmers you will save battery power vs heating all the air in the car.

Telsa's have their own configuration for their charging port. Ours came with an adapter that allowed us to use the most standard style of chargers as well - ask the people you rent from about that.
posted by metahawk at 10:52 PM on November 5, 2019 [1 favorite]


If you do rent one, definitely find a spot with light traffic to do some driving to get used to it. The acceleration is ridiculous, and the way they slow down when you come to a red light/stop sign also takes some getting used to.
posted by jonathanhughes at 4:18 AM on November 6, 2019 [1 favorite]


Anything I need to know about Teslas that I wouldn't think of?

The rental will probably be rear-wheel drive (I learned this when I was checking out friend's brand new car and I punched the throttle coming out of a corner on wet pavement 😬 no harm was done but it got our attention)
posted by exogenous at 5:00 AM on November 6, 2019


During a trip this past summer, one of the families in the vacation house came in a Model 3 and trickle charged the car overnight in the garage using a standard extension cord. That can certainly help ease range anxiety.
posted by mmascolino at 5:09 AM on November 6, 2019


I have owned multiple EVs, and have rented EVs (including Teslas) multiple times.

The easiest way to live with an EV is to be able to plug in overnight. Even a regular wall outlet will give you 40-80 miles of range per day. If you are at your destination for more than a couple days, you'll leave fully charged.

If no charging overnight, then you gotta hunt down public stations.

1. Make sure the Tesla you are renting comes with the J1772 adapter.
2. Use Plugshare to find stations.
3. Set Plugshare to only show Tesla stations and J1772 stations.
4. Don't just see a pin on that Plugshare map and expect it to go perfectly. Click into the pin and A) read the description and B) read the recent "checkins". For example, it could be a restricted site (e.g. restricted to customers of that business).
5. If you still aren't finding stations, turn on "residential" listings in Plugshare (blue pins), and see if some nice owner has a station nearby that you can use.
6. If you still aren't finding stations, turn on the NEMA 15-50 listings in Plugshare, and confirm with the Tesla supplier that their charge cord that comes with the NEMA 14-50 capability. You'll typically find these at RV parks -- and national parks!

You only need enough charge to make it to the next Tesla Supercharging site on your route. The supercharge.info/map site has the best and latest information about those high power sites.
posted by intermod at 5:22 AM on November 6, 2019 [1 favorite]


We just plug our Tesla into our standard garage outlet overnight, and that's enough to recharge it from my husband's commute each day. But a standard outlet only charges at a rate of around 4 miles an hour.

Absolutely download Plugshare.

The Tesla will show you Tesla chargers on it's screen, but if you have the J1772 adapter you can charge at many non-Tesla chargers. The Tesla will tell you how much of a charge you will have when you reach your destination, and how much of a charge you'll have when you return. This all updates in real time.

Teslas have regenerative braking, so that's something to get used to. They also have crazy fast acceleration. By default most Teslas are set to charge to about 80 percent to save the battery. Put your finger on the battery icon on the screen and slide it to 100 percent to for a completely full charge.
posted by Ostara at 10:13 AM on November 6, 2019


In addition to Plugshare and Tesla's own route planner, I find abetterrouteplanner.com to be useful for planning more complicated trips.

Put your finger on the battery icon on the screen and slide it to 100 percent to for a completely full charge.
You can do this, but it's only really useful for overnight charges when you're taking a longer trip in the morning. It slightly damages the battery if you leave it sitting 100% charged, so you'll annoy the owner if you forget to undo it before returning the car. Also, supercharging to 100% takes ages. It's usually better to just get going once you get to 80%ish unless you know you really need the extra charge.
posted by rhamphorhynchus at 1:02 PM on November 6, 2019


2. We'd be traveling to a national park 2 hours away and driving around that park - where I doubt there will be chargers - can we make it there and back on a single charge?


You'd definitely need a Supercharger near the park (which, maybe there is) and probably have to use it on the way in and way out to be safe. If you are somewhere with a cold climate, understand the rage could be up to 50% less than normal.
posted by starman at 7:43 AM on November 11, 2019


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