I’m well familiar with the Toronto to Miami route, as I’ve done it comfortably in the past over a two day stretch. But this was the first time I’ve done in an EV, and this time I was the sole driver. How often would I need to charge? How much longer does it take than a gas car? I was excited to put my Model Y to the test.
As you can see in my video, the Tesla route planner inside the car took literally two seconds to plan the entire 1,450-mile drive and necessary charging stops. You just follow directions, and it tells you where to go and how long to stay. Tesla makes it easy for anyone just to get in and drive.
Route Planner charted a route down from New York State from I-79, to I-77 and finally joining I-95 in South Carolina for the home stretch into Florida. A total of 9 Supercharger stops were planned, about 150 miles apart. But we were able to cut it down to 8, because our hotel for the night had a destination charger.
With about 11-12 hours of driving time per day, charging probably added an additional 1 hour. But honestly, as the sole driver, I was happy to get more breaks. If we had more drivers and a gasoline combustion car, we could have conceivably saved an hour.
How could the travel time gap between EV and ICE close even further? The Model Y is already one of the most energy-efficient compact SUVs on the market. But perhaps if I was driving the Model 3 Long Range, which has the same powertrain, I would have covered closer to 180 miles instead of 150 miles between stops. The Model 3 is significantly lighter and has a smaller aerodynamic frontal area.
Another approach is a faster and flatter charging curve, to onboard more total energy faster. Although The Model Y can charge at 250 kW, that speed is maintained only to about 20%. By 40%, it’s taking in 150 kW, and by 70% it’s at 70 kW. Electric cars from Porsche, Mercedes, and Hyundai/Kia already have better and flatter charging curves that result in much faster average charging speeds. If we could charge at a constant 200 kW, a 40 kWh session would only take about 12 minutes instead of the typical 20-minute stops I was taking.
How much did this road trip cost? The 8 Supercharger sessions totaled $168.43 USD to drive 1,450 miles. But I didn’t count the 80% I started with from home, and the extra charge I got for free at the hotel. All in all, I think was still cheaper than driving a similarly sized gasoline-powered SUV, especially if it required premium fuel.
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