Planning a 3000 mile road trip

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Copcar

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Dec 18, 2024
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Last year my wife and I made a trip billed as our “last hurrah”. From WA state to ME and return, 6750 miles 30 days. Our vehicle was a 2006 Dodge Sprinter Van (5cyl diesel) with a 24’ Leisure Travel Van RV build. Going East it was through Canada, returning, through the Northern part of the US. September so no climate issues I thought I was through with road trip challenges BUT now we are planning a trip to Arizona in February with our 2021 BEV i3. So fellow fools I need your experienced advice.

Road miles expected 1350 miles each way broken down to 337 miles/day, 4x85 miles charging stops on the Northern half and 3/115 miles on the Southern half. I-5 at Portland, Ore is 161’ MSL at Siskiyous Pass 4,310 feet. No driving in snow conditions. Northern half of the trip will likely have night time parking below freezing, day time low 40’s. At my home on Whidbey Island, the range of (Cop Car) my black & white i3 at full charge and 50 degrees is 170 miles which usually provides about 150 actual road miles .

At this writing Electrify America is my prime charge provider. Tesla superchargers are in my gun sight. My charging plan is to charge to 50% more range than I need to reach the next charging station. Where altitude changes, severe cold or lack of interim charges in case of an emergency are an issue, charge to maximum. Always set to EcoPro.

When would be the best time to charge for the last charge each day. Do it at day's end or wait for the morning using preconditioning? If L1 charging is available at the motel, should I plug in?
 
Sounds like fun! Since you will be doing a lot of charging cycles, I would think it would make sense to charge up to 90% at the end of the day some days and let it sit like that overnight to allow battery cell balancing to happen.
 
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