I was trying to come up with something to say about our long weekend trip back to FLX region this weekend. This time, we stayed in Geneva NY. And honestly, the only thing to talk about was how flawless and easy this whole trip was for us. On the way "UP" (those of us from Western PA all know that "UP" means "north") We made two stops on the way up. The first stop was about 20 minutes at the Hickory Run Rest stop for a bathroom break and I needed to grab a sandwich for lunch. The second one was also a 20 minute stop in Ithaca where we did some grocery shopping at Trader Joe's to have a few things for the house for the weekend. The combination of these two stops probably added about 15-20 minutes to our overall drive to get to Geneva if you factor we would have had to stop twice for bathroom breaks and probably a gas stop along the way. Also, I just had knee surgery just over a week before we left, and I really needed to be out of the car to stretch out the leg anyway. While in Geneva
In addition to the L1 trickle charge I was able to get at the rental on a 110V outlet (I added about 55% of the battery through the weekend during overnight charges), we also took advantage of the L2 (FREE) chargers at the Finger Lakes Visitor Center on Saturday. We spent several hours there on Saturday morning at the Farmers Market that was there (which was awesome) and walking the trail along the lake. Later that day, we parked in Geneva to explore town and got an additional several percent (also free) at the EV chargers downtown. Although there are no Tesla SuperChargers right in Geneva, we really didn't need it at all. If we did, there was one 13 miles away in Waterloo (about a 20 minute drive from our rental). There is now 2 DCFC stations in downtown Geneva as well. I have ordered and should receive this week, a CCS to Tesla converter that will allow us to use these chargers on our next visit. (side note, Emily was with us with her Model 3 for the weekend as well. She only needs one stop to get there...more efficient car, and we left her car at the visitors center all day long to get a full charge while we explored the region in our Model Y).
EV charging infrastructure is about to explode with the recent infrastructure and Inflation bill that was signed by Congress and the president. Most of these new chargers are going to be of the CCS variety, so having the Adapter is going to come in handy I predict. On the way home
We left the rental with 90% charge and explored the area for several hours before heading home with about 80% from winery where we had lunch. We only need to stop twice for about 8 minutes each time on the way home, and arrived home with just under 20% charge. This is actually where I didn't fully understand what my car was doing or recommending in terms of the path it wanted to take home. It was suggesting a stop in Ithaca to charge up for several minutes. I suppose this would have worked as we drive almost right by this Charger, but the problem is that we still had a high SOC at this point, and as such, it is just a slower charge. We decided to not stop there and go further to the Binghamton SuperCharger as our first stop/charge. In hindsight, getting to this charger takes additional time and probably isn't efficient and might add 10 minutes to our drive. It is also the worst charger I have been to in my opinion. There is only a sketchy dinner available there for food or bathroom stops. Other places are available, but they would require walking across a pretty dangerous road.
For the Nerds.... all the drive and charge data. https://www.teslafi.com/sharedRT.php?roadtrip=jDIGUQF4O5oYv34
4 Free Level 2 (6-7 kw) Chargers at the Finger Lakes Visitors Center in Geneva
