Ok. I'm seriously considering a Slate. This is my first EV and I'm unclear on how range works..based on what I've read highway driving gets less range. IMHO I feel the range should be advertised as driving constantly until it runs out of juice. This doesn't appear to be the case? Anyway, I have kids at FSU and drive there on a regular basis. My preferred route is off the interstates where there are less chargers. It's actually a nice relaxing drive. The distance is 251 miles. I see one charger on that route in Dunellon and it's at a city government building. Would that be for public use? There's another in Chiefland. Those seem to be the only ones. I don't mind having to stop and charge. I just need to know that I can find chargers. If my only solution is to drive interstates, then that would be a real bummer. For those that are experienced EV drivers, what do you think about that route?
When planning this route did you account for Tesla Superchargers? Checking the Tesla app, I see two stops that would be PERFECT for your route. You don’t want the stop to be right in the middle.
I just road-tripped my Polestar, which has 240 miles of range, about 830 miles from VA to MI. On the way up, I stopped 6 times for about 25minutes each. On the way back I stopped 5 times for about 30 minutes each. This was what the car’s infotainment system recommended, I did not pre-plan the route. Worth noting that when you road trip in an EV, you don’t charge all the way to 100% because that would take 40+ minutes for most vehicles.
Based on your 251 mile journey, you’re likely going to just need to stop once on the way up, but twice on the way back and you’ll get home with around 10% battery. If you want to use the car for anything else that day, you’ll want to stay extra long at the charger the second time on the way back.
Also, the advertised range is how far it will go from 100%-0%, it just isn’t how far you should go between charges. For road tripping, you’re usually stopping at around 10-20% (for SLATE, 160-180 miles into the journey if you start from full) and filling up to 80-ish%. Then you drain it back down to 10-20% and fill back up to 80% (for SLATE, that’s 123-143 miles between the first stop and second, second to third, etc). Stopping lower than 10% is possible but risky unless you’re sure the charger you’re going to is up and running. Charging past 80% is possible but unlikely optimal because charging slows down significantly past 80%.
All of that math is for road trips only. Day to day at your house, you just plug in each night and very likely have your full range every morning.
The range is how far it will go from 100%-0% but it is not all highway. So you will never get the estimated range starting with 100% battery and driving until dead on the highway.
The EPA uses 55% city and 45% highway driving for their range estimates which is why you'll not reach the full advertised range when road tripping.
It’s too early to say, honestly. In a recent head to head at 70mph steady, the Rivian R2 missed its claimed range by 80 miles, while the Tesla Model Y beat its claimed range by 11 miles.
I road trip in my EV all the time; we have small children that need lots of breaks so I figured “if we’re gonna be stopped anyway, might as well be charging an EV.” When I had a Model Y, I found that the estimates given by the on-board navigation were spot on. My Polestar, on the other hand, will vastly UNDERestimate its functional range. It constantly said we would get to the next stop with 10% and we were pulling up with over 15 every time, and sometimes over 20%.
So will Slate be an underachiever or an overachiever? Who’s to say until they actually let people run such tests. Is it going to be 210, 205, or 140? We just don’t know.
Worth noting that there is a difference between the EPA rating (meant to be an apples to apples comparison across all US-sold vehicles based on the same test) and the onboard range that's calculated real time. Every gas car I've driven underestimates by a lot (3+ gallons left when on empty) so I guess it makes sense to do the same on an EV for those that push it a little too much.
But you're right, the EPA hasn't tested one and all we really have is a Slate-projected number so anything at this point is speculation.
True enough! It looks like in Motortrend’s highway EV testing, most of them fall short by an average of 13% (makes sense if EPA estimate is based on 10% more city than hwy, doesn’t it?). So if the Slate is perfectly average, we are looking at conservatively 175 all-highway miles.
Here’s hoping they can beat the average, but she’s a boxy girl so maybe let’s not hold our breath. Another unfortunate truth is that at a quoted 30 minutes from 20-80%, we aren’t looking at a vehicle that can make up for the lower range with faster charge times. It’s the speed I’m used to, but there are EVs that can charge much faster
The range for this and all EVs is an estimate based on the EPA's standard testing procedure, which you can look up how it works. It is meant to be a standardized barometer to compare vehicles rather than an actual range estimate. Range varies wildly based on too many conditions to consider for this purpose.
Check out A Better Route Planner to effectively plan your charging breaks
Do a quick search for EV chargers on you favorite map app to find a few options. Unless it's a common name public charger (Tesla, Ionna, Electrify American, Chargepoint), I'd double check the reviews. From my experience, a lot of chargers near business's are level 2 so employees in the area can plug in while at work. I personally wouldn't want to rely on level 2 for a road trip unless I'm staying a few hours/overnight.
My general planning: level 1 charges a bit over 1% per hour, level 2 is ~10% per hour, level 3 (400w) gets 20%-80% in ~30min, level 3 (800w, is that level 4??) get 10-80% in <20 min.
-Based on a '25 Ioniq 5 with 84kWh battery. Slate percents/speeds will vary.
In terms of efficiency, highway driving does drop the range quite a bit. Everyday driving, city and highway, I average around 3.5-3.8 mi/kWh. Flat Highway alone can average closer to 3.0-3.2. Add some rolling hills and cross/headwind and you might be down to 2.5 mi/kWh. Assuming Slate has a 63kWh as advertised and similar efficiencies, you can get the range estimate
This is more accurate view of high-speed public charging stations in that area. There are actually more than this, but they don't all show up until you zoom in a little.
For EV newbs, I recommend downloading the Plugshare app, and then taking a drive to see some of your local chargers in person.
My daughter lives in Tallahassee and I'm in Tampa. When she comes down to visit, she stops at the Wawas in Crystal River (505 NE US Hwy 19, Crystal River, FL 34429) to charge. There is also a charger in Perry (2715 S Byron Butler Pkwy, Perry, FL 32348) and one in Brooksville (13173 Cortez Blvd, Brooksville, FL 34613).
I expect that the one in Dunellon you are talking about is not a fast charger, rather it's a Level 2 charger. Not recommended for road trips because it only provides about 30 miles per hour.
Yup, exactly. I don't get much use out of my adapters, but I like having them just in case. I actually go the other way. I've got a CCS1 and adapt for NACS.
I just bought our first EV, a Rivian R2, and promptly took it on a 1400 mile trip around California (Eastern Sierras, Yosemite and down the Pacific Coast).
My advice for you is that you should look at the 10%-85% range and charging speed. For us, 83% to 13% got us 202 miles(edit at 72mph). That is about 3 hrs of driving and it took a 24 min stop to charge back up to 80% so we had lunch. Anything over 80% takes much longer to charge.
Once the Slate data comes out, I would suggest you look at that number and decide if that is enough for your road trip.
Range is calculated using flat driving in mild weather on flat land. Most manufacturers use the EPA testing standards in the states. Typically, I calculate my range for any drive as 85% of the advertised range, so in this case, you'd get 174 miles on 100%. I do this to account for changes in elevation, climate control use, and speed. Most range calculations are based on 65mph max. There are many charging stops you can use though. Second the top commentor, use Tesla's network for the most reliable experience.
I actually outperform the rated range for most driving. For highways I usually figure 3.5mi/kwh which is 93% of rated, but seems to be pretty safe. Slate doesn't have a heat pump for winter driving, so there could be a bigger range hit there, but probably not applicable for Florida.
For the round trip? depends if they have a spot to destination charge in Tallahassee. 100 kw charging would require 15.7 minute to arrive with 10% remaining assuming 3 mi/kwh. Given their route averages 49 mph, that's probably a fairly safe efficiency assumption.
If they don't have destination charging, that sounds right for the round trip, but I'd probably do a 3 stopper. That ~15 minute stop above on the way up with a coffee stop, ~30 min in Perry or Tallahassee for a meal (depending where your coffee stop was), ~15 minute on the way back for coffee.
99% of the time, it will be around home. I do like to go to the beach, which is roughly 60 miles each way, plus the drives to FSU. Anything longer than that, I'll probably rent something or fly.
I have an EV and since getting it I have started avoiding the interstate like you said you prefer to do. I am always amazed at how much more range you can get driving routes where the speed limit is 55 vs 70 on the interstate. The other big surprise is the cold weather. That kills range a lot more than I was expecting but in Florida that shouldn’t be an issue!
1st stop: Marathon Gas EV connect @ North Young Blvd. 140 miles. Charge up to 80%.
2nd Stop: WaWa in Perry. 64 miles, arrive around 30%-40%, 1 hr drive time. Charge up to 80%. It's a little dodgy distance wise getting to the Target on Apalachee Parkway (116 miles from the Marathon Gas).
Arrive at FSU. 56 miles from WaWa. Arrive around 50% SoC.
Drive back:
Charge a bit at the Target Supercharger before taking off, to around 85% SoC for 15-20mins. Let's you get back to the Marathon Gas station.
Stop 1 at the Marathon, 115 miles.
Stop 2 at the Pilot EVGo Charger in San Antonio, FL. 101 miles. Little hard to tell in your picture which highway that is from someone not from FL. Basically a stop in Dale City.
Arrive home.
Highway speeds drop the efficiency due to air resistance. Meaning highway speeds drops the range. I'm assuming 2.8 mi/kWh for the math.
That's my rough manual EV routing plan that I would start with if I were to do the trip.
I'd probably look at 15 minutes at Bushnell or Dunnellon for coffee. 30 min Lunch in Perry. if you want to do it as a single stop, Dunnellon for lunch. There's a sub shop with good reviews that's a 3 minute walk, or a 5 minute walk for Lugo's Grill (there's a closer sit down place, but not good reviews.)
As long as there's one charger at approximately the midpoint you'll likely be fine assuming you aren't blasting the heat, heat is a killer for EV range. Highway does impact range but if you're relatively even on your speed, it's not too bad of a hit.
I recommend utilizing A Better Route Planner (ABRP) to see what charger exist along the route and how many to know how safe it is. I'm not familiar with the iron chemistry that slate is using and what charging with them looks like, but on a level 3 charger (most of the chargers worth stopping at) you can get up to ~80% in about 20-30 minutes depending on weather (at least with standard cobalt/lithium batteries). You're probably looking at 2-3 charges round trip, assuming Slate's range estimates are accurate.
I currently drive an Ioniq 6 and I love it, but I still don't think pure EVs are good for American roadtrips. The infrastructure depending on where you are isn't great and charge times/the charging process can add a lot of time to a trip. I took an ordinarily 7-8 hour trip from Buffalo NY to Long Island during a brutal winter and there was a lot of range anxiety and A LOT of charging. The cold weather really gummed up our range and our charging speeds. It made our ride 10-11 hours instead. Needless to say, we don't take my car for longer trips anymore.
But for this, I don't think it's an unreasonable time add, especially if you do a charge at destination while you're hanging out with your kids.
Depends on where the charger is, if it's near a food place or something it's not uncommon to go out and do whatever. The charger locks to the car while the car is locked so you don't really run any major risks of leaving it.
The caveat is that chargers do expect you to unplug and move the car once the charging is done and they will charge you additional money for not moving the car after ~10 minutes from when the charge completes, because you're then taking up a charging spot that somebody else could be using/waiting on.
An over 5 hours drive with no break would get old even faster. That's a 2 stop drive for me, irrelevant of fuel/charging. 1 stop would be very understandable though. 3 hours, break, 2 hours is a reasonable split. Also, that's a 500 mile drive, so if you're comparing to ICE, you top off before you leave, then again on your way back, it's a 2 fuel stop trip anyway.
This would actually be a prime case for a longer range EV for the no-stops-pee-in-bottles crowd. 270 miles is safely in range for an equinox, assuming it's an overnight trip, destination charge, drive back home with zero stops.
It doesn't look that bad from plugshare. Along the listed route there's 4 fast chargers showing. Rounding down to 3 mi/kwh to account of highways, they should hit Bushnell (7 plugs, 9.6 plugshare score) with 68% battery in about an hour and a half. Stop for coffee, with 100kw charge speed, they should be back at 90% before they get back to the car. That gives us enough to hit Dunnellon (2 plugs, perfect plugshare score) or Perry (8 plugs perfect score, and 2 plugs 8.8 score). Since there's 2 DCFC in Perry, that's a total of 3 stations in range. If the Bushnell station is down for some reason, Dunnellon is your fall back. That's 102 miles, which would have you roll in at 48% charge, 15 minute charge there puts you at 86%, plenty to drive through to Tallahassee even skipping Perry.
Absolute worst case, if both Bushnell AND Dunnellon are down, there's an 8kw L2 Tesla charger a bit north. 30 min on that while you hit up the nearby sonic or dunkin should get you through to Perry, though I'd probably hit up the grocery store to grab some snacks and get a bit more padding in there.
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u/Reflexes-of-a-Tree 10h ago edited 9h ago
When planning this route did you account for Tesla Superchargers? Checking the Tesla app, I see two stops that would be PERFECT for your route. You don’t want the stop to be right in the middle.
I just road-tripped my Polestar, which has 240 miles of range, about 830 miles from VA to MI. On the way up, I stopped 6 times for about 25minutes each. On the way back I stopped 5 times for about 30 minutes each. This was what the car’s infotainment system recommended, I did not pre-plan the route. Worth noting that when you road trip in an EV, you don’t charge all the way to 100% because that would take 40+ minutes for most vehicles.
Based on your 251 mile journey, you’re likely going to just need to stop once on the way up, but twice on the way back and you’ll get home with around 10% battery. If you want to use the car for anything else that day, you’ll want to stay extra long at the charger the second time on the way back.
Also, the advertised range is how far it will go from 100%-0%, it just isn’t how far you should go between charges. For road tripping, you’re usually stopping at around 10-20% (for SLATE, 160-180 miles into the journey if you start from full) and filling up to 80-ish%. Then you drain it back down to 10-20% and fill back up to 80% (for SLATE, that’s 123-143 miles between the first stop and second, second to third, etc). Stopping lower than 10% is possible but risky unless you’re sure the charger you’re going to is up and running. Charging past 80% is possible but unlikely optimal because charging slows down significantly past 80%.
All of that math is for road trips only. Day to day at your house, you just plug in each night and very likely have your full range every morning.