California road trip LA to Berkeley-Question re Tesla Supercharger use

[joebruin77]

To my fellow California MachE owners,

Later this year, I plan to take a road trip from LA to Berkeley along the 101 route (as opposed to the 5 freeway). I am thinking of taking my MachE (which is technically my wife's car) because it has Supercharger access. The other car in our family is a BMW iX, which does not have Supercharger access. I have a couple of questions:

1) For those of you who have done weekend roadtrips along this route, how easy or difficult is it to do using only EA fast chargers and no Superchargers?

2) When using a Tesla Supercharger on a road trip, I am a bit concerned about the cable being too short to reach the charging port on the MachE and my having to take up two parking spots just to position my MachE close enough to the Supercharger cabinet. Then I envision a bunch of pissed off Tesla drivers giving me the evil eye.

Are my worries unfounded?

I would love to hear suggestions and feedback from those of who have traveled this route, especially on a weekend.

Thank you,
Joe

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[DugthePug Dad]

I did a similar trip when I brought my car home from Huntington Beach because I bought it when I was road tripping and my Escape died.

this was pre Tesla charging era.

I took the 101 because the Grapevine scared me as a new owner.

I have a standard range Premium.

I needed 3 charges to get me home.

I didn’t drive conservative at all and probably used more battery than I could have driving slower.

It was electrify America and EVgo for me.

I know I didn’t answer your Tesla question but there are charging stations all around the 101…

 

[SeattleMachE]

#2 can be a common occurrence. Depending on the layout, sometimes there are chargers on the end that allow you to park wonky without interfering with other chargers. But sometimes your only choice would be to block multiple chargers. All you can do is remain close to your car in case it’s crowded and someone pulls up trying to charge, so you can disconnect and let them in if you’d like.

 

[SpaceEVDriver]

I’m not in CA, but I’ve driven that route or parts of it five times. I’ve only done part of the route once with SC access. It’s pretty easy to make the route w/o SCs.

The issue I ran into with SCs along this route is that several are in shopping centers with only 8 posts. This means if you’re going through the area when it’s busy, you can end up as part of a massive line. I had a brand-T owner disconnect my Mustang at one of the shopping centers along this route while we were eating lunch.

If you plan to use SCs, double-check the busy times and try to avoid those times. That’s also true for non-SC, but I have never had anyone disconnect me from a non-SC charger.

 

[kens]

Can't help with the route specifics, but...

I envision a bunch of pissed off Tesla drivers giving me the evil eye.

Are my worries unfounded?

Yes, they are.

I'm scrolling the forum while sitting on a Tesla charger and might help there. I even happen to be alone tonight.

Yes, you need extra space, but you don't always need two charger spaces, if the end spot is open with room next to it you can use that and only take up one charger.

You should be able to pull straight in, get within about six inches of the charger. Last time I was here I saw someone pull in diagonal on two spaces, seemed to work for them too.

 

[ddeluce]

I've driven part of the route from the east bay to Ojai in my Mach-E. We used Superchargers exclusively on this trip. There are way more of them which makes the trip much easier. You may need to block two parking spots, but the charging stations we stopped at had at least 16 plugs (one had 32), and were not crowded, so taking two spots was not a problem.

 

[mdwinther35]

You can use supercharger.info to find the newer longer cable stations (filter on v4, no need for 2 spots). Also use ABRP to map your route in advance. Where possible pick stops where you have primary and backup options. Use the public charging app on the touchscreen to check how crowded your choices are when you are getting close to arrival.

 

[dc11mike]

To my fellow California MachE owners,

Later this year, I plan to take a road trip from LA to Berkeley along the 101 route (as opposed to the 5 freeway). I am thinking of taking my MachE (which is technically my wife's car) because it has Supercharger access. The other car in our family is a BMW iX, which does not have Supercharger access. I have a couple of questions:

1) For those of you who have done weekend roadtrips along this route, how easy or difficult is it to do using only EA fast chargers and no Superchargers?

2) When using a Tesla Supercharger on a road trip, I am a bit concerned about the cable being too short to reach the charging port on the MachE and my having to take up two parking spots just to position my MachE close enough to the Supercharger cabinet. Then I envision a bunch of pissed off Tesla drivers giving me the evil eye.

Are my worries unfounded?

I would love to hear suggestions and feedback from those of who have traveled this route, especially on a weekend.

Thank you,
Joe

You might want to consider purchasing DC to NACS extension cord made by A2Z EV.
According to the interview done by State Of Charge, extension cord will be available some time in May or June of 2025. Pre order starts in April. State Of Charge have done a pre production review of the extension cord.

https://a2zevshop.com/products/dc-nacs-extension-cord-6-9-ft-2-3-meters

 

[Hati12]

To my fellow California MachE owners,

Later this year, I plan to take a road trip from LA to Berkeley along the 101 route (as opposed to the 5 freeway). I am thinking of taking my MachE (which is technically my wife's car) because it has Supercharger access. The other car in our family is a BMW iX, which does not have Supercharger access. I have a couple of questions:

1) For those of you who have done weekend roadtrips along this route, how easy or difficult is it to do using only EA fast chargers and no Superchargers?

2) When using a Tesla Supercharger on a road trip, I am a bit concerned about the cable being too short to reach the charging port on the MachE and my having to take up two parking spots just to position my MachE close enough to the Supercharger cabinet. Then I envision a bunch of pissed off Tesla drivers giving me the evil eye.

Are my worries unfounded?

I would love to hear suggestions and feedback from those of who have traveled this route, especially on a weekend.

Thank you,
Joe

Piece-o-cake. A year ago I drove Monterey to Santa Barbara. This trip before I had a Tesla/NACS adapter. Used EA at Paso Robles and Santa Maria. With Plug-n-Charge, the session goes seamlessly.

Now it is easier: you have Tesla access. The Tesla charging sites have multiple chargers, so you just park across 2 spots and the short cord will reach your car.

Don’t sweat it unless you are travelling on a HOLIDAY WEEKEND. I am almost 80 and look forward to electrified road trips. Have fun.

 

[ipca204]

You might want to consider purchasing DC to NACS extension cord made by A2Z EV.
According to the interview done by State Of Charge, extension cord will be available some time in May or June of 2025. Pre order starts in April. State Of Charge have done a pre production review of the extension cord.

https://a2zevshop.com/products/dc-nacs-extension-cord-6-9-ft-2-3-meters

lol....no. I was told by TESLA and FORD that to properly charge I may need to take up 2 spaces. Not planning on spending $300 to avoid this..just...no..

 

[JohnFoxeSheets]

You should be fine. I'll admit I've not done that much of it, but when I've charged at a SC, Tesla owners have been nonchalant, curious, and nice. I haven't had a single negative experience.

 

[67 Stang Convertible]

I've taken 2 spots at Tesla Super Chargers several times. When the Tesla people look at me funny I just laugh & wave. No one has ever come up to me and said anything.

Your a paying customer and have been given permission to take 2 spots by a company that you are a paying customer of. You need no justification or need to worry. Just smile and wave to all those evil eyes, while muttering under your breath, "at least my car does not look like a tadpole".

 

[AhardFSU]

I've taken 2 spots at Tesla Super Chargers several times. When the Tesla people look at me funny I just laugh & wave. No one has ever come up to me and said anything.

Your a paying customer and have been given permission to take 2 spots by a company that you are a paying customer of. You need no justification or need to worry. Just smile and wave to all those evil eyes, while muttering under your breath, "at least my car does not look like a tadpole".

This ^^^^^ 1.000 times over. To the OP and anyone else worrying about taking two spots when charging at a Tesla SC…..just stop worrying about it. You have permission to take two spots per Tesla’s website. Which means that you have as much of a right to charge at the SC as someone who doesn’t have to take up to spots.

Just stop worrying about it and enjoy your trip. I’ve charged at Tesla SCs several times and I’ve not once worried about taking two spots. If someone looks at you strangely, smile, wave and keep charging.

 

[david_quick]

To my fellow California MachE owners,

Later this year, I plan to take a road trip from LA to Berkeley along the 101 route (as opposed to the 5 freeway). I am thinking of taking my MachE (which is technically my wife's car) because it has Supercharger access. The other car in our family is a BMW iX, which does not have Supercharger access. I have a couple of questions:

1) For those of you who have done weekend roadtrips along this route, how easy or difficult is it to do using only EA fast chargers and no Superchargers?

2) When using a Tesla Supercharger on a road trip, I am a bit concerned about the cable being too short to reach the charging port on the MachE and my having to take up two parking spots just to position my MachE close enough to the Supercharger cabinet. Then I envision a bunch of pissed off Tesla drivers giving me the evil eye.

Are my worries unfounded?

I would love to hear suggestions and feedback from those of who have traveled this route, especially on a weekend.

Thank you,
Joe

Don’t concern yourself with taking up 2 spots. Tesla’s own user guidance says to do so. I’m not in CA but most of the Tesla chargers here are usually lightly populated as in 1-2 cars in a 12 port station.

 

[abr]

To my fellow California MachE owners,

Later this year, I plan to take a road trip from LA to Berkeley along the 101 route (as opposed to the 5 freeway). I am thinking of taking my MachE (which is technically my wife's car) because it has Supercharger access. The other car in our family is a BMW iX, which does not have Supercharger access. I have a couple of questions:

1) For those of you who have done weekend roadtrips along this route, how easy or difficult is it to do using only EA fast chargers and no Superchargers?

2) When using a Tesla Supercharger on a road trip, I am a bit concerned about the cable being too short to reach the charging port on the MachE and my having to take up two parking spots just to position my MachE close enough to the Supercharger cabinet. Then I envision a bunch of pissed off Tesla drivers giving me the evil eye.

Are my worries unfounded?

I would love to hear suggestions and feedback from those of who have traveled this route, especially on a weekend.

Thank you,
Joe

Made the 101 trip several times. Using EA is very possible, BUT, likely crowded chargers with all the free charging cars for EA.
VERY easy using Tesla charging . . . . lots of compatible Tesla chargers along the way that are not very crowded on non-holiday weekends.
As others have said - don't worry about taking up 2 spaces if necessary. Very commonly done.
Good luck fellow Bruin!

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