Our family experience is that we stop about every 4 hours, usually limited by the size of the fuel tank. Because I have an EV and a gas car (gas car for road trips), I timed several of our fuel stops on a recent trip. Most were 11-14 minutes, measured from driving onto to off of the gas station property. I tend to do most of the driving, and 11 hours a day is around what I feel comfortable doing. That happens to be the door to door wall-clock time for our trip to my in-laws (766 miles). I'd pay a fair amount to avoid adding another 60-90 minutes to that trip.
1.5 hours is NOT a lot for an entire day's trip. Two weeks ago I took a much shorter 240 mile trip and we stopped for about an hour to fill up gas, rest and eat. The bottom line is this is a very typical usage pattern, many people like to break long car trips into 3 - 4 hour segments so Tesla fits right in WITHOUT any inconvenience.
Most people I know do 12 hour days when they roadtrips. They often pull into a drive through for lunch and then right back down the road.
Some will do 30+ hours straight, only stopping when they get gas. That is your baldder better make it to the next gas station and once there you need to not only use the restroom, but also find whatever you are going to eat - when the gas tank is full the car leaves. This is not safe, but it is done often.
Time to add 100 miles is probably the best gauge of road trips. That is a good number to stop at for a break (cars are 200-300 - but this is too long). 15-20 minutes every 100 miles is a good amount of time to force someone to walk around to charge - this time is about health. However if your times to much above that people have places to be and EVs are getting in the way. (I'm assuming that charging infrastructure supports that - it isn't quite there everywhere but that is coming fast)
Car are cheap once you have one (most of the costs are fixed so even if it sits in the driveway you still pay the cost), and so where I live in the mid west long road trips like the above are common - flying ends up being very expensive and doesn't save a lot of time at best, and at worst you miss a transfer and end up someplace you don't want to be for a few days. Trains are in theory possible, but also expensive and doesn't run great schedules.
Actually my math is based on real world experience. I can easily drive for 12 hours straight without a major food break. Quick bio break at a gas station, sure. Turn a 7 minute fillip into a 12 minute fill up.
On a trip that long, my wife is generally along as we'll, so we can trade off shifts driving. We will usually bring some snacks to eat along the way as well.
So, my numbers are still pretty accurate. You can go farther between fill ups on gas, and you can refuel (you, and the car) in less than 30 minutes ( or 45-60 minutes of you need more than a top-off, based on accessories use in the vehicles).
I cope with long haul driving better than nearly anyone I know. I still find the gas stop every 3.5 hours or so essential. I get out of the car, walk around a bit, get something to drink and a snack to eat, and it makes a huge impact in how I feel and how alert I am. I have no problem doing 18 hour days multiple days in a row so long as I do this.
400 miles wouldn't even get me to my brother's place in the next state over.
More than 400 miles in a day is common in US roadtripping. On the other hand, breaking up those long driving days with a reasonable recharging period would be more than OK.
Usually I do stop a few times, but recently decided to just power through it. Last time I didn't even realize how much time had passed until the gas light came on.
6-8 hours is about what I can do on a plane without getting up too so it's not too bad for me. Truckers do it all the time too so it's not that rare.
Edit:
If electric can get to 400+ miles (already there almost) I'll be sold. That's enough for me to do the entire trip with only adding an extra stop if I drove nonstop. When I calculated with the 200-300 mile range a year or so ago it would have been too much waiting around for a charge.
When I drive long distance, particularly by myself, I typically get on the highway with a full tank and pull off when my low fuel light comes on. Depending on traffic conditions, this is typically between five and six hours. At the end of that I don't mind stopping for half an hour or more, but that requires far more than 200 miles of range.
When I do stop in the middle for coffee and a leak, it's rarely more than 15 minutes total off the highway (unless the service is slow).
You're significantly under estimating the time it takes to refuel. Between diverting to a station, fueling, and getting back on the road it's at least 10 min. If you're traveling such a long distance it's a good idea to take a break during a fuel stop anyway, so add at least another 10 min.
I travel a lot and tend to stop every 250mi (400km) or so, if not sooner. It times well with meals and bathroom breaks so my stops are usually at least 30 min.
Electric takes more time to recharge but on long trips the extra charge time doesn't have as a significant impact as you'd think, assuming chargers are plentiful and charge at the maximum rate your vehicle can handle.
I also think the roadtrip inconvenience is vastly overblown. Had an EV since 2018. It is our roadtrip car. It turns 12 hour roadtrips to 14 hour trips but if you plan around eating, it doesn’t extend any trip by much.
I still have a gas vehicle but I never want to use it for long trips.
A typical person in the US used to driving distances would have no trouble driving eight hours in a row stopping only for 1-2 gas breaks and one bathroom/food break. Edit: and two such people in a car could easily drive 12-24 hours alternating. For example, my friends drive between Texas and Illinois and expect to complete the trip in under 24 hours.
It's okay that the Tesla isn't going after that market yet, but getting them to change their habits for the car is unlikely to happen. That's okay!
My brother in law has done a 21 hour trip (according to google maps) in 20 before. Stop when the gas gauge is at 1/4, and everyone better be back in the car before the pump stops or they get left behind. His wife refuses to do that again, it is very hard on the body (and not safe at all)
this is how i road trip generally. i almost never drive more than 3 hours without stopping for coffee/lunch/dinner. And if its more than 300 miles 90% of the time i'm going to fly.
Any time i'm road tripping more than 3 hours i'm trying to find some cute little town along the way to stop in at. Usually these cute little towns have chargers.
Not long. My most common road trip is about 720 km one way and doesn't have a lot of destination charging. I stop 3 times on the way up:
* 5 minutes to get synced up with the distance between chargers (it's a very rural route; on more major routes you have plenty of choice about where to stop)
* 20 minutes
* 15 minutes to make sure I can make it back to the charging network since my destination is super rural.
I have made that same journey to visit family many times in a gas car and we stop in the exact same places for pretty much exactly the same amount of time. The first one is in the town my grandmother lives in, so we'd have stopped to say hello anyway. The 2nd is where we have always stop for a meal. The 3rd stop is where we always take a bathroom break.
Select a car and enter a route. It will be a pretty accurate picture of the necessary charging. You can play with things like temperature, arrival and departure charge state, and load.
My experience is that the normal reality is that your first stop is after about 2.5 hours, because you leave with a 100% charge from home, then you stop about every 1.5-2 hours, depending on supercharger placement and destination. That worked out pretty well for the 6.5 hour drive that I did most recently, with two stops one way (up into the mountains), and one returning (downhill helped with range). I think it would be more impactful on 10+ hour drives, but still within the realm of reasonable. If you are someone who does 10 hour drives regularly, then EVs aren't for you.
With a 300 mile range, I'd need at least 2 stops that are 4-6 hours, unless if I find a super rapid charger. That turns a sucky 12 hour day with 1-2 hours of stops into a 16 hour trip with probably 1-2 hours of additional stops still.
20 minutes every 2 - 3 hours of rare long distance driving is acceptable, considering I save 4 hours of petrol station visits per yer vs my old diesel. Not to mention the fuel cost savings.
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