Until a couple of days ago, if you were a Tesla owner living on the West Coast of Florida and wanted to head north and then west along the Panhandle, you couldn't take the shortest route along Route 98. 

Above in blue is a route, plotted by ABetterRoutePlanner, from the Clearwater to the Tallahassee Supercharger Station.  You'll note that until recently, there were no Superchargers along the preferred route shown in green along Route 98.

However, the local Tesla Infrastructure Team fixed that absence. Two of the Tesla Find Us map "Coming Soon" Supercharger Stations along Route 98 are now operational. Refer to the map below.

Above is a copy of the the Tesla Find Us map in early May 2021. The locations shown are not exact. Refer below for the precise locations. 

The one in Crystal River is at a Wawa at 505 NE US Highway 19, Crystal River, 34429.  Below is a vicinity map:

While it was nearing completion, a helpful member of the Tesla Motors Club (TMC) forum gave us a heads-up.  He spoke to the City Of Crystal River building inspector who confirmed this location was to have 8 Version 3 stalls (1 pull in and 7 back in).

Above is a photo provided by a member of the Tesla Florida Facebook Group while the station was under construction.

Later Tesla informed me that the Wawa would be hosting an outdoor ribbon-cutting ceremony on May 6, featuring VIP customers, local officials, and charity partners. The store and Supercharger Station would be open to the public on that day.

In June I visited the Supercharger Station and charged at the pull-in charging post. Flooding is a problem in the area and Tesla wisely placed their equipment on a concrete slab about three feet thick. You can see part of it over the hood of my car.

That same enterprising TMC member called the building department of the City of Perry. He alerted us that there was a permit application for the Perry Supercharger Station.  It was for the Huddle House/Citgo gas station located at 2717 South Byron Butler Parkway, Perry, FL 32348. 

Below is a vicinity map of the Perry Supercharger Station:

This photo, was taken by a Tesla Motors Club member last week a few days before it was energized.

I took this photo today. Tesla informed me that the Supercharger Station opened July 2, 2021

This new western route won't save you driving time. According to Google Maps the driving times for the example of Clearwater to Tallahassee are within a minute of one another. Referring to the first image above, this is due to the the reduction in distance on the green route being almost exactly offset by the increase in speed limits on the blue route. 

For the blue route you would be averaging 70 mph and the green route 58 mph. The big difference will be in how much you will save on the energy to charge.  The green route is 50 miles shorter, and the reduced speed saves you approximately another 50 miles of range due to improved efficiency.  For the original Model S for which we have data, the economy for the blue route is roughly 99 MPGe.  The green route is roughly 121 MPGe.  (Note: This assumes constant speed with no stops.  In the real world the green route is going to have more stops, so its average MPGe will be less than shown, but still much better than the blue route.) 

Larry Chanin

President, Florida Tesla Enthusiasts

email:             lfchanin@gmail.com

Website:          teslaownersflorida.org

Facebook:        Florida Tesla Enthusiasts

Twitter:           Tesla Owners Florida