The drive is 282.1 miles, about 5h 18m. Along it sit about 152 DC fast chargers within 5 miles of the route — and 115 of those have somewhere to eat within a 10-minute walk, so the charging stop and the meal are the same stop.
Open this drive in the app →Leave Detroit at 8:00 am, take a break in Battle Creek at 10:10 am, take a break in Michigan City at 11:35 am and arrive in Chicago around 12:55 pm.
| When | Where | Charger | Food within a walk |
|---|---|---|---|
| 8:00 am | Leave Detroit, MI | ||
| 10:10 am Break · mile 118 | Battle Creek, MI Battle Creek, MI - Tesla Supercharger | 250 kW 12 stalls | 🌶️ Chili's 2 min, 🐔 Chick-fil-A 3 min, 🍟 McDonald's 4 min |
| 11:35 am Break · mile 227 | Michigan City, IN Meijer 149 (Michigan City, IN) | 350 kW 6 stalls | 🌯 Chipotle 2 min, 🍔 Five Guys 2 min, 🍩 Dunkin' 2 min |
| ~12:55 pm | Arrive in Chicago, IL |
Meals fall near their local hour (times are local at each stop), with about 20 minutes for a break and 40 for a meal. It is a driver’s plan, not a charging plan: where you need to charge depends on your car. Open this drive in the app to pick another leaving time.
Typical power along this route is 180 kW, with 91 stops at 150 kW or more and 26 on the Tesla network. Chargers under 50 kW are left out of the list — on a drive this length they cost more time than they save. Counting every DC fast charger, there is one at least every 31 miles of the way.
In order along the route — the strongest stop in each stretch of the drive, so the list covers the whole route rather than filling up with the city you left.
Leaving Detroit at 8:00 am, no mealtime falls on the way. The plan's breaks in Battle Creek, MI at 10:10 am: Chili's is a 2-minute walk from a 250 kW charger; in Michigan City, IN at 11:35 am: Chipotle is a 2-minute walk from a 350 kW charger. In all, 115 of the roughly 152 fast chargers along the way have a restaurant within a 10-minute walk.
About 152 DC fast chargers are within 5 miles of the 282-mile route, 148 of them 50 kW or more. 91 charge at 150 kW or more, 26 are on the Tesla network, and 115 have a restaurant within a 10-minute walk.
31 miles, between mile 156 (Paw Paw, MI) and mile 187 (Benton Harbor, MI), with no DC fast charger within 5 miles of the route.
Counting the fast chargers of 50 kW or more on the route, the chains most often within a 10-minute walk are Subway (near 60 chargers), McDonald's (56), Starbucks (43), Dunkin' (32), Burger King (31) and Chipotle (28).
It depends on the car. The app's estimate for a 10–80% charge is about 23 min for a Tesla Model Y at the 250 kW charger in Battle Creek, MI; about 45 min for a Ford Mustang Mach-E at the 350 kW charger in Michigan City, IN; about 25 min for a Hyundai Ioniq 5 at the 350 kW charger in Michigan City, IN. These are rough figures from each car's battery size and peak charging speed; a cold battery or a busy site takes longer.
About 5h 18m of driving for 282 miles. Leaving at 8:00 am with the plan's 2 breaks of about 20 minutes, you arrive around 12:55 pm.