California to Mexico City and back. Feasible or too difficult?

[gsteele]

My wife and I were talking about what we want to do around the holidays this year, and the idea of going to Mexico City and looking at the ruins near there came up. I took a look at the supercharger map, Plugshare, and RVparky to look for possible charging locations. While there are a fair number of destination chargers in Mexico, and more superchargers are being built, the spacing looks like it would be a problem to try to get from southern California to Mexico City directly. It looks like it might be more possible if we took a round-about route through Texas, but I don't think I want to spend the extra days and miles on that.
Any Tesla owners who have done this? Any Tesla owners in Mexico that have advice?
I probably ought to just fly and rent a car, but I miss my Model S a lot when I have to drive rentals.

 

[K-MTG]

I thought driving outside of North America voids your warranty

 

[calisnow]

My wife and I were talking about what we want to do around the holidays this year, and the idea of going to Mexico City and looking at the ruins near there came up. I took a look at the supercharger map, Plugshare, and RVparky to look for possible charging locations. While there are a fair number of destination chargers in Mexico, and more superchargers are being built, the spacing looks like it would be a problem to try to get from southern California to Mexico City directly. It looks like it might be more possible if we took a round-about route through Texas, but I don't think I want to spend the extra days and miles on that.
Any Tesla owners who have done this? Any Tesla owners in Mexico that have advice?
I probably ought to just fly and rent a car, but I miss my Model S a lot when I have to drive rentals.

You sir, have more sense of adventure than I do. I salute you!

 

[martinicus]

I probably ought to just fly and rent a car, but I miss my Model S a lot when I have to drive rentals.

Go with your first instinct. You're gonna miss your S a lot more if your drive in Mexico runs into any issues.

 

[Az_Rael]

I thought driving outside of North America voids your warranty

That seems crazy, if I drive down to the Baja for a day I've voided my warranty?

Now, your insurance often doesn't cross international borders, so you usually have to buy a separate policy for that.


Edit: Does not void your warranty. You just have to get it back to the States for warranty service

For purposes of this New Vehicle Limited Warranty,
the Tesla North America Warranty Region is defined as all 50 states of the United States of
America, the District of Columbia, and all 13 provinces and territories of Canada, provided that
you return to the North America Warranty Region in order to receive warranty service. Any
subsequent purchasers or transferees must return to the North America Warranty Region in order
to obtain warranty service regardless of the country in which such purchaser or transferee may

 

[gaswalla]

A couple guys drove their Model S to Panama a few years ago.
There are superchargers on outskirts of Mexico City.
Ha ha to the guy that says you can't drive out of 'Norh America'. Mexico is a part of North America.

 

[bkp_duke]

This would be so painful without superchargers along the way. Realistically a 2 week round trip.

 

[purplewalt]

You Rock!!!!

When the two (or three) Superchargers are completed on I-10, and McAllen reopens, you will only need a couple of RV Parks or other Level 2 charging Options in Mexico to complete your drive to Mexico City.

Having a sense of adventure and fulfilling dreams is what keeps life interesting.
And having a willing partner (your wife) to share in those adventures is best kind of icing to have on the cake.

 

[K-MTG]

Not sure if the policy changes but this is what my previous post was based on:

"The following will also void this New Vehicle Limited Warranty:
• Vehicles that have been transported or driven outside the Tesla North America Warranty Region;"

Why can't you drive into Mexico without voiding the warranty?

 

[SMAlset]

I know our purchase was financed through TDBank and we read specific language that apart from travel in the US and Canada the car cannot be driven beyond those borders. Been a few months since I read it but pretty sure that's what I recall. We talked about it, not that we are planning a trip south but it struck hubby funny when he was signing the paperwork and we assumed it was because if the car was stolen or in an accident there it would be difficult for them to pursue any parties. But that was just a guess on our part.

 

[pjw65]

That seems crazy, if I drive down to the Baja for a day I've voided my warranty?

Now, your insurance often doesn't cross international borders, so you usually have to buy a separate policy for that.


Edit: Does not void your warranty. You just have to get it back to the States for warranty service

For purposes of this New Vehicle Limited Warranty,
the Tesla North America Warranty Region is defined as all 50 states of the United States of
America, the District of Columbia, and all 13 provinces and territories of Canada, provided that
you return to the North America Warranty Region in order to receive warranty service. Any
subsequent purchasers or transferees must return to the North America Warranty Region in order
to obtain warranty service regardless of the country in which such purchaser or transferee may

You're right. You can read it at
https://www.tesla.com/sites/default.../model_s_new_vehicle_limited_warranty_2.1.pdf

 

[BrokerDon]

Sounds like a great adventure!

Keep in mind too that electrical power in Mexico at RV parks can be intermittent, have low voltage, and power surges. Definitely not as stable as the U.S. electrical grid. We have an RV with a 3.2kW diesel generator and 327W solar panel we'd love to take to Baja... but the security risk is keeping us away. Sad since I drove from SoCal to Cabo during the Y2K changeover in my Jeep Grand Cherokee 4x4 and loved Baja. Absolutely gorgeous!

 

[Webeevdrivers]

I thought driving outside of North America voids your warranty

Mexico is in North America so....

 

[Webeevdrivers]

The road trip itself is fine. We have travelled north of 80,000 km in a small RV in 27 of the 31 states and visited the federal district by bus. (No camp grounds there). However your plan to use RV parks won't work. Most parks are 15 amp only at 120 volts and that is sometimes a stretch. However, most hotels and motels will have a place to plug in over night...again at max 15 amp. Security shouldn't be a problem. Language barrier maybe. How's your spanish.

 

[KarenRei]

So, you got me curious, and I've been checking around.

* Plugshare shows pretty good charging infrastructure on Baja near the US border, but disappearing shortly thereafter
* RV Park Reviews however shows fairly dense RV parks down Baja. They however show relatively little east of Baja. And there's not much charging infrastructure there on Plugshare.
* There's a ferry from La Paz to Mazatlan. That would skip past a good amount of relatively sparse terrain
* RV Park reviews shows 30A in Mazatlan, and then gets pretty useless from thereon.
* Mazatlan to the destination charger Tepic is probably too long of a run. You'll want to arrange a hotel that will let you charge overnight partway through.
* You'll probably have to add a partial charge with the J1772s in Tequila to make it between Tepic and Guadalajara. Thankfully there's CHAdeMOs in Guadalajara.
* Guadalajara to the destination chargers in Morelia is again probably too long, it might be a good idea to get a hotel in-between for an overnight charge. At some point later this year there should be a supercharger in Morelia.
* After Morelia you can rejoin the supercharger network to Mexico City.

Not easy. Will require prep work. Things will probably go wrong. But it'd be an adventure!

 

[xav-]

$100k car in Mexico.. nothing can go wrong. It's a sure thing.

 

[Webeevdrivers]

$100k car in Mexico.. nothing can go wrong. It's a sure thing.

There are lots of expensive cars in Mexico and an increasing growing middle class and upper middle class that own them. Cartels are not interested in cars like Teslas. Too high profile. Now SUV's, that's another story.

Again, don't count on RV parks, they are generally disimilar to Canadian and USA RV parks. Hotels quite often have secure parking lots. Call ahead or send emails to arrange for a plug.

Mexico is a fantastic country but a vastly different culture to most of the USA or Canada. I highly recommend learning some basic Spanish skills before you go if you intend to travel by car. We are very experienced travellers and I would rather be broke down on the side of the road in Mexico than the USA.

I recommend getting insurance from Lewis and Lewis and no one else.

 

[kort677]

I thought driving outside of North America voids your warranty

when did mexico become not in north america?
to the OP's question. there are no superchargers between the border and Mexico city and while it is feasible to find destination chargers, IMHO this is a trip that at this point shouldn't be made. maybe when some more superchargers are built in mexico things will change. in addition be aware that you'll need to buy mexican insurance for the car which is easily found along the border.

 

[T34ME]

I drive round trip California to Cabo San Lucas, two or three times a year in our hybrid SUV. Wonderful trip, beautiful landscape, friendly people, no worries and I have been doing it for the last 10 years.

A coupe of things would make me reluctant to take our TM3 on this route:
- there are speed bumps ("topes") in many villages to slow down traffic. There are several different designs and they are often not marked. My concern is with the relatively low ground clearance of a Tesla. You could do some serious damage to to the undercarriage if not extremely careful and vigilant.
- for the most part the main highway is in pretty good condition although very narrow. However, there are some stretches with pot holes that could swallow a Beetle! If you have low profile tires, your chance of damage to tires and rims increases exponentially.

For the record, we average 50 mph driving time. That means 10/20 mph through the villages and 70+ on the open highway (about 1000 miles in 20 hours crossing at Tecate). It is often pucker time when meeting a truck or bus on that narrow two lane Hwy 1 (the only way to traverse the peninsula). I do think the highways south to Mexico City on the mainland would be much less challenging than Baja.

 

[gsteele]

Well, in the end it appears to be the cost of the insurance that scuttles the idea (at least for now.) Insuring the car for two weeks in Mexico appears to cost about half as much as a whole year's insurance at home. That will easily cover a rental car, gas, and part of the plane tickets. Sigh. Maybe I will revisit the idea in a few years after the super charger network has built out a bit more south of the border.