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12,000 Mile Road Trip

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Just got home from a bucket list road trip in my P100D. Spent 1 month circumnavigating the lower 48 visiting friends, family and interesting places. Car performed flawlessly, driver and road conditions less so. General comments: Never any range anxiety, often bladder anxiety. Only waited once for a supercharger, 5 minutes in Rapid City due to Custer Rally traffic. 80% of the dozens I used were occupied by me alone. Big battery made it easy to run on the first 60% of capacity, greatly reducing charging time. Left the car dirty for camouflage and got no negative attention and very little attention at all. Some superchargers didn't want to release the plug, holding down the trunk release on the fob came in handy. Autopilot was wonderful on open freeways, suicidal on curvy two lanes. Chronological comments: Stuck in traffic downtown San Francisco, 3 Model S in a row. Eureka, CA 3 brothers, 5-10 years old, drag their parents and grandparents across the Walmart parking lot because they had never seen a Tesla before. They knew more about the car than I did! Seattle heavy traffic and pouring rain at night. I can't see the lane lines but the autopilot can, so I gingerly gave it control and it did a better job than I could. Eastern Washington at a remote supercharger. Chevy Tahoe pulls up and the driver introduces himself as the GM northwestern US regional manager. He's gotten a lot of blowback from Bolt buyers about long distance travel and wonders if it's possible to make a deal with Tesla. I suggest that they might be open to a well funded buy in. Montana 80 mph speed limit means I can set autopilot on 85 with impunity. Sheridan WY I've gotten complacent with autopilot and when a construction zone barrel straddles the lane line my drivers mirror takes a hit. Fortunately, the mechanism is OK, just the glass is shattered, and Denver can fix it as I pass through. Custer, SD I get to meet Bighorn and NKYTA in person! On an absolutely empty straight highway between Custer and Denver I discover that the speedometer turns red at 145 and the computer shuts off the fun at 155 with the car dead stable and still pulling hard. Dayton, OH the USAF museum is the equivalent of the Smithsonian, without enduring DC. Don't miss it. Toronto has paved every inch of the city, there is a ton of traffic but the splendid roads and skilled and polite Canadian drivers made it a non event. Quebec we're French, stuck in Canada, hate it and we'll take it out on you! Western Maine some thoughtful soul trenched a utility across the highway and didn't backfill it all the way. I hit hard and immediately checked the tire pressure on my 21s. It was OK, so I proceeded to Bangor, ME at speed where I discovered both front tires had big blisters in the sidewalls. This is Memorial Day weekend and everything is closed until Tuesday. Roadside assistance finds 2 tires at the Boston service center and they are open until 5. I rent a Buick and drive the 200 miles along with every guy from Boston with a boat that went Maine for the holiday. I'm at the Bangor tire store when it opens Tuesday with the tires. They are leery, never having worked on a Tesla before, but displaying the jacking instructions on the big screen stiffens their upper lip and I'm quickly on my way. Savannah GA supercharger is in the long term parking garage at the airport and you can validate by showing your fob to the info desk. TSA prevented me from getting breakfast as all the restaurants are past security and thou shall not go there without a boarding pass. FL turnpike superchargers are in the service plazas, very convenient. Hardest downpours I've ever witnessed between Baton Rouge and Houston, car handled it better than I did. TX rural 2 lanes have a 75mph limit and no traffic. AZ heat is no problem for the Tesla AC. Barstow, CA supercharger has 16 stations and solar! Wrap up: I enjoyed the last day of my trip as much as the first and couldn't have been more comfortable, even after a month in the seat.
 
GM wants to buy into the Supercharger network.... Not just No, But H--- No, say it isn't possible Tesla..I am already fearing SC wait times once M3s are in the way.

Most of the times , Bladder Anxiety is not satisfied by a SC especially after hours, how many guys at night just walk behind the SC Electrical Supply areas... like a human fire hydrant.

Yup, Savannah SC after midnight was a very weird experience, confident they could have found a better option

Like all Tesla owners, the risk of a tire disaster in remote areas is a potential nightmare
 
GM wants to buy into the Supercharger network.... Not just No, But H--- No, say it isn't possible Tesla..I am already fearing SC wait times once M3s are in the way.

Most of the times , Bladder Anxiety is not satisfied by a SC especially after hours, how many guys at night just walk behind the SC Electrical Supply areas... like a human fire hydrant.

Yup, Savannah SC after midnight was a very weird experience, confident they could have found a better option

Like all Tesla owners, the risk of a tire disaster in remote areas is a potential nightmare

Absolutely no way that Tesla will make a deal on SC access - it's the killer app that prevents any current or on the horizon EV from being competition.
 
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He's gotten a lot of blowback from Bolt buyers about long distance travel and wonders if it's possible to make a deal with Tesla.

I wonder if that was his personal question or if it's been a debate at GM. I believe Tesla didn't say it was out of the question to open up the SCs to other companies for a price. It's very interesting that they (GM) seems surprised that they got blow back on lack of charging.

Anyways great write-up. Sounds like an awesome trip.
 
[Great writeup! So, I took the liberty to format and make it easier to read]

Just got home from a bucket list road trip in my P100D. Spent 1 month circumnavigating the lower 48 visiting friends, family and interesting places.


Car performed flawlessly
, driver and road conditions less so.


General comments: Never any range anxiety, often bladder anxiety. Only waited once for a supercharger, 5 minutes in Rapid City due to Custer Rally traffic. 80% of the dozens I used were occupied by me alone. Big battery made it easy to run on the first 60% of capacity, greatly reducing charging time. Left the car dirty for camouflage and got no negative attention and very little attention at all. Some superchargers didn't want to release the plug, holding down the trunk release on the fob came in handy.


Autopilot was wonderful on open freeways, suicidal on curvy two lanes.


Chronological comments:


Ø Stuck in traffic downtown San Francisco, 3 Model S in a row.

Ø Eureka, CA 3 brothers, 5-10 years old, drag their parents and grandparents across the Walmart parking lot because they had never seen a Tesla before. They knew more about the car than I did!

Ø Seattle heavy traffic and pouring rain at night. I can't see the lane lines but the autopilot can, so I gingerly gave it control and it (AP) did a better job than I could.

Ø Eastern Washington at a remote supercharger. Chevy Tahoe pulls up and the driver introduces himself as the GM northwestern US regional manager. He's gotten a lot of blowback from Bolt buyers about long distance travel and wonders if it's possible to make a deal with Tesla. I suggest that they might be open to a well funded buy in.

Ø Montana 80 mph speed limit means I can set autopilot on 85 with impunity.

Ø Sheridan WY I've gotten complacent with autopilot and when a construction zone barrel straddles the lane line my drivers mirror takes a hit. Fortunately, the mechanism is OK, just the glass is shattered, and Denver can fix it as I pass through.

Ø Custer, SD I get to meet Bighorn and NKYTA in person! On an absolutely empty straight highway between Custer and Denver I discover that the speedometer turns red at 145 and the computer shuts off the fun at 155 with the car dead stable and still pulling hard.

Ø Dayton, OH the USAF museum is the equivalent of the Smithsonian, without enduring DC. Don't miss it.

Ø Toronto has paved every inch of the city, there is a ton of traffic but the splendid roads and skilled and polite Canadian drivers made it a non event.

Ø Quebec we're French, stuck in Canada, hate it and we'll take it out on you!

Ø Western Maine some thoughtful soul trenched a utility across the highway and didn't backfill it all the way. I hit hard and immediately checked the tire pressure on my 21s. It was OK, so I proceeded to Bangor, ME at speed where I discovered both front tires had big blisters in the sidewalls. This is Memorial Day weekend and everything is closed until Tuesday. Roadside assistance finds 2 tires at the Boston service center and they are open until 5. I rent a Buick and drive the 200 miles along with every guy from Boston with a boat that went Maine for the holiday. I'm at the Bangor tire store when it opens Tuesday with the tires. They are leery, never having worked on a Tesla before, but displaying the jacking instructions on the big screen stiffens their upper lip and I'm quickly on my way.

Ø Savannah GA supercharger is in the long term parking garage at the airport and you can validate by showing your fob to the info desk. TSA prevented me from getting breakfast as all the restaurants are past security and thou shall not go there without a boarding pass.

Ø FL turnpike superchargers are in the service plazas, very convenient. Hardest downpours I've ever witnessed between Baton Rouge and Houston, car handled it better than I did.

Ø TX rural 2 lanes have a 75mph limit and no traffic.

Ø AZ heat is no problem for the Tesla AC.

Ø Barstow, CA supercharger has 16 stations and solar!

Ø Wrap up: I enjoyed the last day of my trip as much as the first and couldn't have been more comfortable, even after a month in the seat.
 
Great write-up. We've done a number of road trips in our S and loved almost every mile (and those we didn't wasn't because of anything Tesla).

If you get a chance please share your experience on Chargerville so that others can benefit. With a trip like that you've got a much better perspective than most of us. How's the charger, good places to eat, hang out, etc.
 
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P100D.... Big battery made it easy to run on the first 60% of capacity, greatly reducing charging time.
Completely agree, compared to P85 and P85D. My passenger noted more than once on a recent ~800 mi two day trip that the journey is much more relaxing, "feels very much like a gas car trip w/r/t refueling". The only time we stayed beyond "restroom break" (10-15 minutes) was for lunch or dinner once per day for ~ an hour.
 
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Eastern Washington at a remote supercharger. Chevy Tahoe pulls up and the driver introduces himself as the GM northwestern US regional manager. He's gotten a lot of blowback from Bolt buyers about long distance travel and wonders if it's possible to make a deal with Tesla. I suggest that they might be open to a well funded buy in.

Nice story! Thanks!

It seems strange that a GM regional manager wouldn't know about Musk's repeated comments on sharing superchargers.
 
Thanks for your trip commentary! I'll be making my first long road trip in early July for two weeks from Phoenix to Portland OR in a 75D, about 3,300mi along the west coast and back through Nevada. It helps to read about other long trips for preparation. One of my stops will be in Eureka where I have some relatives to visit.
 
On an absolutely empty straight highway between Custer and Denver I discover that the speedometer turns red at 145 and the computer shuts off the fun at 155 with the car dead stable and still pulling hard.

Isn't that a wonderful stretch of road? Beautiful view of the next three miles, no place for the local sheriff to hide -- just pedal to the metal and solid acceleration to the limit.
 
Absolutely no way that Tesla will make a deal on SC access - it's the killer app that prevents any current or on the horizon EV from being competition.

Well and I'm convinced GM and others are waiting for the government to start building out CCS chargers at rest stops. I wouldn't be surprised if there are bills already circulating to this effect. So I don't think any other brand even wants to pay for something they'll get for free in a couple years.