1st road trip on new M3P. Any advice?

[ColPaul]

Thanks everyone for the kind and helpful responses. I realized as I read these replies that my profile had my old address. I'm in Dayton Ohio now, but I don't think that changes most of the information provided.

I started playing with ABRP (I'm an engineer so I can't help myself). I'll probably get the kids involved with ABRP while I drive.

 

[Watts_Up]

... but I don't want to be sitting in the car waiting for a charge. Thanks in advance for the advice!

In fact its is quite confortable to seat while charging, since the car has HVAC while parked. Use a sunshade to protect you from the sun.

In general I stop for about 20 minutes, and I just have time to watch a Nextflix movie chapter or a Youtube video.
Also, I often combine any charging stop for using restroom and getting some some quick meal, and then charging is done.

For faster charging, activate the battery preconditioning by making the next Supercharger location as final destination on the Tesla Navigation.

Not all the Superchargers have 24/7 bathroom accomodations.
Sometime I need to stop at a gas station or a better option is to use a Rest Area phone App to find available public bathrooms.

 

[DuncanM]

Thanks for the suggestion. I have a tire pump and a patch kit, but not sure that will do much good without a jack. I may take the jack out of the wife's ICE.

Does the sealant destroy the TPMS?

Your car comes with free roadside assistance as part of the warranty.

 

[DuncanM]

Thanks everyone for the kind and helpful responses. I realized as I read these replies that my profile had my old address. I'm in Dayton Ohio now, but I don't think that changes most of the information provided.

I started playing with ABRP (I'm an engineer so I can't help myself). I'll probably get the kids involved with ABRP while I drive.

ABRP allows you to add CCS1 charging stations as a charging option so you can use it to judge whether it would be advantageous for your trip planning.

 

[Black306]

If you’re stopping every couple of hours anyway, Supercharging isn’t bad. My wife prefers to stop about that often and most of the time the car has way more than enough charge to get to the next stop by the time we’re ready to roll out.

Also, watch out for potholes. The 20” Performance wheels don’t like ‘em.

 

[mark02115]

Thanks for the suggestion. I have a tire pump and a patch kit, but not sure that will do much good without a jack. I may take the jack out of the wife's ICE.

Does the sealant destroy the TPMS?

I do not think the sealant harms the functionality of TPMS....... the valve is not "in line" with the sending unit components of the TPMS, others may have a more technical explanation.
The set up in the link I sent is designed to solve a slow leak, basically get you home or at least out of harms way. They are available on the Tesla site, but often out of stock.
Good point on the jack -- Yes I have a scissors jack, a 21milimeter socket, extension and wrench, a flat repair kit and the "jack pads" all stuffed into an old backpack that I tossed in the "frunk". I hope I never need it, but .

 

[ODWms]

I’ve read continuously on the site about ABRP and how great it is, but I’ve found the native map is so convenient in not having to interact with an outside source. Everything is right there, automatically with no added outsourcing / complexity. I’ve gone on many road trips since I’ve had my 3, and it all just works so flawlessly.

My wife just received a Model Y Long Range, and we went on a trip to Hilton Head for her birthday shortly after delivery (from Tampa Bay Area, about 800 miles, all in). Everything was so convenient and accurate as always. Maybe one day I‘ll try the ABRP to see what the hubbub is all about and be pleasantly surprised. But in my experience the in car maps / navigation are more than sufficient.

 

[DuncanM]

I’ve read continuously on the site about ABRP and how great it is, but I’ve found the native map is so convenient in not having to interact with an outside source. Everything is right there, automatically with no added outsourcing / complexity. I’ve gone on many road trips since I’ve had my 3, and it all just works so flawlessly.

My wife just received a Model Y Long Range, and we went on a trip to Hilton Head for her birthday shortly after delivery (from Tampa Bay Area, about 800 miles, all in). Everything was so convenient and accurate as always. Maybe one day I‘ll try the ABRP to see what the hubbub is all about and be pleasantly surprised. But in my experience the in car maps / navigation are more than sufficient.

I'd say that about 80% of the time the in-car nav is more than sufficient, but it has it's problems. It often bypasses some SC stations forcing longer charges than needed, It's also overly conservative in terms of getting the car to the best stop at a low state of charge. I always scout out the trip with Plugshare to look at my options and then simulate the route with ABRP using my observed efficiency in kwh to see if the in-car nav plan is the most efficient. The Tesla cellphone app is also useful for trip planning. Also sometimes the car decides that the speed limit is something other than what it really is, so I always compare it to my Garmin GPS (and the observed speed limit), into which I set the car's final destination for the day's drive.
During a recent trip to Toronto, and back, I used the in-car nav exclusively to route the car to a specific SC station to arrive at my desired SOC rather than letting the car plan the entire day's drive. I've found that doing this can easily save an hour or more during a day's drive, by maximizing the charging efficiency.

 

[EatsShoots]

I got my first EV years ago and I like them, but always talked smack about road trips vs gas for dumping big miles in a day. When I finally got our Tesla this month, and had a chance to use the super chargers, I must admit I kind of saw the light. Add your credit card within the tesla app so that it has that, and then literally you just pull up and plug it in. No time spend fiddling with the app on your phone or paying for it or anything. It just knows your car and automatically bills.

If you see a full supercharger (doesn't happen a lot, but does sometimes), odds are good the next one down the road has lots of spots.

 

[Feathermerchan]

I have a 2018 Model 3P. My first road trip was 560 miles total. Charging was easy. I was more nervous about the 'no sidewall' tires. 35 series on 20" wheels only leaves you about 1.25" from the rim to the concrete (pot hole). So carry plenty of air and check the TPMS regularly. I carry ~5lb over the recommended. I now also carry a tire plugging kit, compressor and for long trips a spare from Modern Spare dot com.
My second road trip was DFW - Philadelphia - DFW. ~3,000 miles. By then I had 18: forged wheels and much more road trip worthy tires. Still carried a spare though. No problems on that trip either. I did not use ABRP. Just the car's nav.
I have learned a 'trick' though. That is to periodically look at the car's estimated arrival state of charge. It generally changes as you drive. For me if it drops below 10%, I slow down maybe 3-5mph. If it climbs above 10%, I speed up (at my own risk). I am comfortable with arriving with <=10% and it charges faster at the lower state of charge anyway. So that minimizes the drive time.