2200 mile round trip drive: M3LR or ICE?

[phishphan]

Hi All,

We have a pretty long road trip coming up and the plan was of course to take the new Tesla. As the departure approaches, I’m starting to get anxiety about taking the tesla. ABRP is having me stop so many times. Picking it up from being ceramic coated tomorrow and worried about damage to the car in general.

What are your thoughts? FWIW I’d be getting like 18 mpg in my truck If we take it. Will the savings be significant utilizing the super chargers?

 

[XPsionic]

Highly depends on where you're going and if you're in a hurry. Of course the Tesla is gonna be way cheaper, like 1/5 to 1/3 of the cost of fueling up the truck, but you're going to be spending more time charging than gassing up (especially if you don't have overnight L2 charging).

I just did a round trip from LA to Denver and back. Other than one section on I70 that was a bit annoying, having to wait for a long charge to get across a desolate area, honestly I thought it wasn't so terrible to get out of the car every couple of hours and stop.

Let's see your route!

 

[phishphan]

This is basically it and doesn’t seem nearly as bad as the number of stops it had for the trip to Kearney, NE to stop for the night. I was under the impression that using super chargers wasn't that much cheaper than burning gas. The hotel were planning on staying at says they have L2 chargers.

 

[XPsionic]

This is basically it and doesn’t seem nearly as bad as the number of stops it had for the trip to Kearney, NE to stop for the night. I was under the impression that using super chargers wasn't that much cheaper than burning gas. The hotel were planning on staying at says they have L2 chargers.

Superchargers are still cheaper than paying for gas for a 40mpg sedan, and obviously better than a truck.

If you've got L2 at night and all you're doing is cross country, it's up to you to decide if stopping for 18-30 minutes every 2-3 hours is more annoying than getting gas in your truck every 3-5 hours. Personally I think the supercharger breaks are very acceptable and quite welcomed. I could do 600 miles in a day but I hate any stretches of more than 3 hours non stop.

IMO the choice is simple, all you're doing is going from point A to point B, lots of superchargers on the way, no range anxiety, cheaper energy, AND AUTOPILOT! Unless you're in a huge hurry I'd take the Tesla for sure.

 

[phishphan]

Got it, thank you. Not in a super hurry and don’t mind stopping every few hours honestly. Kids can stretch their legs as can we. This is the route that had me nervous bc I assumed we’d only have to charge about 3 times, not 5. Also, does ABRP range account for driving though mountain passes? Or is that why I’m charging more than expected? What speed does ABRP base these on as well out of curiosity?

edit-reeeeeeeeeally makes me nervous draining it to 10%.

 

[oreobbq]

Might as well enjoy the new car with the fam and you'll find out all about the pros and limitations of a tesla. Keep in mind if a cement truck flings a rock at you, in the truck it might just bounce off the grille vs the much lower riding Tesla and all its juicy glass surfaces.

 

[XPsionic]

Don't even worry about draining down to 10%. The only stretch that seem slightly dicey is Laramie to Ogallala, and there are actually 2 other superchargers on route, which means, it's not scary at all.

ABRP uses elevation and the posted speed limits to calculate. It's telling you the fastest way (charging + driving), but you could easily cut the Laramie charging session shorter and stop an extra time before getting to Ogallala.

Mind you, the fastest way to travel is to drain the battery down to 0% and charge up to no more than 70%. You can set your preferences for more stops or longer stops on ABRP as well.

 

[oreobbq]

Mind you, the fastest way to travel is to drain the battery down to 0% and charge up to no more than 70%. You can set your preferences for if you want more stops or longer stops on ABRP as well.

Hope OP knows not to take this literally lol. No problem, if you get stranded @XPsionic will come tow you in his cyber truck.

 

[XPsionic]

Hope OP knows not to take this literally lol. No problem, if you get stranded @XPsionic will come tow you in his cyber truck.

hey I said 0% not -1%

 

[phishphan]

Don't even worry about draining down to 10%. The only stretch that seem slightly dicey is Laramie to Ogallala, and there are actually 2 other superchargers on route, which means, it's not scary at all.

ABRP uses elevation and the posted speed limits to calculate. It's telling you the fastest way (charging + driving), but you could easily cut the Laramie charging session shorter and stop an extra time before getting to Ogallala.

Mind you, the fastest way to travel is to drain the battery down to 0% and charge up to no more than 70%. You can set your preferences for more stops or longer stops on ABRP as well.

Haha! And thank you for helping me with this anxiety!

 

[XPsionic]

Haha! And thank you for helping me with this anxiety!

The only thing to watch out for is on your return leg. Headwinds will drastically increase energy usage. The built in Tesla route planner in the car still doesn't take that into account (but ABRP pro can, and ABRP free allows you to enter custom headwinds).

Going east you usually get tailwinds, so on your way home just charge it up an extra 3-5% per leg than what the built in route planner says and you'll be good to go.

 

[Hebert]

A couple of thoughts,
- I think there are more superchargers on your path than ABRP is showing.
- it's a good idea to tune the ABRP wh/m and speed settings to your trip.
- Leave with 100% and skip the first stop
- try plugging the trip into your car and see what it says for stops. I usually route in a mixture of Tesla suggested stops with ABRP
- watch the wind and adjust as needed, headwinds could require another 10 to 20%
- adjust the ABRP length of stop setting, generally using the 15 to 70% part of your battery is fastest on long trips
- it's amazing how a food stop can add extra battery percentage

Have a great trip! Long trips in Teslas are fun

 

[phishphan]

The only thing to watch out for is on your return leg. Headwinds will drastically increase energy usage. The built in Tesla route planner in the car still doesn't take that into account (but ABRP pro can, and ABRP free allows you to enter custom headwinds).

Going east you usually get tailwinds, so on your way home just charge it up an extra 3-5% per leg than what the built in route planner says and you'll be good to go.

Good to know. Thank you for all the input! It is greatly appreciated!

 

[phishphan]

A couple of thoughts,
- I think there are more superchargers on your path than ABRP is showing.
- it's a good idea to tune the ABRP wh/m and speed settings to your trip.
- Leave with 100% and skip the first stop
- try plugging the trip into your car and see what it says for stops. I usually route in a mixture of Tesla suggested stops with ABRP
- watch the wind and adjust as needed, headwinds could require another 10 to 20%
- adjust the ABRP length of stop setting, generally using the 15 to 70% part of your battery is fastest on long trips
- it's amazing how a food stop can add extra battery percentage

Have a great trip! Long trips in Teslas are fun

Ah, good to know. Thank you for the thoughts, very much appreciated!

 

[DrGriz]

Ah, good to know. Thank you for the thoughts, very much appreciated!

Literally just made that trip (and more) a week and a half ago, pulling a 1000 lb trailer with our model Y. The construction is the least fun. And yes, watch out for wind. It's a killer. But you will make it fine. Remember, you can always extend your range by slowing down a bit.

 

[Lindenwood]

From Day 0 to Day 6 of ownership, I did an 1800 mile trip around 3 states. I was pretty familiar with the drive; generally speaking the Tesla stops added about 10% to the total trip duration, but the actual drive was MUCH more pleasant.

I have done the “drive for 5 hours straight and pee in a bottle” kinda of drives, and until recently regularly did 2-3 hours per leg. However, stopping for 12 minutes every ~1.5 hours was actually pretty nice. It made each leg feel much shorter, and I physically felt better.

And, to be clear, I was generally following ABRP’s recommendations of running the battery from around 60%-10% per leg, doing about 100 miles per leg.

 

[STS-134]

Got it, thank you. Not in a super hurry and don’t mind stopping every few hours honestly. Kids can stretch their legs as can we. This is the route that had me nervous bc I assumed we’d only have to charge about 3 times, not 5. Also, does ABRP range account for driving though mountain passes? Or is that why I’m charging more than expected? What speed does ABRP base these on as well out of curiosity?

edit-reeeeeeeeeally makes me nervous draining it to 10%.

You should be trying to get to the next fast charger with as close to 0% as possible. Fastest charging only occurs below 20%. There is a roughly 4-6% buffer below 0% so even if you drive it all the way down to 0%, it won't just stop. What I generally do is use ABRP with the proper tuning (generally gets within 2% of my actual usage) or I'll try to pick a location that the car's computer says I can get to with 10-20% remaining. Then I will increase speed to try to use up that entire 10-20% buffer. Generally I can get it down to around 3-5% on arrival.

 

[GregD60]

ABRP doesn't consider longer stops for lunch or overnight. We've found when travelling cross country that the typical pattern is charge up to 100% at home, run it pretty low, stop to charge for 15 or 20 minutes, and the next stop is usually about time for lunch where we'll have enough time for a 90%+ charge. Another stop somewhere in the afternoon for 15 or 20 minutes, and then travel to our overnight destination where we again charge to 100%. We'd do the lunch and overnight stops in any vehicle, so the only real additional travel time is the two stops at 15 to 20 minutes versus however long we would have stopped in an ICE vehicle. With us, that would typically be one 15 to 20 minute stop and one short stop, less than 5 minutes.

In our Model 3, this pattern results in 600 to 800 miles travelled per day, and the overall time penalty versus an ICE car is maybe 15 minutes for the whole day. The travelling is so much more relaxing in the Model 3 though, it's not even funny. Between the minimal noise and vibration, autopilot, and an excellent media system, Teslas make long distance travel effortless and much more pleasant, especially for the driver. Also, we rarely travel 600 to 800 miles on consecutive days; in any vehicle that gets old pretty quick. We take some time to sightsee along the way and enjoy the trip.

 

[GregD60]

I should note that I plan our charge stops before we even go on the trip, so that we reach lunch and overnight stops at the desired charge level. I just use the ABRP as a backup/confirmation, and the car's navigation primarily to make sure the battery pack is conditioned when we arrive at the charging locations.

 

[thesmokingman]

Picking it up from being ceramic coated tomorrow and worried about damage to the car in general.

I hope that ceramic is going on top of PPF, otherwise it won't do anything for protection.