5,900 mile Road Trip across the north in a brand new MX?

[Pwdr Extreme]

I am picking up my Model X 90D Tuesday and thinking about immediately heading out to Maine from Montana. I have a few concerns. One, is it smart to commit to such a long trip on a brand new Tesla before I've had a chance to really find out if everything is going to work? Two, obviously it will be COLD. Being a native Montanan, I'm not worried about keeping it a little chilly in the car, but I don't really want to wear my snowmobile suit while driving either. Also, the wind ALWAYS blows in at least 1/3 of the areas I will be covering.

I'm really debating whether or not I should take the MX, or just drive my pickup. The truck is a new Eco diesel that gets 25mpg, so not that expensive to drive.

Pros for the truck:
Save nearly a day and half that will be spent at superchargers along the way (EV Planner says 32 hours charging at an average 410kwh consumption rate)
Shave off around 500 miles total because I don't have to route thru superchargers.
Not have to worry about this stupid $.40 per minute fee if I decide to take a nap at a supercharger at 3 am in the middle of nowhere when I'm the only Tesla for miles, potentially saving me hundreds of dollars.

Pros for the Model X:
It's a brand new shiny toy I've been wanting for over a year!!!!
Free charging (provided I don't get hit with the $.40 per minute charge because I didn't want to get up in the middle of dinner to move the only Tesla at an otherwise deserted supercharger.)
Getting to really learn all about my new car and show it off to my family in Maine.

So, all you experts who've "been there, done that" give me your advice!

 

[araxara]

Not have to worry about this stupid $.40 per minute fee if I decide to take a nap at a supercharger at 3 am in the middle of nowhere when I'm the only Tesla for miles, potentially saving me hundreds of dollars.

After your car has charged, unplug the car. Since you're the only one there, no one will know....

 

[Maaz]

Set an alarm to wake up and unplug while you "nap". But yeah you should definitely do the trip. You learn the most about a car on a road trip!

 

[Tjhappel]

The x would be awesome but let's be honest, if it's cold and you have a headwind will you get 180 miles if your lucky?? On a super long drive that much stopping will get real old real quick. I've pretty much already determined my one week old model x will not ever see long road trips due to the absolute terrible range. It's so so so much worse than my s and I thought my s was hard to deal with on road trips. I love the x, feels like we are driving in 2021 but for real you'll be tired of stopping in it. Also the factory in Fremont missed window seal on my left door so there's a gap for wind and water to come in.... pretty annoying for a 130k car but they say it's an easy fix. Rest of fit and finish is pretty good but the wind noise is a lot greater than my s ever was.

If you take it please post wh/mile averages, I'd be curious to see what kind of range you can get. It's an amazing car, wish battery was a 150kwh

 

[Phil Seastrand]

We did a ~5000 mile trip from California to North Dakota and back soon after we bought our Model X. We loved the trip and really learned the pros and (very few) cons. My only advice would be to charge for longer than the car recommends until you have confidence in the range you will get from the car. Also, don't skip any chargers until you have the experience and confidence to know you can make it. Use the trip planner to see your actual consumption vs. the calculated consumption. This will help you adjust your driving and arrive with confidence.

 

[GSP]

I would definitely take the X.

Take your time if you can, and enjoy the trip. Spend 3-4 nights at hotels with L2 destination charging, charge to 100% overnight, and drive about 500 miles/day. It should be an easy and fun trip, and you can also enjoy your X while in Maine.

GSP

 

[jbcarioca]

?..My only advice would be to charge for longer than the car recommends until you have confidence in the range you will get from the car. Also, don't skip any chargers until you have the experience and confidence to know you can make it. Use the trip planner to see your actual consumption vs. the calculated consumption. This will help you adjust your driving and arrive with confidence.

Excellent advice! I drove my new S on a 4,000 mile trip a couple of weeks after I got it. Outgoing I stopped at every Supercharger, and often range charged to 100%. Of course two years ago there were far fewer Superchargers. After the outgoing trip I began to gain confidence, now I skip many Superchargers.

Especially winter windy North I'd stop at all the Superchargers outbound. I would absolutely take the new Tesla, there's no better way to become well acquainted.
BTW, if going through Canada remember there are well-spaced Superchargers, usually not too full. Depending on how much you'll be in Quebec, the Hydro Quebec Circuit Électrique has many CHAdeMO locations, so you might take along a CHAdeMO adapter. Also, do not forget your adapters! Finally, there are fairly plentiful Destination Chargers at hotels along your route, if you want them.

I envy you the trip!

 

[ww73]

We drove from Seattle to NJ and back this summer in our S, overlapping a majority of your route to Maine.

There are stretches in SD (Murdo/Mitchell) that will test the range of your car. Make sure you charge extra on those legs and slow down.

Otherwise, there are lots of hotels near superchargers along the way that allow you to save time. We usually end the day at a SC/hotel, and hence leave every morning with nearly 100% charge. That gives us the buffer to not need to charge full during restroom/meal stops.

 

[NovemberXray]

We did over 9000 miles from Portland OR to DC, Boston, Montreal and back this summer in our brand new X and loved every minute of it. Definitely take the Tesla!

We found what worked best for us was to stay at a destination charger if possible, or next to a supercharger at night. Then we would get up and drive to the next supercharger and eat breakfast, the car would usually be ready to go before we were done eating. Drive to the next supercharger and go for a short walk, have a snack, check email, etc. Then on again, stop for lunch. One more repeat a snack stretch charging stop, and finally on to our destination for the night. Sometimes we did less or more, but this allowed us to drive 500+ mils a day very comfortably and arrive not even feeling tired.

 

[jbcarioca]

... .this allowed us to drive 500+ mils a day very comfortably and arrive not even feeling tired.

The best ting about Tesla trips is that all that stopping ends out making people (everyone IME) arrive feeling less tired and tense, even though the elapsed time might be a trifle longer.

 

[Pwdr Extreme]

I appreciate all the input!

My Tesla was supposed to arrive yesterday (Friday) which would have given me plenty of time for a relaxed trip, but due to the delivery truck breaking down, I won't receive it until Tuesday night at the SLC service center. I then drive thru the night to get back to Montana (8 hours) to make a 9am appointment to have a clear bra installed (would hate to take a 6k trip on sand and gravelled roads without it) So I will be leaving Wednesday evening. That gives me less than 3 days to arrive at a decent time Christmas Eve at my family's place in Maine, 2,600 miles away. That's nearly 900 miles a day I need to average. With charging times thrown in, that's going to be 18-20 hour days the first two so I'm not arriving at 10pm or later Christmas Eve. Certainly no problem for me, but unfortunately doesn't allow me to enjoy overnight stays at hotels and such. The return trip will be completely different, as I intend to divert thru Nashville and will be under no time constraints.

Since right out of the gate I'll have a 450 mile drive back to Montana, any issues such as windows out of alignment creating leaks and such that would be a major problem on the trip hopefully will have cropped up and I will know about them. If all seems to be well with the car, I'm gonna take it to Maine! If not, I'll drive my truck and day dream about the X the entire way there

Mr. Musk changing his stance about the $.40 per minute fee relieves that stress. He's only going to charge if the supercharger is congested, exactly what I felt was the right thing to do.

 

[Pwdr Extreme]

And I will absolutely keep a log with outside temps, cabin temp set point, vehicle speed, road conditions, wind conditions, etc. along with my kWh average consumption for that leg every time I stop to charge. I think it will be some pretty valuable data for all of us in cold country to really get a feel of what to expect in the winter.