My Model S 75D is scheduled to arrive 3/12/18. I'm considering using it to drive 2000 miles from the Boston area to Colorado in early June. Does that give enough time to work the bugs out of the car? (I'm old enough to remember the bad old days of Detroit cars which often spent the first month in the repair shop). Is it realistic to drive solo 500-700 miles per day? The superchargers on the east-west interstates seem to be 100 to 150 miles apart.
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Can I do a long road trip soon after getting my new car
- Thread starter Transplant
- Start date
Easy. Just don’t push the range until you’ve charged and supercharged the car a few times. Get a CHADEMO adapter if you think you’ll be urban driving much outside of the supercharging network. Get some of the other AC adapters if you are driving in rural locations where you might need an RV or welding hookup.
Remember you’ll drive for three hours and charge for one so 600 miles a day takes best case twelve hours when supercharging.
Remember you’ll drive for three hours and charge for one so 600 miles a day takes best case twelve hours when supercharging.
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Trailblazer
Member
Should be no problem, especially since you're doing it in the summer (range is better in warm weather). I drove 2 separate 3000-mile trips this past summer in my 85D without any range anxiety - 7 days for each trip, so I did several 500+ mile days. Try to find hotels with destination chargers - that will save you as much as an hour of charging per day. It takes a bit of planning ahead of time, but I found those trips to be very enjoyable.
Edit: No need for a Chademo adapter - I used superchargers and hotel destination chargers exclusively.
Edit: No need for a Chademo adapter - I used superchargers and hotel destination chargers exclusively.
Mokuzai
Member
Just be sure to try out supercharging a couple times before your trip. You don't want to find out you have a charge port fitment issue while on the roadtrip.
mknox
Well-Known Member
True story: A good buddy of mine (non-technical, no EV knowledge at all) called me up and said a friend of theirs just bought a Model X and said that they don't like driving far and asked him if he'd drive it from Toronto to Florida for them. He wanted me to help him understand "how these cars work". Yikes!
I met him at a Supercharger the day before he left and gave him a crash course in all that I could think of, and went in and adjusted a lot of the settings (Regen was set to Low, for instance). Turns out it was a 75D.
I ran into him after his return and asked how it went. I was expecting some sort of horror story, but he said it went off without a hitch. He and his wife even did some side-trips around the Nashville area and said the Nav system was great... telling him where to go and for how long etc. He said he could see himself in one of these cars some day.
I thought that was a very good testament to how "mainstream" these things are becoming. When I first got my car, there were no Superchargers or DCFC stations, and I would limp between L2 stations on my more "adventurous" road trips.
I met him at a Supercharger the day before he left and gave him a crash course in all that I could think of, and went in and adjusted a lot of the settings (Regen was set to Low, for instance). Turns out it was a 75D.
I ran into him after his return and asked how it went. I was expecting some sort of horror story, but he said it went off without a hitch. He and his wife even did some side-trips around the Nashville area and said the Nav system was great... telling him where to go and for how long etc. He said he could see himself in one of these cars some day.
I thought that was a very good testament to how "mainstream" these things are becoming. When I first got my car, there were no Superchargers or DCFC stations, and I would limp between L2 stations on my more "adventurous" road trips.
Yes to both. You'll want to verify that the car takes Supercharger energy before ending up far away with an empty battery, but there aren't really break in periods or anything like that - though I understand AP2 cars need a while to calibrate the cameras before Autopilot works.
It's hard to average much more than 50 mph with a small battery Tesla - places with higher limits burn through the charge faster and seem to have SpC locations further apart, forcing you deeper into the taper.
The upside of this is plenty of time to eat and stretch legs, so combined with AP it's not really that tiring, and 700 mile days are quite doable - they just mean a lot of hours on the move.
Last year I drove to Houston for Thanksgiving, two days each way and about three thousand miles total. It made sense under the circumstances, but it was a lot of driving (or at least a lot of watching AP drive.)
I paid $1.50 to charge for the trip - the Birmingham location is downtown in a pay lot. (Of course, that doesn't count what I spent on meals and hotel rooms.)
It's hard to average much more than 50 mph with a small battery Tesla - places with higher limits burn through the charge faster and seem to have SpC locations further apart, forcing you deeper into the taper.
The upside of this is plenty of time to eat and stretch legs, so combined with AP it's not really that tiring, and 700 mile days are quite doable - they just mean a lot of hours on the move.
Last year I drove to Houston for Thanksgiving, two days each way and about three thousand miles total. It made sense under the circumstances, but it was a lot of driving (or at least a lot of watching AP drive.)
I paid $1.50 to charge for the trip - the Birmingham location is downtown in a pay lot. (Of course, that doesn't count what I spent on meals and hotel rooms.)
In addition to several cycles at superchargers you should plan several 100's of miles to catch early issues. You should have time to do it with delivery in March and trip in June. We had the A/C expansion valve electronics die in the first 600 miles and needed an alignment to center the steering wheel. In Boise, the ranger comes to house and he has a deal with a local shop for alignments and lift work. Both were fixed immediately. Then the next day we started a 5000 mile trip. The car was 2 weeks old.
In those first 500 or so miles...
1. break in the brakes. Really you need to bed them in (google that) rather than use them lightly
2. make some full throttle starts
3. select and verify air suspension settings (if so equipped)
4. try all the rest of the features (i.e. go carefully through the delivery checklists)
5. get the service guys to trigger a FW update and drive the 50-100 miles to allow the AP system to learn
In those first 500 or so miles...
1. break in the brakes. Really you need to bed them in (google that) rather than use them lightly
2. make some full throttle starts
3. select and verify air suspension settings (if so equipped)
4. try all the rest of the features (i.e. go carefully through the delivery checklists)
5. get the service guys to trigger a FW update and drive the 50-100 miles to allow the AP system to learn
We took off on a 5500 mile trip about two weeks after our Model X was delivered. Our only problem was the rear hatch alignment kept moving and eventually we had to leave it closed just to make sure it stayed that way. SC fixed it when we got home. You should have plenty of time to fix anything before you leave.
Try EVTripPlanner.com (or other alternative) to plan your routes and charging stops to give you some confidence and plan meals and hotels and drive times. Use PlugShare to see if there is a Supercharger or destination charger at your final destination.
I won't drive 700 miles by myself anymore. But my wife and I swapped driving at each Supercharger stop and that was no problem. We're looking forward to more long trips.
Try EVTripPlanner.com (or other alternative) to plan your routes and charging stops to give you some confidence and plan meals and hotels and drive times. Use PlugShare to see if there is a Supercharger or destination charger at your final destination.
I won't drive 700 miles by myself anymore. But my wife and I swapped driving at each Supercharger stop and that was no problem. We're looking forward to more long trips.
arcus
Active Member
I would say it is fairly likely that you will find something that needs to be corrected in the first couple of weeks of use just from trying out all the features and systems in the car. Since you're talking about now until June, that should be no problem to get those found and taken care of. I had a door handle issue at delivery that turned out to be a broken clip on a wiring harness in the door. When they fixed that, then I had no issues at all for a year and a half.
I flew to Denver and picked mine up and drove it back to Houston. I would ask them to charge it to 100% so that you can get on the road, also be wary of your distance, if it is below 50F you will have some range loss due to the battery heating. Have a great trip!
Uncle Paul
Well-Known Member
Trip should be no problem. The learning curve is steep, but short on a Tesla. The computer screen does all the supercharger calculations for you. Will tell you which chargers are in range, and prompt you to which ones to stop at and for how long.
I had worries like you when I picked up my X at the factory and drive it right down to San Diego. By the first Supercharger stop my confidence was secure.
Start with a full charge, stop once or twice along the way and stay at a place with destination charging if possible. Start every morning with a full tank.
Driving with two people will make it a breeze. Take advantage of charging stops to get a meal, coffee, or wander around the local shops. Auto pilot will make the driving easier with no need to make so many micro-corrections with throttle and steering.
Arrive more fresh than driving any ICE>
I had worries like you when I picked up my X at the factory and drive it right down to San Diego. By the first Supercharger stop my confidence was secure.
Start with a full charge, stop once or twice along the way and stay at a place with destination charging if possible. Start every morning with a full tank.
Driving with two people will make it a breeze. Take advantage of charging stops to get a meal, coffee, or wander around the local shops. Auto pilot will make the driving easier with no need to make so many micro-corrections with throttle and steering.
Arrive more fresh than driving any ICE>
henderrj
Active Member
Picked ours up, used 3rd party, in Phoenix, drove to Tulsa and a week later back home to Seattle. Got 50 miles down the road before it occurred to me that I hadn't seen the UMC. Called the seller "Oh, we never had one of those, just use the Superchargers. The J1772 adaptor is in the glove compartment but you won't need that until you get home.". And you know, he was right! By the way, that was a year ago. Things are even better now!
Go for it. You will have a blast. You usually will never charge to 100%. Charge to 90% or less if your Tesla Nav says good to go. This is the best for relaxing long distance travel and will keep your charging times reasonable. If you are stuck at a restaurant with slow service, use your phone app to boost your % of charge.
I live north of Boston. In 2015 I picked up my first Model S P85D in Portland, OR (I have family I visited while I was there). Then I drove cross country back to Boston. I drove that car cross country 3 times. Twice with one of my dogs. No problems. I did the same thing when I picked up a Model S P100D in September 2016. I drove that car cross country 5 times, Oregon to Boston, sometimes a side trip to Napa to visit my sister. Then home across the Great Salt Flats (not to be missed). More recently I bought a new Model X P100D, had it delivered to Dedham Store where I dropped off the S and picked up the X. Have since driven the X from Boston to San Diego this past October/November for a family wedding. I could fly but the car’s such a joy to drive.
Everyone’s different but I generally start travel the first day starting a little late and only driving about 350 miles or so. After the first day, if I’m heading west (to miss sunset glare) I leave hotel at dawn or before and drive about 500+ miles a day. Getting to Denver I get to Allentown, PA the first day (fool the nav system into taking you across the Hudson north of NYC - the roads and traffic are awful). Second day I drive to Dayton, OH, many places to stay right off the highway. That’s about a 550+/- drive. Really pretty in the PA mountains. Third day I drive to Independence, Missouri (Kansas City outskirts) because there’s a place I like to stay there. That drive is a little over 500 miles. The fourth day you have all of Kansas in front of you and another hundred miles or so in CO to get to Denver. It’s a long days drive as Kansas can get monotonous.
There’s no need to “break in”a TESLA since it’s electric it could be compared to breaking in a light bulb. It just goes... I love traveling in these cars so much I’ve decided to sell my home this spring, pop my two dogs in the (Orvis covered) backseat, travel to my favorite Airstream dealer in Denver, pick up a 21 foot Flying Cloud and set out to visit as many of our national and state parks as I can get to. No rush by then. But I’ve made it from Napa, CA to Denver in two days before. Those were two 600+ mile days.
Happy to answer any questions you may have. I’ve done overnighters, 900+ miles twice when I found myself in Erie, and I was homesick for the north shore. The sound system is magnificent so bring your favorite music or audiobooks on your iPad and/or phone. There are plenty of usb terminals to charge devices which connect vie Bluetooth. Or you can ask the car to stream your favorite music. Enjoy. Don’t hesitate to ask if you have any questions.
