First long trip today

[Aellinsar]

For the speed limit, there is one place int he USA with an 85 mph speed limit and the highest outside of that is 80mph. Most states are 70-75 mph max, so they probably felt pretty comfortable with a 90mph top end limit on autopilot. There are already a ton of legal disclaimers on when to use autopilot, I can't imagine them balking at putting one in about max speed usage.

Like many others, I'm curious about your bad experience with ABRP. Would you mind letting us know the route? I'm curious what it has to say.

 

[robl45]

I'm not saying they are wrong for doing 90, my wife's infinity radar cruise control stops at 90, my previous AMG would go above 90 though on the radar cruise control. Regardless of the speed limit, at least here, people drive around you like you are standing still. I know I was driving at one point 85 and people were driving around me like I was driving under the limit. I am typically only going 5mph over most of the time unless I'm at one of the open parts of the road here where nobody including the truckers are going anywhere near the speed limit but on the last leg I was trying to test how much the range would degrade so I could get a real world feel when doing a trip.

as for ABRP, I fooled around with it today and by setting headwind of 5mph and dry roads and dropping from 120% speed to 115% speed, it appears fairly accurate to what I saw driving. It still is estimating me coming in with lower battery that I likely would but its at least relatively close.

 

[robl45]

While on the topic of roadtrips. What actually happens if you do run out of juice? Does Tesla roadside come with a mini supercharger like roadside comes with a gallon of gas or something? Do they actually have to flatbed you home or to a supercharger?

 

[PNWLeccy]

Bjorn found abrp to be very accurate. It has more possible inputs to customize your conditions to often give you a better picture of consumption and I think premium version includes dynamic weather conditions.

 

[RayK]

While on the topic of roadtrips. What actually happens if you do run out of juice? Does Tesla roadside come with a mini supercharger like roadside comes with a gallon of gas or something? Do they actually have to flatbed you home or to a supercharger?

Flatbed to nearest charger. An alternative, when market penetration is much higher, is discussed here: SparkCharge the portable charging solution

edit: And when I say "market penetration", I'm talking about the portable power solutions and not Tesla or other electric vehicles.

 

[smatthew]

While on the topic of roadtrips. What actually happens if you do run out of juice? Does Tesla roadside come with a mini supercharger like roadside comes with a gallon of gas or something? Do they actually have to flatbed you home or to a supercharger?

Nope. You call whatever tow service you have a membership with, or just the local tow company. Running out of juice isn't covered by roadside assistance. Roadside assistance can arrange a tow, but it's at your expense.

 

[Aellinsar]

Nope. You call whatever tow service you have a membership with, or just the local tow company. Running out of juice isn't covered by roadside assistance. Roadside assistance can arrange a tow, but it's at your expense.

It worth noting that at leas a few credit cards include roadside assistance. It's not a primary benefit, but can come in handy (I used it when my Model 3 got a punctured tire).

 

[jesusbowls]

I am really happy overall with my TM3P. However, it's just not a good road trip car me. I did a highway trip last weekend, and in both directions I used about 350-360Wh/mi. At that rate I get around 210 miles out of a full charge, but given the constraint of having to stop at Supercharging stations, I basically have to stop every 160-190 miles, which means drive for two hours then stop for 45 minutes. It's very time-inefficient compared to an ICE car.

 

[smatthew]

It worth noting that at leas a few credit cards include roadside assistance. It's not a primary benefit, but can come in handy (I used it when my Model 3 got a punctured tire).

Yeah, and you can usually add roadside assistance to your vehicle insurance for less than AAA. I have heard that AAA pays higher and gets higher priority than insurance roadside assistance.

I'm not sure this would be helpful with the Tesla, but AAA also has a + plan, where in case of vehicle breakdown they cover two days of lodging and food. I used that benefit many times with my ICE vehicles, but hope to never need it with my Tesla. On the way to Christmas one year, the transmission blew on our Dodge minivan. The transmission shop in Redding, CA got us a refurbished transmission relatively quickly, but we still had to spend a nite in a hotel. AAA+ covered it no question asked. 5 years prior, I was moving from the east coast to the west coast with a v6 dodge Dakota and a fully loaded cargo trailer.. 90 miles into the journey I jackknifed my trailer and totaled my truck. Thank god nobody else was injured. One of the drivers behind us was a professional truck driver, and he was what was happening and slowed down, giving us room. He said he was sure we were going to flip over. It took me one day to buy a new-to-me truck and the local tire shop took 2 days to replace the tires on the trailer. AAA+ paid for the hotel room, and all our food expenses.

 

[KenC]

I am really happy overall with my TM3P. However, it's just not a good road trip car me. I did a highway trip last weekend, and in both directions I used about 350-360Wh/mi. At that rate I get around 210 miles out of a full charge, but given the constraint of having to stop at Supercharging stations, I basically have to stop every 160-190 miles, which means drive for two hours then stop for 45 minutes. It's very time-inefficient compared to an ICE car.

You should try ABRP, because it sounds like you may be charging inefficiently.

I have a cross-country route saved from my house to my brother's in LA. Inputting a M3P, driving 115% of speed limit, I get an efficiency of 353Wh/mile, right smack dab in your range. At that rate of efficiency I'm showing 10h 49mins of supercharging and 53h 46mins total. That works out to 20% of the trip time is charging. Your example, 2hrs driving then 45mins charging is 37.5% of the time charging. You are possibly charging inefficiently, charging to high levels of SOC, which is at a slower rate, when not necessary to make it to the next stop.

Sure, a little buffer/cushion is always recommended, but your charge times may be way over what ABRP predicts you would likely need.

My LR-AWD seems particularly efficient and only needs to charge 17% of the time on a x-country trip. So, if I drive 2hrs at 75-80mph, then I'd need only 20mins of charging. To me, that's reasonable, as in my ICE, I'd normally stop for 15mins for a bathroom break, buy another coffee. If I also bought some gas, then 20mins. No different than what I'm budgeting for my Tesla.