First road trip in your MX

[loganintx]

WattHours/Hour makes no sense. It's Watts that you want times the amount of time you use it for.
If it uses 40Watts continuous power and you run it for 8 hours that would be 320Wh.
If your car is averaging 320Wh/Mile then when you divide the two like I said you would end up with 1 Mile.

The energy required to keep a cooler of cool things cool vs the energy needed to move a 5,500lb car is going to be many magnitudes of difference

 

[ohmman]

I did a 1200mi trip which would usually be 9hrs but took 14hrs.

Hey, that's still pretty good time! I mean, it's not the 150mph you normally average, but not bad at all.

 

[Coolcarx]

Hey, that's still pretty good time! I mean, it's not the 150mph you normally average, but not bad at all.

Too Funny! Sorry, I meant to say each 9hrs 600mi each way.

 

[Coolcarx]

What was the average speed and outside temperature during your trip?

28 F was the lowest and my speed was as low as 50mph to make next SC station. I was warned to drop to 65 them 60 all the way to 50 with warning I'm not going to make it.

 

[ohmman]

28 F was the lowest and my speed was as low as 50mph to make next SC station. I was warned to drop to 65 them 60 all the way to 50 with warning I'm not going to make it.

The whole "go slow to get there faster" thing takes a while to acclimate to in those conditions. I've been in your situation a couple of times, but not on trips as long as yours. As I mentioned in the MX Range thread when you originally told us about the trip, starting slow helps a lot. It's hard to do, but if you know you're battling tough conditions it's best to start at 50 and increase the speed as you go (if possible).

Sounds like you're getting past that first hazing-style road trip. Looking forward to a more joyous trip report soon.

 

[FarmerDave]

FarmerDave: That was quite a long trip you did. And it's a beautiful car. Would you mind sharing tips on managing the Wh/Mile and avoiding range anxiety. Also, any tips on breaks at the SCs you used.

Tip 1: When supercharging and the car says you have enough soc for your next leg, don't believe it. The car is assuming ideal conditions and YMMV. We always charged at least 15% more.

Tip 2: Beware of headwinds. They're invisible and can make quite a difference. We unknowingly ran into a 25 mph headwind while in Florida, and I wasn't paying attention to Wh/Mile. We were using the NAV system, and it suddenly rerouted us to the Orlando Supercharger. It had determined that we weren't going to make our planned next Supercharger based on current energy draw and sent us to a closer one which was a bit out of our way. We made it to that one (Orlando) with 35 miles to spare.

Tip 3: Destination charging is great. Start the day with 100% charge.

 

[ohmman]

Took a quick weekend road trip down the California coast with some camping. Things went well. A few notes:

Home to Seaside Supercharger: AP set at 75 on most highways. Minimal climate control. 157.2 miles, 332Wh/mi.
Seaside Supercharger to Pfeiffer Big Sur: Highway 1 manual driving. Winding, hilly roads but moderate speeds due to weekend traffic. 34.7 miles, 330Wh/mi.
Pfeiffer Big Sur to Seaside Supercharger: Highway 1 manual driving. Less traffic, faster speeds. 34.7 miles, 351Wh/mi.
Seaside Supercharger to home: AP set to 75, but lots of traffic/stop and go/etc. 159.8 miles, 358Wh/mi.

AP was great on the highways in almost all situations. The one situation where I was not thrilled was in stop and go traffic where the traffic would suddenly speed up to 30mph, then rapidly brake - and repeat this condition. AP waits too long to apply the brakes in that situation and it freaked me out a couple of times before I just disengaged until I got into a more normal traffic pattern.

And a very notable item. I was done charging at Seaside on the way home but was waiting on my son in the owner's lounge bathroom. All chargers were full, and I saw another white X pull up to charge, so I unplugged and moved so she could pull in. Same configuration as mine - pearl white 90D with UW interior. She thanked me and I said "nice choices". Walking back with my son, the owner pointed out that our license plates were a single digit apart. It makes sense when you realize that Tesla probably sent in all the applications based on build, but that was a first for me. My twin car in the wild, and consecutive plate numbers!

 

[dmsail]

I have seen other posts too that mention using CHAdeMO adapter. So far other than destination and superchargers, I've only used Chargepoint with the supplied J1772 adapter. Since it seems we are more on the road after becoming a Tesla family, I'm wondering if I should invest in a CHAdeMO adapter. Where would these come useful while traveling?

We did 8700 miles last summer in our Model S. We used the CHADEMO adapter twice--once in Charlottesville, VA and once in Albuquerque, NM. Both times it was welcome. Not as fast as superchargers but much faster than Level 2 chargers.

 

[Coolcarx]

Took a quick weekend road trip down the California coast with some camping. Things went well. A few notes:

Home to Seaside Supercharger: AP set at 75 on most highways. Minimal climate control. 157.2 miles, 332Wh/mi.
Seaside Supercharger to Pfeiffer Big Sur: Highway 1 manual driving. Winding, hilly roads but moderate speeds due to weekend traffic. 34.7 miles, 330Wh/mi.
Pfeiffer Big Sur to Seaside Supercharger: Highway 1 manual driving. Less traffic, faster speeds. 34.7 miles, 351Wh/mi.
Seaside Supercharger to home: AP set to 75, but lots of traffic/stop and go/etc. 159.8 miles, 358Wh/mi.

AP was great on the highways in almost all situations. The one situation where I was not thrilled was in stop and go traffic where the traffic would suddenly speed up to 30mph, then rapidly brake - and repeat this condition. AP waits too long to apply the brakes in that situation and it freaked me out a couple of times before I just disengaged until I got into a more normal traffic pattern.

And a very notable item. I was done charging at Seaside on the way home but was waiting on my son in the owner's lounge bathroom. All chargers were full, and I saw another white X pull up to charge, so I unplugged and moved so she could pull in. Same configuration as mine - pearl white 90D with UW interior. She thanked me and I said "nice choices". Walking back with my son, the owner pointed out that our license plates were a single digit apart. It makes sense when you realize that Tesla probably sent in all the applications based on build, but that was a first for me. My twin car in the wild, and consecutive plate numbers!

I know what you mean with the late autopilot breaking. I didn't want to wait to see if it was going to stop. Your average seems much better than mine. What size wheels do you have? Is it true that variable speed vs constant speed kills efficiency? Thanks!

 

[ohmman]

I know what you mean with the late autopilot breaking. I didn't want to wait to see if it was going to stop. Your average seems much better than mine. What size wheels do you have? Is it true that variable speed vs constant speed kills efficiency? Thanks!

I have a 90D with 20s.

The Model X seems to have a different energy consumption profile than my Model S. I think because of the weight, there's a real penalty to stop and go driving. But on the highway at a more consistent speed, it seems to be nearly the same as the significantly lighter Model S.

Consistent speed is good, but cruise control is generally worse than driving yourself. If you anticipate the upcoming downhill, for instance, you might let yourself drop in speed a tiny bit and then coast down the hill, allowing yourself to potentially go slightly faster than your set point. Load up the energy graph on the IC and drive for a while trying to keep the usage as close to 0 as possible. That is, regen has a penalty as does high consumption. There are nuances, for instance going 100mph down a hill to avoid regen makes little sense because air resistance has become so great that you're losing any benefit. But within reason, this seems to be a good way to learn how to drive "efficiently".

I'm at 299Wh/mi lifetime (33k miles) on my Model S P85 and 338Wh/mi lifetime (1300 miles) on my Model X.

 

[aesculus]

Consistent speed is good, but cruise control is generally worse than driving yourself.

Maybe Tesla needs a new CC mode called Energy Saver. As you stated it could be set for constant power instead of constant speed. Aircraft do this.

I actually find myself doing this now too, especially when coming to a stoplight. I will poke along with a big gap between me and the next car to the light. It really makes people behind me mad and they often change lanes thinking I will be poking along after the light changes too.

I can just see all the cars piling up behind Tesla's on hills and coming to a stop as well as us racing around slow pokes on downhills as we approach 100 mph.

 

[Coolcarx]

Maybe Tesla needs a new CC mode called Energy Saver. As you stated it could be set for constant power instead of constant speed. Aircraft do this.

That would be a great feature for when you know your pushing range limits to get to destination. It would be nice to know exactly how to max your range. Maybe have an automated voice coach you "please coast, now punch it.... Wait, that's too much...easy does it"

 

[ohmman]

Maybe Tesla needs a new CC mode called Energy Saver. As you stated it could be set for constant power instead of constant speed. Aircraft do this.

I've wanted this since I first got my S. With all the sensors on the newer cars (along with elevation information for trip planner), it seems like a reachable goal and quite valuable.

Of course, it could be argued that we already have it. Set cruise at 50mph. Voilà!

 

[gavine]

Philadelphia to DisneyWorld.....If anyone has already taken that trip, I would love to get some pointers/tips. Previous trips there in our ICE took 16 to 18 hours (14 hours of driving). I'm sure the Supercharger trip will be longer but with good planning, hopefully not much longer.

 

[xkwizit]

I have a 90D with 20s.

The Model X seems to have a different energy consumption profile than my Model S. I think because of the weight, there's a real penalty to stop and go driving. But on the highway at a more consistent speed, it seems to be nearly the same as the significantly lighter Model S.

Consistent speed is good, but cruise control is generally worse than driving yourself. If you anticipate the upcoming downhill, for instance, you might let yourself drop in speed a tiny bit and then coast down the hill, allowing yourself to potentially go slightly faster than your set point. Load up the energy graph on the IC and drive for a while trying to keep the usage as close to 0 as possible. That is, regen has a penalty as does high consumption. There are nuances, for instance going 100mph down a hill to avoid regen makes little sense because air resistance has become so great that you're losing any benefit. But within reason, this seems to be a good way to learn how to drive "efficiently".

I'm at 299Wh/mi lifetime (33k miles) on my Model S P85 and 338Wh/mi lifetime (1300 miles) on my Model X.

I have noticed on my S70D too that cc mileage is worse at times than manual. Haven't driven X enough but I am pretty sure it will be the same.

 

[Tjhappel]

Man I was really hoping to use the x as our family road trip car but I think we will be waiting to buy one until the range is at least comparable to my model s p85. I have a hard enough time with that where I almost don't want to take it if it's longer than a 300 mile road trip. Those stops add up real quick especially with young kids. We want a model x so badly, I drove one for a half a day, it feels like my model s did 2 years.... Driving in the future! Fingers crossed for a 110kwh in 6 months,

Hope you guys love your cards. They're awesome.

 

[Mark Z]

I talked to the insurance company today and got some frustrating news. California doesn't have "Accident Forgiveness" so the premium will rise if the driver is at fault. I know this thread is about road trips, and this information definitely applies to what vehicle you may want to use.

Here is where it gets strange. The insurance company can choose what vehicle to apply it to if you have multiple cars. Let's say you have three cars. The policy would rise the least on the oldest/cheapest vehicle even if the accident occurs in the expensive vehicle. So you definitely want them to select the cheapest vehicle as the most used vehicle. In my case, the difference was striking. If I was at fault, the 2009 Escalade would rise about $270 a year. Model S about $700 or Model X about $1,000. Keep in mind, only one vehicle would be hit with the extra premium on a yearly basis. To make sure that my reported mileage stays in line with the most used vehicle, I should drive the 2009 Escalade across the country to keep the Tesla reported miles lower than the cheaper vehicle.

This should help give California drivers a push to install a dash cam to help prove that the driver was NOT at fault.

 

[ptsagcy]

Probably NJ to Orlando, followed by NJ to Asheville, NC if they build the SC's on I-81

So we now have about 6,000 miles on our MX, including a trip from northern NJ to Richmond, VA and from NJ to Orlando. The trips were fantastic. The seats are very comfortable and autopilot makes the trips so much more relaxing. Superchargers worked great with minimal planning. This is, by far, the best road-trip car I have ever driven.

 

[Scrith]

My family and I had a great time in Yosemite this weekend with the X. Needless to say for those that have driven it, the X is absolutely amazing on days with beautiful clouds and in locations with high scenic sights, such as the incomparable Yosemite Valley. Here is a picture of El Capitan and Horsetail Fall visible above the rear-view mirror (sorry for the reflections):

Image

• Scrith
• May 22, 2016

El Capitan and Horsetail Fall through the Model X front windshield.

A few other notes on the trip: the Yosemite personnel loved the car (none had seen a Model X before) and we had long conversations about it at the entrance to and exit from the park, and several personnel from the Ahwahnee (now known as Majestic) Hotel, including some at the front desk who enthusiastically went outside to check it out. We were the only Tesla there Friday night, so we were hooked up to the Tesla charger there all night. The clouds were amazing to see out the front windshield, and seeing a bit of snow falling while looking out the windshield while driving on Tioga pass was great fun as well. After parking at the tunnel view area we had several tourists turn around and take pictures of our car (two great views from that location on that day, I guess).

After charging in Manteca we easily made it to the valley (driving up the old priest road was a blast) and had so much charge left that we took a quick side trip about halfway up Tioga Pass to play in the snow before coming back to the valley to charge.

 

[steve56]

I'm planning a trip in my MX from Southern California to St. Louis, Missouri starting this Saturday, May 28, 2016, to attend the annual Midwest Tesla Gathering. But this might not qualify as my "first" MX road trip. I live in Vancouver,Washington, took delivery of my MX in Portland,Oregon, and later drove it down to our vacation house in Southern California. My wife and I drive back and forth between our home in Vancouver and vacation place in Southern California quite a bit in either our MS or MX. Usually we just spend one night in a hotel around Mt. Shasta each way on this 1000 mile trip. When we got our very first MS in early 2013 we had to use a Roadster Charging Adapter Cable since there were no Superchargers between Portland and Sacramento at that time, but there were Roadster Charging Locations. That problem was solved before our second trip and now it is a breeze using Superchargers all the way. For this upcoming trip in our MX to Missouri, we made this same trip about a year ago in our MS. We drove out to have our MS at the ribbon cutting of a new Tesla Destination Charging Location at the Depot Inn & Suites in La Plata, Missouri, a hotel that we used to own. That was a very scenic trip that we really enjoyed. I'm looking forward to doing it over again, but this time in our MX and this time with auto-steer which was not available at the time of our prior trip.