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Long drives
- Thread starter Cshama
- Start date
Why did it scare you? I take long trips with mine and it is far superior to any ice I’ve owned. Using Autopilot on long stretches really reduces the effort required. ( I’m 81 and routinely strive an 820 mile trip in one day.) Range anxiety decreases with familiarity, and you quickly get used to the different stop pattern of electrics for recharge, etc. Basically, it’s still just a car.
It took a little getting used to the size when coming from a BMW 330xi, but it is a great car for long distance trips. Less fatiguing, and the stops to recharge are great for stretching the legs and bathroom breaks.
Rhyder
Pan fried in a tasty batter
I do a 1000 mile road trip over 2 days once a month or so using autopilot for 80% of the drive. It is considerably less tiring than in my BMW. The combination of autopilot, smoothness, and taking short walks while supercharging makes the trip very relaxing. I just sort of sit back and watch the scenery change.
I do a 560 mile round trip about weekly. No problems.
Autopilot//NoA has a noticeable positive impact on my fatigue and stress levels when I reach my destination on either end.
I'm a ~33,000 mile per year driver and I love both the ADAS and electric drivetrain components of Teslas.
Autopilot//NoA has a noticeable positive impact on my fatigue and stress levels when I reach my destination on either end.
I'm a ~33,000 mile per year driver and I love both the ADAS and electric drivetrain components of Teslas.
OncomingStorm
Member
they take a bit of getting used to but if you can they will def make your life a lot easier... might be a good idea to rent one on turo for a couple days first?... also when you use it, reduce the speed, even 80 -> 75 makes a difference in how scary it can feel. on/off ramps same thing... it always generally does fine at speed, but reducing 5-10mph makes it "feel" much more comfortable/natural.
I regularly do 400 mile round trips to Portland, and back.
The Good
Overall I enjoy it despite the bad. In fact when I take one of my other 2 vehicles it often feels like I've taken the wrong car. Haha
The Good
- The superchargers are spaced pretty well for this journey which makes it easy, and the cost of electricity isn't bad.
- I enjoy taking a small 15+ minute break every few hours.
- The car is smooth, and quiet (depending on road surface)
- TACC keeps my speed consistent
- AP is available if I choose to use it
- Occasionally the car will phantom brake with TACC/AP (with Tesla Vision), and some of them won't be so mild
- There are glitches with the Preconditioning for supercharging which can result in excessive energy consumption versus what it was 6+ months ago
- There are glitches with the trip planner where in certain situations it will claim you need much more energy for a trip than you really do
- The Automatic lights won't turn on during the day when wipers go on which means you have to turn on the lights manually so your car is more visible
Overall I enjoy it despite the bad. In fact when I take one of my other 2 vehicles it often feels like I've taken the wrong car. Haha
I haven't heard of a fix.
What I want is for preconditioning to go back to turning on during the last 30 minutes (or whatever it needs) of the drive versus turning on in the beginning on a 100+ mile journey to the supercharger. Nothing quite like sitting in traffic listening to the whine of preconditioning while it optimistically prepares itself for supercharging that's hours away.
Can you actually quantify 'excessive' though or are you just noticing the "preconditioning" advisory.
I'm not discounting what you're asserting here, curious your experience. This thread is the closest I could find:
Preconditioning for an hour??
I recently updated to 2021.4.11 and had need to travel from San Diego to LA, and set a supercharge stop about an hour away. As you can see in the attached photo, my car started preconditioning, even though I was 65 miles away from the charging station (nav was set to the L3 charger), and it was...
teslamotorsclub.com
COS Blue
Member
You may be deluding yourself. It depends on the route you are taking, among other things. I do a 100-mile drive into the mountains fairly often. TACC is nice when it works, but it doesn't always work so well. For me, it slows down excessively for mild curves, and sometimes for no reason. There are several spots along my drive that I cannot use Autosteer, because it's limited to 5mph over the speed limit, and there are stretches of road where the speed limit is 65 but the system thinks is 45 (so to use Autosteer I can only go 50mph in a 65mph zone). Phantom braking is a real thing, and I am usually at the ready with my right foot over the accelerator in case the car decides to brake. Even when I think I'm used to it and know when to expect it, there have been times that the car will hit the brakes for no reason, and I'm embarrassed and have to explain to the family "the car did that, not me." Hardly what I would call easier or more relaxing.
My route is on rural and mountain highways, but even on the Interstate I've had issues. Cruise control will set itself to 30mph on the Interstate sometimes, for example.
Of course, you may not have any of these issues on your route. If it's all straight, flat roads, the system might work perfectly. Then again, the worst Phantom Braking I ever had was on a straight, flat section of Interstate. The car saw the shadow of an overpass and slammed on the brakes.
As you can see, plenty of people say the system is wonderful. But it isn't always.
RTPEV
Active Member
I too am curious about what scared the OP about the highway. Maybe it was the use of Autopilot?
For sure, that does take some time to get used to for new users. I would say you get reasonably comfortable with it after a week as you get to know and trust its behavior and abilities. Even after 4 years though, I still disengage if I'm coming up fast behind stopped/slow traffic (I probably do this more because I don't want to get rear-ended than a lack of confidence in the car's ability to stop in time).
If that's the sense that the question was asked (whether Autopilot use makes traveling easier), then yes, I think it is a case of getting used to it.
If the question was asked in the sense of whether the Tesla is a comfortable car to travel in, well, I have to say that my Model 3 is not as comfortable as others seem to go on about. I find that my right foot does not have a really good place to rest and it ends up being in an awkward position. I have a "Road Trip" profile that moves my seat back and up, and this helps slightly, but I suspect for long road trips I'd be much happier in a Y. But this is a statement on "comfort" not "scariness"!
For sure, that does take some time to get used to for new users. I would say you get reasonably comfortable with it after a week as you get to know and trust its behavior and abilities. Even after 4 years though, I still disengage if I'm coming up fast behind stopped/slow traffic (I probably do this more because I don't want to get rear-ended than a lack of confidence in the car's ability to stop in time).
If that's the sense that the question was asked (whether Autopilot use makes traveling easier), then yes, I think it is a case of getting used to it.
If the question was asked in the sense of whether the Tesla is a comfortable car to travel in, well, I have to say that my Model 3 is not as comfortable as others seem to go on about. I find that my right foot does not have a really good place to rest and it ends up being in an awkward position. I have a "Road Trip" profile that moves my seat back and up, and this helps slightly, but I suspect for long road trips I'd be much happier in a Y. But this is a statement on "comfort" not "scariness"!
For long trips on the highway, I've found that the proper position for the right foot in a Tesla is always over the accelerator pedal. This has held true whether I am driving it or I am using some form of assisted driving.
It still feels odd not being ready to brake when the car is in control, but I've found that it brakes REALLY well by itself and the only pedal I need to be ready to handle is the accelerator pedal.
It does take a while to understand what AP is doing and what's its real capabilities are. It took me a while to get there.
Regular long drives mostly without issue, especially on highways.
Last really long one was 1800 miles round trip to Santa Fe - AP made is very relaxing compared to regular driving.
Main thing is don't add your own "additional features" that don't really exist - meaning the car can't drive itself, you are in control
Regular long drives mostly without issue, especially on highways.
Last really long one was 1800 miles round trip to Santa Fe - AP made is very relaxing compared to regular driving.
Main thing is don't add your own "additional features" that don't really exist - meaning the car can't drive itself, you are in control
Its the same company that you didnt like for your solar, so I would tell you that you should not consider this in the slightest as I dont think you will be happy with any interaction with tesla.
On the M3 at least, you can rest your foot on the accelerator pedal with no ill effects. Even if you depress it slightly with the weight of your foot, the car will not speed up. I drive this way whenever using NOA and FSD beta. I find it most comfortable.For long trips on the highway, I've found that the proper position for the right foot in a Tesla is always over the accelerator pedal. This has held true whether I am driving it or I am using some form of assisted driving.
I've had both excessive energy usage due to preconditioning, and I've had cases where I simply didn't want it to precondition due to range fears.
I explained the excessive one on post #46 of this thread.
Preconditioning for fast charging, worth it?
In my experience, tapping the banner just hides it - preconditioning continues to happen. Interesting, I’ll have to cinfirm. I’m certain I saw the energy meter go from 330ish (before pre-conditioning) up to 430ish (once pre-conditioning started) and back down 330ish after I tapped the banner.
teslamotorsclub.com
Then on post #89 I speculated that the preconditioning issue might be causing issues with the trip planner where it assumes the preconditioning loss will continue on the way to my house.
Basically its all messed up.
RTPEV
Active Member
Yes, exactly. Actually I prefer to hover my foot between the accelerator/brake so that I can be ready to engage either, but this is the problem. Holding my foot like that can be very tiring. It would be preferable to just rest it flat on the floor, but the geometry of my leg, seat, and steering wheel makes this very difficult and uncomfortable. Hence why I have the Road Trip profile to adjust the seat to a further back/higher position. It's great to be able just switch profiles as I come off the highway to put the seat back to "normal".For long trips on the highway, I've found that the proper position for the right foot in a Tesla is always over the accelerator pedal. This has held true whether I am driving it or I am using some form of assisted driving.
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