MAR2023: My Experience Driving 1,367mi Down Into California and Back

Just drove down into CA and back home on a road trip with my family of five.
- Drove 1,367mi total.
- Used TESLA Superchargers mostly.
- Average TESLA Supercharger price: $0.40/kWh (MIN: $0.34/kWh | MAX: $0.48/kWh)
NOTE: I pay an average of $0.08353/kWh to charge at home, so paying $0.48/kWh is an abomination!!!
- Longest TESLA Supercharger Charge Time*: 50min (Est.) @ 250kW
- Longest non-Supercharger Charge Time*: 2.5hrs @ 8kW (32A)
- Spent $176.96 total on charging**.
- Total trip cost ICE equivalent (24mpg): $209.15 (Est. @ $3.67/gal)

* Charging sessions where we actively sat and waited, not counting charging passively at the hotel, etc.
** Charged FREE overnight at one hotel and paid a flat $10.00 twice to slow charge at an RV park in BFE.

Takeaways...

We have driven this trip and this specific route many times over the years, and it normally takes about 10.5hrs (in our ICE vehicle @ 24mpg) including stops for fuel and restroom breaks; plus, we lose 1hr going to CA and gain 1hr coming home (due to the time change). Heading to CA in our TESLA Model Y took us 15.5hrs, including time spent charging and restroom breaks, etc. There was substantial range anxiety on the way to CA, especially, because the normal route we would take was beyond the actual range of our TESLA (but not beyond the rated range). Our Model Y is rated at 321mi of range, but our first TESLA Supercharger was 254mi from our home (we left our home with 100% SOC). After much stress, we found an RV park in BFE (about 45min from the first TESLA Supercharger along our route) that allowed us to charge using my NIMA 14-50 TESLA Mobile Connector @ 8kW (32A) for a flat $10.00. Our SOC was very low, so we charged up there to about 15% SOC before heading on to the TESLA Supercharger, but by the time we arrived at that first TESLA Supercharger 45min away, we had -4% SOC. (Not kidding! NEGATIVE 4% SOC!!!) Not only did this stress us out immensely (we thought we weren't going to make it), but I feared that going below 0% may have damaged our battery pack. (It still may have damaged it and we don't even know it!) While at that first TESLA Supercharger along our route, we charged 81kWh in about 35-45min. My Model Y supposedly only has a battery pack that is 78.3kWh, so explain that one to me!

Why didn't you just enter your destination and follow the on-screen GPS and charge accordingly, you ask???? Well, because we always go that route, for one thing. Plus, the route that the car wanted us to follow was going to take us 2hrs in the wrong direction, which made no sense to me. I track my normal TESLA driving efficiency using the TezLab app, so I figured that I should be able to travel the 254mi from a 100% SOC if I go slower (I normally speed, going 10-15mi over the speed limit). I then drove 55mph and 60mph the whole way until our first charge, which seemed to help little or not at all. Tractor trailers were getting mad at me, passing me ASAP along the two lane highway.

Once we were near civilization and were able to use ALL TESLA Superchargers, it was a breeze and wasn't stressful at all, although it definitely added time to our drives. We knew we could charge for $10 at that RV park along our normal route on the way back, so that is what we did. Unfortunately, I did not know that you cannot install a software update while charging (or while driving) the TESLA, so shortly after I began charging @ 8kW (32A) at the RV park, I started the software installation, which promptly cut off my charging session, which fact I did not realize until about 25min into the install, which installation took about 35min total. We made sure to charge up to 100% SOC at that last TESLA Supercharger before heading to that RV park toward home. (This was the first TESLA Supercharger on our way to CA.) We had a 78% SOC when we arrived at the RV park, and we charged up to 95% SOC before heading on for home. We had 3% SOC when we arrived home. It was MUCH less stressful driving and charging on the way home than it was on the way to CA, but it still was not stress-free.

We learned the hard way on the drive home (after seeing the "red steering wheel of death" about 3x) that if you manually exceed the MAX speed TESLA allows for auto-steer (85mph), then that feature will be disabled for the rest of the drive. So, we kept having to pull over while driving on a two-lane highway; put the TESLA in PARK; open the driver door briefly; and then pull back out onto the highway to regain the use of this feature. Maybe I'm spoiled, but driving for hours and hours on a two-lane highway WITHOUT auto-steer sucks! (NOTE: Our HONDA Odyssey has lane keeping, which works well on a road trip, although it is not as good as TESLA's Autopilot.) We also experienced several instances of phantom braking that was most unpleasant. Our HONDA Odyssey has never once done this, and it has adaptive cruise control. It seems like Autopilot gets scared as the TESLA approaches the top of a ridge in the road.

Also, while we love how much storage our Model Y has, it really makes things fairly tight, as some of the rear storage space is deceptive and cannot fully be utilized while allowing the rear lift gate to latch shut. You must leave about a 6-8in gap between where the rear lift gate appears to close and your luggage or cooler, or else the rear lift gate will not close. I also did everything I could to avoid placing stored items on top of the rear shelf, but it could not be avoided on the way home, as we purchased some bags of merchandise. The frunk was fully utilized and so was the lower storage area below the rear cargo space (as well as the rear cargo space).

One other strange thing that occurred is that twice while I was charging at a 250kW TESLA Supercharger, steam or smoke started to rise from the passenger side, seemingly from underneath the hood of the car (under the frunk). This only lasted about 30sec or less, and both times it happened while it was colder and raining outside (maybe 47°F). Because it was wet out, it could have been steam from the thermal realities of Supercharging, or it could have been smoke. There were also a lot of clicks and a few thud noises that occurred while I was Supercharging.

I have estimated (pretty accurately, I might add) that we saved about $32 driving the Model Y on our road trip, as opposed to our ICE minivan that gets 24mpg and is much larger and more comfortable for the passengers. Was it worth it? I am unconvinced, even though I love driving my Model Y. However, my family all said that they wished we had taken the minivan.

I think the main takeaway is that until charging can be done even more quickly than it is today and until fast-charging locations are more prevalent than gas stations are today, then road trips in an EV for periods longer than 4-6hrs are not worth it, IMO. We would normally drive this route with a full tank of gas when leaving home and would have to stop once to fill up along the way, which is also our main potty break and food stop. This would add about 30min to our drive. Until EV's can do likewise, I am not sure that it makes sense to drive an EV on such a long road trip instead of an ICE vehicle. We hope to get a CyberTruck soon, but no one really knows how large and comfortable (or not) that EV will be. TESLA doesn't really make any large/r sized vehicles. The Model X is smaller than our HONDA Odyssey, which minivan is reasonably comfortable on a long road trip. (We drove it about 5,000mi on a 2.5wk road trip last summer and we were decently comfortable.) I could not imagine driving our Model Y on the same 5,000mi road trip. Also, I am utterly disappointed with the lack of savings from charging while driving our TESLA Model Y on road trips. My home electricity price per kWh is amazing, but I think it's ridiculous that I should have to pay 5x that price OR MORE to charge up on a road trip. That's the whole point of owning an EV! I've already paid damn near double to purchase this vehicle, so I should be getting more savings over ICE than a mere 15% at the Superchargers! (NOTE: My state also charges an additional $154 per year for my TESLA auto registration because it's an EV and I don't pay the fuel tax.)

"Tesla Model Y Dual Motor Solid Black (1)" by Damian B Oh is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Admin note: Image added for Blog Feed thumbnail

 

[THEbuz]

I think this story exemplifies a major general confusion with EV technology. The range of gasoline vehicles depends on driving conditions (highway/city, wind/calm, etc.) too, but (1) general users often don't care about it because of the abundance of gas stations and (2) the range change is smaller than in EVs because of the much higher EV efficiency (remember, some 70% of your gasoline is waster no matter what you do with your gasoline car and only up to 30% goes into driving).

We do need more chargers on highways.
We need better general public education about the use of EVs.

By the way, a new Supercharger is scheduled to get online in McDermitt this quarter that will solve the SSW travel direction issue for Boise people. Rejoice the people of Idaho.

I would like to see the data on your 70% wasted energy claim with gasoline. I am highly skeptical of that claim.

 

[THEbuz]

That's a true number, but it's not really pertinent. The only significant difference - as you pointed out - is the infrastructure. If we had Superchargers every couple miles, nobody would think twice about range, energy efficiency or any of that stuff. Certainly no drivers think in terms of the total amount of energy in a gallon of gasoline, only the usable amount of energy.

How fast are you driving? Air drag effects increase by the square of the velocity.. If the air velocity doubles, that increases the air drag by four times. That's why cars kill their range at high speeds, regardless of their energy source. To illustrate an extreme, a couple guys went 600 miles in a Model 3 Long Range by driving at 20 mph for 30 hours. In contrast, I saw an account of a guy driving a Model 3 on the Autobahn doing 163 mph and consuming 586 Wh/mi. That gives a Model 3 Long Range a range of about 130 miles. That's a little over 45 minutes of driving at that speed.

A much lesser effect is rolling resistance. That's just a coefficient times the weight, but you need this chart to get an intuitive sense of how velocity affects the coefficient. Keep those tires properly inflated.

I would not doubt that my driving habits are less conservative than yours, but you can’t possibly be taking a road trip to/across CA and getting 400mi of range. The statutory speed limit on CA freeways is 65mph. I can guarantee you that the EPA rated range of 426mi for Model S (LR) was not achieved traveling at 65mph. How fast are you driving on these road trips? Are you basing your claim on a hypothetical calculation or actual range from 100% to “empty”???? I would assume the former.

 

[JB47394]

I would like to see the data on your 70% wasted energy claim with gasoline. I am highly skeptical of that claim.

It's an engineering number. Wikipedia says 28% efficiency. This is the amount of energy from the gasoline that goes into useful work. The rest is lost to various inefficiencies, particularly heat generation. Given that it's an engine that burns the fuel, that shouldn't e too surprising.

From AAA:

I would not doubt that my driving habits are less conservative than yours, but you can’t possibly be taking a road trip to/across CA and getting 400mi of range. The statutory speed limit on CA freeways is 65mph. I can guarantee you that the EPA rated range of 426mi for Model S (LR) was not achieved traveling at 65mph. How fast are you driving on these road trips? Are you basing your claim on a hypothetical calculation or actual range from 100% to “empty”???? I would assume the former.

The 400 mile number came from somebody else.

I did a 4400 mile trip in the east a few weeks ago that varied from 60 to 70 mph, with most of it at 70 because of a lot of driving in Texas. With a 7 mph headwind pretty much the whole way (yes, both up and back - grrr). The car averaged 267 Wh/mi across the entire trip. If we say that I could use the entire 82 kWh pack, that's 307 miles. If we say that I could use only 75 kWh, then that's 280 miles. The car is rated at 330 miles and is one year old. For the trip, I would drive two hours, then charge for 15 or 20 minutes. It was very straightforward.

Note that I did my trip solo. So I didn't have the weight of additional passengers and their gear. I also only crossed the Appalachian Mountains, while you may have had more extreme heights to cross.

My posts aren't to suggest that you're lousy at driving your Tesla, but to point out that other people aren't driving their Teslas in such demanding circumstances, affording them a better experience.

 

[totajohn]

Just drove down into CA and back home on a road trip with my family of five.
- Drove 1,367mi total.
- Used TESLA Superchargers mostly.
- Average TESLA Supercharger price: $0.40/kWh (MIN: $0.34/kWh | MAX: $0.48/kWh)
NOTE: I pay an average of $0.08353/kWh to charge at home, so paying $0.48/kWh is an abomination!!!
- Longest TESLA Supercharger Charge Time*: 50min (Est.) @ 250kW
- Longest non-Supercharger Charge Time*: 2.5hrs @ 8kW (32A)
- Spent $176.96 total on charging**.
- Total trip cost ICE equivalent (24mpg): $209.15 (Est. @ $3.67/gal)

* Charging sessions where we actively sat and waited, not counting charging passively at the hotel, etc.
** Charged FREE overnight at one hotel and paid a flat $10.00 twice to slow charge at an RV park in BFE.

Takeaways...

We have driven this trip and this specific route many times over the years, and it normally takes about 10.5hrs (in our ICE vehicle @ 24mpg) including stops for fuel and restroom breaks; plus, we lose 1hr going to CA and gain 1hr coming home (due to the time change). Heading to CA in our TESLA Model Y took us 15.5hrs, including time spent charging and restroom breaks, etc. There was substantial range anxiety on the way to CA, especially, because the normal route we would take was beyond the actual range of our TESLA (but not beyond the rated range). Our Model Y is rated at 321mi of range, but our first TESLA Supercharger was 254mi from our home (we left our home with 100% SOC). After much stress, we found an RV park in BFE (about 45min from the first TESLA Supercharger along our route) that allowed us to charge using my NIMA 14-50 TESLA Mobile Connector @ 8kW (32A) for a flat $10.00. Our SOC was very low, so we charged up there to about 15% SOC before heading on to the TESLA Supercharger, but by the time we arrived at that first TESLA Supercharger 45min away, we had -4% SOC. (Not kidding! NEGATIVE 4% SOC!!!) Not only did this stress us out immensely (we thought we weren't going to make it), but I feared that going below 0% may have damaged our battery pack. (It still may have damaged it and we don't even know it!) While at that first TESLA Supercharger along our route, we charged 81kWh in about 35-45min. My Model Y supposedly only has a battery pack that is 78.3kWh, so explain that one to me!

Why didn't you just enter your destination and follow the on-screen GPS and charge accordingly, you ask???? Well, because we always go that route, for one thing. Plus, the route that the car wanted us to follow was going to take us 2hrs in the wrong direction, which made no sense to me. I track my normal TESLA driving efficiency using the TezLab app, so I figured that I should be able to travel the 254mi from a 100% SOC if I go slower (I normally speed, going 10-15mi over the speed limit). I then drove 55mph and 60mph the whole way until our first charge, which seemed to help little or not at all. Tractor trailers were getting mad at me, passing me ASAP along the two lane highway.

Once we were near civilization and were able to use ALL TESLA Superchargers, it was a breeze and wasn't stressful at all, although it definitely added time to our drives. We knew we could charge for $10 at that RV park along our normal route on the way back, so that is what we did. Unfortunately, I did not know that you cannot install a software update while charging (or while driving) the TESLA, so shortly after I began charging @ 8kW (32A) at the RV park, I started the software installation, which promptly cut off my charging session, which fact I did not realize until about 25min into the install, which installation took about 35min total. We made sure to charge up to 100% SOC at that last TESLA Supercharger before heading to that RV park toward home. (This was the first TESLA Supercharger on our way to CA.) We had a 78% SOC when we arrived at the RV park, and we charged up to 95% SOC before heading on for home. We had 3% SOC when we arrived home. It was MUCH less stressful driving and charging on the way home than it was on the way to CA, but it still was not stress-free.

We learned the hard way on the drive home (after seeing the "red steering wheel of death" about 3x) that if you manually exceed the MAX speed TESLA allows for auto-steer (85mph), then that feature will be disabled for the rest of the drive. So, we kept having to pull over while driving on a two-lane highway; put the TESLA in PARK; open the driver door briefly; and then pull back out onto the highway to regain the use of this feature. Maybe I'm spoiled, but driving for hours and hours on a two-lane highway WITHOUT auto-steer sucks! (NOTE: Our HONDA Odyssey has lane keeping, which works well on a road trip, although it is not as good as TESLA's Autopilot.) We also experienced several instances of phantom braking that was most unpleasant. Our HONDA Odyssey has never once done this, and it has adaptive cruise control. It seems like Autopilot gets scared as the TESLA approaches the top of a ridge in the road.

Also, while we love how much storage our Model Y has, it really makes things fairly tight, as some of the rear storage space is deceptive and cannot fully be utilized while allowing the rear lift gate to latch shut. You must leave about a 6-8in gap between where the rear lift gate appears to close and your luggage or cooler, or else the rear lift gate will not close. I also did everything I could to avoid placing stored items on top of the rear shelf, but it could not be avoided on the way home, as we purchased some bags of merchandise. The frunk was fully utilized and so was the lower storage area below the rear cargo space (as well as the rear cargo space).

One other strange thing that occurred is that twice while I was charging at a 250kW TESLA Supercharger, steam or smoke started to rise from the passenger side, seemingly from underneath the hood of the car (under the frunk). This only lasted about 30sec or less, and both times it happened while it was colder and raining outside (maybe 47°F). Because it was wet out, it could have been steam from the thermal realities of Supercharging, or it could have been smoke. There were also a lot of clicks and a few thud noises that occurred while I was Supercharging.

I have estimated (pretty accurately, I might add) that we saved about $32 driving the Model Y on our road trip, as opposed to our ICE minivan that gets 24mpg and is much larger and more comfortable for the passengers. Was it worth it? I am unconvinced, even though I love driving my Model Y. However, my family all said that they wished we had taken the minivan.

I think the main takeaway is that until charging can be done even more quickly than it is today and until fast-charging locations are more prevalent than gas stations are today, then road trips in an EV for periods longer than 4-6hrs are not worth it, IMO. We would normally drive this route with a full tank of gas when leaving home and would have to stop once to fill up along the way, which is also our main potty break and food stop. This would add about 30min to our drive. Until EV's can do likewise, I am not sure that it makes sense to drive an EV on such a long road trip instead of an ICE vehicle. We hope to get a CyberTruck soon, but no one really knows how large and comfortable (or not) that EV will be. TESLA doesn't really make any large/r sized vehicles. The Model X is smaller than our HONDA Odyssey, which minivan is reasonably comfortable on a long road trip. (We drove it about 5,000mi on a 2.5wk road trip last summer and we were decently comfortable.) I could not imagine driving our Model Y on the same 5,000mi road trip. Also, I am utterly disappointed with the lack of savings from charging while driving our TESLA Model Y on road trips. My home electricity price per kWh is amazing, but I think it's ridiculous that I should have to pay 5x that price OR MORE to charge up on a road trip. That's the whole point of owning an EV! I've already paid damn near double to purchase this vehicle, so I should be getting more savings over ICE than a mere 15% at the Superchargers! (NOTE: My state also charges an additional $154 per year for my TESLA auto registration because it's an EV and I don't pay the fuel tax.)


View attachment 924501
"Tesla Model Y Dual Motor Solid Black (1)" by Damian B Oh is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Admin note: Image added for Blog Feed thumbnail

We just got a Y and live in Boise. Thanks for sharing so very much. Sound slike we may not want to drive to CA.

 

[alexgr]

I would like to see the data on your 70% wasted energy claim with gasoline. I am highly skeptical of that claim.

These are ideal efficiencies (the source is below). In reality, you have thermal efficiency of Atkinson cycle Prius below 40%, but then there is transmission, etc.
So, overall 30% is an optimistic estimate.

 

[Cosmacelf]

All this data goes to show why sound bites like “1 gallon of gas is equal some huge number of batteries” are just stupid. Engineering is complicated and nuanced.

 

[alexgr]

We just got a Y and live in Boise. Thanks for sharing so very much. Sound slike we may not want to drive to CA.

McDermitt, BV cite just got construction permit. Just wait for it to come online in summer and you are good to drive to CA the fastest way.

 

[E90alex]

Yeah the car routed you 2 hours out of the way because there’s no chargers on your normal route.

You ended up having to charge an extra 2.5 hours on a slow charger anyways and being more stressed about range and could have easily been left stranded with a dead battery in the middle of nowhere.

Long story short, follow the Tesla nav or ABRP. They recommend a route for a reason, and it’s not always going to be the same as the route you would take with a gas car.

 

[EVRob78]

To clarify, we've never driven 400 miles on a single charge. We have driven the battery down to about 20%, and the combination of miles driven and projected miles remaining equalled about 400 miles.

How to get EPA range? Several great engineering lessons above. Here's an extended list, some more important than others.

1. Don't exceed the speed limit, and accelerate/turn gently.
2. Keep tires inflated.
3. Make best use of regenerative braking - drive in hold mode, maximize one pedal driving, charge to less than 95% unless extra range is absolutely needed.
4. Pre-condition battery while plugged in, before departure, so the power to do that comes from the wall, not the battery.
5. Don't carry greater load than needed.
6. Minimize drag. Keep windows rolled up. No roof racks, tow hitch racks, etc. Leave aero wheel covers on.
7 Avoid using climate control. Use seat/wheel heaters before the cabin heater. Wear a jacket. Minimize AC use.
8. Don't use other battery-consuming features, especially sentry mode, cabin overheat protection, dog mode, camp mode, etc.
9. All other things being equal, take the shorter route, even if it is in the city. While that doesn't improve range, it can reduce total power used. Unlike ICE cars, EVs are more efficient at slower speeds.

Some things are outside your control - grades, heat, cold, wind.

EPA rating for our 2020 Model S LR is 29 kWh/100 miles, or 290 Watts/mile. Lifetime, our systems says we're getting 273 W/mile, which is more than 5% better than the EPA estimate.

Some people drive to maximize speed. I find it more challenging to see how many miles I can squeeze out of a kWh of electricity. I'm not always successful - one time was doing horribly, thought something was wrong with the car until I realized we were driving into a stiff wind. Driving 65 into a 20 mph wind is like driving 85, with the consequences that JB described. Your trip planning needs to be prepared for that.

 

[TacoGuy]

All this data goes to show why sound bites like “1 gallon of gas is equal some huge number of batteries” are just stupid. Engineering is complicated and nuanced.

Agree its a comparator but not a good comparison.

 

[Chris55555]

How the hell are you getting 400 miles of range in your Model S (LR)???? I know it is EPA rated to 426mi of range, and my Model Y (LR/AWD) is rated to 321mi of range, but my actual MAX range is 219mi.

I'm curious, what is your lifetime wh/mi?

Using flattestroute.com, there's approximately 4,300 ft of elevation gain, which really hurts this trip (especially combined with extra weight). My wife and I tried to go through southern Colorado on our first road trip (one day after getting the car) and had to abandon our planned route and just go north to I-70 where the chargers are. After taking several more road trips in the last year, we've gotten more used to it and even use the included J1772 adapter occasionally.

Looking at your join date of October, unfortunately you've had the bad combination of cold weather since buying the car with elevation gain and extra weight on this specific trip. The problem with Teslas being so efficient is that one deviation from the "ideal" driving conditions (or more in this case) really kills the efficiency significantly, where an ICE car gets nearly the same MPG no matter what.

I would expect your efficiency to rise significantly this summer, fingers crossed!

 

[cvovo]

Nice trip report. We will be doing one soon so pretty nervous

 

[Chris55555]

How the hell are you getting 400 miles of range in your Model S (LR)???? I know it is EPA rated to 426mi of range, and my Model Y (LR/AWD) is rated to 321mi of range, but my actual MAX range is 219mi.

He lives near LA, where it's warm, fairly flat, and probably slower driving due to traffic, so he's very close to the ideal range conditions.

 

[THEbuz]

It's an engineering number. Wikipedia says 28% efficiency. This is the amount of energy from the gasoline that goes into useful work. The rest is lost to various inefficiencies, particularly heat generation. Given that it's an engine that burns the fuel, that shouldn't e too surprising.

From AAA:

The 400 mile number came from somebody else.

I did a 4400 mile trip in the east a few weeks ago that varied from 60 to 70 mph, with most of it at 70 because of a lot of driving in Texas. With a 7 mph headwind pretty much the whole way (yes, both up and back - grrr). The car averaged 267 Wh/mi across the entire trip. If we say that I could use the entire 82 kWh pack, that's 307 miles. If we say that I could use only 75 kWh, then that's 280 miles. The car is rated at 330 miles and is one year old. For the trip, I would drive two hours, then charge for 15 or 20 minutes. It was very straightforward.

Note that I did my trip solo. So I didn't have the weight of additional passengers and their gear. I also only crossed the Appalachian Mountains, while you may have had more extreme heights to cross.

My posts aren't to suggest that you're lousy at driving your Tesla, but to point out that other people aren't driving their Teslas in such demanding circumstances, affording them a better experience.

Thanks for sharing your experience!

 

[DJAlan]

Just drove down into CA and back home on a road trip with my family of five.
- Drove 1,367mi total.
- Used TESLA Superchargers mostly.
- Average TESLA Supercharger price: $0.40/kWh (MIN: $0.34/kWh | MAX: $0.48/kWh)
NOTE: I pay an average of $0.08353/kWh to charge at home, so paying $0.48/kWh is an abomination!!!
- Longest TESLA Supercharger Charge Time*: 50min (Est.) @ 250kW
- Longest non-Supercharger Charge Time*: 2.5hrs @ 8kW (32A)
- Spent $176.96 total on charging**.
- Total trip cost ICE equivalent (24mpg): $209.15 (Est. @ $3.67/gal)

* Charging sessions where we actively sat and waited, not counting charging passively at the hotel, etc.
** Charged FREE overnight at one hotel and paid a flat $10.00 twice to slow charge at an RV park in BFE.

Takeaways...

We have driven this trip and this specific route many times over the years, and it normally takes about 10.5hrs (in our ICE vehicle @ 24mpg) including stops for fuel and restroom breaks; plus, we lose 1hr going to CA and gain 1hr coming home (due to the time change). Heading to CA in our TESLA Model Y took us 15.5hrs, including time spent charging and restroom breaks, etc. There was substantial range anxiety on the way to CA, especially, because the normal route we would take was beyond the actual range of our TESLA (but not beyond the rated range). Our Model Y is rated at 321mi of range, but our first TESLA Supercharger was 254mi from our home (we left our home with 100% SOC). After much stress, we found an RV park in BFE (about 45min from the first TESLA Supercharger along our route) that allowed us to charge using my NIMA 14-50 TESLA Mobile Connector @ 8kW (32A) for a flat $10.00. Our SOC was very low, so we charged up there to about 15% SOC before heading on to the TESLA Supercharger, but by the time we arrived at that first TESLA Supercharger 45min away, we had -4% SOC. (Not kidding! NEGATIVE 4% SOC!!!) Not only did this stress us out immensely (we thought we weren't going to make it), but I feared that going below 0% may have damaged our battery pack. (It still may have damaged it and we don't even know it!) While at that first TESLA Supercharger along our route, we charged 81kWh in about 35-45min. My Model Y supposedly only has a battery pack that is 78.3kWh, so explain that one to me!

Why didn't you just enter your destination and follow the on-screen GPS and charge accordingly, you ask???? Well, because we always go that route, for one thing. Plus, the route that the car wanted us to follow was going to take us 2hrs in the wrong direction, which made no sense to me. I track my normal TESLA driving efficiency using the TezLab app, so I figured that I should be able to travel the 254mi from a 100% SOC if I go slower (I normally speed, going 10-15mi over the speed limit). I then drove 55mph and 60mph the whole way until our first charge, which seemed to help little or not at all. Tractor trailers were getting mad at me, passing me ASAP along the two lane highway.

Once we were near civilization and were able to use ALL TESLA Superchargers, it was a breeze and wasn't stressful at all, although it definitely added time to our drives. We knew we could charge for $10 at that RV park along our normal route on the way back, so that is what we did. Unfortunately, I did not know that you cannot install a software update while charging (or while driving) the TESLA, so shortly after I began charging @ 8kW (32A) at the RV park, I started the software installation, which promptly cut off my charging session, which fact I did not realize until about 25min into the install, which installation took about 35min total. We made sure to charge up to 100% SOC at that last TESLA Supercharger before heading to that RV park toward home. (This was the first TESLA Supercharger on our way to CA.) We had a 78% SOC when we arrived at the RV park, and we charged up to 95% SOC before heading on for home. We had 3% SOC when we arrived home. It was MUCH less stressful driving and charging on the way home than it was on the way to CA, but it still was not stress-free.

We learned the hard way on the drive home (after seeing the "red steering wheel of death" about 3x) that if you manually exceed the MAX speed TESLA allows for auto-steer (85mph), then that feature will be disabled for the rest of the drive. So, we kept having to pull over while driving on a two-lane highway; put the TESLA in PARK; open the driver door briefly; and then pull back out onto the highway to regain the use of this feature. Maybe I'm spoiled, but driving for hours and hours on a two-lane highway WITHOUT auto-steer sucks! (NOTE: Our HONDA Odyssey has lane keeping, which works well on a road trip, although it is not as good as TESLA's Autopilot.) We also experienced several instances of phantom braking that was most unpleasant. Our HONDA Odyssey has never once done this, and it has adaptive cruise control. It seems like Autopilot gets scared as the TESLA approaches the top of a ridge in the road.

Also, while we love how much storage our Model Y has, it really makes things fairly tight, as some of the rear storage space is deceptive and cannot fully be utilized while allowing the rear lift gate to latch shut. You must leave about a 6-8in gap between where the rear lift gate appears to close and your luggage or cooler, or else the rear lift gate will not close. I also did everything I could to avoid placing stored items on top of the rear shelf, but it could not be avoided on the way home, as we purchased some bags of merchandise. The frunk was fully utilized and so was the lower storage area below the rear cargo space (as well as the rear cargo space).

One other strange thing that occurred is that twice while I was charging at a 250kW TESLA Supercharger, steam or smoke started to rise from the passenger side, seemingly from underneath the hood of the car (under the frunk). This only lasted about 30sec or less, and both times it happened while it was colder and raining outside (maybe 47°F). Because it was wet out, it could have been steam from the thermal realities of Supercharging, or it could have been smoke. There were also a lot of clicks and a few thud noises that occurred while I was Supercharging.

I have estimated (pretty accurately, I might add) that we saved about $32 driving the Model Y on our road trip, as opposed to our ICE minivan that gets 24mpg and is much larger and more comfortable for the passengers. Was it worth it? I am unconvinced, even though I love driving my Model Y. However, my family all said that they wished we had taken the minivan.

I think the main takeaway is that until charging can be done even more quickly than it is today and until fast-charging locations are more prevalent than gas stations are today, then road trips in an EV for periods longer than 4-6hrs are not worth it, IMO. We would normally drive this route with a full tank of gas when leaving home and would have to stop once to fill up along the way, which is also our main potty break and food stop. This would add about 30min to our drive. Until EV's can do likewise, I am not sure that it makes sense to drive an EV on such a long road trip instead of an ICE vehicle. We hope to get a CyberTruck soon, but no one really knows how large and comfortable (or not) that EV will be. TESLA doesn't really make any large/r sized vehicles. The Model X is smaller than our HONDA Odyssey, which minivan is reasonably comfortable on a long road trip. (We drove it about 5,000mi on a 2.5wk road trip last summer and we were decently comfortable.) I could not imagine driving our Model Y on the same 5,000mi road trip. Also, I am utterly disappointed with the lack of savings from charging while driving our TESLA Model Y on road trips. My home electricity price per kWh is amazing, but I think it's ridiculous that I should have to pay 5x that price OR MORE to charge up on a road trip. That's the whole point of owning an EV! I've already paid damn near double to purchase this vehicle, so I should be getting more savings over ICE than a mere 15% at the Superchargers! (NOTE: My state also charges an additional $154 per year for my TESLA auto registration because it's an EV and I don't pay the fuel tax.)


View attachment 924501
"Tesla Model Y Dual Motor Solid Black (1)" by Damian B Oh is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Admin note: Image added for Blog Feed thumbnail

WOW, you only have to pay 8 cents for power at home??!? I actually live in California (Oxnard) and the CHEAPEST plan gets me 24 cents (because I am on TOU-4-9 plan...
Also, that high price you are paying in CA for the Superchargers? Well, that's normal here... Funny that on a trip to Vegas, I charged up there and it was only 22 cents! Cheaper than home!! (wonder if there's a long enough extension.... nah... what am I saying!!)
Anyway, the price you put in for gas seems a bit low... Today's average for the state of CA is $4.848 and it's come DOWN from a month ago... So, you actually saved a lot more... Should have cost you $276.09 for gas (at 1367/24=59.95 gallons x $4.848 makes it $276.09)... SO, you ACTUALLY should have saved an extra $66.94...
But yeah, you are not going to get 300 miles on a fully loaded car... I don't know how much weight you put in, but it would cut you WAY down I am sure...

That app showing you '0' at one of the stops was crazy... Unless it's telling you 0 for something else (like wait time?) OR it was saying that if you stopped at the last place on the map before getting to that one, you wouldn't need to stop there at all... Of course if it's the 'last stop' before home, then you SHOULD stop and 'top off'...
But if you think YOU had it bad... Be glad you didn't buy a certain F150-Lightning... check out this video where he basically only gets HALF (or LESS) just hauling an EMPTY aluminum trailer... Oh, and like him, you probably have to deal with the 'cold' as well and that can affect mileage too...

 

[alexgr]

But if you think YOU had it bad... Be glad you didn't buy a certain F150-Lightning... check out this video where he basically only gets HALF (or LESS) just hauling an EMPTY aluminum trailer... Oh, and like him, you probably have to deal with the 'cold' as well and that can affect mileage too...

It is perplexing the ignorance of the commentators regarding EV range never ends.

Here is a simple math example:
A truck:
1) 25% efficiency - 25% of fuel is used for motion, range = 300 miles without load.
2) Now, let's add some load that requires DOUBLE the power to move the truck.
3) The truck needs 25% more fuel, or its range is cut by 25% to 240 miles.

A hypotethical EV truck:
1) 90% efficiency - 90% of fuel is used for motion, range = 300 miles without load.
2) Now, let's add some load that requires DOUBLE the power to move the truck.
3) The truck needs 90% more fuel, or its range is cut by 90% to 158 miles !!!

The perceived better performance of gasoline trucks is in fact the results of their poor performance.
I move to call EVs the hostages of efficiency.

 

[drtimhill]

Just drove down into CA and back home on a road trip with my family of five.
- Drove 1,367mi total.
- Used TESLA Superchargers mostly.
- Average TESLA Supercharger price: $0.40/kWh (MIN: $0.34/kWh | MAX: $0.48/kWh)
NOTE: I pay an average of $0.08353/kWh to charge at home, so paying $0.48/kWh is an abomination!!!
- Longest TESLA Supercharger Charge Time*: 50min (Est.) @ 250kW
- Longest non-Supercharger Charge Time*: 2.5hrs @ 8kW (32A)
- Spent $176.96 total on charging**.
- Total trip cost ICE equivalent (24mpg): $209.15 (Est. @ $3.67/gal)

* Charging sessions where we actively sat and waited, not counting charging passively at the hotel, etc.
** Charged FREE overnight at one hotel and paid a flat $10.00 twice to slow charge at an RV park in BFE.

Takeaways...

We have driven this trip and this specific route many times over the years, and it normally takes about 10.5hrs (in our ICE vehicle @ 24mpg) including stops for fuel and restroom breaks; plus, we lose 1hr going to CA and gain 1hr coming home (due to the time change). Heading to CA in our TESLA Model Y took us 15.5hrs, including time spent charging and restroom breaks, etc. There was substantial range anxiety on the way to CA, especially, because the normal route we would take was beyond the actual range of our TESLA (but not beyond the rated range). Our Model Y is rated at 321mi of range, but our first TESLA Supercharger was 254mi from our home (we left our home with 100% SOC). After much stress, we found an RV park in BFE (about 45min from the first TESLA Supercharger along our route) that allowed us to charge using my NIMA 14-50 TESLA Mobile Connector @ 8kW (32A) for a flat $10.00. Our SOC was very low, so we charged up there to about 15% SOC before heading on to the TESLA Supercharger, but by the time we arrived at that first TESLA Supercharger 45min away, we had -4% SOC. (Not kidding! NEGATIVE 4% SOC!!!) Not only did this stress us out immensely (we thought we weren't going to make it), but I feared that going below 0% may have damaged our battery pack. (It still may have damaged it and we don't even know it!) While at that first TESLA Supercharger along our route, we charged 81kWh in about 35-45min. My Model Y supposedly only has a battery pack that is 78.3kWh, so explain that one to me!

Why didn't you just enter your destination and follow the on-screen GPS and charge accordingly, you ask???? Well, because we always go that route, for one thing. Plus, the route that the car wanted us to follow was going to take us 2hrs in the wrong direction, which made no sense to me. I track my normal TESLA driving efficiency using the TezLab app, so I figured that I should be able to travel the 254mi from a 100% SOC if I go slower (I normally speed, going 10-15mi over the speed limit). I then drove 55mph and 60mph the whole way until our first charge, which seemed to help little or not at all. Tractor trailers were getting mad at me, passing me ASAP along the two lane highway.

Once we were near civilization and were able to use ALL TESLA Superchargers, it was a breeze and wasn't stressful at all, although it definitely added time to our drives. We knew we could charge for $10 at that RV park along our normal route on the way back, so that is what we did. Unfortunately, I did not know that you cannot install a software update while charging (or while driving) the TESLA, so shortly after I began charging @ 8kW (32A) at the RV park, I started the software installation, which promptly cut off my charging session, which fact I did not realize until about 25min into the install, which installation took about 35min total. We made sure to charge up to 100% SOC at that last TESLA Supercharger before heading to that RV park toward home. (This was the first TESLA Supercharger on our way to CA.) We had a 78% SOC when we arrived at the RV park, and we charged up to 95% SOC before heading on for home. We had 3% SOC when we arrived home. It was MUCH less stressful driving and charging on the way home than it was on the way to CA, but it still was not stress-free.

We learned the hard way on the drive home (after seeing the "red steering wheel of death" about 3x) that if you manually exceed the MAX speed TESLA allows for auto-steer (85mph), then that feature will be disabled for the rest of the drive. So, we kept having to pull over while driving on a two-lane highway; put the TESLA in PARK; open the driver door briefly; and then pull back out onto the highway to regain the use of this feature. Maybe I'm spoiled, but driving for hours and hours on a two-lane highway WITHOUT auto-steer sucks! (NOTE: Our HONDA Odyssey has lane keeping, which works well on a road trip, although it is not as good as TESLA's Autopilot.) We also experienced several instances of phantom braking that was most unpleasant. Our HONDA Odyssey has never once done this, and it has adaptive cruise control. It seems like Autopilot gets scared as the TESLA approaches the top of a ridge in the road.

Also, while we love how much storage our Model Y has, it really makes things fairly tight, as some of the rear storage space is deceptive and cannot fully be utilized while allowing the rear lift gate to latch shut. You must leave about a 6-8in gap between where the rear lift gate appears to close and your luggage or cooler, or else the rear lift gate will not close. I also did everything I could to avoid placing stored items on top of the rear shelf, but it could not be avoided on the way home, as we purchased some bags of merchandise. The frunk was fully utilized and so was the lower storage area below the rear cargo space (as well as the rear cargo space).

One other strange thing that occurred is that twice while I was charging at a 250kW TESLA Supercharger, steam or smoke started to rise from the passenger side, seemingly from underneath the hood of the car (under the frunk). This only lasted about 30sec or less, and both times it happened while it was colder and raining outside (maybe 47°F). Because it was wet out, it could have been steam from the thermal realities of Supercharging, or it could have been smoke. There were also a lot of clicks and a few thud noises that occurred while I was Supercharging.

I have estimated (pretty accurately, I might add) that we saved about $32 driving the Model Y on our road trip, as opposed to our ICE minivan that gets 24mpg and is much larger and more comfortable for the passengers. Was it worth it? I am unconvinced, even though I love driving my Model Y. However, my family all said that they wished we had taken the minivan.

I think the main takeaway is that until charging can be done even more quickly than it is today and until fast-charging locations are more prevalent than gas stations are today, then road trips in an EV for periods longer than 4-6hrs are not worth it, IMO. We would normally drive this route with a full tank of gas when leaving home and would have to stop once to fill up along the way, which is also our main potty break and food stop. This would add about 30min to our drive. Until EV's can do likewise, I am not sure that it makes sense to drive an EV on such a long road trip instead of an ICE vehicle. We hope to get a CyberTruck soon, but no one really knows how large and comfortable (or not) that EV will be. TESLA doesn't really make any large/r sized vehicles. The Model X is smaller than our HONDA Odyssey, which minivan is reasonably comfortable on a long road trip. (We drove it about 5,000mi on a 2.5wk road trip last summer and we were decently comfortable.) I could not imagine driving our Model Y on the same 5,000mi road trip. Also, I am utterly disappointed with the lack of savings from charging while driving our TESLA Model Y on road trips. My home electricity price per kWh is amazing, but I think it's ridiculous that I should have to pay 5x that price OR MORE to charge up on a road trip. That's the whole point of owning an EV! I've already paid damn near double to purchase this vehicle, so I should be getting more savings over ICE than a mere 15% at the Superchargers! (NOTE: My state also charges an additional $154 per year for my TESLA auto registration because it's an EV and I don't pay the fuel tax.)


View attachment 924501
"Tesla Model Y Dual Motor Solid Black (1)" by Damian B Oh is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Admin note: Image added for Blog Feed thumbnail

Honest report, thank you. However, a couple of things...

-- You mention that the Supercharger rates are an "abomination", and while they are high you still ended up with LOWER costs than gas. That doesnt sound like an abomination to me. And, as you note, for all your day-to-day use of the car (around town etc) you are paying WAY less in electric costs than you would with an ICE car.

-- As you noted, once you are within a supercharger "corridor" then things are far less stressful. It's unfortunate, but your location is somewhat isolated, and clearly you live in a supercharger "hole". Tesla are expanding the SC network all the time, but yes, it's early days, and you are not in the best location to worn an EV (this, btw, would be true of any EV, not just a Tesla).

-- Not sure if it's fair to blame the Tesla for putting you in the penalty box for misuse of AP (exceeding 85mph) .. after all it's pretty clearly documented.

-- The "thuds" and clicks as you supercharge are normal .. after all you are pumping a LOT of power into the car, and thermal expansion is bound to occur. Ever listened to an ICE car after you turn off the engine? The steam was almost certainly condensation from the heat exchanger as the car managed the battery temperature.

-- I agree ABRP has a clunky UI, but once you figure out the mess it DOES give you useful information. Including accurate estimates of range and ?what if" type checks so you can plan your trip in advance of setting out. Sure, you dont have to do this with an ICE car, but until the charging infrastructure catches up that's the name of the game.

-- One thing you didn't mention was your average highway speed. The fact is, your energy usage will increase DRAMATICLLY at higher speeds (that's basic physics). If you were indeed going at 80mph, then (a) you will have to charge a LOT more frequently, (b) you might struggle to get to the next charger and (c) your total costs will go way up. The energy screen is your friend here .. it can teach you how the car behaves. Also, low temperatures can significantly reduce your range (battery chemistry). So my guess is you were probably driving with the worst combination, which is why you struggled to reach superchargers in some cases.

I've driven from Seattle to San Francisco (and back) several times, and treated by first trip as a learning experience. Pretty much from then on things have been pretty simple, though you do need to plan to the next SC stop, rather than just "drive till the tank starts to get low" that you can with an ICE car. Overall, though, I didn't find this a critical issue.

 

[drtimhill]

It is perplexing the ignorance of the commentators regarding EV range never ends.

Here is a simple math example:
A truck:
1) 25% efficiency - 25% of fuel is used for motion, range = 300 miles without load.
2) Now, let's add some load that requires DOUBLE the power to move the truck.
3) The truck needs 25% more fuel, or its range is cut by 25% to 240 miles.

A hypotethical EV truck:
1) 90% efficiency - 90% of fuel is used for motion, range = 300 miles without load.
2) Now, let's add some load that requires DOUBLE the power to move the truck.
3) The truck needs 90% more fuel, or its range is cut by 90% to 158 miles !!!

The perceived better performance of gasoline trucks is in fact the results of their poor performance.
I move to call EVs the hostages of efficiency.

Or, put another way, a truck is ALWAYS inefficient, an EV is only inefficient a small amount of the time.

 

[ThePirate]

Dear Thebuz:

Sorry you had a tough time on your road trip. I second a lot of comments above, emphasizing that my MYLR efficiency really dives fast above 75 mph, and just below I will explain why that's important. On long road trips to remote parts of CA through remote parts of NV, I typically drive 2-3 hours per 10-20 min supercharger stops, which works out very well for stretch/pee breaks and seems no burden at all. (Lookup "charger surfing" to see why long charges are typically wasting time.) All that is really necessary, or what you might call the "basic rule of EV driving", is to keep an eye on your SOC at next charge stop, which is always displayed and continuously updated in the nav window. When your SOC on arrival gets too low, e.g. below 10%, you just slow down (*). If you're driving at 80 and slow down to 65, you would not believe what a huge difference this makes. You'll make it.

BUT you didn't have superchargers all the way ( unlike all the routes I have driven in CA and near-NV), so your issue is really use of non-Tesla chargers on "supercharger-desert routes". The trouble with non-Tesla chargers is their reliability is just a whole different animal from superchargers, it's awful. ***One significant constructive thing I add here for you:*** plugshare.com is where you go to find recent "check-ins" on whether a given charger works or not, and my friends tell me it works. This tool could help ameliorate the non-Tesla charger reliability problem. So, plot your charging plan in ABPR first, then check pugshare.com to make sure those chargers are really working. If not, charger earlier enough to get to the next good one. As other people said, get a CCS adapter; I use mine all the time charging at work, no problems.

Hope this is helpful,

-TPC

PS

As for the high cost of supercharging, can't help you there, but you're saving so much the rest of the year charging at home on your cheap as dirt electricity, I wouldn't worry about it. And as for the Russia and middle eastern oil country dictator loving-, and climate crisis loving-leaders where you live that add EV-discouraging taxes to your registration, VOTE THE BUMS OUT, pronto.

* Someone I know refused to do this, insisted they had enough range so why bother looking...and ended up in one of those nightmare scenarios, with little juice, on the phone with a non-Tesla charger person for 20 minutes until they admitted the chargers just didn't work. And that is AFTER the software glitches, the app downloads in poor service areas, etc. etc.

 

[DB288]

Just drove down into CA and back home on a road trip with my family of five.
- Drove 1,367mi total.
- Used TESLA Superchargers mostly.
- Average TESLA Supercharger price: $0.40/kWh (MIN: $0.34/kWh | MAX: $0.48/kWh)
NOTE: I pay an average of $0.08353/kWh to charge at home, so paying $0.48/kWh is an abomination!!!
- Longest TESLA Supercharger Charge Time*: 50min (Est.) @ 250kW
- Longest non-Supercharger Charge Time*: 2.5hrs @ 8kW (32A)
- Spent $176.96 total on charging**.
- Total trip cost ICE equivalent (24mpg): $209.15 (Est. @ $3.67/gal)

* Charging sessions where we actively sat and waited, not counting charging passively at the hotel, etc.
** Charged FREE overnight at one hotel and paid a flat $10.00 twice to slow charge at an RV park in BFE.

Takeaways...

We have driven this trip and this specific route many times over the years, and it normally takes about 10.5hrs (in our ICE vehicle @ 24mpg) including stops for fuel and restroom breaks; plus, we lose 1hr going to CA and gain 1hr coming home (due to the time change). Heading to CA in our TESLA Model Y took us 15.5hrs, including time spent charging and restroom breaks, etc. There was substantial range anxiety on the way to CA, especially, because the normal route we would take was beyond the actual range of our TESLA (but not beyond the rated range). Our Model Y is rated at 321mi of range, but our first TESLA Supercharger was 254mi from our home (we left our home with 100% SOC). After much stress, we found an RV park in BFE (about 45min from the first TESLA Supercharger along our route) that allowed us to charge using my NIMA 14-50 TESLA Mobile Connector @ 8kW (32A) for a flat $10.00. Our SOC was very low, so we charged up there to about 15% SOC before heading on to the TESLA Supercharger, but by the time we arrived at that first TESLA Supercharger 45min away, we had -4% SOC. (Not kidding! NEGATIVE 4% SOC!!!) Not only did this stress us out immensely (we thought we weren't going to make it), but I feared that going below 0% may have damaged our battery pack. (It still may have damaged it and we don't even know it!) While at that first TESLA Supercharger along our route, we charged 81kWh in about 35-45min. My Model Y supposedly only has a battery pack that is 78.3kWh, so explain that one to me!

Why didn't you just enter your destination and follow the on-screen GPS and charge accordingly, you ask???? Well, because we always go that route, for one thing. Plus, the route that the car wanted us to follow was going to take us 2hrs in the wrong direction, which made no sense to me. I track my normal TESLA driving efficiency using the TezLab app, so I figured that I should be able to travel the 254mi from a 100% SOC if I go slower (I normally speed, going 10-15mi over the speed limit). I then drove 55mph and 60mph the whole way until our first charge, which seemed to help little or not at all. Tractor trailers were getting mad at me, passing me ASAP along the two lane highway.

Once we were near civilization and were able to use ALL TESLA Superchargers, it was a breeze and wasn't stressful at all, although it definitely added time to our drives. We knew we could charge for $10 at that RV park along our normal route on the way back, so that is what we did. Unfortunately, I did not know that you cannot install a software update while charging (or while driving) the TESLA, so shortly after I began charging @ 8kW (32A) at the RV park, I started the software installation, which promptly cut off my charging session, which fact I did not realize until about 25min into the install, which installation took about 35min total. We made sure to charge up to 100% SOC at that last TESLA Supercharger before heading to that RV park toward home. (This was the first TESLA Supercharger on our way to CA.) We had a 78% SOC when we arrived at the RV park, and we charged up to 95% SOC before heading on for home. We had 3% SOC when we arrived home. It was MUCH less stressful driving and charging on the way home than it was on the way to CA, but it still was not stress-free.

We learned the hard way on the drive home (after seeing the "red steering wheel of death" about 3x) that if you manually exceed the MAX speed TESLA allows for auto-steer (85mph), then that feature will be disabled for the rest of the drive. So, we kept having to pull over while driving on a two-lane highway; put the TESLA in PARK; open the driver door briefly; and then pull back out onto the highway to regain the use of this feature. Maybe I'm spoiled, but driving for hours and hours on a two-lane highway WITHOUT auto-steer sucks! (NOTE: Our HONDA Odyssey has lane keeping, which works well on a road trip, although it is not as good as TESLA's Autopilot.) We also experienced several instances of phantom braking that was most unpleasant. Our HONDA Odyssey has never once done this, and it has adaptive cruise control. It seems like Autopilot gets scared as the TESLA approaches the top of a ridge in the road.

Also, while we love how much storage our Model Y has, it really makes things fairly tight, as some of the rear storage space is deceptive and cannot fully be utilized while allowing the rear lift gate to latch shut. You must leave about a 6-8in gap between where the rear lift gate appears to close and your luggage or cooler, or else the rear lift gate will not close. I also did everything I could to avoid placing stored items on top of the rear shelf, but it could not be avoided on the way home, as we purchased some bags of merchandise. The frunk was fully utilized and so was the lower storage area below the rear cargo space (as well as the rear cargo space).

One other strange thing that occurred is that twice while I was charging at a 250kW TESLA Supercharger, steam or smoke started to rise from the passenger side, seemingly from underneath the hood of the car (under the frunk). This only lasted about 30sec or less, and both times it happened while it was colder and raining outside (maybe 47°F). Because it was wet out, it could have been steam from the thermal realities of Supercharging, or it could have been smoke. There were also a lot of clicks and a few thud noises that occurred while I was Supercharging.

I have estimated (pretty accurately, I might add) that we saved about $32 driving the Model Y on our road trip, as opposed to our ICE minivan that gets 24mpg and is much larger and more comfortable for the passengers. Was it worth it? I am unconvinced, even though I love driving my Model Y. However, my family all said that they wished we had taken the minivan.

I think the main takeaway is that until charging can be done even more quickly than it is today and until fast-charging locations are more prevalent than gas stations are today, then road trips in an EV for periods longer than 4-6hrs are not worth it, IMO. We would normally drive this route with a full tank of gas when leaving home and would have to stop once to fill up along the way, which is also our main potty break and food stop. This would add about 30min to our drive. Until EV's can do likewise, I am not sure that it makes sense to drive an EV on such a long road trip instead of an ICE vehicle. We hope to get a CyberTruck soon, but no one really knows how large and comfortable (or not) that EV will be. TESLA doesn't really make any large/r sized vehicles. The Model X is smaller than our HONDA Odyssey, which minivan is reasonably comfortable on a long road trip. (We drove it about 5,000mi on a 2.5wk road trip last summer and we were decently comfortable.) I could not imagine driving our Model Y on the same 5,000mi road trip. Also, I am utterly disappointed with the lack of savings from charging while driving our TESLA Model Y on road trips. My home electricity price per kWh is amazing, but I think it's ridiculous that I should have to pay 5x that price OR MORE to charge up on a road trip. That's the whole point of owning an EV! I've already paid damn near double to purchase this vehicle, so I should be getting more savings over ICE than a mere 15% at the Superchargers! (NOTE: My state also charges an additional $154 per year for my TESLA auto registration because it's an EV and I don't pay the fuel tax.)


View attachment 924501
"Tesla Model Y Dual Motor Solid Black (1)" by Damian B Oh is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Admin note: Image added for Blog Feed thumbnail

love my 2023 MYLR but if the destination is > ?100 miles 1 way you have to start thinking about charging…

and once you start thinking about charging you are adding a distraction to your trip …

i like the technology…love the EV concept…

but my family just wants to get to the destination…

and if your visiting friends or family the last thing you want is to be distracted with charging your car…

again i luv it…don’t take many road trips…so no regrets…

but for these cars to be ubiquitous (used by normal people not the 1% tech obsessed like me and those on this site)…we need mindless 10 min charging everywhere …

we’ll get there but it will be ?at least a few years…

————-

also it’s great to have cheap sometimes free charging but one has to balance the time (which is money) cost of being obsessed with charging…

at my job we have free charging …but every time i go to work i spend 10 minutes seeing if there is on open stall…and i don’t drive a ton so i’m doing this to save ?$600/year…is my time worth it?

not to mention i am a good citizen…after 3 hours i take a long walk to my car to unhook it and move it so someone else can charge…

i have a charger at home…and instead of just using it…there is this new (slightly obsessive) activity of thinking about free charging…(and reading and posting on sites like these)