My wife and I just completed a long road trip in a M3LR from our home near Minneapolis to Seattle via Boulder Colorado and back.
The TL/DR version: Added less than an hour vs ICE each full day of driving, using hotel chargers helps, having the CCS adapter paid off,
phantom braking still sucks.
We left after work on a Thursday with the car at 99% and made it to the Sioux City IA SC which is next to a Holiday Inn. We plugged
in and checked into the hotel. When the car hit 90% about 30 minutes later I went down and moved it. The next morning I plugged it
back in before eating breakfast in the hotel and the car hit 100% just as we were ready to go. From there we drove to the SC in
Kearney NE which is in the parking lot of a Runza restaurant so we went in to eat lunch (we were both unimpressed with the
food). I unplugged as soon as we got back to the car and we proceeded to Ogallala NE. This one is in the lot of a hotel and was
the first stop where we waited around while charging, but it gave me time to catch up on emails and the like. Spent 13 minutes there
before moving on. At the next SC in Brush CO we went into the service station to use the restroom and browse for some snacks. We
had 96 miles to the hotel at this point so we waited just a few minutes more after getting back to the car.
We stayed at the Hilton Garden Inn in Broomfield CO for two nights which has multiple destination chargers. Friday night I charged
overnight to 90% which was ample for driving around Saturday. Saturday night again to 90% but Sunday morning raised the limit
to 100% from the app while still in the hotel room and we left with 98% about 40 minutes later. First stop Sunday was Laramie WY
where again after using the restroom we waited a bit before moving on. This sequence was repeated at Rawlins WY, Rock Springs WY and
Evanston WY with 5-10 minutes spent waiting at the car although in Rawlins we spent that time eating lunch. We intended to make our
last SC stop of the day in Trementon UT but the nav indicated there was a wait so we went to the Electrify America station in Perry UT
instead. I plugged in there with the CCS adapter I bought from South Korea earlier in the year and it started charging before I
got the EA app open to start it, turns out it was a free session. By the time we used the restroom and bought some chips in Walmart
we had enough charge to get to the Fairfield Inn in Burley ID where we plugged into one of the three destination chargers there.
Monday morning I again raised the charge limit from inside the hotel and after eating breakfast we left at 100%. First SC stop was
Ontario OR where we went into a coffee shop for another restroom break and some java. Waited just a couple minutes before heading to
Pendelton OR. Despite the nav showing one open charger there was a line of 3 cars waiting - turns out a model X was parked poorly
making one of the pedestals unreachable. We were at 13% but I figured that would be enough to get to the EA location in Hermiston OR
so we went there rather than wait. Once again the EA session was free, and we spent the time eating lunch, chatting and sharing cat pictures
with a BMW i3 driver. We stayed there longer than I had planned so we had to make just one more stop at Cle Elum WA for about 10 minutes
before continuing on to Seattle WA.
Fast forward to Saturday afternoon. Leaving a friend's house in Tacoma WA I had intended to stop at the SC in Auburn WA but the nav
showed a wait so once again hit up a nearby EA locaiton and once again no cost
. Hit up the SC in Ellensburg WA while we ate fast
food and on to the Hampton Inn Spokane with their 2 destination chargers.
Sunday morning as before charged to 100% while eating breakfast and drove to Missoula MT. I decided to go to the EA chargers in Missoula
and Butte and spent more time than I needed to at both because I didn't know when the free juice promo might suddenly come to an end.
Still free sessions at both, too bad there were no more EA locations the rest of the route home. Stopped at Big Timber MT SC just long
enough to use the bathroom then spent the time at the Billings SC eating dinner. Billings is a site that could use an expansion as it's an
older 4 stall V2 location and when headed East it's 150 miles to the next SC in Miles City with 80mph speed limits. Sharing a cabinet here
would result in a very long charge with nothing but a hotel lobby nearby, fortunately we were the only ones there. Stopped for 7 minutes
at the Miles City MT SC and headed to the Holiday Inn Express in Glendive MT with a SC in the hotel parking lot. The Glendive SC site is
prone to flooding and it had been raining, half the pedestal's parking spots were under water. Fortunately it was also empty when we
arrived.
Monday morning I once again plugged the car in before going back in to eat breakfast. This turned out to be a mistake as I didn't realize that SC was billed by the minute and not by the kWh so I ended up paying about $9 for just 8kWh to get from 90% to 100% when I didn't need to. Don't top off to 100% at by the minute SCs unless you have no other option. First charge stop was Billings ND where a Tesla tech was working on one of the pedestals. We chatted with him for several minutes before heading for the Jamestown ND SC where we charged as we ate lunch. Stopped at the Fargo ND SC again just long enough to use the bathroom then on to the Alexandria MN SC where we did some shopping in Target. When we got back to the car we had more than enough charge to get home.
All the SCs from Miles City to Alexandria (including Dickinson ND which we skipped) are V3 250kW max and if you arrive with ~10% charge with a preconditioned battery you can be on your way to next one after about 10 minutes as they are all about 100 miles apart. Obviously you would need to charge longer if you drove this route in winter but the weather was warm this day.
Phantom braking was a problem pretty much the entire trip. It was worst early and late in the day when the sun was at a low angle but it happened other times too even after dark. When it happened frequently (as often as every few minutes) I just stopped using cruise control for a while. When I did engage it or autopilot I had to keep my foot on the accelerator the whole time. I don't know if the cameras need to be aligned or if this is just the way Tesla "vision" is going to be but it sucked.
Overall I think we spent less than an hour more on the road each full day of driving than we would have if we did the same trip in an ICE. Full superchargers I fear is going to be a worsening problem with the number of Teslas on the road growing quickly. Having the CCS adapter helped a ton on this trip.
The TL/DR version: Added less than an hour vs ICE each full day of driving, using hotel chargers helps, having the CCS adapter paid off,
phantom braking still sucks.
We left after work on a Thursday with the car at 99% and made it to the Sioux City IA SC which is next to a Holiday Inn. We plugged
in and checked into the hotel. When the car hit 90% about 30 minutes later I went down and moved it. The next morning I plugged it
back in before eating breakfast in the hotel and the car hit 100% just as we were ready to go. From there we drove to the SC in
Kearney NE which is in the parking lot of a Runza restaurant so we went in to eat lunch (we were both unimpressed with the
food). I unplugged as soon as we got back to the car and we proceeded to Ogallala NE. This one is in the lot of a hotel and was
the first stop where we waited around while charging, but it gave me time to catch up on emails and the like. Spent 13 minutes there
before moving on. At the next SC in Brush CO we went into the service station to use the restroom and browse for some snacks. We
had 96 miles to the hotel at this point so we waited just a few minutes more after getting back to the car.
We stayed at the Hilton Garden Inn in Broomfield CO for two nights which has multiple destination chargers. Friday night I charged
overnight to 90% which was ample for driving around Saturday. Saturday night again to 90% but Sunday morning raised the limit
to 100% from the app while still in the hotel room and we left with 98% about 40 minutes later. First stop Sunday was Laramie WY
where again after using the restroom we waited a bit before moving on. This sequence was repeated at Rawlins WY, Rock Springs WY and
Evanston WY with 5-10 minutes spent waiting at the car although in Rawlins we spent that time eating lunch. We intended to make our
last SC stop of the day in Trementon UT but the nav indicated there was a wait so we went to the Electrify America station in Perry UT
instead. I plugged in there with the CCS adapter I bought from South Korea earlier in the year and it started charging before I
got the EA app open to start it, turns out it was a free session. By the time we used the restroom and bought some chips in Walmart
we had enough charge to get to the Fairfield Inn in Burley ID where we plugged into one of the three destination chargers there.
Monday morning I again raised the charge limit from inside the hotel and after eating breakfast we left at 100%. First SC stop was
Ontario OR where we went into a coffee shop for another restroom break and some java. Waited just a couple minutes before heading to
Pendelton OR. Despite the nav showing one open charger there was a line of 3 cars waiting - turns out a model X was parked poorly
making one of the pedestals unreachable. We were at 13% but I figured that would be enough to get to the EA location in Hermiston OR
so we went there rather than wait. Once again the EA session was free, and we spent the time eating lunch, chatting and sharing cat pictures
with a BMW i3 driver. We stayed there longer than I had planned so we had to make just one more stop at Cle Elum WA for about 10 minutes
before continuing on to Seattle WA.
Fast forward to Saturday afternoon. Leaving a friend's house in Tacoma WA I had intended to stop at the SC in Auburn WA but the nav
showed a wait so once again hit up a nearby EA locaiton and once again no cost
. Hit up the SC in Ellensburg WA while we ate fastfood and on to the Hampton Inn Spokane with their 2 destination chargers.
Sunday morning as before charged to 100% while eating breakfast and drove to Missoula MT. I decided to go to the EA chargers in Missoula
and Butte and spent more time than I needed to at both because I didn't know when the free juice promo might suddenly come to an end.
Still free sessions at both, too bad there were no more EA locations the rest of the route home. Stopped at Big Timber MT SC just long
enough to use the bathroom then spent the time at the Billings SC eating dinner. Billings is a site that could use an expansion as it's an
older 4 stall V2 location and when headed East it's 150 miles to the next SC in Miles City with 80mph speed limits. Sharing a cabinet here
would result in a very long charge with nothing but a hotel lobby nearby, fortunately we were the only ones there. Stopped for 7 minutes
at the Miles City MT SC and headed to the Holiday Inn Express in Glendive MT with a SC in the hotel parking lot. The Glendive SC site is
prone to flooding and it had been raining, half the pedestal's parking spots were under water. Fortunately it was also empty when we
arrived.
Monday morning I once again plugged the car in before going back in to eat breakfast. This turned out to be a mistake as I didn't realize that SC was billed by the minute and not by the kWh so I ended up paying about $9 for just 8kWh to get from 90% to 100% when I didn't need to. Don't top off to 100% at by the minute SCs unless you have no other option. First charge stop was Billings ND where a Tesla tech was working on one of the pedestals. We chatted with him for several minutes before heading for the Jamestown ND SC where we charged as we ate lunch. Stopped at the Fargo ND SC again just long enough to use the bathroom then on to the Alexandria MN SC where we did some shopping in Target. When we got back to the car we had more than enough charge to get home.
All the SCs from Miles City to Alexandria (including Dickinson ND which we skipped) are V3 250kW max and if you arrive with ~10% charge with a preconditioned battery you can be on your way to next one after about 10 minutes as they are all about 100 miles apart. Obviously you would need to charge longer if you drove this route in winter but the weather was warm this day.
Phantom braking was a problem pretty much the entire trip. It was worst early and late in the day when the sun was at a low angle but it happened other times too even after dark. When it happened frequently (as often as every few minutes) I just stopped using cruise control for a while. When I did engage it or autopilot I had to keep my foot on the accelerator the whole time. I don't know if the cameras need to be aligned or if this is just the way Tesla "vision" is going to be but it sucked.
Overall I think we spent less than an hour more on the road each full day of driving than we would have if we did the same trip in an ICE. Full superchargers I fear is going to be a worsening problem with the number of Teslas on the road growing quickly. Having the CCS adapter helped a ton on this trip.
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