Model X Road Trips

[ohmman]

Thank you for the inspiration... it really IS your fault. ;-)

I really hope you get as much pleasure out of it as we have from ours. It was a big risk for me - more about the experiment of towing with an EV than about camping in general - but it has honestly provided our family with some of our best memories. We calculated well over 100 nights in the almost 4 years we've owned it. This year alone, we've slept in it 40 nights, which represents more than 1 night out of every 10 for the year!

Good luck and lots of fun...

 

[gigawatt1010]

Congrats @dmurphy! Just in time for spring. Can't wait to see pics of it behind your X.

I just wanted to quote this post @ohmman as this was the deepest inspiration for us purchasing a travel trailer. It's always been back of mind - my parents had a 1968 Norris growing up - but I've never really gotten off my duff to solve the storage problem. Took care of it, looking forward to it, and counting the minutes until it arrives. Going to be a long winter but at least I know once we get to March, I've got something great ahead of us.

Thank you for the inspiration... it really IS your fault. ;-)

It's no Airstream, but we really wanted a slide-out.

 

[Richbot]

'21 LR+ on 20's - 4 people and all their vacation gear - ran it in Very Low the entire trip, as I usually do

1312 miles - STL area to Great Smoky Mountains National Park, 526 miles one-way plus local driving at the destination

309 wh/mi reported on the dash for the trip

Good conditions outbound, rain and wind on the return trip

left-lane traffic was frequently well above 70 for long stretches

SC stops in Kuttawa, Nashville, Knoxville, Mount Vernon - All worked great except for one red light at the Nashville kroger V3 station which was resolved by changing towers

peak charging rate observed on the V3's was 204 kw, tapering off after adding about 15% to a consistent 90-100 for most of the rest of the charge until 70% or so.

This model appears to be heat-limited on the V3's as the car would hold 130+ kw on the V2's for a lot longer. So, V3's not really a time saver on the Model X LR+ unless you just need 50 miles in a hurry starting at low SoC

We did the return in one shot in 9.5 hours total time, which, with young kids, is just about as fast as it is possible to go. That's with quite a bit of construction/accident traffic and hitting downtown STL at rush hour too.

Considering there is more efficiency to be had in wheels/tires and a more optimized wheel alignment for driving in Very Low, I'd say that's a pretty decent result for bombing along as quickly as traffic would allow with no regard for efficiency

The supercharger network is an unfair advantage. It's just so well-done.

 

[BM3B]

'21 LR+ on 20's - 4 people and all their vacation gear - ran it in Very Low the entire trip, as I usually do

1312 miles - STL area to Great Smoky Mountains National Park, 526 miles one-way plus local driving at the destination

309 wh/mi reported on the dash for the trip

Good conditions outbound, rain and wind on the return trip

left-lane traffic was frequently well above 70 for long stretches

SC stops in Kuttawa, Nashville, Knoxville, Mount Vernon - All worked great except for one red light at the Nashville kroger V3 station which was resolved by changing towers

peak charging rate observed on the V3's was 204 kw, tapering off after adding about 15% to a consistent 90-100 for most of the rest of the charge until 70% or so.

This model appears to be heat-limited on the V3's as the car would hold 130+ kw on the V2's for a lot longer. So, V3's not really a time saver on the Model X LR+ unless you just need 50 miles in a hurry starting at low SoC

We did the return in one shot in 9.5 hours total time, which, with young kids, is just about as fast as it is possible to go. That's with quite a bit of construction/accident traffic and hitting downtown STL at rush hour too.

Considering there is more efficiency to be had in wheels/tires and a more optimized wheel alignment for driving in Very Low, I'd say that's a pretty decent result for bombing along as quickly as traffic would allow with no regard for efficiency

The supercharger network is an unfair advantage. It's just so well-done.

Great trip and report, thanks for sharing! I can +1 your observations on charging. My 2020 X LR++ hit max of 203 kW but not for long, just a few minutes. I will look at my teslafi charging logs to try to determine if V3 is actually faster than V2, it definitely spends less time over 100 kW, dropping rapidly from 200 kW to 90 kW. The best part of V3 for the X is no sharing. My model 3 definitely charged a lot faster on V3 than V2, but it has 2x better battery cooling.

 

[ElectricIAC]

V3 seem to taper earlier than V2 in my experience as well.

 

[Richbot]

Great trip and report, thanks for sharing! I can +1 your observations on charging. My 2020 X LR++ hit max of 203 kW but not for long, just a few minutes. I will look at my teslafi charging logs to try to determine if V3 is actually faster than V2, it definitely spends less time over 100 kW, dropping rapidly from 200 kW to 90 kW. The best part of V3 for the X is no sharing. My model 3 definitely charged a lot faster on V3 than V2, but it has 2x better battery cooling.

Knoxville (a V2 at a very busy shopping area, on memorial day saturday, so there were a lot of people who looked local but also a lot of out of state plates) was SLAMMED when I was there. Was charge-sharing the whole time so yeah, that was a real thing. And got the "busy supercharger adjust charge target if you want more than 80%" message. There was a line almost the entire time I was there but by the time I got to my desired SoC the line had evaporated. 90% of the cars were 3/Y. I saw one other X and two Model S's try to charge, and several people with TN plates appeared to sit for a few minutes and give up.

I felt a little bad because I didn't strictly *need* to charge to get where I was going, but there's no supercharger in the Gatlinburg/Pigeon Forge area until Q3 at the earliest so I was hedging bets in case my destination charging plan was broken, which it wasn't thankfully. There were enough personalized plates on the cars that I didn't feel THAT bad lol

 

[TigerTan]

I just completed a road trip from Orange County CA to North Dallas TX in my 2016 Model X 90D.

I was somewhat nervous because of my range (max charge 240 now), the crazy heat (average 100 and as high as 129 in AZ) and charging at different unknown (to me) stations. We took our time and stopped overnight in Flagstaff, Albuquerque and Amarillo. Just wanted to share that the charger network and Tesla nav didn’t fail me. It was flawless and the car drove like a champ. Good luck if you’re thinking about taking. The older model x on a long trip. I am an even bigger fan of Tesla after this trip.

 

[ElectricIAC]

I just completed a road trip from Orange County CA to North Dallas TX in my 2016 Model X 90D.

I was somewhat nervous because of my range (max charge 240 now), the crazy heat (average 100 and as high as 129 in AZ) and charging at different unknown (to me) stations. We took our time and stopped overnight in Flagstaff, Albuquerque and Amarillo. Just wanted to share that the charger network and Tesla nav didn’t fail me. It was flawless and the car drove like a champ. Good luck if you’re thinking about taking. The older model x on a long trip. I am an even bigger fan of Tesla after this trip.

What kind of wh/mi did you witness? Speeds?

 

[TigerTan]

I forgot to mention that the car was loaded with about 600 lbs from the passengers and stuff. Per your question @ElectricIAC, I averaged 75-77mph. The wh/mi varied due to the topography. Going from the OC to Flagstaff on average I was at about 400-459Wh/mi. The weather was about 98-129. From Flagstaff to Albuquerque it was cooler (90-100) and utilization was about 380-390 Wh/mi. Albuquerque to Amarillo it was much cooler and a shorter drive. It averaged 80-90 degrees and about 375 Wh/mi. From Amarillo to north Dallas it was about 80-90 ad well, but very flat. I had it average as low as 280 Wh/mi on one charge and the other was about 375 Wh/mi.

These are estimates from what I observed, but the 280 I know for sure because I was a bit surprised.

 

[ElectricIAC]

I forgot to mention that the car was loaded with about 600 lbs from the passengers and stuff. Per your question @ElectricIAC, I averaged 75-77mph. The wh/mi varied due to the topography. Going from the OC to Flagstaff on average I was at about 400-459Wh/mi. The weather was about 98-129. From Flagstaff to Albuquerque it was cooler (90-100) and utilization was about 380-390 Wh/mi. Albuquerque to Amarillo it was much cooler and a shorter drive. It averaged 80-90 degrees and about 375 Wh/mi. From Amarillo to north Dallas it was about 80-90 ad well, but very flat. I had it average as low as 280 Wh/mi on one charge and the other was about 375 Wh/mi.

These are estimates from what I observed, but the 280 I know for sure because I was a bit surprised.

Always great to get perspective from a 90D owner as our Standard Range (75D on steroids) Raven usually ends up in the same real world range as one.

 

[TeeeeeeDub]

Going on my first real trip tomorrow. Leaving the Inland Empire and head up to Gilroy, Santa Cruz, Sacramento, then back down to Yosemite before heading home. Plenty of SC's along the way so not worried about charging. I'm more worried about how my toddler will do! Pretty excited!

I've packed some Slime, tire plugs, and an portable compressor as a precaution. I always carry a portable jump box in the frunk too just in case the 12V decides to give me trouble.

2021 LR+ on 20" wheels

 

[ngng]

Going on my first real trip tomorrow. Leaving the Inland Empire and head up to Gilroy, Santa Cruz, Sacramento, then back down to Yosemite before heading home. Plenty of SC's along the way so not worried about charging. I'm more worried about how my toddler will do! Pretty excited!

I've packed some Slime, tire plugs, and an portable compressor as a precaution. I always carry a portable jump box in the frunk too just in case the 12V decides to give me trouble.

2021 LR+ on 20" wheels

Throw a set of pliers and gloves in there.

 

[ngng]

'21 LR+ on 20's - 4 people and all their vacation gear - ran it in Very Low the entire trip, as I usually do

1312 miles - STL area to Great Smoky Mountains National Park, 526 miles one-way plus local driving at the destination

309 wh/mi reported on the dash for the trip

Good conditions outbound, rain and wind on the return trip

left-lane traffic was frequently well above 70 for long stretches

SC stops in Kuttawa, Nashville, Knoxville, Mount Vernon - All worked great except for one red light at the Nashville kroger V3 station which was resolved by changing towers

peak charging rate observed on the V3's was 204 kw, tapering off after adding about 15% to a consistent 90-100 for most of the rest of the charge until 70% or so.

This model appears to be heat-limited on the V3's as the car would hold 130+ kw on the V2's for a lot longer. So, V3's not really a time saver on the Model X LR+ unless you just need 50 miles in a hurry starting at low SoC

We did the return in one shot in 9.5 hours total time, which, with young kids, is just about as fast as it is possible to go. That's with quite a bit of construction/accident traffic and hitting downtown STL at rush hour too.

Considering there is more efficiency to be had in wheels/tires and a more optimized wheel alignment for driving in Very Low, I'd say that's a pretty decent result for bombing along as quickly as traffic would allow with no regard for efficiency

The supercharger network is an unfair advantage. It's just so well-done.

I can't stand driving in very low. The ride is so rough!

 

[TigerTan]

Going on my first real trip tomorrow. Leaving the Inland Empire and head up to Gilroy, Santa Cruz, Sacramento, then back down to Yosemite before heading home. Plenty of SC's along the way so not worried about charging. I'm more worried about how my toddler will do! Pretty excited!

I've packed some Slime, tire plugs, and an portable compressor as a precaution. I always carry a portable jump box in the frunk too just in case the 12V decides to give me trouble.

2021 LR+ on 20" wheels

I need to pack some of those items. Do you also carry an N14-50P extension cord? Or any other cords?

Going on my first real trip tomorrow. Leaving the Inland Empire and head up to Gilroy, Santa Cruz, Sacramento, then back down to Yosemite before heading home. Plenty of SC's along the way so not worried about charging. I'm more worried about how my toddler will do! Pretty excited!

I've packed some Slime, tire plugs, and an portable compressor as a precaution. I always carry a portable jump box in the frunk too just in case the 12V decides to give me trouble.

2021 LR+ on 20" wheels

 

[Richbot]

So, on my LR+, 250+ miles in between stops is a total non-issue, but, why, unless you just want to sit and charge all day. Send it and stop for 15 min every two hours! I wouldn't bother carrying an RV cable unless you're planning on trying to rent an RV spot to charge at, but, a decent 12gauge 120v extension cord is how I charged mine while at the cabin during our trip. Also had a monster 10gauge 120v cord just in case the cabin didn't have a working outlet anywhere close to parking, but didn't end up needing it.

.

I can't stand driving in very low. The ride is so rough!

I agree on the pre-Raven models, I tried several. I dont' know if the early air suspension had longer bumpstops or what but it got pretty choppy in low and very low to me. Ride between Low and Very Low on my car is pretty much the same, maybe a little more jounce over bigger hits as the travel isn't quite enough, but it rides better than our E-class. Conversely, I feel like the ride gets pretty stiff-legged on my car in the higher suspension settings, maybe just because the air pressure in the ride height bladder is so much higher

IMO, the suspension on this thing really shouldn't be height adjustable and ought to just be load leveling and adaptive. That'd be plenty for the wagon it really is

 

[Richbot]

The car: 2021 X LR+ with 20's and original tires, 9500 miles on it.

I thought this was an interesting "one tank" road trip, beacuse I did some math on what the car really uses, using it like a normal car (you know, parking it, turning on the remote start to cool it before you get in, that kind of weird stuff you do when you don't need to constantly hunt for electric plugs, lol).

short jaunt out to Columbia, MO for some pizza and playground time with the dog from STL

103 miles one-way, plus some local driving. "Flow-of-traffic" left lane driving almost exclusively on I70 at 70+mph speeds - 236 miles total. Flow of traffic was frequently 80ish mph.

5 beings in the car, AC on 70-73 (both front and rear units)

85+ degrees out and sunny, with an wind out of the east (which is weird for us) of about 8-10mph. Consumption westbound was better than eastbound, naturally. Outbound highway leg was close to 305 wh/mi on the dash. Arrived at our first destination with 63% of the battery remaining. Return leg was closer to 330, plus some city driving before that, so "Dashboard" total round-trip consumption for this trip was 311 wh/mi. Not bad! 300+mile range in the real world driving it like a normal car, with the flow of traffic, not farting around in the right lane worrying about consumption!

But, not so fast. "Actual" % usage was 98%-17%, because the car was parked with overheat protection and such running for a few hours, which (if you believe the LR+ battery is really closer to 103kwh capacity) works out to about 356wh/mi , including all the "parasitic" losses during the trip. I'd expect to need to add 50-100 to that in cold weather.

No range anxiety obviously, there's a supercharger in Columbia and another one on the way, but...yeah. Sure, it can probably easily do 300 miles on the highway at 75 mph, in good conditions, if you don't stop, and use almost all of the battery, which nobody will ever do, and as soon as you stop and some energy starts to go into things that aren't moving the car, or the conditions suck, it becomes a 275-mile real-world range in a hurry. The supercharger network is absolutely crucial to these cars being viable as road trippers. No doi, of course, but if they start having congestion issues around here, I seriously might just sell the thing on that basis alone.

 

[Bigriver]

In June I did this road trip:

in my 2017 100D model X, starting with 46,500 miles on the odometer and a rated range of about 275 miles @ 100% SOC. I have 20” OEM wheels and tires with about 20,000 miles on them.

Teslafi says I got an overall driving efficiency of 98.1%, using 2500 rated miles for the 2455 actual miles driven.

The outside temperature ranged from 75 F to 95 F, with the average around 85 F.

My longest segment was 189 miles between the SC at Champaign, IL and Hannibal, MO. It was about 2 hrs, 45 min and I used 72% of the battery going westbound, and about 66% of the battery on the return eastbound trip.

I finished my trip on Father’s Day and there was notably more traffic on the road than normal. The Strongsville, Ohio SC was 100% full that day, the only crowded SC that I encountered on my trip.

Although I sometimes wish for more range, it really isn’t needed for these trips. I never came close to any range anxiety, and I no longer wish to make travel segments last over 3 hours. It was extremely easy traveling and after 3.5 years with this car, I sometimes still pinch myself to see if I’m dreaming. Really love it.

 

[Richbot]

So, either mine’s broken or the rear AC unit uses a butt load of juice when not in recirc. Just did a 664 mile round trip and the consumption in a thunderstorm on the departure was better than the consumption in beautiful weather with a slight tailwind in the return with the recirc off and rear unit off. I forgot to reset it after our charge stop and it went back to automatically turning on both units and switched off recirc on its own when we left the supercharger. Couldn’t figure out why consumption was so high when all the flags and bushes seemed to suggest I had a tailwind?

Switched it off and turned on recirc and dropped almost 60wh/mi at 80mph and 85 degrees out. Sheesh. Went from about 375 to 315, even with the front unit set at 70 and 4 humans in the car and the sun beating down, so clearly the front unit could handle the load by itself on recirc.

so yeah, smash them buttons, sometimes they actually do something, lol.

 

[sfuape]

The supercharger network is an unfair advantage. It's just so well-done.

For random people - like me - that did not know anything about Tesla until seeing a plaid Model S break records... the supercharger network is what closed the deal for as "family" car purchase.
All we had to do is use the voice command in the demo car at Tesla dealership to see it in action and we were both sold. Seeing the charging stops added to the route and the state of charge at each stop and final destination is really well done.

 

[Richbot]

Yep. That's what took it from "absurd novelty for weirdos and old people" to "hey this is a pretty cool alternative to a gas three-row crossover" for me too. That, and friends who are also racers going out and enjoying competing in the Model 3. If you can please us you can build a car good