Final Trip Summary:
We completed our trip with roughly 2100 miles roundtrip starting from Folsom, CA and covering Seattle, Victoria BC, Vancouver BC, Everett (for the Boeing Factory) and Stevenson, WA (Columbia River Gorge). The average energy usage was 359Wh/mi with a range from 240wh/mi to 470wh/mi between charging stops. Majority of driving was on auto pilot. On the return trip, we did 13 hours (driving plus charging) from Multnomah Falls, OR to Folsom, CA. I drove the last seven hours 10pm to 5am Grants Pass to Folsom and I could have never done that if it was not for the convenience of using auto pilot. I took 30-40 minute naps at the two supercharging locations and arrived home 5am in pretty good shape on Friday morning. I actually was able to go to work 9am.
Here are my observations on different components:
Autopilot - it worked beautifully most of the drive. There were 3-4 instances where it lost the lane and I couldn't see why as lane markings were pretty clear, straight road etc - no obvious reason. It worked great on both US and Canadian roads - highways as well as internal roads. It took the curves of I5 around Mt Shasta - Grants Pass section really nicely especially where they have signs for 50mph on curves. I had my TACC set to 75 and it would automatically slow down to 59 when needed. Though my hand was hovering on the steering, there wasn't any occasion when I needed to take over control even when there were large semis in the next lane on a curve.
Miles/Kms - it was very convenient to quickly change from Miles to Kms when we off loaded from the ferry in Canada. Much easier to work with distances and speed restrictions when your car is using the same units as the location.
FWDs - The FWDs are very functional especially when it is raining. They worked great in the cramped parking of auto ferries. They would go up nicely avoiding cars or beams and you can leave them open while people walked through the aisles. However, they are a huge crowd magnet. Everywhere we stopped and opened the FWDs, people on the sidewalk stopped to take pictures and ask questions. My family had to get used to driving around with a "celebrity".
Front Doors - I had to disable auto present on the front driver door as it would constantly open and shut when I was taking bags out or loading them. There is a need to improve this feature or at least have a temporary disable button on the Doors page on the console. Totally hated the driver door self presenting on double click when I didn't need to get into driver's seat. It hit another car the first time in the auto ferry.
Valet - Had to valet the car couple of times. None had any experience with Model X though some were used to Model S. Even had a valet in Vancouver who has reserved a Model 3. I disabled the auto present for valet (again - I wish this would be part of Valet setting - there is no need to have the auto present for the valet). Valets get confused as to why the door handles don't pop out like they do for Model S. They also have a hard time unlocking the charge port. What I figured was that when you give the key to a valet - turn off the auto present and tell them - single click to lock and double click to unlock and that the charge port won't unlock unless they unlock the car. It's good to question the valet a bit to see if they are really comfortable driving a Tesla. At the Seattle Waterfront Marriott, I didn't get a good feel and told him I want to drive it down myself and he piloted me on foot to the basement parking.
Storage - initially we planned to give the second and third row to each of our two kids so they could spread out. However, then there were too many snack bags on the carpet around their seats and when you move the second row up to let the person in the third row out, it would crunch everything in front of it. After the first stop, we went from minivan mode to SUV mode - flattened the third row and put all snack bags on top. It was way more comfortable getting in and out in this configuration thought it meant there was more interaction (aka fighting) when they were sitting in the same row.
XPel Wrap - I think the wrap helped a lot in cleaning the car quickly. I carried Chemical Guys EcoSmart Waterless CarWash, B.E.S.T. Bug Remover (its a must for road trips) and Invisible Glass and some microfiber cloths. However, the biggest benefit of XPel was noticed upon return. There is an inch and a half mark on the hood - maybe a pine cone fell or a rock went up the hood. XPel took the damage and it didn't go below to the paint. Much of it has also healed but it is still a visible scar on the hood.
Trip Planner - The good thing about the trip planner is that it planned the supercharging route pretty nicely but it also sent us on long winded inside roads to avoid Portland's rush hour traffic - not sure if it saved anything after driving in single lane traffic with 20mph speed. However, I must admit that EVTripPlanner.com (thanks to @EVTripPlanner ) was way more accurate in its assessment of energy usage and expected remaining at each stop. The car's trip planner doesn't account for weather conditions - headwinds, rain and temperature. We left on a 100+ day. It was showing 113 in Corning and our climate control was set to 74 and that accounted for higher consumption. From this trip, I have learnt that my comfort level is to arrive with 25% expected remaining which equates to about 60miles even though the car's trip planner wants you to move on with anywhere between 6% and 15% remaining upon arrival at the next SpC. After charging to 25% expected remaining, we usually arrived between 7% and 26% remaining at the next SpC depending upon weather conditions. Headwinds are the silent killers of energy. Thanks to @SomeJoe7777. I used his TeslaWinds.com app in the browser to get a better understanding of what to expect. I wish there was some way to estimate higher usage in advance because of the headwinds and temperatures (high/low) before you get back on the road so you can charge more to compensate.
Range Anxiety - there were couple of occasions where I had range anxiety. I had posted this earlier after our first day. But it turned out, it was unwarranted. We charged in Ashland overnight and Grants Pass SpC was too close to stop and recharge and the distance to Springfield SpC was giving me range anxiety. We left Ashland with 253miles in the "tank" and drove 180 miles in 3 hours to Springfield SpC arriving with 56miles remaining. @NovemberXray reminded me to check the Plugshare app which showed at least three ChadeMo chargers between Grants Pass and Springfield. In Canada, there were signs where they have the EV DC charging stations. I wish localities in US would do the same.
Destination Chargers - Except for Victoria BC, we stayed at properties that have the destination chargers and they are usually pretty nice properties. It is very convenient to have your car charge overnight and be ready in the morning. The Ashland Plaza Inn is a beautiful property. However, it's destination charger is in the lower level and the narrow driveway to go down had my hair standing straight up. With the 72A onboard charger, I am also not hogging the charging spot all night. Most places have just a pair of destination chargers. However, the Skamania Lodge (Stevenson, WA) had four destination chargers though I didn't see any other EV charging there. They also have them in the open parking lot and is seemingly not restricted to their patrons.
Superchargers - we used the following superchargers on our route:
- Corning, CA - it's located in the Rabobank parking lot. Starbucks and Subway nearby
- Mt. Shasta, CA - it's in the Best Western parking lot. You walk past their front desk to get to the restrooms. Nice view of Mt. Shasta from the parking lot
- Grants Pass, OR - this is in the really back of Black Bear Diner's parking lot and is not clearly visible from the road which is a one-way road. We drove past it twice - it was late at night too and then had to go around one-way streets to come back.
- Springfield, OR - this was a busy spot - we saw one other Model X here. It is located in the Holiday Inn parking lot and there are three other hotels including a Marriott Courtyard. Several decent food options including an Italian restaurant within walking distance. Holiday Inn has great clean bathrooms easily accessible from the side door for the convention rooms.
- Woodburn, OR - this was another not easy to find. It is located in the Elmer's Restaurant parking lot. I wish they had a sign as you can't see it from the road and we ended up in the RV/Mobile Home community.
- Centralia, OR - easy to find - next to Centralia outlet mall. First stall gave us some trouble starting and by the time it started to work, a 2016 Model S came and parked in the paired stall though there were other open stalls. So I had to move my car to one that had an open pair.
- Burlington, WA - this is in the Fairfield Inn parking lot. Saw only one other Tesla charging there.
