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Model X Road Trips
- Thread starter xkwizit
- Start date
Road trip with the X or use our Prius??
Got my X 100D about 1 month ago and I'm going to have to make a big decision soon about a road trip. I live in the San Francisco area and will go to the total solar eclipse in Eastern Oregon. I've been talking about this trip with my university buddies from Belgium for the last 15 years (eclipses are sooo predictable
. So we're going on a 17 day road trip with 5 couples (3 cars) arriving from Europe. We'll be going through the wine country, Lassen NP, Lava Beds NM, Crater Lake NP, then eclipse in John Day in eastern Oregon, and then up to the Columbia River Gorge, Portland, Mt Saint Helens NP, Willamette Valley, Oregon Coast, Oregon Cave, Redwood NP and back to San Francisco. If it was just me and my wife and only the eclipse, we would definitely use the Tesla. But with this group and the places we're going, I'm not so sure this is a good idea.
Let me explain:
1) Whenever I'm in a SC, everybody will have to wait.
2) There will be periods that I will have to drive below the speed limit so everybody will have to wait again
3) I have a lot of range anxiety: some of the areas I'm going to have no chargers whatsoever. I've been calling the hotels where we will be staying to see if I can charge overnight and that might work except that I will need at least a Nema 10-30 circuit to fill up my 100D. They're all very willing to work with me but I might have to disconnect their dryer(s) overnight to get to their 10-30 plugs. If they refuse that at the last minute, I will be totally stuck. Or my extension cord might be too short if I cannot park close enough...
Although my friends are excited and very interested in going with the X, has anybody any experience in doing road trips with a mixed group? Any suggestions about charging? If I cannot do it with the X, it will have to be with the Prius :-(
Got my X 100D about 1 month ago and I'm going to have to make a big decision soon about a road trip. I live in the San Francisco area and will go to the total solar eclipse in Eastern Oregon. I've been talking about this trip with my university buddies from Belgium for the last 15 years (eclipses are sooo predictable
. So we're going on a 17 day road trip with 5 couples (3 cars) arriving from Europe. We'll be going through the wine country, Lassen NP, Lava Beds NM, Crater Lake NP, then eclipse in John Day in eastern Oregon, and then up to the Columbia River Gorge, Portland, Mt Saint Helens NP, Willamette Valley, Oregon Coast, Oregon Cave, Redwood NP and back to San Francisco. If it was just me and my wife and only the eclipse, we would definitely use the Tesla. But with this group and the places we're going, I'm not so sure this is a good idea.Let me explain:
1) Whenever I'm in a SC, everybody will have to wait.
2) There will be periods that I will have to drive below the speed limit so everybody will have to wait again
3) I have a lot of range anxiety: some of the areas I'm going to have no chargers whatsoever. I've been calling the hotels where we will be staying to see if I can charge overnight and that might work except that I will need at least a Nema 10-30 circuit to fill up my 100D. They're all very willing to work with me but I might have to disconnect their dryer(s) overnight to get to their 10-30 plugs. If they refuse that at the last minute, I will be totally stuck. Or my extension cord might be too short if I cannot park close enough...
Although my friends are excited and very interested in going with the X, has anybody any experience in doing road trips with a mixed group? Any suggestions about charging? If I cannot do it with the X, it will have to be with the Prius :-(
ecrsail
Member
If It were me, I'd definitely take the X. I've taken two road trips through those areas in a P90D without any problems. I've taken road trips with passengers and every passenger has looked forward to the stops every 1.5 - 2 hours.
Most of the time spent at a supercharger will be taken up with bathroom or coffee breaks. It's usually the case that the vehicle is ready to go with enough charge to reach the next waypoint before all of the passengers are. One the few occasions when that isn't the case, the remaining wait time is almost always less than 10 minutes.
I'd be happy to offer advice or help with route planning if you feel you need it. I'm sure many others here would be happy to do the same.
Most of the time spent at a supercharger will be taken up with bathroom or coffee breaks. It's usually the case that the vehicle is ready to go with enough charge to reach the next waypoint before all of the passengers are. One the few occasions when that isn't the case, the remaining wait time is almost always less than 10 minutes.
I'd be happy to offer advice or help with route planning if you feel you need it. I'm sure many others here would be happy to do the same.
ecrsail
Member
aesculus
Still Trying to Figure This All Out
Business Insider had an interesting cross country trip report today with the Model X.
We drove a brand-new Tesla Model X from San Francisco to New York — here's what happened
We modeled the trip with EVTO and this is what we got
We drove a brand-new Tesla Model X from San Francisco to New York — here's what happened
We modeled the trip with EVTO and this is what we got
ecrsail
Member
Strange that they stopped in Las Vegas given that they left the west coast from San Francisco.
I also used EV-TO to plan the first leg of the trip from San Francisco to Salt Lake City Supercharger using my Model X P90D as the vehicle, and the longest charge time predicted by EV-TO was 36 minutes. I skipped Las Vegas. The average charging time was 26 minutes:
In practice, I'd probably not try to reach SLC from SF in one day, but nonetheless, these timings align well with my typical road trip experience where I spend 15-20 minutes walking to/from a local SBUX or eatery for a coffee/tea and bathroom break. An hour? It's happened, but pretty rare, and typically a sit-down lunch or dinner was involved.
I watched the video and could not determine the battery size of the X the BI folks were driving. Anybody catch it? I assumed initially Tesla gave them a P100D since it was "fresh off the assembly line" but perhaps they were driving a 75 kWh model?
Judging by their comments, the video nicely demonstrates some of the remaining challenges that EV adoption faces with the general public who currently only understand how to optimize extended duration road trips in ICE vehicles and whose expectations are set by the assumption that the fasted way to get there is to run your tank/battery down to empty on every leg of the trip.
If Graham or Will are reading this, feel free to contact me for pointers. Maybe I'll even fly out to New York and we can do the trip in reverse and spend a lot less time waiting around charging!
I also used EV-TO to plan the first leg of the trip from San Francisco to Salt Lake City Supercharger using my Model X P90D as the vehicle, and the longest charge time predicted by EV-TO was 36 minutes. I skipped Las Vegas. The average charging time was 26 minutes:
In practice, I'd probably not try to reach SLC from SF in one day, but nonetheless, these timings align well with my typical road trip experience where I spend 15-20 minutes walking to/from a local SBUX or eatery for a coffee/tea and bathroom break. An hour? It's happened, but pretty rare, and typically a sit-down lunch or dinner was involved.
I watched the video and could not determine the battery size of the X the BI folks were driving. Anybody catch it? I assumed initially Tesla gave them a P100D since it was "fresh off the assembly line" but perhaps they were driving a 75 kWh model?
Judging by their comments, the video nicely demonstrates some of the remaining challenges that EV adoption faces with the general public who currently only understand how to optimize extended duration road trips in ICE vehicles and whose expectations are set by the assumption that the fasted way to get there is to run your tank/battery down to empty on every leg of the trip.
If Graham or Will are reading this, feel free to contact me for pointers. Maybe I'll even fly out to New York and we can do the trip in reverse and spend a lot less time waiting around charging!
aesculus
Still Trying to Figure This All Out
We think it was a 100D, but we are not absolutely certain. That's what we modeled.
Those guys were moving because we just let the app use Google's drive time which was 51:15 and I think the video said they were on the road 43 hours. Can't fault them for wanting to go fast. The look on their faces when they were on the freeway in the bay area and punched it was priceless.
They do not produce the active spoiler anymore.
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3228 mile trip from Colorado to California.
Loveland - Grand Junction - Las Vegas - Harris Ranch - Monterey Bay (5 nights) - Yosemite - Reno - Wendover - New Castle - Loveland
Sat June 10
My wife and I went to a friend's anniversary party in Estes Park, Colorado. We live in Loveland and charged to 100% before we headed up to Estes Park.
We charged our Tesla P90D X at Sweet Basilico cafe. This is a destination charger with 3 Tesla connectors on 1 220V 40A circuit. There was one other Tesla X charging so our charge rate was reduced to 220V 20A. We have charged here before and were always the only car charging and we charged at 8KW. We ended up charging from 85% to 95%. We were heading toward Grand Junction so we took highway 7 and 72 and 119 through Blackhawk to the Silverthorne SC. This is a scenic route called Peak to Peak Highway. We were at 28% at Silverthorne. Charged to 62% and continued to Glenwood Springs SC. We had dinner at Zheng Asian Bistro restaurant. Good Japanese food; recommend the Volcano Shrimp and noodles. Fast service. We stayed at the Grand Vista hotel in Grand Junction. Hotel is fair; room was non-smoking but had the after smell of smoking; will probably not stay there again. There is a Tesla SC in Grand Junction we have used several times before (next to an IHop). The Grand Vista has one Tesla destination charger, 220V 40A.
Sunday June 11.
Charged to 99% and headed towards Green River at 6am. The Tesla trip planner said we would have 57%; but we have done this route a couple times and know that we use much more power. We arrived at Green River at 41%. We have learned to add an extra 15% to minimize any range anxiety. Speed limit in Utah is 80mph, but we usually go max of 75mph and many times at 70mph. We left Grand Junction at 6am and arrived at Green River SC at 730am. We had breakfast across the street at Tamarisk restaurant. We have had several meals at Tamarisk and all have been great. Highly recommended. For some reason we always seem to have headwinds (never tailwinds). Sunday June 11 weather reports high winds (30+mph) from the Southwest; just the direction we were headed.
We charged at Richmond and Beaver UT SC. Usually there are no other Teslas at these SCs but at Beaver there was one Tesla at the 4 stall SC. I believe it is numbered 1A 2A 1B 2B. Slot 2A was occupied. I mistakely went to slot 2B. When I plugged in I saw that I was getting low power. I looked again at the slots and saw that I was using the same number as the existing Tesla. I moved to slot 1B and had full power charging (starting at 104KW). After the existing Tesla left another Tesla X came and plugged in. He plugged in to slot 1A. We had just finished lunch and he was complaining at the low rate of charge; I explained to him how you should check the slots and choose a not used number slot if possible. He thanked me for the info. Before we arrived at the St George SC we saw that 2 Tesla's were already charging so we were prepared to spend longer charging. We ended up seeing the same Model X Tesla that was at the Beaver SC. This is another 4 slot SC. Slots 1A 1B were in use; he was in slot 1B. We plugged into slot 2B and had full power 104KW power. (Good for me, but seems like most drivers do not know how to select the best charging slot). When we left all slots were occupied.
We stayed at the Platinum Hotel in Las Vegas. This is a non-casino hotel just 1 block off the strip. All suites, very nice. The Platinum Hotel has a destination charger and they do valet parking. We usually stay at one of the large hotels like Mandalay Bay but we will stay here again.
Monday June 12.
Cool wave in Las Vegas; 54F in the morning. Mojave desert temp was 64F. We spent the night at Harris Ranch. Good and expensive steak dinner.
Tuesday June 13 - Sunday June 18
We rented a house at Pajaro Dunes right on the beach. House #1. We had amazing weather; no fog all week. We had a total of 19 relatives and friends staying and visiting. We picked Olallieberries at Gizdich ranch; field trip to Monterey Bay Aquarium. Charged at the Tesla Seaside supercharger. This is first time I have had to wait to get a supercharger slot.
Sunday June 18 - Thursday June 22
We stayed at Tenaya Lodge just outside of Yosemite. Tenaya Lodge is nice but expensive; over $400/night. Very family friendly. Tenaya Lodge is where the Tesla Supercharger is located. We had breakfast at Wawona Hotel (now called Big Trees). Visited Yosemite Falls, parked at the Ahwahnee (now called Majestic) and hiked to Mirror Lake. Lunch at Ahwahnee. There is a destination charger at the Ahwahnee. We plugged in for a few minutes just to see that it works. When we charged at Rocklin the charge rate started at 108KW but kept decreasing down to 50KW. It was really hot, over 105F. The charge cable was really hot. There was no one else at the Supercharger. After 10 minutes or so we moved to another slot; started again at 108KW but would decrease after a few minutes. Seems like the current is reduced if the temperature is high (over 100F).
Best Quote:
My wife said to me:
"What are you doing? It scares me when you drive. Put the Tesla back to Autopilot."
Ghost Vehicles.
Many times the Tesla count of chargers in use was not accurate.
Green River SC said 2 of 4 available actually 4.
Primm said 6 of 10 available; actual 10 of 10 available.
Barstow 6 in use; actual 2 in use.
Buttonwillow 7 of 10 available; actual 1 in use.
Bakersville 4 of 10 available; actual 1 in use.
Chargers (from TeslaFi.com)
Location Start% End% Minutes
Silverthorne CO 28 62 29
Glenwood Springs CO 26 91 51 dinner
Grand Vista 46 96 overnight destination charger
Green River UT 41 93 44 breakfast
Richfield UT 24 66 20
Beaver UT 27 83 40 lunch
St George UT 33 90 42
Platinum Hotel NV 20 96 overnight destination charger
Primm NV 70 98 49 breakfast
Barstow CA 30 65 17
Mojave CA 38 80 47 lunch; slow charge so moved to another slot
Bakersfield 47 63 10 not required; just added another SC to our list
Buttowillon 63 70 4
Harris Ranch 30 90 43 dinner,overnight at Harris Ranch
Harris Ranch 88 96 20 breakfast
Seaside CA 32 87 41 last slot; shared
Nob Hills Food 76 83 58 grocery shopping; J1772; 240V 30A
Seaside CA 44 84 31 had to wait for a slot
Gilroy CA 12 80 58 HOT; over 100F
Fresno CA 29 71 40 HOT; 102F; rate of charge about 50Kw
Fish Camp CA 27 97 86 dinner at Tenaya Lodge; stayed overnight
Groveland CA ?? ?? no data; no internet
Folsum CA 34 54 11
Folsum CA 50 52 3 HOT HOT; 111F
Rocklin CA 36 85 38 HOT 107F;
Truckee CA 27 42 7
Reno NV 29 89 53 breakfast
Lovelock NV 46 62 9
Winnemucca NV 27 82 39 lunch
Elko NV 19 80 40
Wendover NV 26 93 68 dinner
Tooele UT 43 90 37 breakfast
Price UT 27 48 10
Green River UT 22 91 57 lunch
Grand Junction CO 38 77 28
New Castle CO 54 89 overnight; stayed at daughter's house
Silverthorne 37 70 30
home 32
Loveland - Grand Junction - Las Vegas - Harris Ranch - Monterey Bay (5 nights) - Yosemite - Reno - Wendover - New Castle - Loveland
Sat June 10
My wife and I went to a friend's anniversary party in Estes Park, Colorado. We live in Loveland and charged to 100% before we headed up to Estes Park.
We charged our Tesla P90D X at Sweet Basilico cafe. This is a destination charger with 3 Tesla connectors on 1 220V 40A circuit. There was one other Tesla X charging so our charge rate was reduced to 220V 20A. We have charged here before and were always the only car charging and we charged at 8KW. We ended up charging from 85% to 95%. We were heading toward Grand Junction so we took highway 7 and 72 and 119 through Blackhawk to the Silverthorne SC. This is a scenic route called Peak to Peak Highway. We were at 28% at Silverthorne. Charged to 62% and continued to Glenwood Springs SC. We had dinner at Zheng Asian Bistro restaurant. Good Japanese food; recommend the Volcano Shrimp and noodles. Fast service. We stayed at the Grand Vista hotel in Grand Junction. Hotel is fair; room was non-smoking but had the after smell of smoking; will probably not stay there again. There is a Tesla SC in Grand Junction we have used several times before (next to an IHop). The Grand Vista has one Tesla destination charger, 220V 40A.
Sunday June 11.
Charged to 99% and headed towards Green River at 6am. The Tesla trip planner said we would have 57%; but we have done this route a couple times and know that we use much more power. We arrived at Green River at 41%. We have learned to add an extra 15% to minimize any range anxiety. Speed limit in Utah is 80mph, but we usually go max of 75mph and many times at 70mph. We left Grand Junction at 6am and arrived at Green River SC at 730am. We had breakfast across the street at Tamarisk restaurant. We have had several meals at Tamarisk and all have been great. Highly recommended. For some reason we always seem to have headwinds (never tailwinds). Sunday June 11 weather reports high winds (30+mph) from the Southwest; just the direction we were headed.
We charged at Richmond and Beaver UT SC. Usually there are no other Teslas at these SCs but at Beaver there was one Tesla at the 4 stall SC. I believe it is numbered 1A 2A 1B 2B. Slot 2A was occupied. I mistakely went to slot 2B. When I plugged in I saw that I was getting low power. I looked again at the slots and saw that I was using the same number as the existing Tesla. I moved to slot 1B and had full power charging (starting at 104KW). After the existing Tesla left another Tesla X came and plugged in. He plugged in to slot 1A. We had just finished lunch and he was complaining at the low rate of charge; I explained to him how you should check the slots and choose a not used number slot if possible. He thanked me for the info. Before we arrived at the St George SC we saw that 2 Tesla's were already charging so we were prepared to spend longer charging. We ended up seeing the same Model X Tesla that was at the Beaver SC. This is another 4 slot SC. Slots 1A 1B were in use; he was in slot 1B. We plugged into slot 2B and had full power 104KW power. (Good for me, but seems like most drivers do not know how to select the best charging slot). When we left all slots were occupied.
We stayed at the Platinum Hotel in Las Vegas. This is a non-casino hotel just 1 block off the strip. All suites, very nice. The Platinum Hotel has a destination charger and they do valet parking. We usually stay at one of the large hotels like Mandalay Bay but we will stay here again.
Monday June 12.
Cool wave in Las Vegas; 54F in the morning. Mojave desert temp was 64F. We spent the night at Harris Ranch. Good and expensive steak dinner.
Tuesday June 13 - Sunday June 18
We rented a house at Pajaro Dunes right on the beach. House #1. We had amazing weather; no fog all week. We had a total of 19 relatives and friends staying and visiting. We picked Olallieberries at Gizdich ranch; field trip to Monterey Bay Aquarium. Charged at the Tesla Seaside supercharger. This is first time I have had to wait to get a supercharger slot.
Sunday June 18 - Thursday June 22
We stayed at Tenaya Lodge just outside of Yosemite. Tenaya Lodge is nice but expensive; over $400/night. Very family friendly. Tenaya Lodge is where the Tesla Supercharger is located. We had breakfast at Wawona Hotel (now called Big Trees). Visited Yosemite Falls, parked at the Ahwahnee (now called Majestic) and hiked to Mirror Lake. Lunch at Ahwahnee. There is a destination charger at the Ahwahnee. We plugged in for a few minutes just to see that it works. When we charged at Rocklin the charge rate started at 108KW but kept decreasing down to 50KW. It was really hot, over 105F. The charge cable was really hot. There was no one else at the Supercharger. After 10 minutes or so we moved to another slot; started again at 108KW but would decrease after a few minutes. Seems like the current is reduced if the temperature is high (over 100F).
Best Quote:
My wife said to me:
"What are you doing? It scares me when you drive. Put the Tesla back to Autopilot."
Ghost Vehicles.
Many times the Tesla count of chargers in use was not accurate.
Green River SC said 2 of 4 available actually 4.
Primm said 6 of 10 available; actual 10 of 10 available.
Barstow 6 in use; actual 2 in use.
Buttonwillow 7 of 10 available; actual 1 in use.
Bakersville 4 of 10 available; actual 1 in use.
Chargers (from TeslaFi.com)
Location Start% End% Minutes
Silverthorne CO 28 62 29
Glenwood Springs CO 26 91 51 dinner
Grand Vista 46 96 overnight destination charger
Green River UT 41 93 44 breakfast
Richfield UT 24 66 20
Beaver UT 27 83 40 lunch
St George UT 33 90 42
Platinum Hotel NV 20 96 overnight destination charger
Primm NV 70 98 49 breakfast
Barstow CA 30 65 17
Mojave CA 38 80 47 lunch; slow charge so moved to another slot
Bakersfield 47 63 10 not required; just added another SC to our list
Buttowillon 63 70 4
Harris Ranch 30 90 43 dinner,overnight at Harris Ranch
Harris Ranch 88 96 20 breakfast
Seaside CA 32 87 41 last slot; shared
Nob Hills Food 76 83 58 grocery shopping; J1772; 240V 30A
Seaside CA 44 84 31 had to wait for a slot
Gilroy CA 12 80 58 HOT; over 100F
Fresno CA 29 71 40 HOT; 102F; rate of charge about 50Kw
Fish Camp CA 27 97 86 dinner at Tenaya Lodge; stayed overnight
Groveland CA ?? ?? no data; no internet
Folsum CA 34 54 11
Folsum CA 50 52 3 HOT HOT; 111F
Rocklin CA 36 85 38 HOT 107F;
Truckee CA 27 42 7
Reno NV 29 89 53 breakfast
Lovelock NV 46 62 9
Winnemucca NV 27 82 39 lunch
Elko NV 19 80 40
Wendover NV 26 93 68 dinner
Tooele UT 43 90 37 breakfast
Price UT 27 48 10
Green River UT 22 91 57 lunch
Grand Junction CO 38 77 28
New Castle CO 54 89 overnight; stayed at daughter's house
Silverthorne 37 70 30
home 32
aesculus
Still Trying to Figure This All Out
Just went up I-5 in California again. It was hot. 95-105F in the Central Valley. Effectively will halve your charge kW rates once the supercharging equipment heats up all the way, if it doesn't just fail. I was expecting 90ish kW near the bottom of my battery, got more like 50 kW.
jgrgnt
Member
We just completed our first multi-state road trip. Four passengers, 100 pounds of luggage, gear, and supplies, 90D, 20" wheels. The high-temp environment (110ºF / 43ºC) was a good stress test for several aspects of the car.
5-seater AC effectiveness in high heat, low humidity environments (Southwest):
Throughout the journey, the four of us were comfortable with the interior temperature set at 64 degrees. The heavy factory tint on the rear glass, the second row roof glass, and the upper part of the windshield seems to help. Airflow to the rear was not an issue, because even though the B-pillar vents are weak, airflow from the front vents makes it to the rear. The center rear vents are also quite strong. I was, however, surprised to find that the front passenger vents were noticeably weaker than the vents on the driver side.
5-seater storage capacity:
This trip gave us a chance to test the storage limits of the 5-seat Model X. We filled every possible area: the rearmost well, the shallow well where the 3rd row seat would normally be, the entire above-floor cargo area, beneath the rear bench, the trunk, and the front door pockets. Compared to my wife's Lexus RX 330, the X easily held twice as much stuff. We do this kind of a trip every year, and typically we have to split supplies between our car and a friend's car. This year, we brought everything ourselves and still had room for three people in the back. A word of caution: the rear storage well gets very warm, so I wouldn't put anything temperature sensitive down there, like food or electronics.
Cabin Overheat Protection:
Range was never an issue for us, so I left the feature enabled. I figured it would be working hard in 115 degree heat, and it did. Twenty (20) miles of range were consumed over 7 hours while parked at the Zion Visitor Center. In doing so, it helped protect some camera gear we had inadvertently left in the back. Plus, it was really, really nice to return to the car after a long day of hiking and not have it feel like an oven.
Supercharging speed in high heat:
Expect charging to taper off quickly. I regularly saw mid-50 kW charging rates even with the battery below 40% SOC. Fortunately, we timed all of our supercharging stops to coincide with meals, so our travel plans weren't affected by the slower charging speed.
Elevation and Heat Soak effects:
Ha! None. Love it.
Other observations:
White interior vs. sand, sunblock, dirt, dust, and road trip junk food:
I was expecting some issues, but no...these seats and side trim clean up very easily. As it turns out, the problematic areas were the alcantera dashboard and upper headliner, and other dark parts, which took extra effort to clean.
Model X Moments:
My favorite moment was when a little boy and his mom drove clear across the parking lot to take pictures of all the Teslas parked at the supercharger in Primm. It was a common theme, actually. Lots of young kids (girls and boys alike) who recognized the cars and tugged at their parents hands, pointing and smiling. There's definitely a buzz among the young crowd. And this was before any doors were opened. Once those FWDs went up, game over.
Overall efficiency over 960 miles:
374 wh/m. This included a mix of 50% efficiency-minded driving (speed limit, or up to 5mph below), 50% fast driving (passing, bursts of "fun"), 100% A/C usage, range mode off (to maximize AC effectiveness), suspension set to VERY LOW.
Charging stops:
To destination
Irvine, CA (overnight 240v charge)
Barstow, CA (supercharger)
Primm, NV (supercharger, 20 min. top-off)
Caesar's Palace, Las Vegas, NV (overnight L2 charge -- charging is free, valet is $18)
St. George, UT (supercharger)
To home
Hurricane, UT (overnight 240v charge)
South Las Vegas, NV (supercharger)
Barstow, CA (supercharger)
I didn't realize this until after we left, but Zion has Clipper Creek L2 chargers in the Visitor Center parking lot. We didn't need to charge, as our home base was only 40 minutes away in Hurricane. But good to know for the future!
Overall, it was a great trip. We really taxed the A/C system on this trip, but the car delivered and always kept us comfortable. We saw so many cars parked to the side of the highway, overheating. Range was never an issue, even with the heat, even during stints of enthusiastic driving, even when going uphill. Tesla's supercharging infrastructure is just fantastic and keeps getting better. St. George is doubling in size from four to eight stalls. Barstow is up to 16 stalls. We never had to wait for a charge, and none of the stations were ever more than 1/2 full.
Our next road trip is just over a month from now. Can't wait!
5-seater AC effectiveness in high heat, low humidity environments (Southwest):
Throughout the journey, the four of us were comfortable with the interior temperature set at 64 degrees. The heavy factory tint on the rear glass, the second row roof glass, and the upper part of the windshield seems to help. Airflow to the rear was not an issue, because even though the B-pillar vents are weak, airflow from the front vents makes it to the rear. The center rear vents are also quite strong. I was, however, surprised to find that the front passenger vents were noticeably weaker than the vents on the driver side.
5-seater storage capacity:
This trip gave us a chance to test the storage limits of the 5-seat Model X. We filled every possible area: the rearmost well, the shallow well where the 3rd row seat would normally be, the entire above-floor cargo area, beneath the rear bench, the trunk, and the front door pockets. Compared to my wife's Lexus RX 330, the X easily held twice as much stuff. We do this kind of a trip every year, and typically we have to split supplies between our car and a friend's car. This year, we brought everything ourselves and still had room for three people in the back. A word of caution: the rear storage well gets very warm, so I wouldn't put anything temperature sensitive down there, like food or electronics.
Cabin Overheat Protection:
Range was never an issue for us, so I left the feature enabled. I figured it would be working hard in 115 degree heat, and it did. Twenty (20) miles of range were consumed over 7 hours while parked at the Zion Visitor Center. In doing so, it helped protect some camera gear we had inadvertently left in the back. Plus, it was really, really nice to return to the car after a long day of hiking and not have it feel like an oven.
Supercharging speed in high heat:
Expect charging to taper off quickly. I regularly saw mid-50 kW charging rates even with the battery below 40% SOC. Fortunately, we timed all of our supercharging stops to coincide with meals, so our travel plans weren't affected by the slower charging speed.
Elevation and Heat Soak effects:
Ha! None. Love it.
Other observations:
White interior vs. sand, sunblock, dirt, dust, and road trip junk food:
I was expecting some issues, but no...these seats and side trim clean up very easily. As it turns out, the problematic areas were the alcantera dashboard and upper headliner, and other dark parts, which took extra effort to clean.
Model X Moments:
My favorite moment was when a little boy and his mom drove clear across the parking lot to take pictures of all the Teslas parked at the supercharger in Primm. It was a common theme, actually. Lots of young kids (girls and boys alike) who recognized the cars and tugged at their parents hands, pointing and smiling. There's definitely a buzz among the young crowd. And this was before any doors were opened. Once those FWDs went up, game over.
Overall efficiency over 960 miles:
374 wh/m. This included a mix of 50% efficiency-minded driving (speed limit, or up to 5mph below), 50% fast driving (passing, bursts of "fun"), 100% A/C usage, range mode off (to maximize AC effectiveness), suspension set to VERY LOW.
Charging stops:
To destination
Irvine, CA (overnight 240v charge)
Barstow, CA (supercharger)
Primm, NV (supercharger, 20 min. top-off)
Caesar's Palace, Las Vegas, NV (overnight L2 charge -- charging is free, valet is $18)
St. George, UT (supercharger)
To home
Hurricane, UT (overnight 240v charge)
South Las Vegas, NV (supercharger)
Barstow, CA (supercharger)
I didn't realize this until after we left, but Zion has Clipper Creek L2 chargers in the Visitor Center parking lot. We didn't need to charge, as our home base was only 40 minutes away in Hurricane. But good to know for the future!
Overall, it was a great trip. We really taxed the A/C system on this trip, but the car delivered and always kept us comfortable. We saw so many cars parked to the side of the highway, overheating. Range was never an issue, even with the heat, even during stints of enthusiastic driving, even when going uphill. Tesla's supercharging infrastructure is just fantastic and keeps getting better. St. George is doubling in size from four to eight stalls. Barstow is up to 16 stalls. We never had to wait for a charge, and none of the stations were ever more than 1/2 full.
Our next road trip is just over a month from now. Can't wait!
A very quick trip report:
P100D Model X through Death Valley at 122ºF/50ºC: YES! 5-Star success
After many years, I finally was able to figure out how to get to a TMC Connect event - I had to be in Reno NV some time this summer; I coordinated it so that it was just before Connect.
En route to Reno, I managed to be at the Beatty SpC on the longest and...so far....second-hottest day of the year. Hmmmm....what to do.....
So I charged ChittyChittyShushShush to 100 miles more than what the Nav App said I needed to make the run across Death Valley to the Lone Pine SpC. Started across at about 4:30pm - in other words, as locals know - the hottest part of the day.
When I got down to Stovepipe Wells, the (real - moving auto temps) thermo read 122º.
The prior day, it had reached 125 either here or at Furnace Ck (normally, the latter gets the hottest temps). At any rate, I had to get out and confirm that indeed, the Hinges of Hell were all about. Wow. Einstein was really concerned!
Proceeding up the western ramp of DV was interesting. I kept A/C on high and was chewing through 1100Wh each mile. Although I'm sure the cooling unit was being taxed to its utmost, all continued to perform perfectly and ChittyChittyShushShush and I made it to Lone Pine with 58 miles remaining on the range reader.
This, however, was NOT the trip's highlight!
Sunday midday, after departing a fine TMC Connect, I was drowsily making my way south on Rte 101. At 1:25 or 1:26 (I did not look at the clock!), as I was between San Miguel and Paso Robles.....what the %$#@ is THAT!
A billowing ribbon of white smoke jetted into the sky and from it emerged an elongate orange-red streak....HOLY SMOKES! It's the SpaceX launch!!!!!
I couldn't believe my luck, and scarcely my eyes, but, well rejuvenated and by no means drowsy any more, I continued on my way. Never did I think I would be seeing that!
(on edit: Rats. I downloaded the just-prior temp shot (+121º). It really did get to 122).
P100D Model X through Death Valley at 122ºF/50ºC: YES! 5-Star success
After many years, I finally was able to figure out how to get to a TMC Connect event - I had to be in Reno NV some time this summer; I coordinated it so that it was just before Connect.
En route to Reno, I managed to be at the Beatty SpC on the longest and...so far....second-hottest day of the year. Hmmmm....what to do.....
So I charged ChittyChittyShushShush to 100 miles more than what the Nav App said I needed to make the run across Death Valley to the Lone Pine SpC. Started across at about 4:30pm - in other words, as locals know - the hottest part of the day.
When I got down to Stovepipe Wells, the (real - moving auto temps) thermo read 122º.
The prior day, it had reached 125 either here or at Furnace Ck (normally, the latter gets the hottest temps). At any rate, I had to get out and confirm that indeed, the Hinges of Hell were all about. Wow. Einstein was really concerned!Proceeding up the western ramp of DV was interesting. I kept A/C on high and was chewing through 1100Wh each mile. Although I'm sure the cooling unit was being taxed to its utmost, all continued to perform perfectly and ChittyChittyShushShush and I made it to Lone Pine with 58 miles remaining on the range reader.
This, however, was NOT the trip's highlight!
Sunday midday, after departing a fine TMC Connect, I was drowsily making my way south on Rte 101. At 1:25 or 1:26 (I did not look at the clock!), as I was between San Miguel and Paso Robles.....what the %$#@ is THAT!
A billowing ribbon of white smoke jetted into the sky and from it emerged an elongate orange-red streak....HOLY SMOKES! It's the SpaceX launch!!!!!
I couldn't believe my luck, and scarcely my eyes, but, well rejuvenated and by no means drowsy any more, I continued on my way. Never did I think I would be seeing that!
(on edit: Rats. I downloaded the just-prior temp shot (+121º). It really did get to 122).
Last edited:
K-MTG
Sunshade Captain of TMC
A very quick trip report:
P100D Model X through Death Valley at 122ºF/50ºC: YES! 5-Star success
After many years, I finally was able to figure out how to get to a TMC Connect event - I had to be in Reno NV some time this summer; I coordinated it so that it was just before Connect.
En route to Reno, I managed to be at the Beatty SpC on the longest and...so far....second-hottest day of the year. Hmmmm....what to do.....
So I charged ChittyChittyShushShush to 100 miles more than what the Nav App said I needed to make the run across Death Valley to the Lone Pine SpC. Started across at about 4:30pm - in other words, as locals know - the hottest part of the day.
When I got down to Stovepipe Wells, the (real - moving auto temps) thermo read 122º. View attachment 232917 The prior day, it had reached 125 either here or at Furnace Ck (normally, the latter gets the hottest temps). At any rate, I had to get out and confirm that indeed, the Hinges of Hell were all about. Wow. Einstein was really concerned!View attachment 232916
Proceeding up the western ramp of DV was interesting. I kept A/C on high and was chewing through 1100Wh each mile. Although I'm sure the cooling unit was being taxed to its utmost, all continued to perform perfectly and ChittyChittyShushShush and I made it to Lone Pine with 58 miles remaining on the range reader.
This, however, was NOT the trip's highlight!
Sunday midday, after departing a fine TMC Connect, I was drowsily making my way south on Rte 101. At 1:25 or 1:26 (I did not look at the clock!), as I was between San Miguel and Paso Robles.....what the %$#@ is THAT!
A billowing ribbon of white smoke jetted into the sky and from it emerged an elongate orange-red streak....HOLY SMOKES! It's the SpaceX launch!!!!!
I couldn't believe my luck, and scarcely my eyes, but, well rejuvenated and by no means drowsy any more, I continued on my way. Never did I think I would be seeing that!
(on edit: Rats. I downloaded the just-prior temp shot (+121º). It really did get to 122).
1100 per mile!! What was your speed? This makes me worried about a road trip to SF in 90+ weather, I previously went at night or on cool days so I can leave the AC on low and save energy
Why would you worry about a brisk 90º when all was fine 32 degrees warmer than that? The ramp out of Death Valley is an exceedingly long, steep climb - nothing you'd see between Irvine and SF.
I'm about to take my first road trip in my X60D. I know the range is short, but I'm not sure if I should use range mode or not. Some say it slows down supercharging speeds without increasing range much. Can you please provide advice?
The other lesson that I've read here is to focus on reducing speed to maximize range.
The other lesson that I've read here is to focus on reducing speed to maximize range.
Using range mode will help a little during the summer by reducing the maximum HVAC output. You really only need to turn it off before Supercharging if you want to quickly pre cool before returning to your vehicle, but I wouldn't worry about it unless your in extreme temperatures. So leave it on to squeeze a little extra range.
The best thing you can do is maintain a lower speed at first while monitoring your trip plan. As you get 1/4 to 1/3 through your leg you should be able to judge if you can go faster and arrive without issue. Better to do this than having to slow way down on the last 1/4 or worse 1/3.
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