Having just completed my first long trip in the MYLR (~900 miles roundtrip from LA <--> Bay Area), here are my findings and notes going forward - probably obvious to most but maybe helpful to fellow new Tesla owners shocked by real world range and prospective buyers:
Estimated range is BS unless you're slow and intentional. As others have elegantly pointed out (@DayTrippin, @nadalset), incremental required power increases exponentially at higher speeds, and it's not clear that the estimated range takes into account weather conditions (temp, winds), your driving patterns, your imminent plans to crank the AC, charge two cell phones, bump some Emancipator, hit major traffic, etc. I think it does factor in speed limit and elevation, but if you're in the left lane, climbing and enjoying that electric thrust (!!!), be prepared to see those numbers tank. Others have posted great rules of thumb and have even suggested using percentages instead of mileage estimates to reduce anxiety. Conservatively, I think 40-50% of estimated mileage on the highway makes sense if you're winging it, and psychologically, if you can get in the habit of stopping every 1-2 hours for shorter charges (and are near superchargers) then you'll be ok. But, that said...
Trust the nav system. Yes, this slightly contradicts the first point, but I've learned to trust the nav system (after some initial resistance) with estimated supercharger stops. You just have to be intentional about your speed and how you're driving. Tesla will even implicitly "reward" good driving by decreasing the amount of time required to charge at the next stop and bumping up your ETA - real world evidence that going faster != earlier arrival. Meanwhile...
Study and "gameify" range. On the second leg of the trip, I started using TezLab to track efficiency of each "trip", paying close attention to acceleration, speed limit, temperature, elevation, etc., and trying to stay above 100% on local city trips and above 80% on highway trips. It became a game for me and the friend I was traveling with quickly grew tired of hearing about it. Winning the game meant driving delicately on local roads and within 10 mph of the speed limit with limited passing on the highway - all best practices anyway, but somehow felt ironic after dropping $50k for a sub-5 second 0 to 60. Speaking of best practices...
Don't stop looking in your blind spots. The Tesla saved me from side swiping someone on the 101 by auto changing lanes. It also contributed to the near-accident to begin with. Tesla Vision isn't perfect and sometimes it doesn't pick up shorter, smaller cars, and when cars are actually in your blind spot, it shows them as slightly farther behind you, which is dangerous if you're changing lanes quickly and not actively looking (i.e., turning your head). This near-accident would have been very costly, but thankfully...
You'll save money on gas, even at Superchargers. We stopped a few times on each leg, costing around $15-20 a pop. All in, we averaged approx. $0.10/mile using Superchargers only. With current gas prices in California, that's 30-40% savings over an ICE vehicle. However, don't kid yourself. You're probably closer to breakeven in other parts of the country, and the real economic value of EV vs. ICE is charging at home and longer-term maintenance. We'll see. Overall...
This is an amazing, beautiful piece of technology, but probably not a road trip car. Yes, it's doable and yes, there are plenty of people posting videos of cross-country roadtrips that are making out fine. But unless you have the patience of Joseph and are ok stopping frequently, you're going to have issues with longer trips in this car (though I will say many Superchargers are located in great little shopping centers). If Tesla achieved its EPA rating all the time, this would be a moot point. That said, it is still a fantastic daily driver and perfect for shorter trips. It's also genuinely a pleasure and joy to drive. Hopefully 500mi real-world range isn't too far off. And finally, most importantly...
Avoid the Bakersfield CA Supercharger at night. Some real sketchy stuff going on in that IHOP and in the Jack in the Box parking lot.
Estimated range is BS unless you're slow and intentional. As others have elegantly pointed out (@DayTrippin, @nadalset), incremental required power increases exponentially at higher speeds, and it's not clear that the estimated range takes into account weather conditions (temp, winds), your driving patterns, your imminent plans to crank the AC, charge two cell phones, bump some Emancipator, hit major traffic, etc. I think it does factor in speed limit and elevation, but if you're in the left lane, climbing and enjoying that electric thrust (!!!), be prepared to see those numbers tank. Others have posted great rules of thumb and have even suggested using percentages instead of mileage estimates to reduce anxiety. Conservatively, I think 40-50% of estimated mileage on the highway makes sense if you're winging it, and psychologically, if you can get in the habit of stopping every 1-2 hours for shorter charges (and are near superchargers) then you'll be ok. But, that said...
Trust the nav system. Yes, this slightly contradicts the first point, but I've learned to trust the nav system (after some initial resistance) with estimated supercharger stops. You just have to be intentional about your speed and how you're driving. Tesla will even implicitly "reward" good driving by decreasing the amount of time required to charge at the next stop and bumping up your ETA - real world evidence that going faster != earlier arrival. Meanwhile...
Study and "gameify" range. On the second leg of the trip, I started using TezLab to track efficiency of each "trip", paying close attention to acceleration, speed limit, temperature, elevation, etc., and trying to stay above 100% on local city trips and above 80% on highway trips. It became a game for me and the friend I was traveling with quickly grew tired of hearing about it. Winning the game meant driving delicately on local roads and within 10 mph of the speed limit with limited passing on the highway - all best practices anyway, but somehow felt ironic after dropping $50k for a sub-5 second 0 to 60. Speaking of best practices...
Don't stop looking in your blind spots. The Tesla saved me from side swiping someone on the 101 by auto changing lanes. It also contributed to the near-accident to begin with. Tesla Vision isn't perfect and sometimes it doesn't pick up shorter, smaller cars, and when cars are actually in your blind spot, it shows them as slightly farther behind you, which is dangerous if you're changing lanes quickly and not actively looking (i.e., turning your head). This near-accident would have been very costly, but thankfully...
You'll save money on gas, even at Superchargers. We stopped a few times on each leg, costing around $15-20 a pop. All in, we averaged approx. $0.10/mile using Superchargers only. With current gas prices in California, that's 30-40% savings over an ICE vehicle. However, don't kid yourself. You're probably closer to breakeven in other parts of the country, and the real economic value of EV vs. ICE is charging at home and longer-term maintenance. We'll see. Overall...
This is an amazing, beautiful piece of technology, but probably not a road trip car. Yes, it's doable and yes, there are plenty of people posting videos of cross-country roadtrips that are making out fine. But unless you have the patience of Joseph and are ok stopping frequently, you're going to have issues with longer trips in this car (though I will say many Superchargers are located in great little shopping centers). If Tesla achieved its EPA rating all the time, this would be a moot point. That said, it is still a fantastic daily driver and perfect for shorter trips. It's also genuinely a pleasure and joy to drive. Hopefully 500mi real-world range isn't too far off. And finally, most importantly...
Avoid the Bakersfield CA Supercharger at night. Some real sketchy stuff going on in that IHOP and in the Jack in the Box parking lot.