Hi Everyone,
My wife and I were in Florida for the holidays when we decided to pull the trigger on a MR Model 3 before the tax credit expires. The only problem is we live in the bay area. Long story short, we took delivery in Jacksonville and drove it back to the bay area in just over 3 days starting on Jan 1 2019.
Over the 3 days and ~2,800 miles I got to learn the car very well. I knew the Model 3 was a great car, but I didn't realize how much I would love it and how flawlessly it could perform a cross country road trip with 50 miles on the odometer.
I wanted to share some data and things we learned on our journey, many of which is common knowledge for existing owners. Hopefully this will help others who are planning long trips in their Model 3.
Journey Details:
Start: Lake City, FL - Jan 1st, 7PM
End: Campbell, CA - Jan 5th, 1230AM
Day 1:
We drove for nearly 23 hours straight only stopping at supercharging stations on the FL panhandle, Alabama, Louisiana, and eastern Texas. We stayed with my wife's parents just south of Dallas. This first leg totaled 1,072 miles with 9 supercharging stops. With SC stops, we averaged 119 miles between SC stops and drove an average speed of 47 MPH.
Day 2:
We left the Dallas area at 5 AM the next morning with icy roads. The car handled the icy roads and sleet very well and held its own on an icy bridge where cars next to us spun out. This day was mostly flat and due west across the Texas oil country with many miles at 80 MPH. We drove for 18.5 hours and drove 969 miles with 8 supercharging stops (we used destination chargers at our hotel in Tuscon). With SC stops, we averaged 121 miles between SC stops and drove an average speed of 52 MPH.
Day 3:
To make things easier and give the battery a break, we stayed at a hotel with Tesla destination chargers and charged overnight. The Wyndam hotel charges $3 per hour of charging which is money well spent when traveling long distance. This last leg was through high dessert and the CA central valley. Speeds were also much higher with speed limits ranging from 70-80 MPH. We drove for 18 hours and drove 885 miles with 8 supercharging stops. With SC stops, we averaged 111 miles between SC stops and drove an average speed of 47 MPH.
Insight on long distance travel:
Insight on my blue midrange model 3, white interior, 18 aeros:
I've been so impressed with the car and happy with the purchase. I feel the mid range is a tremendous value, especially after the price decrease of $2K. I'm not sure many people can realistically justify spending the extra money on the long range version of the car, especially after what I learned about long distance travel. I have more than enough range for daily use and will stick to the 2 hours of 120 mile distance between SC stops on trips moving forward.
I took pictures at nearly every SC stop to document my journey. Please check out the pics here: Supercharging - Google Drive
If you have any questions, comments, or opinions on my post above, please DM me.
My wife and I were in Florida for the holidays when we decided to pull the trigger on a MR Model 3 before the tax credit expires. The only problem is we live in the bay area. Long story short, we took delivery in Jacksonville and drove it back to the bay area in just over 3 days starting on Jan 1 2019.
Over the 3 days and ~2,800 miles I got to learn the car very well. I knew the Model 3 was a great car, but I didn't realize how much I would love it and how flawlessly it could perform a cross country road trip with 50 miles on the odometer.
I wanted to share some data and things we learned on our journey, many of which is common knowledge for existing owners. Hopefully this will help others who are planning long trips in their Model 3.
Journey Details:
Start: Lake City, FL - Jan 1st, 7PM
End: Campbell, CA - Jan 5th, 1230AM
Day 1:
We drove for nearly 23 hours straight only stopping at supercharging stations on the FL panhandle, Alabama, Louisiana, and eastern Texas. We stayed with my wife's parents just south of Dallas. This first leg totaled 1,072 miles with 9 supercharging stops. With SC stops, we averaged 119 miles between SC stops and drove an average speed of 47 MPH.
Day 2:
We left the Dallas area at 5 AM the next morning with icy roads. The car handled the icy roads and sleet very well and held its own on an icy bridge where cars next to us spun out. This day was mostly flat and due west across the Texas oil country with many miles at 80 MPH. We drove for 18.5 hours and drove 969 miles with 8 supercharging stops (we used destination chargers at our hotel in Tuscon). With SC stops, we averaged 121 miles between SC stops and drove an average speed of 52 MPH.
Day 3:
To make things easier and give the battery a break, we stayed at a hotel with Tesla destination chargers and charged overnight. The Wyndam hotel charges $3 per hour of charging which is money well spent when traveling long distance. This last leg was through high dessert and the CA central valley. Speeds were also much higher with speed limits ranging from 70-80 MPH. We drove for 18 hours and drove 885 miles with 8 supercharging stops. With SC stops, we averaged 111 miles between SC stops and drove an average speed of 47 MPH.
Insight on long distance travel:
- Most SC outside of the west coast are strategically placed ~120 miles apart. Even with larger batteries, it makes sense to stop at every SC to charge for 30 minutes or less before continuing your journey. You waste time and SC space by charging more than 30-40 minutes, or up to 80% charge. It is not worth the range anxiety, reduced speed and climate control to stretch out your drive time.
- Pay attention to your calculated and estimated range as these are often very different.
- USE THE TRIP PLANNER - this thing is extremely accurate and well accurately tell you if you can or can't make a distance. On a few legs, mainly in AZ and CA, the Trip Planner said we could skip a SC station by charging 1 hour + at the current station. While this was an option at the relatively vacant SC stations in the eastern US, this isn't a good strategy in the western US where there is much higher demand for SC. Be courteous to fellow owners and share this precious resource when there are others waiting.
- Plan ahead: Every time we were charging we used the Trip Planner and navigation to understand the next leg and make sure we had enough juice.
Insight on my blue midrange model 3, white interior, 18 aeros:
- If you are in this forum, you know the good and bad about this car. Below are things that stuck out to me in the first week and 3K miles of ownership.
- EAP is coming along very well and has gotten better since I first tested. EAP is a LIFESAVER on long road trips like this. I was having a hard time justifying the $5k for it, but I'm so glad I did. If you buy a Tesla, PLEASE get EAP with it. I used EAP for nearly 2/3s of my time behind the wheel and it made the journey so much easier.
- The streaming radio and sound system are amazing. I'm amazed at the sound quality for an in house Tesla system. The DSP and sound stage are truly impressive.
- My car was perfect! I've seen my fair share of poorly built Model 3s in the bay area. My VIN is #161K and the paint, fit and finish, and quality are perfect. When we picked up the car I looked over every panel and couldn't find one issue. I hope I am not lucky and other owners receive immaculate cars like mine.
- EAP struggled in some situations and certainly has room for improvement. My biggest complaint is when the car swerves to the right on highway entrance ramps. The car will steer to the right to catch the right lane line but eventually centers once the entrance lane/ramp disappears. EAP also struggled to change lanes on several occasions when the sun seemed to be shining right on the side repeater cameras.
I've been so impressed with the car and happy with the purchase. I feel the mid range is a tremendous value, especially after the price decrease of $2K. I'm not sure many people can realistically justify spending the extra money on the long range version of the car, especially after what I learned about long distance travel. I have more than enough range for daily use and will stick to the 2 hours of 120 mile distance between SC stops on trips moving forward.
I took pictures at nearly every SC stop to document my journey. Please check out the pics here: Supercharging - Google Drive
If you have any questions, comments, or opinions on my post above, please DM me.
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