In my month-old 75D Model X, I finally took the family on a roadtrip, using many of California's superchargers in the process, playing with the current features of Autopilot and Autosteer in the process. Here is a summary of my observations:
1. Supercharger anxiety. This is different from range anxiety. I never thought I would not make it to a supercharger, but I continued to worry throughout the trip about the rate at which charging would take place. It's a lot different when the volts are 330 and the amps are 280 than if the amps start to tail off. Beyond the slowdown at 80%, I found slower charging at a couple of superchargers. In fact, I would have kept going to the next one in one case had I known that it was charging more slowly. Navigation was pointing me at Burbank for the next supercharger, so I stopped at an unscheduled one, Tejon Ranch, and then passed through LA to Santa Ana.
2. Destination charging. I stayed at a hotel with an L2 charger, but after 3 hours they wanted $5 for an estimated 13 miles of range per hour, so I unplugged before then and ended up visiting a supercharger so I wouldn't have to worry about it for the rest of the weekend.
3. TACC. This was great. It relieves the stress of driving signficantly. I would use the trick of raising and lowering the speed by 5mph with the stick rather than accelerating or touching the brakes. I had no phantom issues as have been reported, although if the road was curvy and the cameras saw a car in the next lane, it would slow down, but not like emergency braking.
4. Autosteer. It's 45mph version is better at all speeds than it was with the 35mph version. It still makes a lot more micro-corrections than I would want for a smooth driving experience. It never did anything dangerous, but I'm still pretty nervous surrendering to its judgment, so I have my hands ready to control the steering wheel at all times.
5. Navigation. When I hit 880, there was a huge backup around Hayward, so it was telling me to get off. But, just like Waze, you can get in a lot of trouble and I would have been a lot better off just staying in the left lane. We ended up with an extra hourlong delay by finally trying to get off and finding out that all routes were clogged with cars getting off 880.
Driving. I enjoyed the driving experience immensely. I've had a Mercedes before and it was beautiful to drive, but the combination of TACC, the support that the front seat provided, and the stability of the car in high winds was a great combination. I have my various complaints about delivery and service, but I don't regret getting the car, even though I wish the 100D option had been available.
1. Supercharger anxiety. This is different from range anxiety. I never thought I would not make it to a supercharger, but I continued to worry throughout the trip about the rate at which charging would take place. It's a lot different when the volts are 330 and the amps are 280 than if the amps start to tail off. Beyond the slowdown at 80%, I found slower charging at a couple of superchargers. In fact, I would have kept going to the next one in one case had I known that it was charging more slowly. Navigation was pointing me at Burbank for the next supercharger, so I stopped at an unscheduled one, Tejon Ranch, and then passed through LA to Santa Ana.
2. Destination charging. I stayed at a hotel with an L2 charger, but after 3 hours they wanted $5 for an estimated 13 miles of range per hour, so I unplugged before then and ended up visiting a supercharger so I wouldn't have to worry about it for the rest of the weekend.
3. TACC. This was great. It relieves the stress of driving signficantly. I would use the trick of raising and lowering the speed by 5mph with the stick rather than accelerating or touching the brakes. I had no phantom issues as have been reported, although if the road was curvy and the cameras saw a car in the next lane, it would slow down, but not like emergency braking.
4. Autosteer. It's 45mph version is better at all speeds than it was with the 35mph version. It still makes a lot more micro-corrections than I would want for a smooth driving experience. It never did anything dangerous, but I'm still pretty nervous surrendering to its judgment, so I have my hands ready to control the steering wheel at all times.
5. Navigation. When I hit 880, there was a huge backup around Hayward, so it was telling me to get off. But, just like Waze, you can get in a lot of trouble and I would have been a lot better off just staying in the left lane. We ended up with an extra hourlong delay by finally trying to get off and finding out that all routes were clogged with cars getting off 880.
Driving. I enjoyed the driving experience immensely. I've had a Mercedes before and it was beautiful to drive, but the combination of TACC, the support that the front seat provided, and the stability of the car in high winds was a great combination. I have my various complaints about delivery and service, but I don't regret getting the car, even though I wish the 100D option had been available.
