I've read a few posts made by others after long road trips and learn something new every time, so I thought I would share some thoughts after my first long road trip (Sacramento to Vegas and back, 1200 driving miles). Apologies in advance if you've heard them before:
1. I couldn't rationalize the Supercharger trip planner as presented. Until the day of the trip, it mapped a northern route across the Sierras through Tahoe and into Nevada and south. Day of trip, it presented the southern route to Bakersfield and then east. I could only guess it was avoiding rush hour traffic in the downtown area. (SF and LA folks, try not to laugh at the use of the term "rush hour" with "Sacramento.") I didn't see an option to reroute, like in Google where it offers alternatives that you can select on a smartphone app. We returned the same way to avoid chain controls and road closures on 50 and 80, but ran into snow (a dusting) in Tehachapi anyway.
2. We followed the mapped route for the first leg of the trip. Never again. It plotted our stops with about 5% of battery reserve which then resulted in constant reminders to drive much slower than surrounding traffic to make it to the charging station. We were limited to around 5 MPH over the posted limit and even the Priuses were passing us. We arrived in Barstow with 8 miles of range remaining, even with speed limiting. I can live without that level of anxiety! We added a stop so we would not be scrambling for charging once at our destination. The map makes it easy to see all chargers on the route, so coming home I planned the charging stops sooner than recommended so I could drive with the flow. It turned out to be a critical move when the temperature over the pass dropped significantly and the strong headwind really cut into the efficiency. Plus, I preferred 3 stops with shorter charging times than 2 for nearly 2 hours each.
3. Autosteer and TACC made the drive a breeze. Lane changing and ghost braking is greatly improved. No more needs to be said!
4. The Model 3 is a comfortable ride. Both the driver's and passenger seats can be adjusted to fit just about any driver. Even with the requirement to keep a hand on the wheel, I didn't feel like I had just spent 10 hours in a car.
5. What is with the clunking? This was my first trip over than a few 100 miles, first one into altitude with snow. We heard a number of clunks in the battery area on both the driver and passenger sides at highway speeds. I've read a few threads here about clunking but they were related to drive units and were present at lower speeds. Could it be dampers and opening and closing to cool the battery? Interested in your input here. It sounded a lot like the noises heard during supercharging, but more in the front of the car.
Already looking forward to the next road trip!
1. I couldn't rationalize the Supercharger trip planner as presented. Until the day of the trip, it mapped a northern route across the Sierras through Tahoe and into Nevada and south. Day of trip, it presented the southern route to Bakersfield and then east. I could only guess it was avoiding rush hour traffic in the downtown area. (SF and LA folks, try not to laugh at the use of the term "rush hour" with "Sacramento.") I didn't see an option to reroute, like in Google where it offers alternatives that you can select on a smartphone app. We returned the same way to avoid chain controls and road closures on 50 and 80, but ran into snow (a dusting) in Tehachapi anyway.
2. We followed the mapped route for the first leg of the trip. Never again. It plotted our stops with about 5% of battery reserve which then resulted in constant reminders to drive much slower than surrounding traffic to make it to the charging station. We were limited to around 5 MPH over the posted limit and even the Priuses were passing us. We arrived in Barstow with 8 miles of range remaining, even with speed limiting. I can live without that level of anxiety! We added a stop so we would not be scrambling for charging once at our destination. The map makes it easy to see all chargers on the route, so coming home I planned the charging stops sooner than recommended so I could drive with the flow. It turned out to be a critical move when the temperature over the pass dropped significantly and the strong headwind really cut into the efficiency. Plus, I preferred 3 stops with shorter charging times than 2 for nearly 2 hours each.
3. Autosteer and TACC made the drive a breeze. Lane changing and ghost braking is greatly improved. No more needs to be said!
4. The Model 3 is a comfortable ride. Both the driver's and passenger seats can be adjusted to fit just about any driver. Even with the requirement to keep a hand on the wheel, I didn't feel like I had just spent 10 hours in a car.
5. What is with the clunking? This was my first trip over than a few 100 miles, first one into altitude with snow. We heard a number of clunks in the battery area on both the driver and passenger sides at highway speeds. I've read a few threads here about clunking but they were related to drive units and were present at lower speeds. Could it be dampers and opening and closing to cool the battery? Interested in your input here. It sounded a lot like the noises heard during supercharging, but more in the front of the car.
Already looking forward to the next road trip!
