Road trip report

Not sure where to post this, hopefully this is OK ...

I just took my first road trip in my 2022 MYLR. I drove over 2100 miles in 3 one-day legs (900mi northern CO to NE IA, 720mi to Devil's Tower in NE WY, 350mi back to CO, plus day trips in IA), with a first experiment of sleeping in the car. Any comments or recommendations?

CAR:

• I gotta quit planning trips that involve 12-16 hour drives. Ugh.
• Autopilot is The Bomb for hundreds of miles of mind-numbing interstate. I can see that they've improved it a bit since I got my car in July -- e.g. merging lanes still make it jumpy, but it doesn't dive over to the new lane like it used to. It still scares me sometimes, kinda like riding with a 15-yr-old driver. IMHO it waits way too long before turning when you enter a curve, which is nervous-making (especially if there's another vehicle in your way), but so far it hasn't killed me. I still don't trust it on really curvy roads, and I think they recommend not using it on roads like that.
• I'm frankly amazed how well AP sees the road. At one point I was driving in the rain after dark. **I** could barely see the lane, especially with oncoming car headlights reflecting off the wet road. I didn't think AP would be able to see, but it followed the lane like a champ. Damn impressive.
• The "keep your hands on the wheel" nag is a real pain. Really obnoxious. Sometimes it goes as long as 40 seconds between nags, but mostly it's 15 seconds. Which means it prodded me over TWO THOUSAND TIMES on the long day from CO to IA. Gets really ****ing old. Especially since you have to constantly watch for the alert out of the corner of your eye, and if you miss it, it penalizes you by disabling AP. Fortunately it's pretty quick/easy to fix, just annoying. I wish they would make it adaptive: if you respond quickly to the alerts (meaning you're paying attention), they should lengthen the nag interval.
• The navigation software needs a LOT of work. I got wrong directions several times -- Google Maps **NEVER** does that. Also, it doesn't give enough verbal warning for an upcoming turn. It often says "Now turn at XXX" when you should already be turning, without any warning to get in the right lane. It's also pretty bad at pronouncing street names. Like "enter-pis" for Enterprise, or worse. Weird thing is, it's not consistent. E.g. there's a Willox street near my house. It reads the name several times while negotiating the turn, and sometimes it says "Willox" and a minute later it says "Will oakes."
• I only got one mild phantom-brake on the first 900mi leg. But the car did NOT like Wyoming. I lost track but I think I had EIGHT major phantoms on the Devil's Tower - CO leg, mostly "full stomp on the brakes"-level events. Annoying, and dangerous if anyone's tailgating you.
• IMHO the auto hi-beams are dangerous. They're stupidly dangerously bright, and the auto system needs work. C'mon guys, cars don't just pop into and out of existence in front of you, so flicking the brights hi/lo/hi/lo/hi/lo is NEVER the right thing to do. But it does it a LOT. Also it often leaves the hi-beams on while meeting or following another car. I'm sure I blinded a lot of oncoming drivers, and I got flashed many times. They should drop to low-beams if they have any suspicion there's a car ahead, and KEEP them low until they're SURE there's no car ahead. I think the low-beams are as bright as the hi-beams on any car I've driven, so it's safe to keep them low if you're not sure. I would have driven with low beams the whole time, except Autopilot forces auto hi-beams. Several times I dropped out of AP because I felt bad about blinding other cars.
• I was surprised how much my mileage dropped on the trip. Driving around town I usually use about 250 Wh/mi. On the trip it took 340 Wh/mi. Obviously the air resistance at freeway speeds, and the lack of regen braking, really put a hurt on the efficiency. They've also jacked up the Supercharger rates -- I averaged $0.39/kWh. Between the two, the drive was significantly more $$ than I expected. Should be 0.34 kWh/mi * $0.39/kWh = $0.133/mi, and I actually saw about $0.165/mi. Home charging would be 0.25 kWh/mi * $0.135/kWh = $0.0335/mi, so Supercharging is currently about 5x more per mile than my home charging -- ouch. My Saab got about 30mpg on premium, which is currently about $4.20, so $4.20/gal / 30 mi/gal = $0.14/mi ? Current Supercharger rates are higher than gas !??

CAMPING:

• I need a bit more prep & equipment (better pads, better insulation, window covers), but overall it's fine. It's definitely not a luxe hotel, but it's a GREAT way to save $75-$100 or more per night!! I parked at an interstate rest stop, and I was surprised how little of the adjacent road noise came through.
• It's a bit cramped. I doubt there's room for two back there. Maybe smaller people could fit, but I'm 6'4". I slept diagonally a lot. I think I'm going to work out some boards to place under my pads/bag, extending over the rear footwell, so I can push the front seatbacks forward and get more length. Suggestions?
• It got to 28°F overnight, and Camp Mode only used about 10% of my charge. Camp Mode keeps it from freezing at night, but it does NOT keep it toasty. The air temp was chilly but OK but the walls of the car are cold. Not much of a problem on the sides, but my feet were forced down into the hatchback door, and it's cold down there! I'll have to stick a comforter or similar insulation down there to protect my feet.

Gary

 

[Colorado Y]

Yeah TMC added the photo, so now you can see what an old geezer I am. But nice to know that I "sound young" !

 

[Madsen203]

Someone here once suggested using a cheap Walmart wrist weight for the steering wheel. I’ve seen it tested and it works flawlessly.

 

[Gray Man]

Someone here once suggested using a cheap Walmart wrist weight for the steering wheel. I’ve seen it tested and it works flawlessly.

Or, you know, you could keep your hands on the wheel as intended. This is still only a level 2 system.

It's not that hard to keep a little resistance on the wheel to ensure you don't get the nags.

 

[EVer Hopeful]

Someone here once suggested using a cheap Walmart wrist weight for the steering wheel. I’ve seen it tested and it works flawlessly.

Personally I wouldn't override a safety feature like that. I mean why not just reroute the seat belt behind the driver's seat so you don't get those nagging alerts?

The Volume-up/Volume-down thing works quite well if you don't want to actually apply torque to the wheel

 

[AGNL]

Never understand why people want to bypass basic systems required to drive a car safely.
Unfortunately, if such people ever get into an accident, the blame falls back on Tesla and ruins the features for everyone else, if they get disabled by the lawmakers, to punish the law breakers

 

[TomServo]

I wonder when they will activate/use the face camera and track eye(s) movements so they can extend the NAG?

 

[EVer Hopeful]

I suppose that as the car bounces up and down slightly during the journey, the weight (not the mass) of anything attached to the steering wheel will change. That would add a little complexity, but other than that, it shouldn't bee too difficult to calculate the torque on the wheel and if it's reasonably constant consider it an "illegal" override and ignore it

Meaning the engineers cold build something into the system that differentiates between actual movement of the steering wheel and a device attached to it and thereby render any such device useless

 

[tivoboy]

I wonder when they will activate/use the face camera and track eye(s) movements so they can extend the NAG?

My understanding is that the in car rear view mirror camera HAS been in use to authenticate if the user is say looking at a phone or looking down/away. That started I think at least six months ago.

 

[electric_three]

Or, you know, you could keep your hands on the wheel as intended. This is still only a level 2 system.

It's not that hard to keep a little resistance on the wheel to ensure you don't get the nags.

My 2019 BMW X7 with Active cruise Control which does pretty much the same as FSD without autopilot (distance, cruise, lane change etc) and regularly also drive my 2022 VW Tiguan with similar system and neither of them required more than hands / a hand on the wheel. My model Y requires constant TUGGING at the wheel is the ridiculous part, I sometimes have to jerk my steering-wheel so hard to get the flashing to stop it disengages cruise. I find it overkill and sometimes just downright dangerous because it moves the car so much I move in and out of the lane, just like the OC said, as simple hands on the wheel should be completely ok as that’s what’s required by law.

 

[Gray Man]

My 2019 BMW X7 with Active cruise Control which does pretty much the same as FSD without autopilot (distance, cruise, lane change etc) and regularly also drive my 2022 VW Tiguan with similar system and neither of them required more than hands / a hand on the wheel. My model Y requires constant TUGGING at the wheel is the ridiculous part, I sometimes have to jerk my steering-wheel so hard to get the flashing to stop it disengages cruise. I find it overkill and sometimes just downright dangerous because it moves the car so much I move in and out of the lane, just like the OC said, as simple hands on the wheel should be completely ok as that’s what’s required by law.

Ok, so adding more sensors to the steering wheel then? The only way it has to know as of now is torqueing.

My opinion may be biased in that I've never experienced this "needing to tug hard" thing in my car. I generally just keep a hand on the wheel with a light grip and resist the car's motions of the wheel ever-so-slightly. This seems to work as I rarely get any nags. I might feel differently if I was having the problem you describe.

 

[EVer Hopeful]

My model Y requires constant TUGGING at the wheel is the ridiculous part, I sometimes have to jerk my steering-wheel so hard to get the flashing to stop it disengages cruise.

try turning the volume or the cruise speed up or down a notch

I picked up that tip here and have been doing it ever since


Page 90 in the Owners Manual

Autosteer detects your hands by recognizing light resistance as the steering wheel turns, or from you manually turning the steering wheel very lightly (without enough force to retake control). Autosteer also qualifies your hands as being detected if you engage a turn signal or use a button or scroll wheel on the steering wheel.

 

[Ciaopec]

I always sleep in Camp Mode while my car is tethered to a charger. There are no idling charges if more than 50% chargers are available. I never got charged for idling to date.

I used Eletrify America as well. I found out that 50% days of the time they were complimentary. Not sure why (or was I just lucky). At night sometimes Supercharger location does not have bathroom facility open, so in that case I’d go to non-Tesla chargers. Also, sleeping in TA or Sheetz parking lot with the charger is safer. You drive away with full charge.
However, when sleeping while charging just make sure that charges are not by the minute but by KWh. In Canada, they are by the minute.

Not a fan of sleeping tethered to a charger. One never knows when all the chargers might be needed. It's a bit selfish IMHO. I've slept near the chargers but not plugged in overnight. While charging to 100% and then driving right away won't hurt the battery sitting overnight in that state can't be helpful (except perhaps one model: M3 RWD). With nearly 200,000 miles of electric driving the necessity of charging to 100% has really diminished since 2016. I still see M3/MY drivers sitting at chargers for what I consider an inordinate amount of time. They're plugged in, I come in and charge, leave, and they're still charging.

 

[AGNL]

I guess you learn with experience as the anxiety starts to disappear

 

[RichAZ/CapeCod]

...My model Y requires constant TUGGING at the wheel is the ridiculous part, I sometimes have to jerk my steering-wheel so hard to get the flashing to stop it disengages cruise. ...

Both my MY and M3 SR have the same issue. I have eliminated the problem (95% anyway) by adding a weight to the steering wheel. NOT to override the safety system, as I keep my hand on the wheel at all times, but to have the system work in a rational way. The weight is on the right side of the wheel and I have a hand on the right side of the wheel as well.

The "turn the little wheel" trick sometimes does not work. No idea why. Also my M3 will go DEFCON RED in an instant and nothing I can do will not stop the car from putting me in auto-pilot jail.

Feel free to yell at me, but this is a logical way that I have found to mitigate an annoying problem.

Rich