So I recently did a 1200 mile (total, round trip) drive from Portland Oregon to San Francisco in my M3 SR+. Here are my observations, as this was my first long-haul trip.
1. I don't have FSD, but Autopilot still is great. Maybe I'm jumpy but I didn't really even trust autopilot doing some tight highway turns through the mountains. Still it's great to sit in a lane and let it run. FSD I imagine would be even better, but not incredibly so. I guess the cost is based on how often people do long-range highway trips; for me, this was pretty awesome.
I found myself wishing they would allow for a trial of FSD where i could partake of it during a trip like this. That might sell it better. But still, all I really want is auto-lanechange. Cmon tesla.
2. The trip estimator relies on the entire jouney to the next stop, but the car itself only relies on the last segment of driving - like your efficiency over the last 5/15/30 miles graph. For example, I was at a supercharger somewhere before a mountain range. I charged the car to roughly 80% and it said that I would arrive at the next charging station with 10%. That's usually when it says you can go. Being a safety nut, I always go an extra 5%, but I figured "In Tesla We Trust" and left with 13% because The Mrs was getting bored.
However, shortly after starting the trip, traveling up the mountain, the car started complaining "You must drive under 60 to reach your destination" Needless to say, that freaked me the hell out and I started pondering what I did wrong here. Fortunately the Mrs had fallen asleep and so I just started watching the console. The system seems to re-evaluate your arriving charge % based upon your recently consumed ratio and readjusts. Long story short, the warning went away shortly after, and I actually arrived exactly as expected, with pretty much right on the amount of charge estimated, but the warning mid-trip was concerning.
Wondering if this is typical and if there's a way to really prevent that. I think this would really only be a problem with serious elevation changes in travel.
3. I get cookie-sheet pops under my car for elevation changes regularly. Around my house it happens almost like clockwork in a particular spot depending on how recently I drove my car. Tesla said this is normal in a recent service visit, but driving on the mountains was interesting. It's not constant, but about once every hour or so, assuming I'm going uphill in that time.
4. I loved the drive. The facilities next to the superchargers was just fine by me. In every case except maybe once or twice, we got done with charging far before we were done with food. It was only on the return trip where I think we were just pressed for time and going super-optimal. 20 minutes to charge is great for stretching your legs and a quick walk, and horrible for a meal. But I don't mind - I usually just supercharge to a greater %, for that safety margin.
Hopefully this is useful for anyone.
1. I don't have FSD, but Autopilot still is great. Maybe I'm jumpy but I didn't really even trust autopilot doing some tight highway turns through the mountains. Still it's great to sit in a lane and let it run. FSD I imagine would be even better, but not incredibly so. I guess the cost is based on how often people do long-range highway trips; for me, this was pretty awesome.
I found myself wishing they would allow for a trial of FSD where i could partake of it during a trip like this. That might sell it better. But still, all I really want is auto-lanechange. Cmon tesla.
2. The trip estimator relies on the entire jouney to the next stop, but the car itself only relies on the last segment of driving - like your efficiency over the last 5/15/30 miles graph. For example, I was at a supercharger somewhere before a mountain range. I charged the car to roughly 80% and it said that I would arrive at the next charging station with 10%. That's usually when it says you can go. Being a safety nut, I always go an extra 5%, but I figured "In Tesla We Trust" and left with 13% because The Mrs was getting bored.
However, shortly after starting the trip, traveling up the mountain, the car started complaining "You must drive under 60 to reach your destination" Needless to say, that freaked me the hell out and I started pondering what I did wrong here. Fortunately the Mrs had fallen asleep and so I just started watching the console. The system seems to re-evaluate your arriving charge % based upon your recently consumed ratio and readjusts. Long story short, the warning went away shortly after, and I actually arrived exactly as expected, with pretty much right on the amount of charge estimated, but the warning mid-trip was concerning.
Wondering if this is typical and if there's a way to really prevent that. I think this would really only be a problem with serious elevation changes in travel.
3. I get cookie-sheet pops under my car for elevation changes regularly. Around my house it happens almost like clockwork in a particular spot depending on how recently I drove my car. Tesla said this is normal in a recent service visit, but driving on the mountains was interesting. It's not constant, but about once every hour or so, assuming I'm going uphill in that time.
4. I loved the drive. The facilities next to the superchargers was just fine by me. In every case except maybe once or twice, we got done with charging far before we were done with food. It was only on the return trip where I think we were just pressed for time and going super-optimal. 20 minutes to charge is great for stretching your legs and a quick walk, and horrible for a meal. But I don't mind - I usually just supercharge to a greater %, for that safety margin.
Hopefully this is useful for anyone.
