Taking delivery of MS 90D tomorrow - considering a 1,200 mi road trip ...

[Moneesh]

Need some advice from some seasoned owners. I am picking up my MS 90D tomorrow... can't wait. I need to take a road trip next week, from Orange County up to Reno, NV, for my son's baseball tournament - 4 days in Reno. I can either drive my new Tesla, which I take delivery on tomorrow or my other vehicle. My original plan was to leave the Tesla at home, spotless and with very few miles, and take my 2014 Mercedes CLS 550 for it's last drive, before I turn in at the end of the month, when its lease ends (which has plenty of miles left on the lease).

The Mercedes is a great car and I had planned to drive it to Reno originally. Since that the Tesla will be here tomorrow (a few weeks earlier than expected), I feel tempted to take that instead, but I am concerned about taking it on a roundtrip of over 1,000 miles, only having it less than a week and just getting familiar with EV's.

Reasons to take the Tesla:
- Tesla would be fun
- Autopilot might make the drive more relaxing (9 hours each way)
- Hotel in Reno has destination charging

Reasons to take the Mercedes:
- Putting about 1,200 miles (roundtrip) on the Tesla in the first week of ownership is a bummer
- I'm leasing the Tesla, so I'd take a hit on mileage right out of the gate
- I'm a newbie with EV's and would be on a steep learning curve on a long road trip, with me being the only driver
- The Mercedes is a great car and fully loaded -- I am nowhere close to reaching the maximum miles on this lease
- I drive the Mercedes on it's last trip, then drop it off dirty at the dealer, then come home to the spotless Telsa, barely driven

Would appreciate your thoughts or words of wisdom.

 

[Reeler]

That is a tough one. I would take the Mercedes as there will be another road trip to enjoy in the Tesla.

 

[TaoJones]

That depends upon how much you'd like to budget for excess mileage with the Tesla lease. 15,000 miles/year may just not cut it. An extra 20,000 miles will set you back a mere $5,000. Just saying. In case it comes up.

If you've done your homework with regard to roadtripping in a Tesla, then kiss that Mercedes bu-byeeee and take the Tesla. On the other hand, the Tesla may not yet be optimized for roadtripping. At minimum, stop at Costco and pick up the $9 sunshade that fits the Model S. Since it's a lease, then probably no paint protection or tint. A USB stick filled with FLAC files could help. Do email Ownership for your Slacker credentials. Log into the Slacker website and toggle on 320Kbps. No time to hardwire in a Beltronics Pro 500 radar/laser detector, unless you don't mind doing that yourself.

You won't need a ChaDeMo. I just came back from around Reno. It's a long schlep through some warm country but there are plenty of SCs. Just add 20% to the "you're good to go" number until you get the hang of things. Maybe 25% if uphill, which reminds me of something else - print out the .csv file from the evtripplanner.com route which will add granularity concerning legs with elevation.

Keep the Ownership number near, and don't pack too many hours into the day at first.

Yeah, I can't think of a good reason to drive an ICE with a perfectly good Model S handy. After all, that lease clock is ticking and there are only so many road trip opportunities in 36 months.

Consider the ICE a backup in case something goes sideways with the Tesla. I picked up mine at the factory in the morning and was on the road to LA that afternoon. Good shakedown run. Haven't driven an ICE since and it's been a year and a half. Good luck.

 

[ArtInCT]

I would take the Mercedes due to the mileage aspect and the fact that you are about to turn it in.
Also, I do not know about your lease mileage limits but that is a concern.
I have had my S now for 4 months. You will have plenty of time to drive it and also you will find that
you put more miles on the S just because it is so much FUN to drive.

A tough choice for sure... I wonder how you will go with this decision?
And good luck with the baseball tournament. Those were just GREAT years when my sone was doing that. Enjoy those moments no matter what you choose.

 

[ecarfan]

Congratulations on your new Tesla! When you pick it up today, during the vehicle orientation session with the Tesla delivery center person, ask them to show you how the navigation trip planner software works. Enter your destination address in Reno and review the route with them so you understand where you will be charging do during the trip.

I predict that after you drive your Tesla for an hour you will want to take it on the Reno trip. And I see no reason why you shouldn't! Just do it.

 

[EVie'sDad]

Go easy on the new Tesla, it takes a little getting used two. Take the mercedes if you feel more comfortable driving it. I took various trips in the first month, usually though no more than 150-200 miles from home. Then after three months, an 1100 mile trip and after a variety of months tooling around the greater bay area (SF, OAK, SJC, Monterey) getting to know the system better, and lastly a 1200 mile trip last month. It was well worth the wait, and each trip encourages me to plan out my next little bit further trip now. Been through parts of three states (CA, NV and WA) and up and down 75 percent of CA. Each trip is better than the last, and my comfort level increases daily now with nearly 10k miles on the vehicle in the past 9 months.

 

[Moneesh]

Thanks everyone for your input. All great feedback and things to consider. I have to tell you that the delivery went fairly smoothly and I have to give credit to the folks at the Costa Mesa delivery location for doing a great job. I love the car and have had it for about 24 hours. Got to drive it a lot in a short period of time. I have used AP enough to already feel comfortable - used it on my commute to/from work and let "it" drive in very complex situations (SoCal rush hour and toll roads). It's really hard to even go back into the Mercedes at this point, so I am leaning towards taking the MS on the long road trip next week. I think the benefit of AP on a long trip will help me stay alert longer and allow me to mentally relax a bit more, compared to the old fashioned way. AP isn't a substitute for driving, but it is sure comforting and takes a little bit of the edge off. When driving home from the delivery, my 13 year-old son put it very simply, "Dad, you only live once. You got a Tesla to enjoy it. Enjoying it means using it. You've worked hard, so don't compromise your enjoyment." That being said, 90% chance we will be taking it on our long road trip.

 

[FlatSix911]

Congratulations on the Model S and enjoy the trip!

Thanks everyone for your input. All great feedback and things to consider. I have to tell you that the delivery went fairly smoothly and I have to give credit to the folks at the Costa Mesa delivery location for doing a great job. I love the car and have had it for about 24 hours. Got to drive it a lot in a short period of time. I have used AP enough to already feel comfortable - used it on my commute to/from work and let "it" drive in very complex situations (SoCal rush hour and toll roads). It's really hard to even go back into the Mercedes at this point, so I am leaning towards taking the MS on the long road trip next week. I think the benefit of AP on a long trip will help me stay alert longer and allow me to mentally relax a bit more, compared to the old fashioned way. AP isn't a substitute for driving, but it is sure comforting and takes a little bit of the edge off. When driving home from the delivery, my 13 year-old son put it very simply, "Dad, you only live once. You got a Tesla to enjoy it. Enjoying it means using it. You've worked hard, so don't compromise your enjoyment." That being said, 90% chance we will be taking it on our long road trip.

 

[FlatSix911]

At minimum, stop at Costco and pick up the $9 sunshade that fits the Model S. Since it's a lease, then probably no paint protection or tint. A USB stick filled with FLAC files could help. Do email Ownership for your Slacker credentials. Log into the Slacker website and toggle on 320Kbps. No time to hardwire in a Beltronics Pro 500 radar/laser detector, unless you don't mind doing that yourself.

Good suggestions ... I would add Waze for Tesla to the main screen browser for traffic and police alerts.
Waze for Tesla Incidents and Supercharger Traffic:
One question ... Do you need a paid premium membership for Slacker audio streaming at 320kbps for the best sound?

 

[TaoJones]

The account that comes with the car is sufficient - nice to not have ads. Ask Ownership for your Slacker credentials and use those to log into the Slacker website to toggle on the 320kbps option.

 

[johnnyS]

I love Tesla road trips. We have been to 30 plus superchargers. However I recommend taking the old car until you have more experience with the Tesla.

If you do take the Tesla study the route in advance. Check out Evtripplaner to calculate how much charge you will need at each stop. Sign up for Plug Share (no fee) to learn about non-Tesla charging options.

 

[Boourns]

Take the Tesla. YOLO.

 

[ecarfan]

When driving home from the delivery, my 13 year-old son put it very simply, "Dad, you only live once. You got a Tesla to enjoy it. Enjoying it means using it. You've worked hard, so don't compromise your enjoyment."

Your son is wise beyond his years.

 

[Moneesh]

Good suggestions ... I would add Waze for Tesla to the main screen browser for traffic and police alerts.
Waze for Tesla Incidents and Supercharger Traffic:
One question ... Do you need a paid premium membership for Slacker audio streaming at 320kbps for the best sound?

View attachment 184420

Great suggestion on the Slacker 320 kbps and Waze for Tesla. I had no idea that the Waze site existed, so that's a relief. My biggest complaint about Tesla is using their navigation in lieu of Waze. Also, will definitely pick up the sunshade. At some point I will need to get light tint applied to the windows, but next month.

 

[bmah]

Congratulations on the new Tesla...what a great first road trip you've got planned. Make sure to give us an update when you get back...I'm sure everyone will want to hear all about it.

For Waze, I put a suction cup phone mount on my dash and just run Waze on my iPhone. A bit kludgy I know. (I usually have my destination in the Tesla nav as well, to get energy usage projections and so the systems can cross check each other.)

If you think you'll be relying on autopilot a significant amount, I recommend reading through the "Flight instructor teaches autopilot" thread in the Model S driving dynamics forum.

Have a great trip and good luck to your son and his team!

Bruce.

 

[Khatsalano]

I'm in a different situation because I don't have a lease and I drive my car 38,000 miles a year. Part of it is for work, which is even better since mileage is reimbursed at a very generous ICE rate.

I would use the Tesla for road trips whenever possible. I've driven to Canada and to LA from the Bay Area. I have a trip for work next week where I need to cover 1,050 miles within 36 hours to hit multiple locations in California (the car is better than flying!). Autopilot makes this not stressful at all and the $0 of gas station bills can't be beat either. Good luck and congrats on the new ride.

- K

 

[Moneesh]

Thank you to everyone for your advice. We just returned from our fantastic road trip and taking the our brand new MS 90D was definitely the right choice. We drove from Yorba Linda, CA to Reno, NV and stopped at a couple SC's on the way up to his baseball tournament -- everything worked out great. It definitely helped having Waze running with traffic and warnings, updating simultaneously with the Tesla Nav running. My son navigated the whole way and kept track of range, usage, places to explore at each SC (and of course music on Slacker, Sirius XM and BT streaming). The drive was spectacular with amazing scenery most of the way (Yosemite, Mammoth Lakes, etc.) There were a couple of stretches where the power of the car really helped, when I had to (legally) pass slow moving vehicles on 395, which is a very long (and slow) two lane highway. On the way up there we stopped at the Inyokern SC, which was in a very small and uneventful town, where we stopped for food. We also stopped at Mammoth Lakes, where we got to do a lot of walking around. In both cases, we were the only Telsas around and had the SC's to ourselves.

At our hotel in Sparks, NV (Gand Sierra Resort), we had destination charging, with two dedicated Tesla chargers, right in the VIP parking area. The entire 5 days, we had it to ourselves. We spent most days at my son's baseball tournament about half an hour away, then back and forth for team dinners and outings. Having the charger on site was great. It was a HPWC, running the same charge rate as my 204v/50A at home (30 miles charge/hr).

On the way back we drove the same route but decided to skip Inyokern and stopped at the Lone Pine SC, which turned out to be a big upgrade. We also spent some extra time sight seeing and hit a few campground and vista points for pictures.

On our 1,200 mile round trip journey we learned a lot and I am happier than ever with my Telsa, which we named "Ivan". We've mastered navigating, charging and estimating usage, factoring in climbing and descending in 7,400 foot elevations, 100+ temperatures, destination charging, super chargers, when to/not to use Autopilot and we got very familiar with all the features of the car.

My only regret is now that my car is less than two weeks old and has nearly 1,500 miles on it - but it was all worth it

 

[bmah]

Awesome maiden voyage, thanks for posting the trip report!

Bruce.

 

[Reeler]

I guess you couldn't resist the temptation. Logic be dammed! I would have probably done the same thing.

 

[FlatSix911]

Congrats ... consider joining us at the Tesla Motor Convention in Reno on July 30th! T

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