Thoughts after 650 mile one-day Tesla drive

[HawaiiMike]

One day this will be true, but for now, long road trips I am still better off in an ICE. I am a bit of road warrior, and will cover off 900miles in a day easily. With maybe 30min of total not driving time. You can't pull that off in an EV and as you say where you charge is not always the place you want to take breaks.

We are not far off from the EV being the better road trip option for most people, just not there yet.

I disagree whether the charging time is particularly significant, but the OMG 900 miles in a day comments crack me up. I'd bet most of them are easterners. I grew up in Oregon and had a 35 year career in the Air Force, thus drove long distances many dozens of times. My longest, which was honestly crazy but necessary, was over 1600 miles nonstop by myself from DC (the Pentagon) to Midland TX for a family wedding. 900 miles when young and healthy is no big deal if you need to make some miles in a short time. I didn't like to waste military leave on the road. Health/blood clot concerns are overblown. The World Health Organization recommends movement and stretches every 4 hours, which is primarily "driven" by concern for those not particularly healthy and the timing is easily within refueling intervals. So press on with long drives, because the rhythm of the road is lovely.

 

[Mod3forMe]

I disagree whether the charging time is particularly significant, but the OMG 900 miles in a day comments crack me up. I'd bet most of them are easterners. I grew up in Oregon and had a 35 year career in the Air Force, thus drove long distances many dozens of times. My longest, which was honestly crazy but necessary, was over 1600 miles nonstop by myself from DC (the Pentagon) to Midland TX for a family wedding. 900 miles when young and healthy is no big deal if you need to make some miles in a short time. I didn't like to waste military leave on the road. Health/blood clot concerns are overblown. The World Health Organization recommends movement and stretches every 4 hours, which is primarily "driven" by concern for those not particularly healthy and the timing is easily within refueling intervals. So press on with long drives, because the rhythm of the road is lovely.

You are and I are the same page here, but each to their own.

 

[acoste]

I disagree whether the charging time is particularly significant....

Fastest New York to LA trip:

- with ICE: 28h 50min
- with a Model S: 51h 47min

 

[FloridaJohn]

Fastest New York to LA trip:

- with ICE: 28h 50min
- with a Model S: 51h 47min

Model 3: 50 hours, 16 minutes
Tesla Model 3 driven from LA to New York in 50 hours

 

[chronopc]

Model 3: 50 hours, 16 minutes
Tesla Model 3 driven from LA to New York in 50 hours

That was during the cold too. In better weather a faster trip should be doable.

 

[chronopc]

Fastest New York to LA trip:

- with ICE: 28h 50min
- with a Model S: 51h 47min

Realistically a person would most likely take a plane when the distant is that far. I believe NY to LA is a tad over 650 miles.

 

[redscott]

For example, there are fun places to eat in downtown Grants Pass OR, but the Tesla chargers at Grants Pass there are near I5, miles from downtown. No way to eat downtown while I charged.

I did almost the same drive twice this month. It's funny you mention the Grants Pass stop, as it's one of the easier places to get food, it's a short walk to In N Out where we ate and to get there you walk past a Black Bear Diner. It's also across the street from a divey sports bar we stopped in to watch some NFL going the other direction.

Now the Mt. Shasta stop however has 20 charging stalls and nowhere that serves decent coffee.

Otherwise, I agree! For me the biggest difference is TACC & Autosteer on the highway, it makes driving and listening to podcasts pleasant and relaxing