Hi folks,
Took my new Y for a trip from OH to the panhandle for a few days, then from panhandle to Orlando for a few more days, then straight back up to OH.
Charging
We had a bit of a rough go with charging to start our trip. Our first SC stop was in Louisville and we took one of the last open bays. Everyone was walking around asking other owners if their charging speeds sucked. Yeah, it was screwed up. We were getting between 0 and 5kW. We abandoned that SC and drove 20miles to the next one and juiced up pretty quick and got back on the road. Not a great first impression.
After that point we only had to wait for a charger once while in Alabama where 4 of the 6 bays were inoperable. It didn't really inspire confidence, but we only lost a bit of time.
The drive home from Orlando to Cincinnati had ~4 stops and they were relatively uneventful - except for a SC that was hidden in a longterm parking lot in a Chattanooga airport. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
One thing I learned very quickly is how your speed is tied to your distance in a much more tangible way than ICE cars. After realizing that we stuck closer to the speed limit and really stretched our battery much farther.
Driving
I love the way it drives. It's so quiet and smooth. I can't see myself ever going back to an ICE car. I also think the headlights were great at night - I know lots of folks are jonesing for the new ones, but I was impressed by the coverage.
Autopilot (no FSD)
Gotta say, Autopilot is a huge letdown. I don't trust it at all. I used it a lot, and it let me down often. The weather was sunny and the road dry, and it would constantly see things and beep and boop, eventually popping out of AP a few times. It seemed to work much better when there was no traffic pattern - but once you dipped into any type of traffic it would start becoming wildly undependable. I also kept my two hands on the wheel at all times and it still locked me out of AP three times during the trip.
I've never driven a radar equipped Y, but I can't help but think it must perform much better in traffic.
Also, when it was raining - forget about it.
The cruise control worked relatively well, despite it seeing phantom objects a few times that immediately slowed the car down so fast it woke the kids.
Navigation
Nav worked well. We did have one incident where we charged up at a SC, then when reaching the limit to continue the trip, the Nav immediately wanted us to go back to the SC for 5 more minutes of charging. We ignored it and used Waze to get to where we were going and once we travelled for 15 mins or so it removed the request to turn around. We ran into many hours of traffic on the way home (left at 4:30AM, arrived around midnight) - and it seemed to re-route us just as fast if not faster than Waze (we had both going at the same time).
Entertainment
We watched some Netflix a few times during charging and it ran like molasses. It was fine once you were able to get a show started, but it locked up once while clicking through the menu and I had to reset the screen to get everything working again.
Valet
We used valet at both places and one common thread is that the drivers never locked the car (didn't know how?) - I'd always check the app at night and end up locking the car remotely. It was nice having a charger at our Orlando hotel - they would valet it and put it on the charger for the night. Leaving at 4:30AM with a fully charged car was great.
Misc
The doors are very wide/thick - so I had to keep reminding the family (and myself) to watch the doors when opening them in parking lots. Some dumb girl hit our car with her door while getting in and put a small dent in our passenger side. That seemed to be the only dent from the trip / and it's not that noticeable - I was pissed, tho.
-------
Overall it was a very positive experience. It was fun pulling off exits wondering what the next supercharger was going to be like. Some were super nice with lots of places around to walk to, and lots were just in weird backlots with hardly anything around. We're thinking about going on a Canada trip next year (if Americans are ever allowed back in). There were a few range anxiety moments due to heavy traffic and busted superchargers, but not having to fill your car up with dead algae juice is so worth it.
Took my new Y for a trip from OH to the panhandle for a few days, then from panhandle to Orlando for a few more days, then straight back up to OH.
Charging
We had a bit of a rough go with charging to start our trip. Our first SC stop was in Louisville and we took one of the last open bays. Everyone was walking around asking other owners if their charging speeds sucked. Yeah, it was screwed up. We were getting between 0 and 5kW. We abandoned that SC and drove 20miles to the next one and juiced up pretty quick and got back on the road. Not a great first impression.
After that point we only had to wait for a charger once while in Alabama where 4 of the 6 bays were inoperable. It didn't really inspire confidence, but we only lost a bit of time.
The drive home from Orlando to Cincinnati had ~4 stops and they were relatively uneventful - except for a SC that was hidden in a longterm parking lot in a Chattanooga airport. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
One thing I learned very quickly is how your speed is tied to your distance in a much more tangible way than ICE cars. After realizing that we stuck closer to the speed limit and really stretched our battery much farther.
Driving
I love the way it drives. It's so quiet and smooth. I can't see myself ever going back to an ICE car. I also think the headlights were great at night - I know lots of folks are jonesing for the new ones, but I was impressed by the coverage.
Autopilot (no FSD)
Gotta say, Autopilot is a huge letdown. I don't trust it at all. I used it a lot, and it let me down often. The weather was sunny and the road dry, and it would constantly see things and beep and boop, eventually popping out of AP a few times. It seemed to work much better when there was no traffic pattern - but once you dipped into any type of traffic it would start becoming wildly undependable. I also kept my two hands on the wheel at all times and it still locked me out of AP three times during the trip.
I've never driven a radar equipped Y, but I can't help but think it must perform much better in traffic.
Also, when it was raining - forget about it.
The cruise control worked relatively well, despite it seeing phantom objects a few times that immediately slowed the car down so fast it woke the kids.
Navigation
Nav worked well. We did have one incident where we charged up at a SC, then when reaching the limit to continue the trip, the Nav immediately wanted us to go back to the SC for 5 more minutes of charging. We ignored it and used Waze to get to where we were going and once we travelled for 15 mins or so it removed the request to turn around. We ran into many hours of traffic on the way home (left at 4:30AM, arrived around midnight) - and it seemed to re-route us just as fast if not faster than Waze (we had both going at the same time).
Entertainment
We watched some Netflix a few times during charging and it ran like molasses. It was fine once you were able to get a show started, but it locked up once while clicking through the menu and I had to reset the screen to get everything working again.
Valet
We used valet at both places and one common thread is that the drivers never locked the car (didn't know how?) - I'd always check the app at night and end up locking the car remotely. It was nice having a charger at our Orlando hotel - they would valet it and put it on the charger for the night. Leaving at 4:30AM with a fully charged car was great.
Misc
The doors are very wide/thick - so I had to keep reminding the family (and myself) to watch the doors when opening them in parking lots. Some dumb girl hit our car with her door while getting in and put a small dent in our passenger side. That seemed to be the only dent from the trip / and it's not that noticeable - I was pissed, tho.
-------
Overall it was a very positive experience. It was fun pulling off exits wondering what the next supercharger was going to be like. Some were super nice with lots of places around to walk to, and lots were just in weird backlots with hardly anything around. We're thinking about going on a Canada trip next year (if Americans are ever allowed back in). There were a few range anxiety moments due to heavy traffic and busted superchargers, but not having to fill your car up with dead algae juice is so worth it.
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