7581.4 Miles of road trip in a 2016 Tesla Model S 90D and I found out a few things, wonder if Tesla will care? We have zero problems with the car, it drove and handled perfectly! The GPS is a different story. We estimate the GPS was correct on location of Super Charger 40% of the time. “Your destination is now on the right” nope, left. “Your destination is on the left” nope, not in sight, drive 1000 yards, go behind a restaurant and low and behold there is the super charger. I mean come on Tesla it is your directions how about “Your destination is behind the Ruby Tuesday”. 3 times the GPS failed to tell us to take a spilt on a highway!! The first time, we were facing a direction we didn’t know which one to take, 3 interstates splitting, 4 state highways and NO direction from the GPS. YEP we chose poorly. Lucky for us it was a Y we could cut across and join the right interstate and it only cost us 20 minutes, toll money and not the extra hour on our journey the other route was calling for. The next two times we were better prepared and had a better handle on the area and got the right direction. I have never had that happen in any GPS system in any other car before! GPS should not be in Beta for a car that is on the road, there should be a finished product, Beta should be “upgrades” to test. This was a major flaw. The way the GPS zooms in and out while driving on and off highways is hard to navigate too, not seeing direction of turns because the map is zoomed out wide for highway driving even after your off the highway and trying to figure out your next direction is rough in the dark and pouring rain. Using cell connection for GPS data is a bad idea (when compared to speed and accuracy of a CD/Sim system) waiting for the data to fill on the map, directions to propagate, and to find out where you are heading next can take many minutes when you are in a area with low cell coverage. My Waze app was always faster that the GPS system. I know there are many threads about head lights but until you drive in an area with zero streetlights and you are all alone on a highway, do your really realize how terriable the head lights really are, I am now looking for a salution for them ASAP. Not sure what their thought process was for the placement of a Super charger in PA, had to get off the Toll road, use the super charger, pay a toll to get back on the toll road, and within ½ mile there was a service oasis. WHY did they not put the Super Charger AT the service oasis? super chargers are for traveling not people to use around home are they not? Maybe the state would not let them add them there, but to a traveler to have to exit the toll road, travel 4 miles, super charge, then travel back seemed a bit ridiculous. The PROS: met some nice people along the way at super chargers, both Tesla owners and not, talked to a mobile tech in Norfolk VA who insisted on filling my windshield washer fluid tank. Visited 5 National Parks, 2 National Monuments and 22 states crossed the continental divide twice, drove by the golden spike and up to the 2nd highest point east of the Mississippi (in Smokey Mountain Nation Park). GPS did direct me to super chargers (close enough) that we never had range anxiety once! With free super charging ZERO cost to cross the country and home! If you are thinking of trying this, do it. Many super chargers are in hotel parking lots and it works out great at the end of a day to unpack, relax and set a timer to remember to go unplug the car after a full charge for the next days start. We had a great time. Hope to see you out there next time we hit the road.
