Over the holidays I took a 7 day long, 2.5K+ mile long road trip. From Nashville, Tennessee to Cape Cod, Massachusetts, and back again. My first really long road trip in my long range RWD model 3, vin 15xxx. Here are some impressions - I know you’ve probably seen one too many of these, and this one will probably be just as boring. It’s kind of like holiday letters. TL,dr is fine.
In general the car was great for this kind of trip! I’ve done similar trips in various ICE sedans and SUV’s, and the only real difference was a slight increase in the fueling time. And that’s fine with me - I like to take too many rest stops anyway, get out and walk around, and this fit in well with that. I was traveling solo, so didn’t have to worry about accommodating other’s needs. The seats are comfortable, the user amenities are on par with anything else. I have arthritic knees that don’t like being bent for long periods, and there wasn’t quite as much room to stretch them out under the dashboard as I used to have in my chevy volt, but it wasn’t a big problem. At one point during the trip, I created a new profile named nap - the seats really recline well! The stereo system is great - I was able to have an adequate variety of things to listen to, and of course the quality is excellent. I do wish they’d hurry up and fix the USB audio system, it would have been nice to have that working correctly.
I used EAP (autopilot) about 98% of the time. It would have been 99%, except for a nasty patch of rain I ran into in Pennsylvania on the return trip at night - there’s a section of interstate 78 where they “borrowed” an old part of state route 22 instead of rebuilding, and the lines are virtually invisible even in the best of conditions. I had to just use TACC for that section. EAP works great for this kind of trip, as long as you follow the basic rules - keep a hand on the wheel, pay attention, and be ready to take over at any moment. You WILL have to take over from time to time, at least to dodge potholes and roadkill and gators. And you learn what’s going to freak out EAP and how to compensate - for instance, if a car moves into the lane to your right just ahead of the car, it panics and slows down - a bit of pressure on the go pedal will compensate. I think I had to take over 20 to maybe 30 times in all, and it was never a big deal.
I gave Nav on Autopilot a try for quite a bit - all the first day, most of the second day, and a bit on the way home. But in general it’s not quite ready for prime time, so to speak, and I stopped using it. Too many prompts to change lanes when it clearly wasn’t the right choice, or there was a lane full of cars I couldn’t change into. And I got a series of prompts to “change lane to maintain course” that made no sense in the circumstances - I reported them via the voice command bug report. I tried a variety of the different lane change prefs, and ended up with mad max, but none of them made a much difference. Perhaps this will get better in time.
The navigation system was a joy to use, and I had it running the whole trip. Even though this is a trip I’ve made many times, and know the route well, the way it chose supercharger stops was really nice to have. I also consulted A Better Route Planner to get an idea of what supercharger options there might be. In general I found the built in software to be a bit more conservative about supercharger stops, which can be a bit dicey in the winter, and on some occasions I stopped earlier to charge just so I wouldn’t be arriving with a really low charge left.
I initially set out with a bit of trepidation related to range anxiety. What if the computer calculates wrong and I don’t make it to the next charger? What if I get to a supercharger and it’s not working? What if there’s a line? (there wasn’t at any of my stops) What if I forget my cable? Which I then promptly did - I had definitely planned on taking my mobile charge cord, and at least getting a trickle charge in the few days I was parked at my brother’s house. But besides that last one, I had no issues like this. The one slight problem I had was a poorly working charger at Sagamore, the last supercharger before Cape Cod - it worked great when I first got there, and I charged all the way up, so I could tool around Cape Cod and show the car off to family. When I went back on the way out, it was hardly working, I was able to only charge up half way in the hour I had. But the next charger was fine, so no big problems.
Here are the superchargers I used -
Cookeville, TN - nearly empty both times I’ve used it. Well located.
Knoxville, TN - busy, was nearly full both times I used it. In a busy mall, can take some time getting in and out. Lots of businesses of all types nearby.
Bristol, TN - in a new mall area, lots of interesting amenities nearby. I was the only one there both times I visited.
Wytheville, VA - this one’s kind of isolated, on the back of a hotel, hard to find. There are a few restaurants nearby, but it’ll take a good walk to get to them.
Lexington, VA - I actually used the destination charger at the nearby Best Western Plus at Hunt Ridge, which is a great hotel I highly recommend. There’s also a regular supercharger location nearby.
Strasburg, VA - The best view! Looks out on the mountains. Several dining and shopping options.
Carlisle, PA - part of a sheetz station/store, a trend that is a good one, maybe. Not much else here except for the sheetz though.
Allentown, PA - small strip mall area, several decent amenities close by.
Tarrytown, NY - next to a Sheraton hotel with a starbucks, and there’s a Stop and Shop, and not much else.
Darien, CT - several in this area, the one I used was in a rest area off I-95. Very convenient.
East Greenwich, RI - on the side of a small strip mall, not very convenient to other services. There’s a grocery store and a Panera and a few other things.
Sagamore Beach, MA - worked well the first time, was barely working the second two times I tried it. Some of that may be weather related - it was around freezing, but I didn’t see similar slow dons at other superchargers.
I also used a chargepoint charger at the Cape Cod Mall to get a bit of charge after the Sagamore beach one failed for me.
In general the car was great for this kind of trip! I’ve done similar trips in various ICE sedans and SUV’s, and the only real difference was a slight increase in the fueling time. And that’s fine with me - I like to take too many rest stops anyway, get out and walk around, and this fit in well with that. I was traveling solo, so didn’t have to worry about accommodating other’s needs. The seats are comfortable, the user amenities are on par with anything else. I have arthritic knees that don’t like being bent for long periods, and there wasn’t quite as much room to stretch them out under the dashboard as I used to have in my chevy volt, but it wasn’t a big problem. At one point during the trip, I created a new profile named nap - the seats really recline well! The stereo system is great - I was able to have an adequate variety of things to listen to, and of course the quality is excellent. I do wish they’d hurry up and fix the USB audio system, it would have been nice to have that working correctly.
I used EAP (autopilot) about 98% of the time. It would have been 99%, except for a nasty patch of rain I ran into in Pennsylvania on the return trip at night - there’s a section of interstate 78 where they “borrowed” an old part of state route 22 instead of rebuilding, and the lines are virtually invisible even in the best of conditions. I had to just use TACC for that section. EAP works great for this kind of trip, as long as you follow the basic rules - keep a hand on the wheel, pay attention, and be ready to take over at any moment. You WILL have to take over from time to time, at least to dodge potholes and roadkill and gators. And you learn what’s going to freak out EAP and how to compensate - for instance, if a car moves into the lane to your right just ahead of the car, it panics and slows down - a bit of pressure on the go pedal will compensate. I think I had to take over 20 to maybe 30 times in all, and it was never a big deal.
I gave Nav on Autopilot a try for quite a bit - all the first day, most of the second day, and a bit on the way home. But in general it’s not quite ready for prime time, so to speak, and I stopped using it. Too many prompts to change lanes when it clearly wasn’t the right choice, or there was a lane full of cars I couldn’t change into. And I got a series of prompts to “change lane to maintain course” that made no sense in the circumstances - I reported them via the voice command bug report. I tried a variety of the different lane change prefs, and ended up with mad max, but none of them made a much difference. Perhaps this will get better in time.
The navigation system was a joy to use, and I had it running the whole trip. Even though this is a trip I’ve made many times, and know the route well, the way it chose supercharger stops was really nice to have. I also consulted A Better Route Planner to get an idea of what supercharger options there might be. In general I found the built in software to be a bit more conservative about supercharger stops, which can be a bit dicey in the winter, and on some occasions I stopped earlier to charge just so I wouldn’t be arriving with a really low charge left.
I initially set out with a bit of trepidation related to range anxiety. What if the computer calculates wrong and I don’t make it to the next charger? What if I get to a supercharger and it’s not working? What if there’s a line? (there wasn’t at any of my stops) What if I forget my cable? Which I then promptly did - I had definitely planned on taking my mobile charge cord, and at least getting a trickle charge in the few days I was parked at my brother’s house. But besides that last one, I had no issues like this. The one slight problem I had was a poorly working charger at Sagamore, the last supercharger before Cape Cod - it worked great when I first got there, and I charged all the way up, so I could tool around Cape Cod and show the car off to family. When I went back on the way out, it was hardly working, I was able to only charge up half way in the hour I had. But the next charger was fine, so no big problems.
Here are the superchargers I used -
Cookeville, TN - nearly empty both times I’ve used it. Well located.
Knoxville, TN - busy, was nearly full both times I used it. In a busy mall, can take some time getting in and out. Lots of businesses of all types nearby.
Bristol, TN - in a new mall area, lots of interesting amenities nearby. I was the only one there both times I visited.
Wytheville, VA - this one’s kind of isolated, on the back of a hotel, hard to find. There are a few restaurants nearby, but it’ll take a good walk to get to them.
Lexington, VA - I actually used the destination charger at the nearby Best Western Plus at Hunt Ridge, which is a great hotel I highly recommend. There’s also a regular supercharger location nearby.
Strasburg, VA - The best view! Looks out on the mountains. Several dining and shopping options.
Carlisle, PA - part of a sheetz station/store, a trend that is a good one, maybe. Not much else here except for the sheetz though.
Allentown, PA - small strip mall area, several decent amenities close by.
Tarrytown, NY - next to a Sheraton hotel with a starbucks, and there’s a Stop and Shop, and not much else.
Darien, CT - several in this area, the one I used was in a rest area off I-95. Very convenient.
East Greenwich, RI - on the side of a small strip mall, not very convenient to other services. There’s a grocery store and a Panera and a few other things.
Sagamore Beach, MA - worked well the first time, was barely working the second two times I tried it. Some of that may be weather related - it was around freezing, but I didn’t see similar slow dons at other superchargers.
I also used a chargepoint charger at the Cape Cod Mall to get a bit of charge after the Sagamore beach one failed for me.
