The Tesla Road Trip

Stay in your lane Bro!

Ok, this is the next and last review for the moment.

Our Model three now has 13,000 miles on it having just returned from a 10 day road trip to Yellowstone from Madison Wisconsin.

First, back in December the garage door crashed down on the car as it moved out of the garage. 25 yo Chamberlain opener gave out. The repair was accomplished at Marshall Autobody in Milwaukee, a certified Tesla repair facility that Progressive insurance recommended. Two front fenders and a windshield. Two weeks later, almost as promised the car was looking like new again. We lost a couple of days when it was -30F up here. Even FedEx stayed home. In other words, this was easier and less of a hassle than getting my 2003 caravan repaired after being rear ended. That took a month.

I sent Marshall pictures, they sent Progressive the estimate, Progressive approved it the same day and we dropped the car off the next day and picked up the rental that was there waiting for us. Parts arrived as close to on time as the weather allowed and all repairs completed basically on time.

So at least in this area Tesla has a solid service network up and ready.

Then there is that really cool thing about Teslas, I have a different car than the one I bought. It is now quicker by a half second. Goes farther on a charge, and has a higher top speed. And the superchargers are now running at 150kw up from 120 and my car is able to handle it as well as the upcoming v3 chargers that will reduce my charge time to 5 minutes. All new features. Plus the full self driving suite is now running in the background. All without having to do anything but click the OK button on the screen. No extra charge. Thanks Tesla.

Road tripping in a Tesla. This is a bit different than your throw everything in the car and caution to the wind and see where you end up kind of road tripping. You have to plan your routes around your charging points just like you do a gas car around gas stops. The difference is that charging is not as plentiful as gas stations, although out west it is a close match as there are not gas stations and convenience stores on every corner out there.

Your major interstate highways are now mostly covered for the long range cars. Some places still need to develop to accommodate the shorter range cars and the northern tier is not finished across North Dakota or Montana. However, everything is in place for that most All American of road trips,

Yellowstone National Park.

You start by entering your destination into the navigator on the main screen in the car. It then presents you with the optimal route to your destination including all charging stops along the way. It also takes into account the battery condition and shows you when you have taken enough charge to make the next charger or how long you will charge to get to your destination.

The interactive map displays all superchargers and all Tesla Destination chargers so you can choose where to stay. Many hotels have destination chargers of the Chargepoint variety so even if they don’t yet have a Tesla branded unit, you can still charge on the Chargepoint network. Just check the app.

I did the how many hours a day do you want to drive planning for the getting there aspect. Our first night was in Murdo SD at a hotel that had the superchargers on the property. In getting there we left with 100% in the pack, stopped at Albert Lea in MN to boost up to 80%. After 80 the charge times slow appreciably. We stopped once more for full charge at Sioux Falls then we hit the wall. Steady, 40mph headwind. Wow. This is when we discovered that the shorter runs and charges actually takes less time than waiting for the full charge.

Departing Murdo the next morning we were greeted with that same 40mph head wind. This truncated our range a bit and necessitated a couple more charge stops but having discovered that the quickest way to run is from charger to charger. The stops are much shorter then and we saved over an hour from our projected run time by changing to this strategy. We still had full hour plus charges for lunch and dinner. But that is normal travel time since Ya gotta eat! We also stayed at places that had destination chargers so the car was fully charged when we started.

Autopilot. WoW. No fatigue. No sore arms or legs. No stiff neck. Plenty of scenery. Being able to sit back and enjoy the ride almost as much as my wife. The car performed great. It is a tentative driver, much like a 15yo with a learners permit. But, with the FSD suite running in the background it learns fast too. By the return trip it was passing like a pro. Still gets confused when people are doing stupid stuff in cars, but then who doesn’t’. Malachi’s answer is simply to slow down and let them all sort it out and then go by them when its all clear. Not my usual floor it and get the idiot behind me approach, but I found that it is kind of fun to watch the car try to figure out what the yahoos are doing.

Autopilot in the park, since you end up either running in long lines of cars, or all by yourself it’s the best thing ever. Set distance for 7 car lengths and relax. The cars got this. It ran in the parks for 4 days without a single instance where I had to take over. I had the best time looking and taking pictures because the car even recognized buffalos in the road. If the buffalo are facing you it shows as a person, if they are sideways it shows as a motorcycle. LoL Car stopped for buffalo in the road. Not bad.

Spent Tuesday down in the Tetons and Jackson Hole. Good Bar B Q at Moe’s.

We had everything under control Thursday until we blew past our scheduled charge point and lunch at Gardiner by the North Entrance. They have a ChargePoint station there. The baby animals were out in force Thursday and we were on their trail. I didn’t worry until we found the high passes in the Beartooth were closed. That doubled the distance to Red Lodge and seeing how it was getting dark and it had started snowing again we stopped for the night at Cooke City SilverGate. Stayed at the Soda Butte lodge and was able charge. Getting up the next morning we were greeted by a buffalo on the hotel veranda and 3 inches of snow on the car. Still, we were well rested and fully charged so Friday we skipped the charger at Red Lodge and went straight to Billings and then to our next destination charger at Keystone.

Saturday we hit Mt Rushmore, then on down the road to Crazy Horse, lunch and charge at Cody and finally all the way out to Wounded Knee. Then back to Rapid City for the night. Sunday we drove all the way back to Madison. We had the 40 mph wind again but as a tail wind this time.

So I can now give you the full scoop. As a road trip car the Model 3 has only two peers, the Model S and the Model X. That is not just my feelings but that of numerous auto publications and rating organizations. Smooth, quiet, comfortable, relaxing. That is the Model 3 on the open road.

Even with the missed charge stop we had no problems, no “range anxiety” (a fabrication of the oil companies BTW). We went everywhere we wanted to go with no problems. Range is shortened in the mountains, but it is not as noticeable if you go down hill on the same charge as up. You get more than I thought back from regen on the way down. Cool.

We even had two instances of people taking pictures of the car that we actually saw and numerous folks with questions. Lots of interest. We even had a bus load of Chinese stop while we were charging in West Yellowstone. Crazy stuff. But then we only saw two other M3’s, two S and an X while in the park. So it is still a very new thing out there. The Chinese, well what can you say.

My answer to the oft asked question, Hell yes I’d buy it again. In a heart beat. It is the best car I have ever owned or driven. Then I ask them, Go sit in a 1969 Chevy Impala. Now go sit in a 2019 Chevy Impala. Notice all the same buttons switches and knobs are in the same places. Nothing has changed. Oh sure, the radio is different looking, as are the dash instruments, but its still the same ones. Year after year, it’s the same car, and you’ve been buying it over and over again. Wouldn’t you like to drive something new? Really New? Not just wrapped up differently?