Or more accurately, business trip. I had to go from San Antonio to Houston for a presentation on Monday, so I decided to see if my blue heeler could make a go of it. YES!
It's pretty much spot on 200 miles from San Antonio to Houston, so this was a good leg stretcher for the car. I left on Sunday afternoon, great weather, mid 70's and only a slight breeze out of the south. I-10 from San Antonio to Houston is pretty much E-W, so negligible effect from the wind. There is about a 700' elevation drop traveling from San Antonio to Houston. I ran the AC on low, had just a suitcase with me, listened to the radio, and drove during the day. I charged up on a Max Range charge and left San Antonio with 266 miles in the batteries.
After clearing the San Antonio metro area, I set the cruise control to 72MPH, slumped into a tuck position, and let 'er roll. It's fascinating to watch the energy graphs change as you go up and down hills, tuck behind trucks, accelerate and decelerate, etc. A quick observation - I think you save 10%-20% energy consumption drafting 2 seconds behind a big truck.
The Important Numbers:
San Antonio-Houston - 200 miles, approx. 321 Wh/mile, 42 miles rated range remaining.
I arranged to stay at Embassy Suites downtown as they had 2 Blink chargers there. They hadn't had someone use them in months, so it took a minute to figure out, but we got the car juicing at about 6:30. It's 208v/30A charger, so it only provided 18-19 miles/hour, but I was topped off again by 7:30 AM. And best of all, they comped me the charge (about 68 KWh)!
The return trip was similar, except it's 700' uphill and today, Monday, I had a 5 MPH headwind. Still the numbers were better than I expected, especially because I probably did a bit less truck drafting on the way back - maybe 10% of miles vs. 20% on the way down.
Houston-San Antonio - 200 miles, approx. 341 WH/mile, 22 miles rated range remaining
Final thoughts:
It's a really comfortable car to drive in for extended periods, definitely more comfortable than my 5-series BMW. We gotta get a supercharger halfway between San Antonio and Houston - it's not as fun to drive conservatively as when you are spewing an electron wake all over the highway. Even a 15-minute supercharge to get 50-75 miles of range would allow you to drive any way you wanted - cruise controlling 75-80, punching it when needed, etc. Also, tire pressure light came on, and went off, about 4 times. Gotta get it reviewed, tires look fine.
Some guy flagged me down in downtown Houston and shouted, "I love Tesla, my mom just ordered one!" Go mama!
Definitely an 'A' for the first extended trip. Loving the Frunk!
It's pretty much spot on 200 miles from San Antonio to Houston, so this was a good leg stretcher for the car. I left on Sunday afternoon, great weather, mid 70's and only a slight breeze out of the south. I-10 from San Antonio to Houston is pretty much E-W, so negligible effect from the wind. There is about a 700' elevation drop traveling from San Antonio to Houston. I ran the AC on low, had just a suitcase with me, listened to the radio, and drove during the day. I charged up on a Max Range charge and left San Antonio with 266 miles in the batteries.
After clearing the San Antonio metro area, I set the cruise control to 72MPH, slumped into a tuck position, and let 'er roll. It's fascinating to watch the energy graphs change as you go up and down hills, tuck behind trucks, accelerate and decelerate, etc. A quick observation - I think you save 10%-20% energy consumption drafting 2 seconds behind a big truck.
The Important Numbers:
San Antonio-Houston - 200 miles, approx. 321 Wh/mile, 42 miles rated range remaining.
I arranged to stay at Embassy Suites downtown as they had 2 Blink chargers there. They hadn't had someone use them in months, so it took a minute to figure out, but we got the car juicing at about 6:30. It's 208v/30A charger, so it only provided 18-19 miles/hour, but I was topped off again by 7:30 AM. And best of all, they comped me the charge (about 68 KWh)!
The return trip was similar, except it's 700' uphill and today, Monday, I had a 5 MPH headwind. Still the numbers were better than I expected, especially because I probably did a bit less truck drafting on the way back - maybe 10% of miles vs. 20% on the way down.
Houston-San Antonio - 200 miles, approx. 341 WH/mile, 22 miles rated range remaining
Final thoughts:
It's a really comfortable car to drive in for extended periods, definitely more comfortable than my 5-series BMW. We gotta get a supercharger halfway between San Antonio and Houston - it's not as fun to drive conservatively as when you are spewing an electron wake all over the highway. Even a 15-minute supercharge to get 50-75 miles of range would allow you to drive any way you wanted - cruise controlling 75-80, punching it when needed, etc. Also, tire pressure light came on, and went off, about 4 times. Gotta get it reviewed, tires look fine.
Some guy flagged me down in downtown Houston and shouted, "I love Tesla, my mom just ordered one!" Go mama!
Definitely an 'A' for the first extended trip. Loving the Frunk!