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Yorba Linda Vacationers First To Go Coast To Coast Mostly by Autosteer

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My wife and I recently completed a 29 day trip from California to Florida to Ohio and back with lots of useful experiences to share. I have included a PDF file describing the trip. We were not out to set any records, but I am pretty sure we were the first to go coast-to-coast using Autosteer (over 95% of the way). Happy to respond to any questions anyone might have.
Oh....we made 61 Supercharger stops on the trip. The car says we have visited 82 different Superchargers so far in the last year. I wonder what the record it for that?!
Ed Hart
 

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My wife and I recently completed a 29 day trip from California to Florida to Ohio and back with lots of useful experiences to share. I have included a PDF file describing the trip. We were not out to set any records, but I am pretty sure we were the first to go coast-to-coast using Autosteer (over 95% of the way). Happy to respond to any questions anyone might have.
Ed Hart

Great write up sir! I just completed a road trip from San Antonio, TX to Key West, FL (about 3400 miles round trip) and many of the comments you made about planning, charging, autopilot, etc. were similar to my experience. I was so glad to have received the Autopilot update the day before the trip began. Autopilot definitely reduced driver fatigue once I got over the initial tension and learned the scenarios where it needed me to assist and where it worked extremely well. I used it probably 95% of the highway driving until I ran into very heavy rain/wind from Hurricane Patricia between the Lake Charles, Louisiana Supercharger through Houston up until almost San Antonio. Taking a long road trip in the Tesla was an amazing experience and the car continues to impress me! Congrats on your successful trip!
 
Yes, we did! Of course, we did not go on the traditional LA-NYC route...and we certainly did not do it in 58 hours; that 58 hour time was quite a (scary) feat! But our 2650 miles LA-JAX on Autosteer was pretty good...and beat the other guys "coast-to-coast" by a week or so! The car was a pleasure, and although we cruised very fast, I doubt we ever came close to the other team's top speeds.

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Many thanks, benjiejr. Your comments sound spot on as to the role of the driver with Autosteer. It took a while to learn to loosen my grip on the wheel!
 
Thank you for the excellent summary PDF file. Being able to plan, schedule the time and relax during the cross country adventure is key to a successful drive. After 54,000 miles and three years, I have found the Tesla Model S to be an excellent travel vehicle, especially on mountain highways. Your success makes me want to get on the road again. Enjoy your new motor drive and future Autopilot adventures.
 
Direct View of Pages...by Special Request

Several folks have not been able to open the PDF file and requested I put the pages directing into the thread. Hope this helps.
 

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Charge Remaining at Destination

What a fun trip! Thanks for sharing. As a new owner, with a family experiencing 'range anxiety,' this was very helpful!
Yes, I think Tesla needs to do more to emphasize how powerful and reassuring the "Charge Remaining at Destination" is for reducing range anxiety. I think Tesla owners should use this frequently, even when just commuting, to see how well it works...and to build confidence in the capability.
I also think that Tesla needs to tell us more about what the system can and cannot do. For example, does the system try to estimate the effects of wind(?)
 
...does the system try to estimate the effects of wind(?)
The effects of wind are known as you drive. The realtime kW being used for your driving speed will cause warnings to slow down if the battery range is too low. While that helps if the wind is at maximum near the beginning of the drive, it could be a problem if heavier wind occurs near the end of the drive. It's always best to have extra range to compensate for unknowns and wrong turns before leaving the Supercharger.

It's been mentioned before, but deserves repeating before the Thanksgiving drives: Always input the destination to see the exact road mileage. The estimates shown in the list of locations on the touch screen are based on "as the crow flies" miles. Charging up to those lower estimates to save time is a bad move. Entering your destination to view the accurate road mileage is the best way to drive across country.
 
The effects of wind are known as you drive. The realtime kW being used for your driving speed will cause warnings to slow down if the battery range is too low. While that helps if the wind is at maximum near the beginning of the drive, it could be a problem if heavier wind occurs near the end of the drive. It's always best to have extra range to compensate for unknowns and wrong turns before leaving the Supercharger.

It's been mentioned before, but deserves repeating before the Thanksgiving drives: Always input the destination to see the exact road mileage. The estimates shown in the list of locations on the touch screen are based on "as the crow flies" miles. Charging up to those lower estimates to save time is a bad move. Entering your destination to view the accurate road mileage is the best way to drive across country.

Thanks, Mark Z. That makes sense on the wind. Perhaps someday the wind patterns will be reported and forecast to increase accuracy. In any case, the capability to project remaining charge is essential for electric vehicles...something not needed in the ICE world.