JohnSnowNW
Active Member
Seems like a fantastic trip. Now, put on your aero covers and do it again so we can have some more data on their efficacy! 
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3 country, 7,800 mile road trip in 15 days - SAFELY. Range anxiety, oh no! (yawn)
- Thread starter jkirkwood001
- Start date
You should have zigged left instead of right when you hit the south. You could have possibly made a SpaceX launch. We're looking to head down to one the first week of Dec.
eCharcoal
Member
Truly epic. I wish I could do this some day. Did you wash the car along the way? Why is it always so clean?
Thanks @CharleyBC . See my other reply re Bonneville. The gold stars are mostly places I've gone visiting friends on other trips.
Seems like a fantastic trip. Now, put on your aero covers and do it again so we can have some more data on their efficacy!
Yeah, I know. I just couldn't - I really hate their look!
But I love the look of the alloy 18". Even better than the 19" IMO.Oh, here's my efficiency, generally cruising @ 10 MPH over the limit:
Thanks @eCharcoal !
I did wash it once, maybe twice. But it stayed pretty clean - it was almost all highway. Some of the photos I pumped the colour a bit, so it looked a bit brighter than actual, but you can see lots of bugs on the front in the photo in Parque la Huasteca (the one with the mountains right behind).
Oh I forgot to mention: I have Enhanced AutoPilot. This makes a big difference for such long drives as it changes lanes for me, and prepares for upcoming exits (Nav on AutoPilot). So far, I don't think us EAP buyers (which is no longer available) are missing anything from FSD, and for that I'm thankful - it's awesome!
It does beg the question, when FSD finally comes out, will it be too much trouble for Tesla to maintain a third autopilot config? What are the chances they "encourage" us to upgrade? They can't take away features, they can't force us to pay for an upgrade, yet they also would rip off FSD buyers if they just rolled us in with them for a lower cost. Has this scenario been debated elsewhere?
It does beg the question, when FSD finally comes out, will it be too much trouble for Tesla to maintain a third autopilot config? What are the chances they "encourage" us to upgrade? They can't take away features, they can't force us to pay for an upgrade, yet they also would rip off FSD buyers if they just rolled us in with them for a lower cost. Has this scenario been debated elsewhere?
I always have to double-take when I see someone post their figs in metric, because their efficiency can look plausibly good, for Wh/miles under optimal conditions.Yeah, I know. I just couldn't - I really hate their look!
Oh, here's my efficiency, generally cruising @ 10 MPH over the limit:
Candleflame
Active Member
Fernand
Active Member
It's wonderful to meet fresh spirits, unencumbered by the past. OF COURSE IT's BEEN DEBATED. To death.
Given the early 2019 line item $6K upgrade cost of FSD for us EAP folks, i.e. $5k + $6K = $11K US total for automation, while it was $6-$7K total for newer buyers, Musk threw us two lifelines. The first around February was to upgrade to the new computer and FSD for $2K, making the total a fair $7K. This elicited howls of "unfair" from some, and it was discontinued before I even knew about it. The second was late summer 2019 at $3K. It was to end 'soon' (check what's available to you), and I grabbed that, though I'm still paying it off on my Amex. Chances are, as Musk said, prices will continue to creep up as more capabilities are added with the new 3.X TESLA-designed dual processor board.
Personally I'm a very content user of all the EAP automation systems and subsystems on my Model 3, but I wouldn't dream of missing out on the next chapters. The talking point of the surprisingly strong anti-FSD contingent on this forum is that "you can always buy it later when it actually works". Well, it's working for me at every step of its development. Watching it evolve is a gas. FSD is not an SKU, it's a process. Every day I tell my Nicki "thank you for your service
". I should have financed the FSD add-on at the outset..
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Fernand
Active Member
No Ken, actually it's just that Canadians drive more efficiently than Americans!
There was a time in the 1970s when US road signs showed both metric and "English" distances, and there was hope of a wholesale transition to the International metric standard. One of the vocal anti-metric segments was the automotive service sector, with all their tools in "english". Ironically, when Japanese cars became popular they ended up having to maintain TWO complete sets of tools.
SmartElectric
Active Member
Could have saved $18.42 in electricity had you kept the aero rim covers on. SHAME
Fernand
Active Member
There HAVE been some cosmetic attempts at making the Aero covers "almost not suck". One was a vinyl decal set with a sort of swastika rune look, and then there was a better one that turned out to be a one shot labor of love hand-paint.
Maybe we should put out a "Request For Quotation" to the guys who, occasionally very nicely, spray paint everything in sight? I don't care for the brain salad "power to the people" motif, or the ever popular "viva la raza" theme, but some subtle contemporary molly tattoo airbrushed patterns might work
Hey this isn't too bad ..
.
Maybe we should put out a "Request For Quotation" to the guys who, occasionally very nicely, spray paint everything in sight? I don't care for the brain salad "power to the people" motif, or the ever popular "viva la raza" theme, but some subtle contemporary molly tattoo airbrushed patterns might work
Hey this isn't too bad ..
.
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I didn't know about the road signs! (I'm 58). I remember hearing about a case about 10 or 15 years ago where (I think it was) Boeing went into production on a jet and found all the cabling ordered was too short because they got the conversion wrong. I think US is one of the last countries still running "Imperial". If it makes you feel better, most Canadians still give their height in feet & inches, and order their deli meat and cheese in lbs.! Yeah, the tools thing is a pain.
It's wonderful to meet fresh spirits, unencumbered by the past. OF COURSE IT's BEEN DEBATED. To death.
Given the early 2019 line item $6K upgrade cost of FSD for us EAP folks, i.e. $5k + $6K = $11K US total for automation, while it was $6-$7K total for newer buyers, Musk threw us two lifelines. The first around February was to upgrade to the new computer and FSD for $2K, making the total a fair $7K. This elicited howls of "unfair" from some, and it was discontinued before I even knew about it. The second was late summer 2019 at $3K. It was to end 'soon' (check what's available to you), and I grabbed that, though I'm still paying it off on my Amex. Chances are, as Musk said, prices will continue to creep up as more capabilities are added with the new 3.X TESLA-designed dual processor board.
Personally I'm a very content user of all the EAP automation systems and subsystems on my Model 3, but I wouldn't dream of missing out on the next chapters. The talking point of the surprisingly strong anti-FSD contingent on this forum is that "you can always buy it later when it actually works". Well, it's working for me at every step of its development. Watching it evolve is a gas. FSD is not an SKU, it's a process. Every day I tell my Nicki "thank you for your service
.
I knew about the offer to us EAP folks. But FSD isn't here yet. I still get everything they do (so no added programming burden for Tesla) and I haven't paid for it. I think once it does, Tesla well want to get us off. If there is only one on EAP, or 10,000, they have to do the same amount of work required to test software changes in that config etc. The fewer there are of us, the more expensive it becomes for Tesla to support our permutation.
Personally, if they freeze my current functionality, I'll be happy. I don't plan to roboTesla my car, and I doubt if I'd use AP in cities. We'll see!
Fernand
Active Member
Although we early adopters paid more for the car, EAP was a great deal. No regrets.
As an engineer I look at "FSD" from the development side. There is no such thing. It's something that's never been done before. That's a big reason why I'm so interested. It's being developed piece by piece, and at each step new questions and new possibilities turn up.
Step 1, years ago, was cruise control. Then cruise control with simple AS to stay in lane. Then integration of navigation to map where we're going. Then ability to change lanes to follow this route if driver permits. Then self-confirming lanes changes to follow route. Then ability to choose lanes based on traffic, not hogging passing lane, noting and passing slower traffic, crossing several lanes to get over onto another freeway, while navigating to target. All of that works pretty darned well right now on highways. Meanwhile the self-parking and the somewhat silly Advanced Summon is actually testing ability to handle and navigate crowded situations with unpredictable drivers, walking humans, baby carriages, to stop at intersections, etc in preparation for greater street level autonomy. Every release includes steps towards greater autonomy.
The idea that "FSD" is something that will suddenly be "here" - to drive you to work then come pick you up - is contrary to everything we know. It's a development process, it will come gradually, we're watching the pieces come together, and it will get more refined over time.
.
As an engineer I look at "FSD" from the development side. There is no such thing. It's something that's never been done before. That's a big reason why I'm so interested. It's being developed piece by piece, and at each step new questions and new possibilities turn up.
Step 1, years ago, was cruise control. Then cruise control with simple AS to stay in lane. Then integration of navigation to map where we're going. Then ability to change lanes to follow this route if driver permits. Then self-confirming lanes changes to follow route. Then ability to choose lanes based on traffic, not hogging passing lane, noting and passing slower traffic, crossing several lanes to get over onto another freeway, while navigating to target. All of that works pretty darned well right now on highways. Meanwhile the self-parking and the somewhat silly Advanced Summon is actually testing ability to handle and navigate crowded situations with unpredictable drivers, walking humans, baby carriages, to stop at intersections, etc in preparation for greater street level autonomy. Every release includes steps towards greater autonomy.
The idea that "FSD" is something that will suddenly be "here" - to drive you to work then come pick you up - is contrary to everything we know. It's a development process, it will come gradually, we're watching the pieces come together, and it will get more refined over time.
.
@jkirkwood001 - Thanks for sharing your trip!!! It was a great read and great photographs!
My wife and I would love to try something like that some day (I have a Model S). Regarding the nights you slept in the car - where generally did you sleep at night? Just random places or is there such a thing as a park and sleep sort of place?
My wife and I would love to try something like that some day (I have a Model S). Regarding the nights you slept in the car - where generally did you sleep at night? Just random places or is there such a thing as a park and sleep sort of place?
AdamMacDon
Member
I drove down to Vegas and Arizona from BC, Canada but didn't have the stones to enter Mexico. If I'd been in my old junker car, or it wasn't the US border, I would have done it, but north Mexico is no joke right now. I felt like a Tesla (even a lowly SR+) driving around with a gringo and my Vietnamese GF would be too much of a heat score. Pretty cool trip you went on!
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