3 country, 7,800 mile road trip in 15 days - SAFELY. Range anxiety, oh no! (yawn)

[gigawatt1010]

@jkirkwood001 - awesome trip, thanks for posting! These are the type of trips my family and I live for. What a great experience.

This past summer, we completed a 7500+ mile roundtrip from NY to CA (Fremont Factory Tour) and back, with stops in Vegas, Lake Tahoe, Moab, UT, Salt Lake City, Dallas/FW, Nashville and more. We did it in 16 days as well, with our 2 month old 2019 MX 100D. Fun stuff indeed. What range anxiety?! LOL

@ewoodrick - life is short, YOLO, whatever the reason is - it's not for everyone, but for the ones that do - your horizon just opens up.

 

[ngogas]

Epic

 

[SmartElectric]

a Tesla (even a lowly SR+) driving around with a gringo and my Vietnamese GF would be too much of a heat score

This Tesla might be what you need:

 

[MapGuy]

Thanks, @Ferengii . For various reasons, I didn't prepare much. I was forwarned about losing cell coverage by two Telsa technicians I happened to run into at a SuperCharger in Kingsville, TX. One was transporting a Model S from Monterrey to somewhere in the US for a customer, so he knew the idiosyncrasies of the different versions.

You can do it with a bit more preparation. There is Mexico coverage available, just not from Aviva Canada. Someone on Facebook told me of a company that gives you coverage by day - let me know if you need more details. As for cell coverage, of course if you have a roaming plan on your mobile that provides cheap data for Mexico, you can work around losing it in-car - I didn't. Aside from that, there aren't SuperChargers west of Monterrey, so you have to plan with Destination Chargers or 3rd-party, both of which require overnight charging. I usually have the luxury of time when I travel, but not this time.

Can you enlighten us any more on the information the Tesla techs gave you? I'd read a post from a fellow in Wyoming that took his Model X down to central Mexico and had no issues with connectivity. I recently crossed into Sonora and quickly discovered I had no cell coverage. Do you know if this is a Model 3 thing? Great trip! Thanks for sharing.

 

[AdamMacDon]

This Tesla might be what you need:

Gonna need the up-armored version that can resist rifle rounds and metal balls thrown at it

Also nice electric four two, those things are zippy and too much fun to drive.

 

[jkirkwood001]

Can you enlighten us any more on the information the Tesla techs gave you? I'd read a post from a fellow in Wyoming that took his Model X down to central Mexico and had no issues with connectivity. I recently crossed into Sonora and quickly discovered I had no cell coverage. Do you know if this is a Model 3 thing? Great trip! Thanks for sharing.

Thanks @MapGuy . I think it's because Mexico still has primarily 3G coverage, and 3G coverage is divided between two technologies (CDMA and GSM if I remember correctly). This same issue was the constraint on which other carriers you could port your 3G phone between. Not sure which our Teslas have, but it's not the one widespread in Mexico.

I could be totally wrong on this, folks, feel free to jump in and correct me.

 

[A.N. Gineer]

Brag: "It only cost me $365 in Supercharging
Reality: It cost $4,000 just to run the car

This kind of infrequent trip is what unlimited mileage rental cars are for, kids.

With that savings, you're not sleeping in a car like a peasant, you're comfy in a $200/night hotel after racking up those miles each day.

 

[ivy_]

Brag: "It only cost me $365 in Supercharging
Reality: It cost $4,000 just to run the car

This kind of infrequent trip is what unlimited mileage rental cars are for, kids.

With that savings, you're not sleeping in a car like a peasant, you're comfy in a $200/night hotel after racking up those miles each day.

I’m not sure the $0.58 IRS mileage reimbursement rate is really applicable. Around $0.20 of the rate is for fuel and oil, which is not relevant to this car. The remainder is for “fixed” costs like depreciation, insurance, and longer term maintenance items.

Your insurance really won’t change as a result of the trip. Depreciation is both time and mileage based, so that is a little fuzzy as well. I’d bet reality is more like $0.15 per mile plus supercharging, for a total around $0.20/mile. However, if you have better math, I’d love to see it.

 

[Msjulie]

Brag: "It only cost me $365 in Supercharging
Reality: It cost $4,000 just to run the car

This kind of infrequent trip is what unlimited mileage rental cars are for, kids.

With that savings, you're not sleeping in a car like a peasant, you're comfy in a $200/night hotel after racking up those miles each day.

I think you're missing the point.

 

[Mikedrives]

(they thought it was nuts I'd left my car two countries away)

I guess you're counting Texas as its own country? Makes sense.

 

[R1Bill]

Can't you use your cell phone to provide WiFi to your Tesla when in Mexico? My AT&T iPhone works well there and AT&T doesn't charge me a surcharge for Mexico. Only 3G is SLOW!

 

[jkirkwood001]

Brag: "It only cost me $365 in Supercharging
Reality: It cost $4,000 just to run the car

This kind of infrequent trip is what unlimited mileage rental cars are for, kids.

With that savings, you're not sleeping in a car like a peasant, you're comfy in a $200/night hotel after racking up those miles each day.

Thanks for this, @A.N. Gineer

I won't dispute the capital cost, but a typical unlimited rental is missing half the features in my Tesla that made this trip so enjoyable, like EAP, awesome stereo, unlimited streaming, super comfy seats... do I need to go on? Rentals aren't Teslas.

Also, I love sleeping in the car, it's super comfy, I prefer it to a generic hotel no matter how many stars. I like stopping when I want, much anywhere I want. That's part of the fun for me. Not for everyone, you can travel differently, to each their own.

 

[jkirkwood001]

I guess you're counting Texas as its own country? Makes sense.

I'm from Canada, remember? But, yeah,

 

[jkirkwood001]

Can't you use your cell phone to provide WiFi to your Tesla when in Mexico? My AT&T iPhone works well there and AT&T doesn't charge me a surcharge for Mexico. Only 3G is SLOW!

Yes, but like I said, my plan was expensive for Mexico. FYI for my American friends, Canada has, for example, way cheaper health care (all-in cost), but some of the most expensive cell plans in the world.

 

[Mikedrives]

I'm from Canada, remember? But, yeah,

Whoops! I was reading about somebody else's trip from Boston at the same time and got my road trip stories mixed up. Compared to Boston, Texas might as well be another country.

 

[Rickford]

Did you say you only ran out of juice once? or did I misread that? Also, you say you usually went 5 mph over the limit. Did you get decent mileage at that speed? Could you go a little faster and be ok. I have it on good authority that going 8 mph over is good in most places. I know it's kind of ridiculous, it's just that at 5 over I still feel like I'm crawling! Thanks for sharing that fantastic trip. Have yet to take a long one but that day is coming!

 

[jkirkwood001]

Did you say you only ran out of juice once? or did I misread that? Also, you say you usually went 5 mph over the limit. Did you get decent mileage at that speed? Could you go a little faster and be ok. I have it on good authority that going 8 mph over is good in most places. I know it's kind of ridiculous, it's just that at 5 over I still feel like I'm crawling! Thanks for sharing that fantastic trip. Have yet to take a long one but that day is coming!

Thanks, @Rickford .

Nope, I never really came close to running out of juice, hence the tongue-in-cheek title. No I think I got down to 6% - 7% a few times. But the car is so good at estimating realistic range, and adapting as you drive, plus there's so many stations in the US, it was never an issue. As for speed, I think I said 5 to 10 MPH over the limit. If it was 65, I cruised at 75. If it was 70, I cruised at 80. Except if the car said "Stay below 75 MPH to reach destination". If I wanted to do a long haul, I obeyed. But sometimes I didn't want to crawl, so I'd speed to a nearer Supercharger and charge up. The Tesla estimate was close to this "speeding" rate. I expected it was estimating under the assumption I kept within the speed limit, but in fact, it is closer to ~7 MPH over for its estimates. This does NOT apply in winter I can tell you, but travelling in the US in September was fine (limited HVAC).

In truth, it wasn't much different than range anxiety in an ICE - both the maximum range of the car compared to my bladder, and the time I would take anyways to stop for a coffee or a meal. The title of my post referred to the fact it was pretty much a non-issue during the trip.

 

[Rocketman123]

(©2019 photos are copyright)

I recently completed a 7,800 mile (12,500 KM) road trip from Eastern Canada, to Mexico, up to California, and home to Ottawa, ON. I haven't heard of many trips like that so thought I'd post - enjoy!

I didn't record a blog for this trip, so I'll just add some notes to give you some highlights:

• I love my Tesla!! (what can I say?) [Model 3 LR dual-motor / AWD, Red, 18" wheels]. This car continues to be a pleasure to drive and live in and explore with.
• AutoPilot drove my car for about 98% of the highway driving. I couldn't have safely driven up to 12 hours / day (avg 8 hours / day) if I didn't use AutoPilot. AutoPilot drove through a raging, nighttime thunderstorm with aplomb while on the busy highway passing Cleveland. It was pretty incredible.
• I drove home in a hurry from San Francisco to Ottawa (comparable to NYC) in just 4 days (2,900 miles / 4,670 KM) - yeah, I kinda wish I'd had more time to stop and meet people and learn more about the places I was passing through.
• I planned to drive west from Monterrey and ferry to Baja California. But then I found out
  1. that our Canadian and US models' LTE doesn't work in Mexico (losing maps was OK, but I was more worried losing "Tesla save me!" if I got a flat tire!)
  2. that it would take 2 extra days travel that I didn't have the luxury of
  3. that my insurance doesn't extend to Mexico. Whoops.
  4. I had to pass through some sketchier regions of the country - I've backpacked through some 45 countries, so I'm comfortable off the beaten path, but not in a beautiful Tesla!
• I did have one accident. While distracted and on AutoPilot, I hit a pylon which smashed my passenger side mirror. It was little consolation that 2 days after I got back, I received v.10 which detects pylons! Oh goody.
• I spent $365 in SuperCharger charges. I used a destination charger at one hotel (but usually those locations were more expensive than a cheaper motel + SuperCharger).
• I brought my single foam mattress, pillow and blankets. I slept in the car saving money 5 nights. Super comfy as I just set the temp and fell asleep under the stars (BTW I'm 6' tall). I would fold the mattress into the trunk during the day. One late night I stopped at a deserted, rural Catholic Church parking lot. At 2 AM I got a loud rap on the window. State troopers asked me to drive several miles down the road to a rest stop. Whoops.
• Highlights included (some shown in my Tesla photos):
  • Nashville, TN
  • Austin, TX
  • SpaceX @ Boca Chica (I also saw Falcon Heavy launch during my springtime road trip to Florida)
  • Crossing into Mexico (Reynosa) without ever being stopped and asked for my passport (what??)
  • Monterrey city and nearby Parque La Huesteca
  • Desert Sunlight Solar farm in the California desert (and the Arizona and New Mexico deserts)
  • Big Sur Highway 1
  • Tesla Fremont factory tour
  • Bonneville Salt Flats

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Great trip! Enjoyed the photos and all the details of your trip. Looks like a very fun and adventurist to take a road trip across the USA.

 

[jkirkwood001]

Great trip! Enjoyed the photos and all the details of your trip. Looks like a very fun and adventurist to take a road trip across the USA.

Thanks, @Rocketman123! It was a blast.

 

[powaking]

Wow what an amazing trip and story to tell. This is definitely something I want to do. Working from home and being able to pretty much do my job from anywhere would give me that freedom to do so but the 3 kiddos keep me from doing just that. I'm the 'get 'em up and off to school' parent which kind of gets in the way of doing such a trip. But for sure one day I will trek across this country and experience what it has to offer.