Just drove down into CA and back home on a road trip with my family of five.
- Drove 1,367mi total.
- Used TESLA Superchargers mostly.
- Average TESLA Supercharger price: $0.40/kWh (MIN: $0.34/kWh | MAX: $0.48/kWh)
NOTE: I pay an average of $0.08353/kWh to charge at home, so paying $0.48/kWh is an abomination!!!
- Longest TESLA Supercharger Charge Time*: 50min (Est.) @ 250kW
- Longest non-Supercharger Charge Time*: 2.5hrs @ 8kW (32A)
- Spent $176.96 total on charging**.
- Total trip cost ICE equivalent (24mpg): $209.15 (Est. @ $3.67/gal)
* Charging sessions where we actively sat and waited, not counting charging passively at the hotel, etc.
** Charged FREE overnight at one hotel and paid a flat $10.00 twice to slow charge at an RV park in BFE.
Takeaways...
We have driven this trip and this specific route many times over the years, and it normally takes about 10.5hrs (in our ICE vehicle @ 24mpg) including stops for fuel and restroom breaks; plus, we lose 1hr going to CA and gain 1hr coming home (due to the time change). Heading to CA in our TESLA Model Y took us 15.5hrs, including time spent charging and restroom breaks, etc. There was substantial range anxiety on the way to CA, especially, because the normal route we would take was beyond the actual range of our TESLA (but not beyond the rated range). Our Model Y is rated at 321mi of range, but our first TESLA Supercharger was 254mi from our home (we left our home with 100% SOC). After much stress, we found an RV park in BFE (about 45min from the first TESLA Supercharger along our route) that allowed us to charge using my NIMA 14-50 TESLA Mobile Connector @ 8kW (32A) for a flat $10.00. Our SOC was very low, so we charged up there to about 15% SOC before heading on to the TESLA Supercharger, but by the time we arrived at that first TESLA Supercharger 45min away, we had -4% SOC. (Not kidding! NEGATIVE 4% SOC!!!) Not only did this stress us out immensely (we thought we weren't going to make it), but I feared that going below 0% may have damaged our battery pack. (It still may have damaged it and we don't even know it!) While at that first TESLA Supercharger along our route, we charged 81kWh in about 35-45min. My Model Y supposedly only has a battery pack that is 78.3kWh, so explain that one to me!
Why didn't you just enter your destination and follow the on-screen GPS and charge accordingly, you ask???? Well, because we always go that route, for one thing. Plus, the route that the car wanted us to follow was going to take us 2hrs in the wrong direction, which made no sense to me. I track my normal TESLA driving efficiency using the TezLab app, so I figured that I should be able to travel the 254mi from a 100% SOC if I go slower (I normally speed, going 10-15mi over the speed limit). I then drove 55mph and 60mph the whole way until our first charge, which seemed to help little or not at all. Tractor trailers were getting mad at me, passing me ASAP along the two lane highway.
Once we were near civilization and were able to use ALL TESLA Superchargers, it was a breeze and wasn't stressful at all, although it definitely added time to our drives. We knew we could charge for $10 at that RV park along our normal route on the way back, so that is what we did. Unfortunately, I did not know that you cannot install a software update while charging (or while driving) the TESLA, so shortly after I began charging @ 8kW (32A) at the RV park, I started the software installation, which promptly cut off my charging session, which fact I did not realize until about 25min into the install, which installation took about 35min total. We made sure to charge up to 100% SOC at that last TESLA Supercharger before heading to that RV park toward home. (This was the first TESLA Supercharger on our way to CA.) We had a 78% SOC when we arrived at the RV park, and we charged up to 95% SOC before heading on for home. We had 3% SOC when we arrived home. It was MUCH less stressful driving and charging on the way home than it was on the way to CA, but it still was not stress-free.
We learned the hard way on the drive home (after seeing the "red steering wheel of death" about 3x) that if you manually exceed the MAX speed TESLA allows for auto-steer (85mph), then that feature will be disabled for the rest of the drive. So, we kept having to pull over while driving on a two-lane highway; put the TESLA in PARK; open the driver door briefly; and then pull back out onto the highway to regain the use of this feature. Maybe I'm spoiled, but driving for hours and hours on a two-lane highway WITHOUT auto-steer sucks! (NOTE: Our HONDA Odyssey has lane keeping, which works well on a road trip, although it is not as good as TESLA's Autopilot.) We also experienced several instances of phantom braking that was most unpleasant. Our HONDA Odyssey has never once done this, and it has adaptive cruise control. It seems like Autopilot gets scared as the TESLA approaches the top of a ridge in the road.
Also, while we love how much storage our Model Y has, it really makes things fairly tight, as some of the rear storage space is deceptive and cannot fully be utilized while allowing the rear lift gate to latch shut. You must leave about a 6-8in gap between where the rear lift gate appears to close and your luggage or cooler, or else the rear lift gate will not close. I also did everything I could to avoid placing stored items on top of the rear shelf, but it could not be avoided on the way home, as we purchased some bags of merchandise. The frunk was fully utilized and so was the lower storage area below the rear cargo space (as well as the rear cargo space).
One other strange thing that occurred is that twice while I was charging at a 250kW TESLA Supercharger, steam or smoke started to rise from the passenger side, seemingly from underneath the hood of the car (under the frunk). This only lasted about 30sec or less, and both times it happened while it was colder and raining outside (maybe 47°F). Because it was wet out, it could have been steam from the thermal realities of Supercharging, or it could have been smoke. There were also a lot of clicks and a few thud noises that occurred while I was Supercharging.
I have estimated (pretty accurately, I might add) that we saved about $32 driving the Model Y on our road trip, as opposed to our ICE minivan that gets 24mpg and is much larger and more comfortable for the passengers. Was it worth it? I am unconvinced, even though I love driving my Model Y. However, my family all said that they wished we had taken the minivan.
I think the main takeaway is that until charging can be done even more quickly than it is today and until fast-charging locations are more prevalent than gas stations are today, then road trips in an EV for periods longer than 4-6hrs are not worth it, IMO. We would normally drive this route with a full tank of gas when leaving home and would have to stop once to fill up along the way, which is also our main potty break and food stop. This would add about 30min to our drive. Until EV's can do likewise, I am not sure that it makes sense to drive an EV on such a long road trip instead of an ICE vehicle. We hope to get a CyberTruck soon, but no one really knows how large and comfortable (or not) that EV will be. TESLA doesn't really make any large/r sized vehicles. The Model X is smaller than our HONDA Odyssey, which minivan is reasonably comfortable on a long road trip. (We drove it about 5,000mi on a 2.5wk road trip last summer and we were decently comfortable.) I could not imagine driving our Model Y on the same 5,000mi road trip. Also, I am utterly disappointed with the lack of savings from charging while driving our TESLA Model Y on road trips. My home electricity price per kWh is amazing, but I think it's ridiculous that I should have to pay 5x that price OR MORE to charge up on a road trip. That's the whole point of owning an EV! I've already paid damn near double to purchase this vehicle, so I should be getting more savings over ICE than a mere 15% at the Superchargers! (NOTE: My state also charges an additional $154 per year for my TESLA auto registration because it's an EV and I don't pay the fuel tax.)
"Tesla Model Y Dual Motor Solid Black (1)" by Damian B Oh is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Admin note: Image added for Blog Feed thumbnail
- Drove 1,367mi total.
- Used TESLA Superchargers mostly.
- Average TESLA Supercharger price: $0.40/kWh (MIN: $0.34/kWh | MAX: $0.48/kWh)
NOTE: I pay an average of $0.08353/kWh to charge at home, so paying $0.48/kWh is an abomination!!!
- Longest TESLA Supercharger Charge Time*: 50min (Est.) @ 250kW
- Longest non-Supercharger Charge Time*: 2.5hrs @ 8kW (32A)
- Spent $176.96 total on charging**.
- Total trip cost ICE equivalent (24mpg): $209.15 (Est. @ $3.67/gal)
* Charging sessions where we actively sat and waited, not counting charging passively at the hotel, etc.
** Charged FREE overnight at one hotel and paid a flat $10.00 twice to slow charge at an RV park in BFE.
Takeaways...
We have driven this trip and this specific route many times over the years, and it normally takes about 10.5hrs (in our ICE vehicle @ 24mpg) including stops for fuel and restroom breaks; plus, we lose 1hr going to CA and gain 1hr coming home (due to the time change). Heading to CA in our TESLA Model Y took us 15.5hrs, including time spent charging and restroom breaks, etc. There was substantial range anxiety on the way to CA, especially, because the normal route we would take was beyond the actual range of our TESLA (but not beyond the rated range). Our Model Y is rated at 321mi of range, but our first TESLA Supercharger was 254mi from our home (we left our home with 100% SOC). After much stress, we found an RV park in BFE (about 45min from the first TESLA Supercharger along our route) that allowed us to charge using my NIMA 14-50 TESLA Mobile Connector @ 8kW (32A) for a flat $10.00. Our SOC was very low, so we charged up there to about 15% SOC before heading on to the TESLA Supercharger, but by the time we arrived at that first TESLA Supercharger 45min away, we had -4% SOC. (Not kidding! NEGATIVE 4% SOC!!!) Not only did this stress us out immensely (we thought we weren't going to make it), but I feared that going below 0% may have damaged our battery pack. (It still may have damaged it and we don't even know it!) While at that first TESLA Supercharger along our route, we charged 81kWh in about 35-45min. My Model Y supposedly only has a battery pack that is 78.3kWh, so explain that one to me!
Why didn't you just enter your destination and follow the on-screen GPS and charge accordingly, you ask???? Well, because we always go that route, for one thing. Plus, the route that the car wanted us to follow was going to take us 2hrs in the wrong direction, which made no sense to me. I track my normal TESLA driving efficiency using the TezLab app, so I figured that I should be able to travel the 254mi from a 100% SOC if I go slower (I normally speed, going 10-15mi over the speed limit). I then drove 55mph and 60mph the whole way until our first charge, which seemed to help little or not at all. Tractor trailers were getting mad at me, passing me ASAP along the two lane highway.
Once we were near civilization and were able to use ALL TESLA Superchargers, it was a breeze and wasn't stressful at all, although it definitely added time to our drives. We knew we could charge for $10 at that RV park along our normal route on the way back, so that is what we did. Unfortunately, I did not know that you cannot install a software update while charging (or while driving) the TESLA, so shortly after I began charging @ 8kW (32A) at the RV park, I started the software installation, which promptly cut off my charging session, which fact I did not realize until about 25min into the install, which installation took about 35min total. We made sure to charge up to 100% SOC at that last TESLA Supercharger before heading to that RV park toward home. (This was the first TESLA Supercharger on our way to CA.) We had a 78% SOC when we arrived at the RV park, and we charged up to 95% SOC before heading on for home. We had 3% SOC when we arrived home. It was MUCH less stressful driving and charging on the way home than it was on the way to CA, but it still was not stress-free.
We learned the hard way on the drive home (after seeing the "red steering wheel of death" about 3x) that if you manually exceed the MAX speed TESLA allows for auto-steer (85mph), then that feature will be disabled for the rest of the drive. So, we kept having to pull over while driving on a two-lane highway; put the TESLA in PARK; open the driver door briefly; and then pull back out onto the highway to regain the use of this feature. Maybe I'm spoiled, but driving for hours and hours on a two-lane highway WITHOUT auto-steer sucks! (NOTE: Our HONDA Odyssey has lane keeping, which works well on a road trip, although it is not as good as TESLA's Autopilot.) We also experienced several instances of phantom braking that was most unpleasant. Our HONDA Odyssey has never once done this, and it has adaptive cruise control. It seems like Autopilot gets scared as the TESLA approaches the top of a ridge in the road.
Also, while we love how much storage our Model Y has, it really makes things fairly tight, as some of the rear storage space is deceptive and cannot fully be utilized while allowing the rear lift gate to latch shut. You must leave about a 6-8in gap between where the rear lift gate appears to close and your luggage or cooler, or else the rear lift gate will not close. I also did everything I could to avoid placing stored items on top of the rear shelf, but it could not be avoided on the way home, as we purchased some bags of merchandise. The frunk was fully utilized and so was the lower storage area below the rear cargo space (as well as the rear cargo space).
One other strange thing that occurred is that twice while I was charging at a 250kW TESLA Supercharger, steam or smoke started to rise from the passenger side, seemingly from underneath the hood of the car (under the frunk). This only lasted about 30sec or less, and both times it happened while it was colder and raining outside (maybe 47°F). Because it was wet out, it could have been steam from the thermal realities of Supercharging, or it could have been smoke. There were also a lot of clicks and a few thud noises that occurred while I was Supercharging.
I have estimated (pretty accurately, I might add) that we saved about $32 driving the Model Y on our road trip, as opposed to our ICE minivan that gets 24mpg and is much larger and more comfortable for the passengers. Was it worth it? I am unconvinced, even though I love driving my Model Y. However, my family all said that they wished we had taken the minivan.
I think the main takeaway is that until charging can be done even more quickly than it is today and until fast-charging locations are more prevalent than gas stations are today, then road trips in an EV for periods longer than 4-6hrs are not worth it, IMO. We would normally drive this route with a full tank of gas when leaving home and would have to stop once to fill up along the way, which is also our main potty break and food stop. This would add about 30min to our drive. Until EV's can do likewise, I am not sure that it makes sense to drive an EV on such a long road trip instead of an ICE vehicle. We hope to get a CyberTruck soon, but no one really knows how large and comfortable (or not) that EV will be. TESLA doesn't really make any large/r sized vehicles. The Model X is smaller than our HONDA Odyssey, which minivan is reasonably comfortable on a long road trip. (We drove it about 5,000mi on a 2.5wk road trip last summer and we were decently comfortable.) I could not imagine driving our Model Y on the same 5,000mi road trip. Also, I am utterly disappointed with the lack of savings from charging while driving our TESLA Model Y on road trips. My home electricity price per kWh is amazing, but I think it's ridiculous that I should have to pay 5x that price OR MORE to charge up on a road trip. That's the whole point of owning an EV! I've already paid damn near double to purchase this vehicle, so I should be getting more savings over ICE than a mere 15% at the Superchargers! (NOTE: My state also charges an additional $154 per year for my TESLA auto registration because it's an EV and I don't pay the fuel tax.)
"Tesla Model Y Dual Motor Solid Black (1)" by Damian B Oh is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Admin note: Image added for Blog Feed thumbnail
. I don't have a travel charger, but to eliminate the anxiety I did think about purchasing a CCS charger so I can charge 
.
