Western US Road Trip - 2017 Model X 75D

I'm glad I decided on taking the MX vs our MY. The MX was a pleasure to drive on our Western US road trip with some caveats.

We drove from SoCal to Wester Washington up the I-5. We didn't have any issues on this leg with charging or with the MX being comfortable.

We returned from W. WA via Northern Oregon, Southern Idaho, Utah & Nevada, so this was a longer trip and had more issues. Some stations had stalls which were down and we had to use an EA station once, which only worked on the 3rd try.

The main issues we had were the follows:

1. Phantom braking, when trying to pass trucks (with ACC/Autopilot on). More than a few times it acted like we were going to rear-end the truck in the lane to the right and slammed on the brakes. This was especially frequent when the sun was coming from the front left and reflecting off the trucks.
2. ACC/AP doesn't like it when the right lane merges in. It tries to center the car instead of holding the left line and it caused a couple wild swerves where I had to take control.
3. The HVAC simply couldn't keep up with the heat thru Nevada. It was 109 outside and even with our tinted windows and the AC running at nearly full-tilt the entire time, the cabin temp didn't get under 85F. Thankfully, we brought two battery fans to help as we anticipated this problem.
4. Average efficiency was 361 wH/mile (360 up and 362 back down).
5. When #1 above happened, there was an audible clicking noise coming from the front. I don't normally slam the brakes, but AP sure did.

Overall, it was a good drive and charging rarely was an issue, despite the (fairly) short range of our MX. Average full speed was about 70mph, which is slower than the speed limit in much of the West, however, so I tried to stay behind large trucks which have a lower speed limit, so we wouldn't be run-over by cars and pickup trucks doing 90+ in the fast lane (when the speed limit was 80).

"Tesla Autopilot Engaged in Model X" by Ian Maddox is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Admin note: Image added for Blog Feed thumbnail

 

[Falcon73]

Below is the Tesla-Fi report for the road trip up. And I'm noticing it doesn't jive with the car's 360 wH/mile for the trip up. Maybe that doesn't include HVAC loads?

	16 Drives
Total Miles Driven	1,164.61
Rated Miles Used	1,441.24
Efficiency	80.81 %
Time Driven	20 Hours 22 Minutes
kWh Used	460.72 kWh
Wh/Mile	396 Wh
Cost	$ 57.59
Average Temp	88.04 F

	4 Travel Charges
kWh Added	98.74 kWh
Savings	$ 14.21
Time Charging	16 Hours 58 Minutes

	10 Charges
kWh Added	329.38 kWh
Cost	$ 177.87
Time Charging	5 Hours 29 Minutes

 

[Falcon73]

Here is the return trip going from Lacey, WA thru Northern Oregon, Southern Idaho, Utah, a small part in AZ, NV and back to SoCal. This was much tougher, especially from Mesquite to Las Vegas in an afternoon where the temp didn't go below 105. The highest reading was 113F except for the part right after charging to 87% so that (121F) reading was from residual charging heat. And to think the charger in Mesquite was covered, wow.

	39 Drives
Total Miles Driven	1,700.66
Rated Miles Used	2,139.99
Efficiency	79.47 %
Time Driven	1 Day 5 Hours 40 Minutes
kWh Used	688.22 kWh
Wh/Mile	405 Wh
Cost	$ 86.04
Average Temp	86.51 F

	1 Home Charge
kWh Added	10.75 kWh
Cost	$ 3.34
Time Charging	10 Hours 54 Minutes

	5 Travel Charges
kWh Added	110.10 kWh
Savings	$ 17.16
Time Charging	1 Days 4 Hours 51 Minutes

	22 Charges
kWh Added	523.01 kWh
Cost	$ 282.43
Time Charging	8 Hours 14 Minutes

 

[Falcon73]

Here are details of the Mesquite to Las Vegas leg. I see we passed near a state park, which is very appropriately named the Valley of Fire State Park. Note our average AC fan speed (10). It was on 10 the entire leg. I suppose we could have gone to 11... Despite the below saying the car interior temp was 76 on average it was 85 at head level (where I have a thermometer).

 

[charlesoris]

I'm glad I decided on taking the MX vs our MY. The MX was a pleasure to drive on our Western US road trip with some caveats.

We drove from SoCal to Wester Washington up the I-5. We didn't have any issues on this leg with charging or with the MX being comfortable.

We returned from W. WA via Northern Oregon, Southern Idaho, Utah & Nevada, so this was a longer trip and had more issues. Some stations had stalls which were down and we had to use an EA station once, which only worked on the 3rd try.

The main issues we had were the follows:

1. Phantom braking, when trying to pass trucks (with ACC/Autopilot on). More than a few times it acted like we were going to rear-end the truck in the lane to the right and slammed on the brakes. This was especially frequent when the sun was coming from the front left and reflecting off the trucks.
2. ACC/AP doesn't like it when the right lane merges in. It tries to center the car instead of holding the left line and it caused a couple wild swerves where I had to take control.
3. The HVAC simply couldn't keep up with the heat thru Nevada. It was 109 outside and even with our tinted windows and the AC running at nearly full-tilt the entire time, the cabin temp didn't get under 85F. Thankfully, we brought two battery fans to help as we anticipated this problem.
4. Average efficiency was 361 wH/mile (360 up and 362 back down).
5. When #1 above happened, there was an audible clicking noise coming from the front. I don't normally slam the brakes, but AP sure did.

Overall, it was a good drive and charging rarely was an issue, despite the (fairly) short range of our MX. Average full speed was about 70mph, which is slower than the speed limit in much of the West, however, so I tried to stay behind large trucks which have a lower speed limit, so we wouldn't be run-over by cars and pickup trucks doing 90+ in the fast lane (when the speed limit was 80).

View attachment 959817
"Tesla Autopilot Engaged in Model X" by Ian Maddox is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Admin note: Image added for Blog Feed thumbnail

Thanks for sharing,
The issues you encountered, specifically #1 and #2, have been driving me crazy.
I hope Tesla would change the algorithms to deal with PBs and right-lane merging really soon.

 

[LostVector]

Can the Model Y HVAC really not keep up with 110 F? That's a little scary to me.

 

[jmcdono362]

I'm glad I decided on taking the MX vs our MY. The MX was a pleasure to drive on our Western US road trip with some caveats.

We drove from SoCal to Wester Washington up the I-5. We didn't have any issues on this leg with charging or with the MX being comfortable.

We returned from W. WA via Northern Oregon, Southern Idaho, Utah & Nevada, so this was a longer trip and had more issues. Some stations had stalls which were down and we had to use an EA station once, which only worked on the 3rd try.

The main issues we had were the follows:

1. Phantom braking, when trying to pass trucks (with ACC/Autopilot on). More than a few times it acted like we were going to rear-end the truck in the lane to the right and slammed on the brakes. This was especially frequent when the sun was coming from the front left and reflecting off the trucks.
2. ACC/AP doesn't like it when the right lane merges in. It tries to center the car instead of holding the left line and it caused a couple wild swerves where I had to take control.
3. The HVAC simply couldn't keep up with the heat thru Nevada. It was 109 outside and even with our tinted windows and the AC running at nearly full-tilt the entire time, the cabin temp didn't get under 85F. Thankfully, we brought two battery fans to help as we anticipated this problem.
4. Average efficiency was 361 wH/mile (360 up and 362 back down).
5. When #1 above happened, there was an audible clicking noise coming from the front. I don't normally slam the brakes, but AP sure did.

Overall, it was a good drive and charging rarely was an issue, despite the (fairly) short range of our MX. Average full speed was about 70mph, which is slower than the speed limit in much of the West, however, so I tried to stay behind large trucks which have a lower speed limit, so we wouldn't be run-over by cars and pickup trucks doing 90+ in the fast lane (when the speed limit was 80).

View attachment 959817
"Tesla Autopilot Engaged in Model X" by Ian Maddox is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Admin note: Image added for Blog Feed thumbnail

Check out the main touch screen. Haven't seen an old version like that in years! Which software version are you on?

 

[bmah]

Check out the main touch screen. Haven't seen an old version like that in years! Which software version are you on?

That wasn't part of the original post, it's an unrelated photo added by one of the admins for social media.

Bruce.

 

[Falcon73]

Can the Model Y HVAC really not keep up with 110 F? That's a little scary to me.

Model X in my case. Our MY is an I've box by comparison.

But no our MX can't really keep the cabin temp down below especially when charging on hot road trips.

 

[LostVector]

Model X in my case. Our MY is an I've box by comparison.

But no our MX can't really keep the cabin temp down below especially when charging on hot road trips.

Oh got it, Model X. Good to hear your Model Y does keep up.

Still, that's concerning. I just saw this video from Tesla where they show testing in 122F heat.

Extreme Heat Testing

I wonder if updates over time have made a significant improvements in this area vs your 2017 model year. I'm paying extra attention to this now because of the recent heat waves and the discovery that our Model Y is an amazing place to retreat to with our toddler for a midday nap when we're out for the day. I don't want to be on a long drive or trip with the car stuck at 85F!

 

[thestral999]

My model x 90D 8/2016 6 seater rear w/rear ac build. The AC cools well but once in hundred and up temps it’s hard to keep regulated as in your case. My model y 8/22 build 7 seater seems to do a lot better job even with no ac rear vents. I do keep a fan in back for kids but no issue so far. Both seem reasonable but in the x I’ve had the ac replaced once. Two AC coolant heater replaced and a 3 way valve replaced since got the x used in late 2019. AC seemed to work much better this last trip in June in Texas heat. Had the 3 way valve ac part replaced not too long ago. But it is just crazy hot out in the south.