Trip report

We bought the Standard Range Plus Model 3 (SRM3+) in anticipation of doing +700 mile cross country trips. So I planned a trip from Huntsville to Memphis SuperCharger; RV park in Tunica MS; Tupelo SuperCharger, and; Huntsville home. Instead this was my ~13 hour route:





Highlights of the trip:

• AutoPilot with Autosteer works - normally a 13 hour trip would be pretty exhausting but other than needing a nap, this was OK.
• Autosteer keeps me alert - it seems the right hand lane marker or curb, especially when it seems to curve away can lead to the car trying to 'split the difference' right at the ditch. It is easy to override the steering but it happens within a second or so stay alert. We also had another random, lane change abort. Using the turn signal to get the car to change lanes to the left, it just goes over the left line and then 'retreats' back into the original lane. The surprise is worse than the actual driving event.
• Better destination planning - the Hollywood casino has an RV park where I was planning to take a nap and get a NEMA 14-50 charge to reach Tupelo. But due to a front desk delay, I decided to try their craps table ... their ONLY table had closed up at 11PM and I don't go to a casino to play a craps video game. A security guard recommended another casino, Horseshoe, ~5 miles way, so I checked it out and paid $4 for an hour of craps table fun. I started to drive back to the RV casino and realized "I'm not really that tired" and drove back to the Memphis Supercharger.
• Cat nap at the charger - after 'watering the shrubbery' (NOTE: always visit bathroom before charging!) I let the seat back and took a brief nap while charging. I used both 5-10% pad on the battery before heading to my next destination. I did run low on the last leg which I resolve by taking slower, county roads and more direct route.
• Arrived with 17 mi indicated on the battery - used this to measure the battery charge.

• 54.88 kW - JuiceBox charge
• 15 mi residual range * 219 Wh/mi = 3.29 kWh - from car display
• ~58.17 kWh best guess of usable battery capacity

Bob Wilson

ps. Video of the lane change and right-hand lane marker and curb:

 

They call it "EAP Autopilot" and it costs more with a lot of promised improvements ... that are not here today. I would rather buy TSLA stock.

Bob Wilson

 

I forgot to include the trip costs:

• Memphis, TN Supercharge $5.56
• Memphis, TN Supercharger $1.50
• Tupelo, MS Supercharge $5.47
• Huntsville AL recharge $5.00

Total: $17.53 for 537 miles, ~= $0.0345/mile
$3.45 / 100 mile

I can live with that.

Bob Wilson

 

This 2h 35m YouTube has the technical details:

Although all Tesla cars made today (the Model 3 as of 10 days ago) have the new hardware, development continues. IMHO, I prefer to wait until more refined versions are available perhaps in year or so.

Bob Wilson

 

Back of envelope electricity cost:

• $0.10/kWh - home rate
• $0.20/kWh - SuperCharger rate on recent trip
• 219 Wh/mi or 4.5 mi/kWh

Bob Wilson

 

Source: https://www.tesla.com/teslaaccount/own/upgrades.html?vin=NVlKM0UxRUExS0YyOTkyMzQ

Full Self Driving Capability

• - Navigate on Autopilot: automatic driving from highway on-ramp to off-ramp including interchanges and overtaking slower cars.
• - Autopark: both parallel and perpendicular spaces.
• - Summon: your parked car will come find you anywhere in a parking lot. Really.

Coming later this year:

• - Recognize and respond to traffic lights and stop signs.
• - Automatic driving on city streets

Note: Autopilot is required for the purchase of Full Self Driving Capability

Buy for $7,000​

Source: Tesla will increase Full Self-Driving option price 'substantially' on May 1 - Electrek

Tesla is about to increase the price of its Full Self-Driving option ‘substantially’ on May 1 right after the company will demonstrate its latest autonomous driving capability at an event at the end of the month.​

Bob Wilson

​

 

2019.8.5 3aaa23d

It is lane change initiated by pushing the turn signal on ... not holding. When the lane change completes, the car turns off the turn signal.
Bob Wilson

 

Bob Wilson