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The Tesla Model 3 is very capable of long road trips, especially in the summer, with a range of 500km or more. The only exception would be if you’re driving in

The Tesla Model 3 is very capable of long road trips, especially in the summer, with a range of 500km or more. The only exception would be if you’re driving in very remote areas with no charging infrastructure, but that almost doesn’t exist any more in Western Europe. The Tesla Supercharger network, combined with its ability to charge on CCS charging networks like Ionity, make it uniquely suited to long distance travel. And it will only get better over time as more, and faster, charging stations are deployed. (The Model 3 is capable of up to 250kW charging - twice the speed of what most of the current Superchargers can do).

dsfyu404ed 8y ago
You can drive a manual in stop and go traffic (and I don't mean that suburban sprawl "run through the gears between each stop light" type of stop and go you get in some places, I mean like going 10-30ft at a time between stops). That doesn't make it not obviously worse for the task than an automatic. The extra cognitive load of having to worry about range and where you're going to charge is a pain in the butt that most people will opt out of, all else being close to equal.
- maccio92 8y ago
  In the tesla's, if you input your route into the car's gps, it'll automatically route you to charging stations as needed
- Ntrails 8y ago
  > You can drive a manual in stop and go traffic. That doesn't make it not obviously worse for the task than an automatic. It's weird, I've never actually thought of changing gear as a hassle or something that makes driving un-fun. Stop and go traffic is a game, where the goal is to not brake. Gears give me an additional way to achieve that goal. For me it's way more engaging and helps me pay more attention to the road...
  - swozey 8y ago
    Have you driven a motorcycle or a high horsepower car with a stiff clutch in stop and go traffic? I developed leg problems from my Cobra a decade ago. Sitting in traffic was absolutely miserable. Same with bikes, except there you're also covered in sweat the entire time so it's even less pleasant. My DCT BMW was also annoying in stop and go traffic and I didn't even have to manipulate the gears. I still find shifting to be fun, I mostly drove my BMW in manual DCT mode (dual clutch). But in traffic? I don't want to go near a manual.
    - i_am_proteus 8y ago
      If you're on a motorcycle in stop-and-go traffic, just keep it in second gear and lane split. Even if it's not legal. If you're in clogged traffic, They can't get you, and you'll see the fuzz before they see you since you'll be overtaking.
      - swozey 8y ago
        That isn't about the fuzz. People who live in States/Cities (everywhere but CA, right?) where lane splitting is illegal aren't used to lane splitting. They aren't sitting in their cars watching out for bikers and they'll make abrupt lane changes without even looking for you. That's incredibly dangerous. I moved from FL (lane splitting is illegal but people seem used to it) to TX (no splitting) and doing that is a death wish here. Obviously you know your areas driving culture better than me but there's definitely places I wouldn't do that. Hell you'll probably just piss off people in TX and they'll run you over out of spite. Territorial drivers.
        i_am_proteus 8y ago
        I've approached the practice with caution every time I've moved. I'm currently in California, and drivers here are more accepting of the practice due to legality, but for every three drivers who move over to give me more room, there's one who's texting and swerving.
        jnicholasp 8y ago
- Reason077 8y ago
  Charging is really not much of a “cognitive load” in my experience. The navigation system can plan it for you, suggesting exactly where you should charge and how long it’ll take. As for extra time spent charging? I guess there are those out there who really do drive more than 4-5 hours at once without stopping for a meal, stretch, toilet break, etc. But surely they’re a tiny minority.
  - dsfyu404ed 8y ago
    Do you really always stop for your meal break somewhere there's a supercharger? A meal and a charger are not located in the same place for most people most of the time.
    - Reason077 8y ago
      Right now you might be planning stops according to where there’s a supercharger. But charging networks are expanding all the time. This is especially in Europe, where in a Model 3, you also have the choice of using competing CCS charging networks like Ionity.
- prolepunk 8y ago
  I object to that! Whenever I get stuck in traffic going uphill, my left leg gets a good workout.
- natch 8y ago
  If cognitive load is what you care about, you should try autopilot’s cruise control with distance keeping. Stress erased from driving and cognitive load lifted almost completely. The win from this overcomes any cognitive load from thinking about charging by a factor of 100 or more in my experience. Most people are blown away by this when they get it. Of course it’s not unique to Tesla but it’s a big benefit.
  - patejam 8y ago
    You mean the cruise control that's already killed people? The cognitive load of not trusting cars around you is now increased by having to worry about not trusting your own car. That's crazy to me. I'm pretty convinced most stress caused by driving is just people driving way too aggressively.
    - bdamm 8y ago
      The conversation was about using AP in very heavy traffic, which has killed nobody. > I'm pretty convinced most stress caused by driving is just people driving way too aggressively. In my experience it is much more stressful to be on the lookout for drivers that just aren't paying attention. They exhibit no bad behavior until the poorly timed lane change, missed light, etc.
    - keldaris 8y ago
      > I'm pretty convinced most stress caused by driving is just people driving way too aggressively. In my experience, the exact opposite seems to be the case. Aggressive drivers tend to move with a purpose, pay attention and react logically (even if recklessly) to events on the road. By contrast, the bored people zoning out while driving, the people stuck on their phones or just clogging up the fast lane while driving under the speed limit are unpredictable (and when they do wake up, they tend to panic) and cause problems all around themselves as everyone else is forced to adjust. People who can't be bothered to care about driving while doing it are much worse than people who care too much.
      - patejam 8y ago
- cogman10 8y ago
  Having just done a 1000 mile (1600km) road trip through Oregon, it wasn't really that big of a hassle. I told my car where I wanted to go, the tesla routing software put down pins on where to charge and told me how long to charge. That was it. If anything, planning for gas stops is much more of a burden, because usually as you are driving, once you get to ~1/4 full you are thinking to yourself "Ok, where can I stop to get gas? Is there a place close enough? Which stations have the best price?" With this, all of that cognitive load was gone and handled for me by a smart routing computer.
  - dexterdog 8y ago
    If you are on a highway with 1/4 tank you are likely to have a number of options before you get close to running out an you can be taking just about any route you want. With a supercharger dependency you are highly limited.
    - vsl 8y ago
      See your sibling comment.
      - dexterdog 8y ago
        What does that have to do with chargers? There are less chargers than gas stations.
  - Zanni 8y ago
    I had this exact problem in my gas-powered rental car recently, driving between Vegas and LA. The gas stations along the 15 were hectic, and I was planning to turn off onto a more scenic route which, I imagined, would have low-key, low-traffic gas stations. Surprise--there wasn't a gas station for over 100 miles! Double surprise--there was no cell reception either!
leejo 8y ago
I just checked a couple of the routes I have planned for this year, and there are supercharger points sufficiently close on them. They would add minor detours or alternative routes - for example heading to northern England would require taking the M1 rather than the A1, but it seems do-able. Maybe in a couple of years if I trade in my current car...
sailfast 8y ago
For a Model 3 even with readily available charging that still means ~1 hour waiting on a supercharger per charge, and you've gotta do that 2-3x to get from, say, Amsterdam to Kitzbuhel for a skiing road trip. Figure 15 Euro minimum to use the charger during that time? (I'm using range numbers and charging costs available on the web to run this calculation) I know it's _possible_ to get somewhere without range anxiety but 20% added time plus 30-45 Euro for the privilege to do that is a serious downside. If you only do this a couple times a year and the rest of your driving is local then this makes sense, but I don't know that for regular long-range drivers this argument works.
- govg 8y ago
  I think the idea is that you use the superchargers as part of a meal stop that you would make with an ordinary car anyway. If you stop every X km with a regular car for breaks, and Tesla's network ensures you can always find a supercharger in these steps, you can stop, eat / refresh yourself and by the time you're done your car will be ready to make the next leg.
  - dsfyu404ed 8y ago
    When was the last time you saw a supercharger in a fast food or restaurant parking lot? I live in a part of the Northeast where Teslas are very popular but I haven't seen one.
    - Domenic_S 8y ago
      From memory - SLO, CA: Madonna Inn Atascadero, CA: Denny's parking lot, across the street from a sandwich shop, 5 minute walk from more Gilroy, CA: spitting distance of in-n-out, more in the same lot San Jose, CA: big shopping center with BJ's, Chili's, panda express, etc Someplace on the 5 between Kettleman city and LA: Subway parking lot This is literally just from memory of the ones where I've been. Perhaps it's worse in other parts of the country?
    - willglynn 8y ago
      On a drive from Chicago to Minneapolis: * Rockford IL is in the parking lot of a shopping mall with restaurants at the perimeter. * Madison WI (1) is in the parking lot of a shopping mall with restaurants at the perimeter. * Madison WI (2) is in the parking lot of a grocery store. * Mauston WI is in the back of a Culver's adjacent to a McDonald's. * Eau Claire WI is in the back of a commercial strip with a Panera Bread and… a noodle place?, with more restaurants across the street. * Oakdale MN is in the parking lot of a grocery store. Literally every stop I could make sells food.

dsfyu404ed 8y ago

You can drive a manual in stop and go traffic (and I don't mean that suburban sprawl "run through the gears between each stop light" type of stop and go you get in some places, I mean like going 10-30ft at a time between stops). That doesn't make it not obviously worse for the task than an automatic. The extra cognitive load of having to worry about range and where you're going to charge is a pain in the butt that most people will opt out of, all else being close to equal.

maccio92 8y ago
In the tesla's, if you input your route into the car's gps, it'll automatically route you to charging stations as needed
Ntrails 8y ago
> You can drive a manual in stop and go traffic. That doesn't make it not obviously worse for the task than an automatic. It's weird, I've never actually thought of changing gear as a hassle or something that makes driving un-fun. Stop and go traffic is a game, where the goal is to not brake. Gears give me an additional way to achieve that goal. For me it's way more engaging and helps me pay more attention to the road...
- swozey 8y ago
  Have you driven a motorcycle or a high horsepower car with a stiff clutch in stop and go traffic? I developed leg problems from my Cobra a decade ago. Sitting in traffic was absolutely miserable. Same with bikes, except there you're also covered in sweat the entire time so it's even less pleasant. My DCT BMW was also annoying in stop and go traffic and I didn't even have to manipulate the gears. I still find shifting to be fun, I mostly drove my BMW in manual DCT mode (dual clutch). But in traffic? I don't want to go near a manual.
  - i_am_proteus 8y ago
    If you're on a motorcycle in stop-and-go traffic, just keep it in second gear and lane split. Even if it's not legal. If you're in clogged traffic, They can't get you, and you'll see the fuzz before they see you since you'll be overtaking.
    - swozey 8y ago
      That isn't about the fuzz. People who live in States/Cities (everywhere but CA, right?) where lane splitting is illegal aren't used to lane splitting. They aren't sitting in their cars watching out for bikers and they'll make abrupt lane changes without even looking for you. That's incredibly dangerous. I moved from FL (lane splitting is illegal but people seem used to it) to TX (no splitting) and doing that is a death wish here. Obviously you know your areas driving culture better than me but there's definitely places I wouldn't do that. Hell you'll probably just piss off people in TX and they'll run you over out of spite. Territorial drivers.
      - i_am_proteus 8y ago
        I've approached the practice with caution every time I've moved. I'm currently in California, and drivers here are more accepting of the practice due to legality, but for every three drivers who move over to give me more room, there's one who's texting and swerving.
      - jnicholasp 8y ago
Reason077 8y ago
Charging is really not much of a “cognitive load” in my experience. The navigation system can plan it for you, suggesting exactly where you should charge and how long it’ll take. As for extra time spent charging? I guess there are those out there who really do drive more than 4-5 hours at once without stopping for a meal, stretch, toilet break, etc. But surely they’re a tiny minority.
- dsfyu404ed 8y ago
  Do you really always stop for your meal break somewhere there's a supercharger? A meal and a charger are not located in the same place for most people most of the time.
  - Reason077 8y ago
    Right now you might be planning stops according to where there’s a supercharger. But charging networks are expanding all the time. This is especially in Europe, where in a Model 3, you also have the choice of using competing CCS charging networks like Ionity.
prolepunk 8y ago
I object to that! Whenever I get stuck in traffic going uphill, my left leg gets a good workout.
natch 8y ago
If cognitive load is what you care about, you should try autopilot’s cruise control with distance keeping. Stress erased from driving and cognitive load lifted almost completely. The win from this overcomes any cognitive load from thinking about charging by a factor of 100 or more in my experience. Most people are blown away by this when they get it. Of course it’s not unique to Tesla but it’s a big benefit.
- patejam 8y ago
  You mean the cruise control that's already killed people? The cognitive load of not trusting cars around you is now increased by having to worry about not trusting your own car. That's crazy to me. I'm pretty convinced most stress caused by driving is just people driving way too aggressively.
  - bdamm 8y ago
    The conversation was about using AP in very heavy traffic, which has killed nobody. > I'm pretty convinced most stress caused by driving is just people driving way too aggressively. In my experience it is much more stressful to be on the lookout for drivers that just aren't paying attention. They exhibit no bad behavior until the poorly timed lane change, missed light, etc.
  - keldaris 8y ago
    > I'm pretty convinced most stress caused by driving is just people driving way too aggressively. In my experience, the exact opposite seems to be the case. Aggressive drivers tend to move with a purpose, pay attention and react logically (even if recklessly) to events on the road. By contrast, the bored people zoning out while driving, the people stuck on their phones or just clogging up the fast lane while driving under the speed limit are unpredictable (and when they do wake up, they tend to panic) and cause problems all around themselves as everyone else is forced to adjust. People who can't be bothered to care about driving while doing it are much worse than people who care too much.
    - patejam 8y ago
cogman10 8y ago
Having just done a 1000 mile (1600km) road trip through Oregon, it wasn't really that big of a hassle. I told my car where I wanted to go, the tesla routing software put down pins on where to charge and told me how long to charge. That was it. If anything, planning for gas stops is much more of a burden, because usually as you are driving, once you get to ~1/4 full you are thinking to yourself "Ok, where can I stop to get gas? Is there a place close enough? Which stations have the best price?" With this, all of that cognitive load was gone and handled for me by a smart routing computer.
- dexterdog 8y ago
  If you are on a highway with 1/4 tank you are likely to have a number of options before you get close to running out an you can be taking just about any route you want. With a supercharger dependency you are highly limited.
  - vsl 8y ago
    See your sibling comment.
    - dexterdog 8y ago
      What does that have to do with chargers? There are less chargers than gas stations.
- Zanni 8y ago
  I had this exact problem in my gas-powered rental car recently, driving between Vegas and LA. The gas stations along the 15 were hectic, and I was planning to turn off onto a more scenic route which, I imagined, would have low-key, low-traffic gas stations. Surprise--there wasn't a gas station for over 100 miles! Double surprise--there was no cell reception either!

leejo 8y ago

I just checked a couple of the routes I have planned for this year, and there are supercharger points sufficiently close on them. They would add minor detours or alternative routes - for example heading to northern England would require taking the M1 rather than the A1, but it seems do-able. Maybe in a couple of years if I trade in my current car...

sailfast 8y ago

For a Model 3 even with readily available charging that still means ~1 hour waiting on a supercharger per charge, and you've gotta do that 2-3x to get from, say, Amsterdam to Kitzbuhel for a skiing road trip. Figure 15 Euro minimum to use the charger during that time? (I'm using range numbers and charging costs available on the web to run this calculation) I know it's _possible_ to get somewhere without range anxiety but 20% added time plus 30-45 Euro for the privilege to do that is a serious downside. If you only do this a couple times a year and the rest of your driving is local then this makes sense, but I don't know that for regular long-range drivers this argument works.

govg 8y ago
I think the idea is that you use the superchargers as part of a meal stop that you would make with an ordinary car anyway. If you stop every X km with a regular car for breaks, and Tesla's network ensures you can always find a supercharger in these steps, you can stop, eat / refresh yourself and by the time you're done your car will be ready to make the next leg.
- dsfyu404ed 8y ago
  When was the last time you saw a supercharger in a fast food or restaurant parking lot? I live in a part of the Northeast where Teslas are very popular but I haven't seen one.
  - Domenic_S 8y ago
    From memory - SLO, CA: Madonna Inn Atascadero, CA: Denny's parking lot, across the street from a sandwich shop, 5 minute walk from more Gilroy, CA: spitting distance of in-n-out, more in the same lot San Jose, CA: big shopping center with BJ's, Chili's, panda express, etc Someplace on the 5 between Kettleman city and LA: Subway parking lot This is literally just from memory of the ones where I've been. Perhaps it's worse in other parts of the country?
  - willglynn 8y ago
    On a drive from Chicago to Minneapolis: * Rockford IL is in the parking lot of a shopping mall with restaurants at the perimeter. * Madison WI (1) is in the parking lot of a shopping mall with restaurants at the perimeter. * Madison WI (2) is in the parking lot of a grocery store. * Mauston WI is in the back of a Culver's adjacent to a McDonald's. * Eau Claire WI is in the back of a commercial strip with a Panera Bread and… a noodle place?, with more restaurants across the street. * Oakdale MN is in the parking lot of a grocery store. Literally every stop I could make sells food.