Our second day’s drive on our trip from Minnesota to Sedona, AZ was from Grand Island, Nebraska to Trinidad, Colorado. It was the most brutal travel day of the trip by far. We traveled for over ten hours, rode a total of 557 miles, and stopped three times along our route.
About three quarters of the way through the drive we encountered some pretty bad storms and a few dust devils. We’ve learned from previous trips through the middle of the U.S. that the weather is usually unpredictable and can be severe.
Full Self Driving handled the heavy rain and wind with ease. However, it was on this leg of the drive that some of the flaws of FSD (v14.2.2.5) revealed themselves. The car violently swerved more than once to avoid tire tracks and dark asphalt patches on the highway. Although the car never left the lane and didn’t put us in danger it was still pretty unnerving.
I’m sure this flaw will be fixed in future FSD updates but the system needs to do better at differentiating between real and perceived hazards. As a believer in the technology I think it’s important these kinks are worked out quickly or else the general public will be more hesitant to trust it.
The car also pulled into the wrong entrance at one of our Supercharging stops. The parking lot was adjacent to the chargers but wasn’t connected. This seemed like more of an error in navigation data than a problem with the Full Self Driving itself. Again, not a huge deal but somewhat of a disappointment when the tech handles a majority of driving tasks so well.
We rolled into Trinidad, CO in the early evening and stayed at a very unique little hotel called The Well Hotel & Taproom. Situated in historical downtown Trinidad, The Well had ample parking, decent food, and good beer. They also had karaoke, which was pretty amusing. Thankfully the singing ceased at 10pm.
The building was built in the 1880s and the owner said it was originally a general store and residence hotel. The hotel rooms themselves still had some of the original 1800’s charm but had been updated with all the modern conveniences. If only those walls could talk I bet they’d have some interesting stories to tell. We even found the town's oldest skating rink on the same street as the hotel.
Charging Costs
The 6 Tesla EV charging stops this day added up to:
$4.64 + $4.78 + $7.34 + $7.66 + $12.98 + $17.96 = $55.36
The last and most expensive charging session was topping off the battery in preparation for the next day's drive. So, in reality, the charging costs for the day's drive was only $37.40.
For comparison, an ICE vehicle getting an average of 40mpgs would have cost us roughly $66.86.
We saved $29.46 in the Tesla Model Y Premium AWD on this day over a gasoline powered car.
Drive Time
The trip would have only taken around 8hrs in a traditional vehicle plus stops for restrooms and food.
In the Tesla it took 9hrs, 15mins. Additional stops (which we would have had to do in the Forester too) and charging a little extra made it more like a 10hr, 20min day of driving.
Again, gasoline wins on drive-time here. The Tesla took about an hour and fifteen minutes longer.
Final Thoughts
I was less fatigued at the end of the day using FSD than I otherwise would have been if I was driving. It was a much more enjoyable experience being able to take in the sights. I'm learning the little bit of extra drive time doesn't bother me much. Being less stressed and fatigued at the end of each day is a decent trade off for an extra hour of drive time. I really appreciated the instant torque and speed of the EV when having to pass semi trucks on two lane highways.
The critical FSD disengagements due to tire marks and asphalt patches were concerning. I know Tesla is trying to get the cars to avoid hazards like potholes and debris on the road but it needs to be fine-tuned.
Stayed tuned for Day 3 of the journey, coming soon!
If you have any questions about road tripping in an EV please drop them in the comments below
Also, if you're considering seeing what the Tesla experience is like for yourself please consider using my referral code for three months of Full Self Driving for free (a $300 value).
All for now. Thanks so much for reading.