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Within the article, I describe what I realized about Tesla Supercharging, Tesla Autopilot & Full Self Driving, fuel station meals, the healthcare system within the US, and my preliminary impressions of Seattle. A number of months in the past, my son determined to maneuver from Florida (the place he has lived his entire life) to Seattle. I discussed that’s about as far-off from Florida as you may get within the continental US, and he replied “that’s type of the purpose.” I don’t know if he’ll like Seattle (extra about that later), however I feel it’s good to depart the realm you grew up in, as a result of it helps you mature and higher perceive totally different regional views. I moved from Minnesota to Florida at an identical age 30 years in the past and it is a vital a part of my life expertise.
I’m utilizing the time period “cannonball” in a common sense to explain a protracted journey throughout the nation. We didn’t drive 24 hours a day like in an actual “cannonball” run; we stopped to sleep at resorts/motels. The automotive was stuffed with my son’s belongings. In any other case, we might have simply slept within the again as I described on this article. Though, a Mannequin 3 is far much less comfy to sleep in (particularly for 2 individuals) than the bigger Mannequin Y.
Autopilot & Full Self Driving
My son drove on Tesla Full Self Driving (FSD), whereas my profile was set to make use of Navigate on Autopilot (NOA). I discovered I choose Navigate on Autopilot for driving on interstates as a result of it doesn’t change lanes with out warning (which occurs with FSD even in case you have it set to “minimal lane modifications”). I feel it additionally may nag you much less, however I’m unsure about that.
I admire all of the truck drivers who carry me all my meals and different items, however they do clog up the interstates, and I discovered that about 2% of the time they’d confuse NOA/FSD into slowing down from 80 mph to 50 mph (referred to as “phantom braking”). It’d even brake extra extraordinarily than that, however I don’t let it proceed as a result of going slower than 50 mph on the interstate is kind of harmful.
5 months since my final article on this, FSD has made little progress, vindicating my prediction that FSD is years away from working as a stage 5 driver. I do know — now the optimists all assume V12 will clear up all the issues that 5+ years of improvement have been unable to unravel. I feel that’s doable, however over 30 years of software program improvement expertise tells me a radical rewrite of software program regresses in operate 99% of the time and often take years to get to the extent of operate because the earlier structure. The optimists inform me my 30 years of expertise imply nothing as a result of synthetic intelligence (AI) works in another way, and they’re partially right. It does work in another way. I’ve been very impressed with the beautiful progress with each giant language fashions (LLM) and film and video era in a really quick time frame. After all, I’m impressed with the flexibility of computer systems to play chess and Go. However I haven’t been impressed with the progress of FSD. I maintain an open thoughts and positively hope that FSD begins to progress on the excessive price of pace LLMs have been progressing at, however we gained’t know till extra individuals get V12 and see the way it advances.
Having stated all of that, NOA/FSD was nice for this journey (in comparison with cruise management), and it meant I might drive longer distances with much less fatigue. I actually refuse to drive greater than 50 miles now with out some type of Autopilot or lane centering and visitors conscious cruise management (TACC). It’s simply too tiring for me (possibly I’m simply getting previous, lazy, and spoiled).
Supercharging
A lot has been written about how dependable Tesla Superchargers are in comparison with different quick chargers, together with this nice current article by my pal Steve Hanley. The chargers have been 100% dependable in my expertise, and I used to be stunned what number of had been upgraded from 150 kW (Gen 2) to 250 kW (Gen 3). I travelled in early December (which isn’t round any massive holidays within the US), so the chargers have been by no means greater than 50% used. This considerably reduces charging time for those who arrive on the charger with a low state of cost (under 30% or so), possibly saving you 10 or quarter-hour.
We determined we have been going for pace greater than effectivity, so we tried to go about 75 or 80 mph throughout a lot of the journey (slowing down primarily based on pace limits and climate, after all). I’ve been driving electrical for 12 years (principally round Tampa), so I knew that though my son’s 5-year-old Tesla has had very low battery degradation (can usually stand up to 295 miles of vary), going this quick it wouldn’t get anyplace close to 295 miles per cost. As well as, I knew that it wasn’t time environment friendly to cost the automotive larger than 80% (~235 miles), for the reason that charging price is then dramatically slower. I additionally knew that we didn’t wish to get under 5% (15 miles), since we could be stranded if we made a improper flip in an unfamiliar space. So, doing that match, we had 235 miles minus 15 miles or 220 miles of vary to make use of on every 20-minute cost (we choose to cost 5% to 80% at a 250 kW charger).
We discovered that with 220 miles of vary, we might might go about 150 miles safely, which is about 2 hours of driving. Even with Tesla’s wonderful driver help, that’s about so long as I wish to drive with no quick break. So, all is nice? Not precisely.
Through the drive within the western United States, the chargers have been much less frequent and often 50 or 80 miles aside. Now, you could assume that’s fantastic —I’ve 295 miles of vary, why do I care that the chargers are spaced out a bit? All of it turned apparent on a stretch of street in rural Kansas and jap Colorado. With temperatures of about 30 levels Fahrenheit, or minus 1 diploma Celsius (so, the battery utilizing some energy to maintain heat and precondition for quicker charging, plus some energy to maintain us heat), a 20 mph headwind, and gaining important elevation, I observed the automotive had about 165 miles of vary but didn’t count on I might make it to a Supercharger solely 115 miles away. So, I discovered when the chargers are spaced out (like they’re in elements of rural America), I discovered we needed to cost to 90% or 100%, which meant we might cost an hour to drive 90 minutes, a a lot totally different scenario to charging 20 minutes to drive 2 hours! I count on Tesla will proceed to roll out chargers at an extremely quick tempo, particularly now that the corporate is anticipating rather more use since everybody however Stellantis has adopted the NACS customary plug.
I refuse to even think about using a non-Tesla quick charger, for the reason that reliability is thought to be so low, however I’ll give them an opportunity if I hear issues have improved. It additionally doesn’t harm that I get free Supercharging from referral credit (thanks, CleanTechnica readers, for utilizing my referral code).
Whereas in Denver, I took a detour into the emergency division when my grandson received a nasty case of the flu and received very dehydrated. The US healthcare system could also be a monetary mess, but it surely did a great job of getting him hydrated, so he was capable of get well.
I initially complained that this station was 4 miles off the interstate, but it surely was such an amazing cease (with nice meals choices, together with a Hawaiian restaurant) that it was nicely well worth the small detour.
On the West Coast, we observed that many occasions the restrooms listed by the automotive’s software program as obtainable to be used have been both closed at evening or had an indication saying “for purchasers solely.” We discovered these indicators solely on the West Coast, the place homelessness is a big difficulty. In the remainder of the nation, the place the chargers have been at fuel stations (together with the superb Buc-ee’s), this wasn’t a problem as a result of the fuel stations have been open 24 hours, often had clear loos, and have been open to the general public.
We received caught in some deep snow in Washington and found the traction of the rear-wheel-drive Mannequin 3 with all season tires (with numerous tread) wasn’t that nice. They wouldn’t allow us to cross the cross with out chains (or 4-wheel drive), and I’m glad we didn’t strive. The opposite drivers with chains stated it was a $500 fantastic for those who received caught with out chains, and so they additionally stated it was exhausting to make it even with chains. We received a motel and the street was 100% clear within the morning because of the nice work finished by the Washington Division of Transportation.
Seattle
Once we received to Seattle, I helped my son transfer into his condominium and spent a while exploring the town. I cherished the meals and the general public transportation, however discovered the prices considerably larger than in Florida. Some shops have been nonetheless boarded up from the demonstrations/riots of 2020, and so they have a extreme homeless downside within the metropolis. I really feel downtown Seattle has nice potential however must determine issues out or it dangers going the best way of different as soon as nice cities like Detroit. I don’t know the answer, but it surely does have some important issues.
Conclusion
I went on this journey to bond with my son, and I discovered that his scenario together with his girlfriend in Florida is “difficult” and he actually doesn’t like the best way the US makes use of the Electoral Faculty to elect presidents. As well as, it confirmed my impressions of Tesla’s driver help expertise and I realized new insights into how one can take lengthy journeys in a Tesla. One final statement I’ll make is that though I might use the GPS to navigate to the Superchargers, I might love if Tesla put up big indicators. This is able to each assist EV house owners discover the chargers and likewise assist individuals nonetheless driving fuel automobiles know that they exist.
Disclosure: I’m a shareholder in Tesla [TSLA], BYD [BYDDY], Nio [NIO], XPeng [XPEV], Hertz [HTZ], NextEra Power [NEP], and several other ARK ETFs. However I provide no funding recommendation of any type right here.
All photos by Paul Fosse
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