Just got back from a 2000 mile trip in the model 3 (long range dual motor). IT WAS AWESOME. Five years ago I wouldn't have believed this was possible. Here's a super long post about it....
Approx Route excluding side trips and demos:
https://www.google.com/maps/dir/San...d24186988!2m2!1d-122.2605222!2d37.5071591!3e0
Supercharger map on West coast:
https://supercharge.info/map?Center=LatLng(42.689295, -121.728516)&Zoom=6&RangeMi=175
Two hiccups.
The first hiccup and on the first SC we went to in Corning had a queue, because 4/8 chargers were full speed while 2 weren't working and 1 was slower (30 kw/h). We thought it might cause us a 1-2 hour delay. GREAT - "this is what happens when you take a road trip in a Tesla" we thought and immediately thought about what a mistake we'd made (or at least I did). And it did delay us about 40 minutes. Luckily there was a Starbucks there and the other T owners were helpful and we did not have to wait for a charge spot again the whole trip.
The only dreaded queue we saw - at the first charger of course:
Second HICCUP and this was a big one: There was a July 4 parade blocking the chargers that morning in Crescent City - so we charged at a nearby hotel for 20 minutes then couldn't charge for another 80 miles to the south (the car had 110 miles expected and arrived with about 40 miles to empty). The ms was sweating bullets but I played it cool. I've had worst range anxiety but it's still a bit scary to drive 80 miles in the middle of the woods with no towns around with only 35% battery/ We arrived with 11%.
Other than that every charger had plenty of room and we didn't have to wait for queues at all. Most of the chargers would have 10+ stalls with 2 or 3 cars charging, some had as many as 20 with as few as 0 other cars. Average charge time was probably about 40 minutes (charging every 200 or so miles, or charging 20 minutes if we drove 100 between charges) and almost every time we did stop, we'd use it as an excuse to use the rest room somewhere and walk the dog. By the time we were done with that, it was usually 80% (good to drive another 240 miles if we had to!). We usually charged around 30-40% just cause there was a charger nearby. On the longer stops like lunch or shopping, we actually were told by the app to move our car because it was nearly full, and twice I did move it because it was over 93% and my GF was still shopping or our food wasn't done yet. We scheduled to arrive to my mom's with 30% or so charge remaining. There was no SC in their county but there were L2 6.6 kw chargers 2 miles away. We tried that once while shopping for groceries but instead just plugged it into their 110V anytime we weren't driving and left their house a couple days later with 80% anyway. That included giving the family rides.
Charge Summary for Trip to Washington from California:
Day 1 California:
Left house with 95% charge.
charged in Downing, CA (where there a small queue at Starbucks). Ate lunch here. Probably stationary for 80 minutes due to that queue and our first time newbiness.
charged in Mt Shasta (beautiful stop! all chargers available pretty much and they also had some DC chargers). probably stationary for 30m. Used restrooms/walked dog.
Arrived in Ashland for the night, parked car with Sentry mode.
Day 2 Oregon & WA: left with 50% or so I think.
Charged in Grant's Pass (neat area to walk around but not the best parking lot to wait in). Stationary about 30m. Went to a gas station to buy a squeegie and checked out some statues/art.
charged in Eugene (Springfield). Also beautiful stop. We had lunch at a nice pub right near by. Had to use dog mode a bit. Had to move the car before our lunch was served because it was almost full. Maybe stopped 1 hour, 1:15 tops.
charged in Vancouver, WA (my friend was hiking nearby so we met him. Then my GF went shopping. Unplugged the car at 97%.
Arrived at my mom's Bainbridge Island. Plugged it in and visited family for 3 days. Used it for various errands and giving people rides. Probably stopped an hour but I was visited with a friend for 20-30 minutes.
Approaching Shasta:
Nice little area for the charger. You can see the mountain in the background.
Also spotted in this parking lot: a DC fast charger (50KW) -- that we cannot use yet -- and L2 charger (6KW).
We also chewed through the battery a lot faster in California because it was up to 95 degrees in parts (running AC) and we were driving about 80 MPH. And when you are charging, it's really a nice place to sit,crank the AC, listen to music, charge your phone and have some break.
All charging stops on the whole trip were on our route except 1 stop (where we drove 15 miles across portland basically just to charge, but it was interesting to see more of the city anyway). Portland's SC stuff is crappy currently.
The only things I'd wished for were more superchargers and a DC fast charger adapter so I could top off whenever I found one near where we'd be parking anyway such as
rest stops and town centers. We did use some Tesla destination chargers (10 kw) and that helps. But the superchargers go 150 kw when you start from a low battery which is VERY fast.
As charging networks become better I'm confident ANY 50+ kw charge speed electric car with 200+ range would be great for a road trip - but 100+ kw would seal the deal. Teslas might be the only guys this is comfortable in now and that could change with all the new Teslas being sold. And this was only on the I5 through CA/OR/WA and the coast from northern OR to Bay Area. I haven't tried anywhere else yet.
Here's an example of a "bad" charger - no shade, hot area. Not a lot in this town anyway (Laytonville) but it's welcome to have so many unused 150 Kw stalls! There's a Chinese restaurant in walking distances. We didn't charge long here (the car next to us has a roof rack and custom wrap):
At Grant's Pass, somewhat busier but not full charger, in an OK area:
Also spotted some fast DC chargers here.
Really nice charger near Eureka, OR. Lots of shade, plenty of stalls, and a social vibe. Good pub down the street, and check out this guy towing a camp trailer in his Model 3!
He said it's around 1750 lbs. He said it cuts his range in HALF at the moment, so he probably goes a bit slower! And the thing is not currently aerodynamic. He said he's working on it.
Views from Oregon - really nice pace and roads for this car.
Portland:
Charge Summary for Return Trip Washington to California:
Left my mom's house (where we charged on 110) with 80-something percent. Charged in Centralia while eating second breakfast and Coffee. Moved car at 95%.
Charged in Vancouver again for 20 minutes or so. Took the Gorge/Columbia for a couple hours to see waterfalls and hike a bit. Arrived at our airBnb in Portland with about 50% I think.
Plugged in a few days later at a destination charger while eating breakfast and regained some range.
Other than that, drove around Portland but also used a lot of light rail, walking and bicycles.
Checked out the other side of Portland and supercharged to 90%.
A couple days later, drove to the coast. Charged in Seaside while checking out outlet stores. GF bought shoes. Both had coffee. Unplugged at 95%. Drove to our secret beachside destination and spent 4 days with family. I drove some grocery errands and demoed the car for all my family, all of whom had never been in an EV!
Left with 60% or so. Charged in Lincoln City (OK outlet store/mall thing) to 90%. Made it to our destination with 50% or so.
Had lunch with friends in Newport and used dog mode for 1 hours (also parked in the shade). During lunch I checked the temp inside the car every 5 minutes and it never went over 72. Still a little scary but we were right down the road.
The next day arrived to the charge area at 40% (Crescent City) but there was the 4th of July Parade and we could not reach the chargers. I might've asked if we could drive around the plyons but I risked it on the long drive to Eureka. We did stop at a hotel destination charger for about 20m til they kicked us out. I offered to pay but they weren't having it.
After that not much else to say. There were SC every 60 miles or so from that point so we stopped for coffee and lunch, one more walk and we were home about the time we normally are on this trip. Arrived home with 100 miles to empty. Plugged in and it's ready to go again!
Random takeaways
The touch screen stuff works nice when you have a passenger as they can adjust stuff that normally you couldn't while driving without removing your hands from the wheel) such as the vent angles in front of you or driving settings like chill mode or fog light switch. When you need to press something yourself, it still seems easier thanks to all the auto stuff.
The ability to change driver profile by clicking my name/her name on the screen was a nice bonus. Every time we switched there was no fuss about changing seat settings or mirrors. I know many cars do this - but it works so well in the T and it even changes your cruise control follow distance, your drive settings such as sport/chill steering and throttle modes.
The phone key entry thing is great too. No need to say "honey did you lock the car?" or "can I get your keys to get something out of the car real quick?".. both of our phones unlock the car when you grab the handle without opening the app and both lock the car as you walk away. And you can check the lock status at any time on your phone.
Many cars at superchargers were from out of state. Some from Canada, Arizona, Montana. Plenty from CA all over PNW. Many people on vacations especially in Model X and with a family.
Dog mode is a very nice feature! Traveling through CA we'd often park where it's 90 degrees. I'd find shade if possible, put up the shades, and crank the A/C. The dog was always sleeping when we came back and the temp was around 70 inside the car. A couple times we did this while not plugged in and it would use about 2% of charge over an hour.
I've never seen our dog so relaxed on a road trip. His beard blows in the A/C wind.
Also Auto pilot is great on a road trip. The time melts away and we'd run stints of 100-200 miles and neither one of us felt exhausted when we'd stop. Auto steering worked for hours in central Oregon and on straight highways it's a no brainer. I used it on the coast for hours as well. I admit I did look away and enjoy the scenery a bit more, especially on long straights where I could just look ahead to make sure AP wasn't doing anything dangerous (and it almost never did). Very impressive. It also worked very well at night on divided highways without traffic, and auto high-beams are great on the coast. And it's the best in traffic so all city driving was minimal stress. The nav is very good, too.