# Questions on driving from Las Vegas to Michigan first time in my 8 month old Model 3.



## wsgambler (7 mo ago)

I just sat in my Tesla M3 extended range and said navigate to Holland Michigan. It was very helpful to map me up with 11 superchargers but I noticed a clear discrepancy. It told me the trip was only 1606 miles. I have made this trip over 10 times in a Prius or Rav4 and it has always been around 1900 miles. The route looks identical to the trips before. When I google the same directions on my phone it too says 1,888 miles. Is this the norm? This is off by nearly 17 percent! I would hate to miscalculate a supercharger and end up needing a tow.


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## Klaus-rf (Mar 6, 2019)

Just a few WAGs:
Perhaps space /time / distance gets shorter when you travel at the speed of light??
It's taking a shortcut that google maps doesn't know about?
Could there be more than one Holland Michigan?
The Tesla mapping system is mistaken or made a bad calculation (math error)?
It could even be a hint from your car telling you not to go.


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## bwilson4web (Mar 4, 2019)

My practice:

Strategic use PlugShare to plot the whole trip - this is guidance, a suggestion, that gives an idea of how long and where to stay overnight.
Plan on 700-750 mile segments - although multiple drivers can drive straight through, it is less fatiguing to drive 12-14 hours and spend the night at a motel with free breakfast and charging. That means the first segment the next day will start with 100% SOC for the maximum run of the day. Brunch will taste great.
Tactical use the built in navigation for SuperCharger-to-SuperCharger - one subtle feature is Navigate on AutoPilot will detect construction or accident blockages and recommend a detour. Sad to say, "WHY" is not displayed but trust the detour.
When arriving at a SuperCharger, first stop at a fast food place for bathrooms and a sack meal. Then park at the SuperCharger, eat, stretch, and charge just enough to reach the next SuperCharger with a comfortable reserve, say 30 miles. You want to maximize the charging rate by arrival with a low SOC.

Use the trip graph to adjust the speed early to arrive with about 10 miles remaining. If running short, reduce the speed 3-5 mph and it will have almost no effect on the trip time. If you have excess SOC or close, speed up 3-5 mph and enjoy.

GOOD LUCK!

Bob Wilson


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## garsh (Apr 4, 2016)

Strange. Tesla's online trip planner seems to get it right: link

I've never noticed the vehicle being so far off in the estimate. It's always matched Google Maps for shorter (no charging) trips. I'll have to pay attention the next time I have a road trip, which will be Friday.


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## wsgambler (7 mo ago)

wsgambler said:


> I just sat in my Tesla M3 extended range and said navigate to Holland Michigan. It was very helpful to map me up with 11 superchargers but I noticed a clear discrepancy. It told me the trip was only 1606 miles. I have made this trip over 10 times in a Prius or Rav4 and it has always been around 1900 miles. The route looks identical to the trips before. When I google the same directions on my phone it too says 1,888 miles. Is this the norm? This is off by nearly 17 percent! I would hate to miscalculate a supercharger and end up needing a tow.


I stopped into my local Tesla shop and the salesman and I sat in a showroom model and had the show room Model 3 navigate from Las Vegas to Holland MI and it too said 1606 miles!? He then tried it on his phone and it was around 1900 miles. I can't believe I am the only one noticing this....


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## skygraff (Jun 2, 2017)

Could it be taking the ferry?

I know Google maps has an option to avoid ferries but I don’t know how to force it to take one. Maybe telling it to take a more efficient route would work (diesel ferry carrying multiple vehicles and people might be more efficient than a single electric vehicle expending energy and tire tread).

(allowing tolls seems to favor the ferry but, on Google maps, had to add Milwaukee as a stop)


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## Bigriver (Jan 26, 2018)

@wsgambler, I was surprised your in car navigation was telling you the total distance of your trip, because they took away that feature in the V11 update about 6 months ago. So I ran out to my car, hoping maybe we got that feature back in a recent OTA update and I hadn’t noticed it. But no…. Here is what I think is going on for you.

When you first tell it to search for a location, it gives options with the distance to each place. Like this is what I see when I search for Las Vegas:









That is probably the distance as the crow flies. It hasn’t routed anything yet. Once you select the location, it does the detailed routing. At that point it gives you time estimates for each stop and the entire trip, but it doesn’t give distances except to the next stop. This is what I see:








Right below that 7:18 am there is space where it could tell you the total distance. It used to, but it doesn’t now. I continue to hope Tesla will give us that feature back. It was helpful.

I would also note that I took the final picture before it had finished all its calculations. My time estimates changed significantly when it was done thinking.


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## FRC (Aug 4, 2018)

@Bigriver's analysis is correct.


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## garsh (Apr 4, 2016)

Yes, I just navigated to a close location. Said 66 miles in the search result listings. But once it determined the route, it increased to 87 miles.


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