# Advice from 13,000 km Road Trip



## NOTL_Larry (Jul 11, 2018)

*Advice from 13,000 km Road Trip*​












































































































































*Recommendations*

*Charging Efficiently*

You are charged by the minute at most superchargers. The fast rate of charge that you get at the beginning (if the battery is depleted enough, once the car has adapted to the charger) called "Power Tier 2" on your charge invoices is twice the cost of the slower or tapering charge which occurs from about 50% of full charge to the end.

If you want to spend less time at superchargers, figure out how far you need to go to get to the next one and charge only until you have taken on enough battery capacity at the faster rate to get to the next supercharger with a comfortable reserve. If the next supercharger is out of the way, this strategy will not work.
*
Driving Efficiently*

Driving fast will use much more battery capacity. You can see this on the instant range screen as you drive (let your co-pilot do this for safety).
Slowing down and also drafting a "big rig" on the highway may save a quite a bit of battery capacity. In Texas, we used this strategy an intermediate supercharger was out of service and our projected reserve at arrival to the next supercharger was 5%. We slowed down a bit and drafted and arrived with 15% of reserve capacity.

If you are driving to a supercharger at night (without a full charge) and your arrival reserve is projected to be 5%-10%, turn back and get a full charge. We chose to do this between Memphis and Little Rock. We also stayed overnight in a hotel in Memphis. The next day, during our trip we were delayed by a 70 km traffic jam due to construction on the road. That highway has more trucks on it than cars (we counted) and yes it's very busy at night too. We would not have made it.

Windshield wipers use power. Use RainX on your windscreen. The water will bead off at highway speeds and you can reduce windshield wiper use substantially. This uses less battery capacity. Slow down in the rain for safety and do not draft a "big rig" as your visibility is greatly reduced.
*
Driving Safely*

Exercise caution near convoys of trucks. I never use autosteer near trucks. These guys wander all over the place and will often kick up gravel as they do so. My co-pilot witnessed many incidences of truckers' distracted driving habits including smoking joints, reading books, texting, talking on phones etc.


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## rdskill (Apr 2, 2019)

NOTL_Larry said:


> If you are driving to a supercharger at night (without a full charge) and your arrival reserve is projected to be 5%-10%, turn back and get a full charge.


This is great advice. You never know when unknown events will leave you stranded.



> Windshield wipers use power. Use RainX on your windscreen. The water will bead off at highway speeds and you can reduce windshield wiper use substantially. This uses less battery capacity. Slow down in the rain for safety and do not draft a "big rig" as your visibility is greatly reduced.


The Model 3 owners manual says this on page 141 under Topping Up Washer Fluid....

Caution: Do not add formulated washer​fluids that contain water repellent or bug​wash. These fluids can cause streaking,​smearing, and squeaking or other noises.​
I mention this because I've had issues with RainX years ago. Haven't used it since.


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## MelindaV (Apr 2, 2016)

rdskill said:


> This is great advice. You never know when unknown events will leave you stranded.
> 
> The Model 3 owners manual says this on page 141 under Topping Up Washer Fluid....
> 
> ...


the manual is speaking to the washer fluid with additives like RainX... not RainX (or other hydrophobics) applied directly to the glass. It makes a world of difference.


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## garsh (Apr 4, 2016)

rdskill said:


> I mention this because I've had issues with RainX years ago. Haven't used it since.


As Melinda says, the manual is talking about additives in the washer fluid. They've been known to clog up the washer fluid nozzles and sprayers.

I'm currently using RainX, and it's been working great. But there are other options that will work as well. A simple one is to apply carnauba wax to the windshield. A ceramic coating on the windshield will last much longer, but is more expensive. But I strongly suggest that you try _some _kind of hydrophobic coating.

When I had the windshield replaced in my Nissan, I had to drive it home in the rain. Nothing too strong - just average rainfall. But I couldn't believe how hard it was to look through a non-treated windshield. I had the wipers on high the whole way home and still couldn't see all that well. But with a hydrophobic coating, I've never felt the need to use the "high" settings on the wipers, no matter the amount of rainfall.


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## Nom (Oct 30, 2018)

@NOTL_Larry --- I'm confused by this statement:

_You are charged by the minute at most superchargers. The fast rate of charge that you get at the beginning (if the battery is depleted enough, once the car has adapted to the charger) called "Power Tier 2" on your charge invoices is twice the cost of the slower or tapering charge which occurs from about 50% of full charge to the end._

If you are charged by the minute, why is the high rate of charge twice the cost of the slower or tapering charge. I would expect the effective cost / KWH to be the exact opposite (2x the cost when tapering) if it is actually $/min and not $/KWH. Thinking it was a simple editorial error but wondering if I'm missing something.

And thanks for the post overall ... some good words of wisdom in here.


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## MelindaV (Apr 2, 2016)

Nom said:


> @NOTL_Larry --- I'm confused by this statement:
> 
> _You are charged by the minute at most superchargers. The fast rate of charge that you get at the beginning (if the battery is depleted enough, once the car has adapted to the charger) called "Power Tier 2" on your charge invoices is twice the cost of the slower or tapering charge which occurs from about 50% of full charge to the end._
> 
> ...


think of it as the Tier 2 as the standard rate, and when charging slower, Tesla discounts the per minute rate by half since you are getting less kW per minute at that point.


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