Last year, we took a somewhat fraught road trip in our long-term Tesla Model S, attempting to use the company?s Supercharger network to test the idea that anyone can hop into a Tesla and cross vast swaths of the country in it. We traveled from Michigan to Virginia and made it without being stranded, but it wasn?t easy. We found plenty to fault in Tesla?s navigation system, which used (and still uses) buggy and indecisive software in beta form to guide drivers to their destination using Superchargers as waypoints, even suggesting how much charging is necessary at each stop. Mixed with range anxiety?the fear of running out of juice far from a power source?the trip was both frustrating and stressful. In our postmortem on the experience, we noted that with ?more planning and a stronger familiarity with the Tesla?s energy usage in different climates . . . a faster time is almost guaranteed.? So precisely one year later, we applied lessons learned on that trip, as well as a year of pseudo Tesla ownership, to try it all over again?but better. Planning, and More of It
Our annual Lightning Lap track test at Virginia International Raceway provided the opportunity to make the same journey, in similar ambient temperatures (important because battery performance, and thus range, can be susceptible to temperature variations). Having already proved that the Tesla can cover long distances relying on the Supercharger network, this trip would be about minimizing charging time and exploring h...