East Coast Road Trip in a 2021 Tesla Model 3

I recently for the holidays went on a lengthy Tesla road trip. I went from NC to MA, then eventually back to NC. This was my first time performing a significant road trip with my Model 3 (6+ hours) of driving. Going to MA, I split the trip into 2 parts, stopping overnight in VA. But on the trip back to NC, I performed it in one day. Here are some things I noticed on my journeys: - Many Tesla Charging Stations to choose from Going along the coast, I was not too worried about the selection of Tesla superchargers. Going east to west would definitely bring about scarcity problems. But since the east coast is well populated with cities throughout, there was much infrastructure to support many charging stations. An important lesson from going up and back down the coast is that not all Tesla chargers are made equally. Firstly, they can very in quality. Original Tesla superchargers aren't as effective as newer chargers, so depending where you stop, you may wait 15 minutes, or 30 minutes. Second, each charging station has varying amenities. Sometimes it is a part of a gas station with nothing else around. And sometimes it is a part of a mall that is surrounded by many options for supplies/food. Depending on the time of day, it was important to verify that the charging station had the proper amenities needed, otherwise you may have needed to add an additional stop. Third, and most important, the specific location of certain chargers can be quite deceiving! We stopped at a station that from the looks of the map seemed ideal. Numerous chargers, all available. When we arrived, it turned out that these chargers were inside the Metlife arena and mall parking garage. This meant we had to navigate our way into the parking structure (which in this case was not trivial), get a parking ticket, then pay for that parking ticket before leaving. The charging itself only took 20 minutes, but we easily wasted another 20 minutes trying to jump through the additional hoops just to access the charger. Very frustrating. The takeaway here being not only plan stops so that you can spend the time gathering needed supplies or utilizing bathrooms. Also make sure the station itself does not have extra hoops to access, such as a parking garage. -FSD (Full Self-Drive) The trip back to NC from MA took about 15 hours in total to complete (driving and stops). At least 13 hours of it was spent driving. In a normal vehicle, your legs will start to get exhausted by the 8 hour mark even if utilizing cruise control. Doing the trip with FSD, this problem was entirely resolved! The issue then became more of just completing the trip, rather than completing the trip and not becoming exhausted while doing so. I subscribed to FSD through the app for 1 month, which costed $100. Having it for the trip both directions easily justified the purchase. Vehicle charges 1 direction roughly costed $10 - $20 per stop. Coming back from MA, we stopped and charged 6 times (my Tesla has roughly a 280-300 mile range fully charged). So roughly, it costed $120 each direction in charging, and $100 for the FSD. Totaling ~$280. I would recommend getting the FSD for a month by month basis (whenever you plan on doing significant road tripping). Also of note: I would still recommend switching drivers if driving with another person. You can still grow tired even just by watching the road. The Tesla, if it has proper lighting on your face, will just ensure your eyes are on the road with its driver camera. If it is too dark in the cabin, the Tesla will rely on you adjusting the steering wheel intermittently. The same way it does with cruise control on the high way. -Knowing When to Trust the Vehicle My Tesla has some battery degradation. It has lost at least 10% of it original capacity. This obviously limits the range at 100%, but for practical purposes it did not negatively impact too much. The pattern you will find when road tripping station to station is getting to the next station at 5-15% battery remaining, and charging until you have enough to cover significant distance to the next stop, roughly 50-60% usually. I do not trust my Tesla fully when it comes to battery arrival estimates. On the trip to MA, I noticed multiple times the destination estimate (which the vehicle relied upon to know which stations were possible to reach) would slowly trickle down in percent. From 7% to 6% to 5%... I did not know why this was completely. Tesla vehicles should know my battery is degraded, so it will trickle down faster than expected, right? What was more likely happening was the vehicle was going faster at times than it anticipated when first calculating the route. On the highways, I was at time going 75-80+ mph. Gently overtime, the % would dwindle. I did not link the additional speed to the battery draining but it makes obvious sense in retrospect. The route determined is (I imagine) determined by the speed limits for each road. And on the highways, after minor testing, keeping the vehicle no more above 68-70 mph would maintain the original arrival battery estimate. I only learned this at the end of my trip back to NC. But if I had known that beforehand, I would have operated differently. On both trips, I would always charge more than the Tesla said I needed to continue my journey. At least 10% more. If you fully respect the speed limits, you should theoretically arrive to the next station with the expected percent. I recommend for new Tesla road trippers to still give yourself extra charge to see how reliable your vehicles route battery estimations are. And even with additional speed not significantly depleting the estimated arrival percentage, you can most likely trust was the vehicle tells you. We found ourselves a few times changing the next station mid route, whether it be for a better lunch spot or a better place to walk around. So if you are not strictly following the given route, you may also want to overcharge just so you have more options if needed. IMPORTANT NOTE! Buy the Tesla charging adapter for non-Tesla charging stations. Ideally you do not have to go to one, but if you realize the station you are going to is down, you need a back up. Tesla charging stations were dense in that every 50 miles you could find one, but if your charge is less than 50 miles worth and no other station is around, you should then look for a secondary charger. There are apps that you can use to show you a map of locations. CONCLUSION: If going on a Tesla road trip (at least along the east coast), I recommend purchasing FSD for a month, ensuring the stations you are stopping at do not have other caveats to access, and you know the behavior of your battery. We played it safe which caused us to take an additional hour of time to complete the trip from MA to NC. Now knowing what I know, I believe I can shave off the extra time on my next trip.