5000 miles round trip CA to TX - data and observations

[GmP]

Three parts message with data on miles and usage; FSD and route planner; and some notes.

18 days, 5037 miles road trip CA to TX and back.

Specs:
2024 FS AWD, Pirelli Scorpion ATR tires (the original).
When I drive myself, I use Comfort mode (Chill, Relaxed, Higher), in FSD Standard

Part 1 Numbers:
Just the data from an 18 days total roadtrip, covering 5037 miles, from SanJose, CA to Forth Worth, TX, then Brownsville, TX, and then back to SanJose, CA.
Was all by myself, which had an impact on acceptable driving times, lunch/dinner/bathroom breaks and accommodations, etc. I took an icebox with food, drinks, snacks in the truck with me, all to minimize “stoppage” time. In other words: YMMV.

Overview:
Five “segments”:
day 1-3 : drive from SanJose to Forth Worth, 1673 miles
day 4-5 : staying local, only 32 miles
day 6 : drive from Forth Worth to Brownsville, 545 miles
days 7-14 : Brownsville, South Padre Island, Boca Chica, Starbase, 758 miles local trips
days 15-18 : drive from Brownsville to SanJose, 2029 miles

Per CT display: 1941 kWh used, for 385 Wh/mile average
Per SC logs : 2158 kWh charged, an “overhead” of 11%
All “drive” days on FSD, no FSD used in Brownsville.
No Sentry on at all, airco on 68, cabin overheat protection on at 100

At start my at that time 11.5 month usage: 12.010miles, 4232kWh (drive), 5418kWh (total), 352Wh/mile (drive)
At finish my 12 month usage: 17.050miles, 6174kWh (drive), 7576kWh (total), 362wh/mile (drive)

37 charge stops, total costs of charging $754.64, resulting in $0.15 per mile (total).
Average costs per kWh 0.35; lowest 0.23 (Needles, CA), highest 0.49 (SanJose, CA).
Total charge time: 1100 minutes, average 30 min/stop. Interesting: if I look at only the eight driving days, or only the eight Brownsville days, both averages are also 30 minutes. Might have to do with my use of charge stops: I hardly just sit and wait, but use it to eat lunch, eat “dinner”, “stretch my legs”, or in Brownsville: do grocery shopping (charge station in the HEB parking lot, very convenient). I also like to charge to 70-80%, even when the Tesla app tells me “enough to reach next destination” at lower percentages.
Maximum I had to charge was 85.2 kWh; longest time at a charger 59 minutes; slowest charger 1.1 kWh/min (all different locations).

Each drive day I drove for a little more than eight hours, plus two hours for charging stops. Every day consisted of four segments, all SC stops. At the last SC stop (except Fort Worth and Brownsville) I would look for overnight accommodation.

Longest day drive: 680 miles, in 12:30 hours. Since this was Ozona, TX to Tucson, AZ crossing two times zones, it felt like just a 10+ hour day, like all others.

Longest drives between charges: 212, 212, 208 miles, average was 143 miles.

Note on costs: my previous car, Ford Mustang 2016, 2.3l turbo, EcoBoost, would average 30mpg on long distance freeway, and 20 on city driving. I used the cheap gas (low octane), car MCU was perfectly fine with it. I calculated that I would have used 180 gallons. Average gas price is $3.50, maybe even lower? Total $630.
So the electric CT is not cheaper in consumption (gas pump versus chargers) than my previous Ice Mustang. Of course also not expected, it are not comparable cars.

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[GmP]

18 days, 5037 miles road trip CA to TX and back.

Part 2 FSD and route planner

Did use FSD for almost all driving, except:

-First and last hundred yards in parking lots. Tried a few times at SC locations but didn’t just feel comfortable enough and the moves were slow. Much easier to just stop FSD and do myself.

-During the Brownsville stay. For short drives it is still fun to drive the CT yourself, and also in particular on the rides in and around Starbase, didn’t want to be a nuisance for all the SpaceX work traffic that is going on there. Plus I did make frequent quick stops to take pictures, didn’t want to hassle with stop/start FSD each time.

-When passing through Federal Inspection stations (three in total) where lanes were indicated with pylons, and agents looked at you and waived you through. As soon as I saw the signs telling me such a station was ahead I turned off FSD, and switched on again after leaving the station. Didn’t want to provide any excuse for a special treatment.



I had a few what I call safety interventions. Because I intervened I do not know if it would have resulted in some accidents, but didn’t want to take a risk.

One was during the short Fort Worth drive. A left turn lane was blocked off, but only after the turn. Traffic was directed to take the right hand lane and make a sharp left turn at the corner. FSD stayed in the left lane and started turning left into the lane that was blocked. FSD could probably still brake and not hit the barriers, but with workers on the other side of the barrier I didn’t want to scare them. So I forced a hard right turn to the right lane.

Three times was the notorious “right side hugging” in a residential area with cars parked on the right side. Room enough to move a little left to pass those cars safely, but FSD didn’t. Would it have hit any of the parked cars? Likely not, but I didn’t want to take any chances, so steered to the left.



Other than that I did “augment” FSD using my blinkers and max speed with the right scrolling wheel. Plus the occasional “nudge” on the accelerator.



On the freeways I found FSD not very predictable turning to the right lane after passing cars or trucks. I am a real “drive right when possible, left is for passing” driver (European history), so I used my blinkers to move to the right. Which mostly worked, but sometimes was just ignored and I had to do a few more times. Will have annoyed cars behind me.

Also I didn’t want to go too fast, even on those 75mph or 80mph freeways. Using the scroll wheel I set max speed at 70 or 75mph. Or in local traffic to 60 or 45. Here again: works great except that it “resets” for whatever reason every so often. Maybe just because of road signs it sees?



Attention monitoring becomes a bit annoying after a while. I understand in heavy traffic, or difficult environments, but on long empty stretches of freeway not being able to look away for more than four, five seconds is annoying.



Tesla route planner works great. I used it a bit interactive. Start the day with an end destination, but then at every charging stop, end the route and route again, taking into account the actual state of charge. As mentioned in part 1, I use the charging stop time for other things also, and regularly charge to 70-80%.

I found the route planner always pessimistic in predicting the charge at arriving at the next charger. Mostly that number went up a few percent during the drive to that SC. Gave me confidence that reaching the next charger would not be a problem.

By myself some of the very long stretches were OK, but when my spouse or kids would join I would like to not drive longer than 1.5h or so, for at least bathroom breaks. I do that by stopping FSD and stop at a rest area, but would be great if the route planner would have a “max ride length” option.



Based on this trip my wishes for FSD and route planner would be:

• solve the lane centering. FSD knows where the truck is in the lane, move to the center or away from “objects”
• “Move to the right when possible” as default, or at least a selectable option.
• More, better options to set a personal speed profile? Or at least make the scroll wheel settings “sticky”
• a pause button for FSD, being able to stop/start FSD for brief stops
• Situation aware attention monitoring. Don’t bother me in situations where FSD is near perfect by itself
• Routing option with max (and min?) times between stops, regardless of charging times impact.
• Routing option with set min charge level, say 20% instead of what seems the default 10%. I can do this for the end destination, would like it for each charge stop also
• A little more time when using not the phone app but the screen in the car to look at the options shown and select my preferred one
• Really would like to see a way to add “waypoints”, not to stop but to drive through, to influence routing

 

[GmP]

Part 3 Final ramblings

I did not keep a real tally, but from memory I did see at least one and sometimes even more cybertrucks in each driving segment traffic every day. And I have several pictures from SC sessions where I was not the only CT charging.

I did not observe any negative reaction to my Cybertruck (but was also not on the lookout for it). Had four positive interactions, people approaching me, asking to look at and inside the car, take pictures. In Kingston there was a French family, on vacation, they kept asking questions and making pictures with the CT. Also in Brownsville, where there are many cybertrucks due to SpaceX, a family asked for pictures. Overall positive.



Didn’t mention under FSD because I likely would have experienced the same if I drove myself, but I ran over a piece of road debris that really damaged my CT. There is a hole in my passenger side rocker fairing, and the piece just in front of the back wheel is missing. Per Tesla service $100 if we can ignore the hole and just replace that one missing piece, or $1200 if the whole rocker panel fairing needs to be replaced. FSD didn’t recognize the debris, and ran over it. I supervised, did see it, but too late. Was not expecting so much damage from running over something.



For these long roadtrips, lifetime free supercharging would feel great, wouldn’t it?



My summary judgement:
Cybertruck with FSD is great for these long road trips. Very comfortable, very easy, relaxing to drive long distances. Not so sure about completely unsupervised, and/or really end-to-end, but as owner/user of the car, so used to its behaviors including FSD, it worked all great.

I would do such a trip again if there is a next occasion.

 

[CTCotopaxi]

What tires ? What suspension setting ?

 

[GmP]

What tires ? What suspension setting ?

2024 FS AWD, Pirelli Scorpion ATR tires (the original).
When I drive myself, I use Comfort mode (Chill, Relaxed, Higher), in FSD Standard

 

[Sterling Shadow]

What a great trip and write up, thanks for sharing. I love that the Cybertruck inspires so many people to just go on long road trips. I need to plan one.

 

[RayzorBEV]

Three parts message with data on miles and usage; FSD and route planner; and some notes.

18 days, 5037 miles road trip CA to TX and back.

Specs:
2024 FS AWD, Pirelli Scorpion ATR tires (the original).
When I drive myself, I use Comfort mode (Chill, Relaxed, Higher), in FSD Standard

Part 1 Numbers:
Just the data from an 18 days total roadtrip, covering 5037 miles, from SanJose, CA to Forth Worth, TX, then Brownsville, TX, and then back to SanJose, CA.
Was all by myself, which had an impact on acceptable driving times, lunch/dinner/bathroom breaks and accommodations, etc. I took an icebox with food, drinks, snacks in the truck with me, all to minimize “stoppage” time. In other words: YMMV.

Overview:
Five “segments”:
day 1-3 : drive from SanJose to Forth Worth, 1673 miles
day 4-5 : staying local, only 32 miles
day 6 : drive from Forth Worth to Brownsville, 545 miles
days 7-14 : Brownsville, South Padre Island, Boca Chica, Starbase, 758 miles local trips
days 15-18 : drive from Brownsville to SanJose, 2029 miles

Per CT display: 1941 kWh used, for 385 Wh/mile average
Per SC logs : 2158 kWh charged, an “overhead” of 11%
All “drive” days on FSD, no FSD used in Brownsville.
No Sentry on at all, airco on 68, cabin overheat protection on at 100

At start my at that time 11.5 month usage: 12.010miles, 4232kWh (drive), 5418kWh (total), 352Wh/mile (drive)
At finish my 12 month usage: 17.050miles, 6174kWh (drive), 7576kWh (total), 362wh/mile (drive)

37 charge stops, total costs of charging $754.64, resulting in $0.15 per mile (total).
Average costs per kWh 0.35; lowest 0.23 (Needles, CA), highest 0.49 (SanJose, CA).
Total charge time: 1100 minutes, average 30 min/stop. Interesting: if I look at only the eight driving days, or only the eight Brownsville days, both averages are also 30 minutes. Might have to do with my use of charge stops: I hardly just sit and wait, but use it to eat lunch, eat “dinner”, “stretch my legs”, or in Brownsville: do grocery shopping (charge station in the HEB parking lot, very convenient). I also like to charge to 70-80%, even when the Tesla app tells me “enough to reach next destination” at lower percentages.
Maximum I had to charge was 85.2 kWh; longest time at a charger 59 minutes; slowest charger 1.1 kWh/min (all different locations).

Each drive day I drove for a little more than eight hours, plus two hours for charging stops. Every day consisted of four segments, all SC stops. At the last SC stop (except Fort Worth and Brownsville) I would look for overnight accommodation.

Longest day drive: 680 miles, in 12:30 hours. Since this was Ozona, TX to Tucson, AZ crossing two times zones, it felt like just a 10+ hour day, like all others.

Longest drives between charges: 212, 212, 208 miles, average was 143 miles.

Note on costs: my previous car, Ford Mustang 2016, 2.3l turbo, EcoBoost, would average 30mpg on long distance freeway, and 20 on city driving. I used the cheap gas (low octane), car MCU was perfectly fine with it. I calculated that I would have used 180 gallons. Average gas price is $3.50, maybe even lower? Total $630.
So the electric CT is not cheaper in consumption (gas pump versus chargers) than my previous Ice Mustang. Of course also not expected, it are not comparable cars.

Wow! Epic solo road trip. Respect🫡

 

[CTruckFan]

Based on this trip my wishes for FSD and route planner would be:

• “Move to the right when possible” as default, or at least a selectable option.

I believe this is the default in FSD Chill Mode

• a pause button for FSD, being able to stop/start FSD for brief stops

How is this different from just canceling and re-engaging?

 

[4 SPACE]

I thought all Foundation Series Cyber Trucks had free super charging.

 

[RayzorBEV]

It should...FS do come with lifetime FSD and other perks

 

[Beetlebug62]

Nice detail! I find if I toggle to "chill", the CT moves over to the right, almost immediately; and if I set it to "standard", it will change lanes to pass the vehicle I'm following, if it's slower than the speed it wants to go.

 

[GmP]

I believe this is the default in FSD Chill Mode

How is this different from just canceling and re-engaging?

Chill mode has drawbacks I don‘t want. I will try what is suggested below, toggle briefly to chill mode and then back. But I really would like it to be an option I can set, also in Standard mode.

FSD cancelling and re-engaging “feels“ different. You get the “why cancel” message, that you can ignore, but why not a simple “pause” option. Cancelling (to me) feels closer to in intervention, while Pause would be a deliberate quick temporary off.

 

[TexasRaider]

I’m interested in your Wh/mi going from Brownsville to DFW. That wind in the RGV is Strong with a capital S.

 

[GmP]

I’m interested in your Wh/mi going from Brownsville to DFW. That wind in the RGV is Strong with a capital S.

I did not drive from Brownsville back to DFW, only DFW to BV. Going back I went up to San Antonio, but then made a left to the west coast via i10.

What I do have is the Wh/mi from the different parts.

Down
FW to Temple : 386 (145mi)
Temple to Kenedy : 354 (187)
Kenedy to Mathis : 422 (55)
Mathis to BV : 470 (170)

Back up
BV to Mathis : 406 (170)
Mathis to SA : 417 (107)

Worst case Wh/mi was 476, from Ozona to Ford Stockton

 

[CyBertruck71]

Three parts message with data on miles and usage; FSD and route planner; and some notes.

18 days, 5037 miles road trip CA to TX and back.

Specs:
2024 FS AWD, Pirelli Scorpion ATR tires (the original).
When I drive myself, I use Comfort mode (Chill, Relaxed, Higher), in FSD Standard

Part 1 Numbers:
Just the data from an 18 days total roadtrip, covering 5037 miles, from SanJose, CA to Forth Worth, TX, then Brownsville, TX, and then back to SanJose, CA.
Was all by myself, which had an impact on acceptable driving times, lunch/dinner/bathroom breaks and accommodations, etc. I took an icebox with food, drinks, snacks in the truck with me, all to minimize “stoppage” time. In other words: YMMV.

Overview:
Five “segments”:
day 1-3 : drive from SanJose to Forth Worth, 1673 miles
day 4-5 : staying local, only 32 miles
day 6 : drive from Forth Worth to Brownsville, 545 miles
days 7-14 : Brownsville, South Padre Island, Boca Chica, Starbase, 758 miles local trips
days 15-18 : drive from Brownsville to SanJose, 2029 miles

Per CT display: 1941 kWh used, for 385 Wh/mile average
Per SC logs : 2158 kWh charged, an “overhead” of 11%
All “drive” days on FSD, no FSD used in Brownsville.
No Sentry on at all, airco on 68, cabin overheat protection on at 100

At start my at that time 11.5 month usage: 12.010miles, 4232kWh (drive), 5418kWh (total), 352Wh/mile (drive)
At finish my 12 month usage: 17.050miles, 6174kWh (drive), 7576kWh (total), 362wh/mile (drive)

37 charge stops, total costs of charging $754.64, resulting in $0.15 per mile (total).
Average costs per kWh 0.35; lowest 0.23 (Needles, CA), highest 0.49 (SanJose, CA).
Total charge time: 1100 minutes, average 30 min/stop. Interesting: if I look at only the eight driving days, or only the eight Brownsville days, both averages are also 30 minutes. Might have to do with my use of charge stops: I hardly just sit and wait, but use it to eat lunch, eat “dinner”, “stretch my legs”, or in Brownsville: do grocery shopping (charge station in the HEB parking lot, very convenient). I also like to charge to 70-80%, even when the Tesla app tells me “enough to reach next destination” at lower percentages.
Maximum I had to charge was 85.2 kWh; longest time at a charger 59 minutes; slowest charger 1.1 kWh/min (all different locations).

Each drive day I drove for a little more than eight hours, plus two hours for charging stops. Every day consisted of four segments, all SC stops. At the last SC stop (except Fort Worth and Brownsville) I would look for overnight accommodation.

Longest day drive: 680 miles, in 12:30 hours. Since this was Ozona, TX to Tucson, AZ crossing two times zones, it felt like just a 10+ hour day, like all others.

Longest drives between charges: 212, 212, 208 miles, average was 143 miles.

Note on costs: my previous car, Ford Mustang 2016, 2.3l turbo, EcoBoost, would average 30mpg on long distance freeway, and 20 on city driving. I used the cheap gas (low octane), car MCU was perfectly fine with it. I calculated that I would have used 180 gallons. Average gas price is $3.50, maybe even lower? Total $630.
So the electric CT is not cheaper in consumption (gas pump versus chargers) than my previous Ice Mustang. Of course also not expected, it are not comparable cars.

Awesome run on that! 280 miles in one day has been my biggest trip so far. Inspiring to see a trip like this!

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