Days three and four of our drive from Minnesota to Arizona in our Tesla Model Y consisted of 604 miles and a total of 9hrs and 48min of driving split equally over two days.

Almost immediately as crossed the border between Colorado into New Mexico the landscape shifted, looking a lot more like desert. We encountered our first tumbleweeds blowing across the highway and, miraculously, these didn't cause Tesla's Full Self Driving to go haywire. It must have been trained to identify tumbleweeds.

While passing through Santa Fe qe stopped for lunch at a restaurant called Sweetwater Harvest Kitchen. It was excellent—the best food we had on the road, by far. If you ever find yourself in Sante Fe I'd highly suggest you check it out. They offered a lot of traditional Mexican dishes and everything on the menu was made from healthy, clean ingredients which was a welcomed break from greasy diners that are so prevalent along the highway.

At the end of day three we stopped in Albuquerque, NM for the night and then continued on to Sedona on day four. After three days on the road we were just ready to be stationary for a while and not have to pack up our belongings every morning.

The Model Y had more than enough room for all our luggage, food, and other supplies. It was also extremely comfortable for the long days of riding—probably the most comfortable vehicle I've ever road tripped in.

We awoke on Day 4 of our roadtrip (the final day—hallelujah!) to see hot air balloons from the hotel window. Albuquerque, NM is the perfect location for hot air ballooning due to ideal weather and light winds. One of these days I'm going to have to experience a sunrise hot air balloon ride there.

On our last day of driving we stopped for lunch in a little diner in Gallup, New Mexico. Whenever I hear the name of this town I'm always reminded of the Route 66 song lyrics. The Nat King Cole version, of course.

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Route 66

If you ever plan to motor west,
Travel my way, take the highway that is best.
Get your kicks on route sixty-six.
It winds from chicago to la,
More than two thousand miles all the way.
Get your kicks on route sixty-six.
Now you go through saint looey
Joplin, missouri,
And oklahoma city is mighty pretty.
You see amarillo,
Gallup, new mexico,
Flagstaff, arizona.
Don't forget winona,
Kingman, barstow, san bernandino.
Won't you get hip to this timely tip
When you make that california trip
Get your kicks on route sixty-six.
Won't you get hip to this timely tip:
When you make that california trip
Get your kicks on route sixty-six.
Get your kicks on route sixty-six.
Get your kicks on route sixty-six.

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The food there was just average diner food but we were starving so it was a welcomed stop.

The city of Gallup was a huge Amtrak hub on the western passenger train route until the 1950s when Americans ditched the train for traveling the highways in their own vehicles. Now the tracks are mainly used for hauling cargo—apparently lots of Amazon packages travel through here in shipping containers.

Charging Costs

Total for these Tesla EV charging sessions: $87.11
Breakdown:
Day 3:
• $8.33
• $13.97
• $17.28
Subtotal: $39.58
Day 4:
• $13.10
• $14.08
• $20.35
Subtotal: $47.53
Grand Total: $87.11

For comparison, our Subaru Forester Hybrid SUV (averaging 40mpg on the highway) would have cost us almost $40 more for the same amount of miles. Not a huge difference on this part of the trip.

Drive Time

The trip would have taken around 8hrs, 51min in the Forester plus stops for restrooms and food.

The Tesla took almost an hour longer. Again, gasoline power wins in this category.

Final Thoughts

The final descent into Sedona from Flagstaff was our coup de grâce. The way Tesla's Full Self Driving so expertly handled the 2.5 miles of treacherous mountain switchbacks actually blew my mind.

After having four days and over 1,500 miles of EV road-tripping experience I can say I was very impressed by how well the Model Y performed and how comfortable the ride was. Charging a little extra during each charging session was definitely the biggest lesson I learned along the way. If you add about 10-15% more charge than the car tells you to at each stop it totally eliminates the dreaded range anxiety. I think Tesla should allow you to set "minimum battery percentages at Supercharger arrival" in your driver profile so it can be applied to every road trip.

Full Self Driving performed like an absolute champ, aside from a few hiccups, which I covered in my previous posts. In fact after experiencing how much less fatigued I was at the end of each travel day I can't imagine road-tripping in a car without FSD. It was totally worth the $100 it cost to subscribe for the month.

Also, as I'm typing this blog the latest and greatest version of Tesla's FSD is uploading into my car. So it'll be interesting to experience how much better this will perform on the way back, wish me luck!

If you have any questions about road tripping in an EV please drop them in the comments below

Also, if you're considering seeing what the Tesla experience is like for yourself please consider using my referral code for three months of Full Self Driving for free (a $300 value).

All for now. Thanks so much for reading.

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www.ericvancewalton.net