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Travel Tesla

First 1,000 Miles Driving A Tesla Model 3 Long Range: Navigation

If you haven’t read my other post, there’s a helpful tip on quickly getting the navigation app to take you home quickly: Great Hidden Features for Traveling with Your Tesla.

Plug in the address you want to go to and you can automatically add Supercharger on the way to reach your destination without running low on battery. Less of an concern with the Tesla Model 3 Long Range but useful none-the-less.

I feel that this is a legal issue, but it would be really interesting to add a way to report, speed- traps, accidents and / or other hazards to other drivers. I imagine that cars could automatically detect and share many of these sightings on the Tesla network, but I understand that there are other higher priorities, such as full self driving (FSD) at level five versus avoiding the skunk in the middle of your lane.

Find out where you want to go on a website or app and share it with your car? With the Tesla app installed on your Android phone, you can share address information with your car. So when you jump into your car, the address is pre-loaded when you’re ready to start your journey. Super smooth!

IMG 20191026 133520 | Graydon Schwartz
Tesla Model 3 Long Range Charging Next To A Green Cab Tesla Taxi

What about when you’re heading towards a Supercharger and the station fills up at the last moment while you are navigating? How about a notification, ETA, or a suggestion to navigate to another charging station nearby? I could also see a queue being added especially in Madison, Wisconsin, where local taxi company, Green Cab is leasing 40 new Tesla Model 3 Long Range EVs. Once the move is complete, Green Cab will be the first taxi company in the county to operate a fleet of all-electric vehicles. Madison, has a total of 11 spots located on the east side:

  • East Towne Mall – 3 Superchargers, up to 120kW
  • Hy-Vee – 8 Superchargers, , up to 150kW

There appear to be no new sites under construction at the moment and the lease for the East Towne Mall site looks set to expire around February 2020.

Update: Now, in early 2021, and it looks like charging at the East Towne Mall won’t disappear anytime soon.

Moreover, Green Cab of Madison has expanded its office by adding more charging capacity and has no use for either of the Tesla Supercharger stations on the east side of Madison. I imagine that long-term use of the Superchargers would be more expensive than running its own solutions.

I would really love it if I could add more stops to the navigation system with Supercharging. I regularly load Google Maps when I have multiple stops to determine the most efficient sequence, otherwise I have to enter each stop separately. After doing a lot of research, I found out that Tesla is filing a patent for this feature and another enhancement which could help Tesla before they build the Supercharging Network!

US20190265057A1fig4c | Graydon Schwartz

Per cleantechnica, Tesla has patented some interesting new navigation upgrades that offer drivers more options, which looks very useful. I’d like to see the possibility of ChargePoint chargers in my navigation options.

US20190265057A1fig6a | Graydon Schwartz
More nav options!

Heavy foot? Blasting the AC or heat? Drive above 75 MPH? Maybe we can see the navigation factor in these conditions and warn you that you may not make it to your destination if you do not make more efficient decisions! Well, or at least give better guidance if you should be charging longer or sooner etc.

US20190265057A1fig6b | Graydon Schwartz
Take the fast or scenic route?

If you could use my referral link to buy a Tesla Model 3, S or X. I will use my extra Supercharging miles to photograph our beautiful country. See below:

⚡⚡⚡Use my referral link to receive 1,000 free Supercharger miles (1609.34 km) with the purchase and delivery of a new Tesla car, or earn a $100 award after system is activated by purchasing or subscribing to solar panels: Model S, Model 3, Model X [tesla.com] or Solar Panel [tesla.com].

By Graydon Schwartz

Find out more about Graydon on the About Me page.