When Tesla first announced the Model 3, I was excited! I had predicted that a few years after they started accepting reservations, I'd be ready to move out of New York and be ready for a car.
When my turn finally came in late fall this year - I went and test drove the Model 3. It was stunning. The car had so much technology packed into it that I was excited to own one.
However, I wanted to experience driving a Tesla first-hand and so I rented a Model X.
We started our drive from New York to Saratoga Springs. Immediately out of the city, we had to go to one of the Superchargers to charge the vehicle. There was a line at the Supercharger, but since there were restaurants and convenience stores around - it didn't matter too much.
After charging the vehicle for an hour, we started our drive further north. This time, we reached our resort with under 10 miles of range. Thankfully the resort had a Tesla charger that indicated it would take nearly 8 hours to charge the car.
On the second day, we were scheduled to drive from Saratoga Springs to Quebec City. In order to complete this trip - we had to make 2 hour-long stops. By the time we arrived in Quebec City, we were glad that we had rented the vehicle vs. completing the Model 3 transaction.
We had an extremely difficult time finding a charge station in Quebec City. Most of the ones that the vehicle recommended were associated with a hotel - which did not allow you to charge your car (even with a fee) - unless you were staying at the property.
On our drive back - which was supposed to be no more than 9 hours, it took us nearly 14 hours to get back home. And by the time we fell asleep, I had requested my refund for the Model 3.
While I love the concept of Teslas and electric vehicles, the short range and long charge times make for an extremely unpleasant road trip. On the other hand, it is a perfect city car if you have access to superchargers or even the regular residential chargers.
For now, I'm a bit disappointed that this did not work out. However, I am absolutely thrilled and excited to see how this technology progresses.