Road Trip with a Tesla – Day 2: Travels with Charley

Yesterday we started the journey by heading out of Barstow, California at 5:30 pm driving northeast on Route 15.  It was not ideal.  Traffic on a Friday night in a L.A. rush hour on “the 5” was a bear.

This morning is a perfect contrast. Wide open highways.  Auto pilot is engaged and doing its thing.  We pass other vehicles in the right lane without effort or thought and we are doing  a constant 78 mph.  All cornering is being managed by Charley, which is what I have named the Model S.

Steinbeck fans would probably point out that Charley was a dog, a standard poodle to be exact.  Steinbeck’s RV was named Rocinante, after Don Quixote steed, but the horse was imaginary and the Tesla is very real so we are going with Charley.

Well Charley is slowing down to get around a truck so I better take a look to see what that is about! (6:21 PCDST, 230 miles left on this charge)

Mike Nelson is embarking on a cross-country road trip from Orange County, California to New York City in a Tesla 90D Model S.  The Model S is equipped with autopilot and electric all-wheel drive.  Mike will share his experiences on the road with autonomous technology with Up to Speed readers in a series of posts.