Day 13: Defuniak Springs, FL to Greenville, SC

Since were were arriving late and leaving early we selected the cheapest motel in town: $59 including breakfast! The room was musky smelling and the floor was dirty so we kept our shoes on. Thankfully, the sheets were clean. We skipped breakfast because nothing looked edible (and the cleanliness of the room was a factor). I waited until we had left the hotel to show Gina the photo of what I found in the bathroom.

No more bargain rooms for Gina! 

And then we had our first problem with the Tesla…

It was a very hot day as we were driving north through Alabama so we turned up the air conditioner and fan to the max (which in a Tesla is 11). But we could not feel any cool air blowing from the vents. It was getting hotter and hotter so we had to do something.

The Tesla is not a car, it is a computer. It has no engine, no drive shaft, no oil, brake or radiator fluids to check, no gauges or controls on the dashboard. It has a battery, two electric motors (front and rear), a display to show status, and a 17 inch touchscreen (like a giant iPad) to control everything.

When a car has a problem you check the temperature, check the fluids, look for leaks, listen for clicking, thumping, grinding, whining, sputtering noises…and then call your uncle or AAA. When a Tesla has a problem you “reboot” it (like control-alt-delete) then “power cycle” it (like unplug, wait, and plug it back in)…and then call tech support. 

We “rebooted” the Tesla which reset the navigation system, sound system, internet browser, bluetooth, and both displays. But this didn’t fix the air conditioner…so we called tech support. They explained how to “power cycle” the Tesla. We had to park, go to a special menu and “Power Off”, then after 3 minutes just tap the brake to power the car back up.  This worked!  Whew!

 We drove till 11:30 pm and stopped in Greenville SC at a nice hotel with a “destination” Tesla charger which can give us a full charge overnight. That saved us 30-60 minutes at a supercharger.

Trip Stats:

Today: 496 mi  155.6 kWh  314 Wh/mi

TOTAL:  3388 mi  1070.8 kWh  316 Wh/mi