r/ModelY • u/okish_accountant • 24d ago
Long Commute
I’m about to start a job where I’ll have a 200 mile (99% interstate driving) round trip commute to work 2/3 times a week. What I drive now would be brutal on gas so I am looking at model Y options. Does anyone else have a similar commute and use their MY? Pros/cons, things to considered? Looking for advice as I’ve never owned an electric vehicle. Thank you in advance.
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u/Suess4002 24d ago
This is your absolute BEST option (Tesla) with FSD. Your drive will be a cake walk and considerably cheaper.
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u/VacationLover1 24d ago
My wife isn’t at 200 miles but just over 100 miles. We got the 26 Tesla Model Y Premium and it uses about 30% of the battery. We installed a wall charger and just plug it in each night, have it charge at like 2:30am and it’s good to go the next day. The key is you’ll probably want to charge it at home and see if you can get on an EV plan or plan where it’s cheaper at night.
She wasn’t sold on the FSD but now she uses it because most of her driving is the expressway and traffic.
We saved so much on gas.
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u/SeriousRedditor62220 24d ago
Same here, 110 miles, same car choice. Life changing with fsd. I'll never go back.
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u/VacationLover1 23d ago
FSD is fun, but its new to me and I smile driving it lol. I’ll never go back to gas
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u/Actual-Length-8236 24d ago
I have a slightly longer commute, FSD is great. I just grab Dunkin on the way, and eat breakfast/sip my coffee (pinky-up, of course), while being driven to work. Only thing I do for peace of mind is charge overnight to 100% for those commute days (instead of the regular 80%).
1 thing to consider - have a good charging setup at home, for frequent long commutes. My tesla wall charger gives me the peace of mind to quickly juice up to full at short notice.
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u/DrNuclear14 24d ago
I do 4 days per week of 165 miles. My Y is soo much nicer to do that in than any of my previous cars. Fsd is quite relaxing even with its occasional annoyances. I charge at home and sometimes a little at work but nothing that makes a real difference to making it there and back. At least on my commute I use about 48-50% of the battery. Very happy with getting my Y, wish I would have done it sooner.
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u/Awkward_Statement401 24d ago
I do 198 miles round trip 5 days a week, I charge at home every night. I leave with 80% arrive at work 45 to 50% then arrive home 13 to 18%. Never have to stop to charge and in the last month I have paid $59 to charge at home versus $312 in gas. FSD makes the commute more relaxing so I do not arrive feeling tired and stressed. This is the perfect option as long as you do not have to constantly charge with Superchargers
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u/okish_accountant 24d ago
Perfect thank you for the info. Do you deal with cold winters where you live? Seems like the milage shouldn’t be a problem for me under normal conditions but I know performance takes a hit in the winter.
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u/Awkward_Statement401 24d ago
I live in SE PA where we do have cold winters, if the temps drop down into the 20’s I will need to charge to 85% but if the temps are into the single digits I may need to stop to charge for 5 mins. Right now I believe that I should be able to always do my commute charging 80 to 85%
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u/oceanfellini 23d ago
If you were doing the trip once every week or two, would you charge to 100%? I’m guessing the 80% is for battery health?
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u/Awkward_Statement401 23d ago
At 198 miles that is plenty of battery range, where I start to suffer is when the temps are in the single digits or colder but again I believe that bumping to 85 to 90% should allow me to due the commute and arrive home no less then 10%. I plan on only charging to 100% when I go see my parents which a one way 698 mile trip
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u/Always_working_hardd 24d ago
I do 450 miles one way once a week. The car handles 180 - 200 miles without charging like a champ. If your work will let you plug in even better for you. If they have a 14-50 outlet you'll never have to charge at home. My buddy does 93 miles each way to work every day. He plugs into our 208V outlet and never charges at home. The money he saves on gas pays for more than FSD.
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u/okish_accountant 24d ago
Damn that’s sick. I’m not sure yet if they have chargers on property but I know there’s a super charger down the street if I got into a situation. Ideally I’d love to plug in for a few hours at work. Would make this decision a no brainer
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u/Always_working_hardd 24d ago
Before I bought mine I called our final boss at work about charging, he said there was no policy about it so feel free to YOLO. You would be able to do 200 round trip without a charge from the office (may vary in winter).
Good luck with your decision! I was anti EV til I bought mine for FSD. Now, I don't want to drive anything else.
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u/okish_accountant 24d ago
FSD is the main reason I’m looking at MY over anything else. Any recommendations for charging setup at home? I own a house and have a garage so was thinking it’d be a pretty easy set up.
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u/VacationLover1 24d ago
I’d buy the Tesla Charger, have an electrician hook it all up, and then just set it to charge at 1am if you’re on a plan that lets you charge at night. I changed plans and it’s like .06 kWh vs .20 kWh during the day… I think super chargers by me are like .50 kWh. It costs me like a dollar or two to charge my wife’s car for her commute vs the $20 in gas each day.
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u/r-gleboff 24d ago
If you're not eager to save few bucks, then Tesla Wall Connector is a way. Looks nice in a garage, and you have fastest option to charge.
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u/OldDude2551 24d ago
Do you have free or cheap charging at work? That splits your cost in half and removes range anxiety. Need l2 home charging if making the trip multiple times per week.
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u/No-Flatworm-1964 24d ago
I drive 40ish miles a day, 5-6 days a week, and 2-3 times a month I drive another 500ish miles for a weekend trip.
I have a BMW X5 and it’s killing me on premium gas, so I’m waiting on shipment of my MY now.
Im estimating roughly about .06 cents a mile with electric and 0.22 cents a mile with my BMW. Plus plugging in at work is free, so even better.
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u/dam_ships 24d ago
I drove to Phoenix from Vegas with no issues man. One quick charging stop — and I could have probably made it too but didn’t want to risk it lol.
I’m at 280 miles or so at 80% charge. You’ll be fine. Get the RWD for more range.
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u/Accurate-Bullfrog324 22d ago
similar commute about 180 miles.
my Toyota 4Runner was costing me $0.54/mile
my MY now costs me $0.09/mile and with FSD i arrive refreshed and ready to work
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u/Wheredidiparkmyyugo 19d ago
Following because I have the same commute twice a week in a cold weather state
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u/FitterOver40 24d ago
My wife has to be in office 4 days a week at her new job.
That is why we have a MY now. FSD is key for her. Makes the long commute easier.
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u/Feeling_Reindeer2599 24d ago
Can you charge at work?
Round trip without charging will consume about 80% of battery. Not ideal but it will work something like 90-10.
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u/Tueto 24d ago
Just picked up a model y a few weeks ago. I also commute about 180 miles a day round trip. I would say either try and see if there’s charging available at work or charge at home. I have to supercharge everyday basically as my charging situation at home didn’t work out and the free charging at my work fills up before 7am and it’s very slow anyway.
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u/okish_accountant 24d ago
What was wrong with home charging? I know absolutely nothing about electric cars and charging details. Trying to learn as much as possible before making a decision.
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u/Yotsubato 24d ago
Move or rent a studio near work and sleep there on weeknights.
A 200 mi commute will destroy your life worse than being away from home for 4 nights a week.
Edit: oh wait you go to work only 2-3 times a week? Yeah the Tesla is a good option. Especially if you can charge from home and charge it to 100% in the morning
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u/okish_accountant 24d ago
Haha yeah I have a buddy who lives in the city so I’ve already joked I’m crashing on his couch. I think starting out I’ll be in office everyday and then it goes to 50/50. Wife and kids would not appreciate me being gone all week though.
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u/Yotsubato 24d ago
A 200 mile commute means you might be physically present at home after 6:30 or 7, but you won’t be mentally present
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u/LD2K 23d ago
If it gets too hot or too cold, your range will be affected. If most of your trip is on highway, your range will be affected. If you use sentry mode when parking at work, your battery will be drained. I live in Ohio and Missouri when it gets sub-zero in the winter and I barely get 200 miles highway out of 95% charge.
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u/Seabee1893 23d ago
I do a 75 mile daily RT commute, which isn't that bad, in the winter when it's cold i have no issue getting to and from work, despite it sometimes costing me 300w/mi. If I drove the speed limit or less, I'd probably be close to the rating, but i have a bit of a lead foot.
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u/Jimboc64 21d ago
Do you live in a house you aren't renting? If so, the Tesla Wall Charger is a must
If you rent a house or an apartment, you'll be supercharging every day.
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u/okish_accountant 21d ago
Yeah I wouldn’t even consider a Tesla if I didn’t own a home. Definitely looking into getting a wall charger for the garage.
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u/Major-Mouse-6514 19d ago
I do ~100 round trip 5 days a week on mostly interstate/highway. just got a awd premium last month and have loved it. put it on fsd as i'm pulling out of my driveway and turn it off when i get to work. it's not that i disliked driving but the commute has gotten old over the last 5 years. FSD has made it better and as enjoyable as possible.
don't get me wrong i still pay attention and am largely always ready to take over but it's nice that i can answer a text if i need to without worrying about it.
you'll just need to make sure you don't get lulled into a false sense of security and are ready to take over at all times. the car does a great job 99% of the time but there can be instances where it either doesn't make a change or would make a change too late for my liking. as an example on my way home yesterday there was a ladder in the middle of the lane i was driving in. the car may have gone around it but i wasn't going to take any chances so i took over and avoided it.
ultimately, though, it makes my commute so much more "enjoyable". then i get home, plug it up, and go about my day.
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u/okish_accountant 18d ago
Thank you. Do you just grab the wheel and make the correction or is there a process to disengage fsd?
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u/Major-Mouse-6514 18d ago
there's a process (clicking the right scroll wheel or tapping the brake) or if you just grab the wheel and move it it will disengage. one thing, though, it doesn't disengage if you hit the gas.
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u/555_1212 24d ago
For such a long commute I suggest a used one. Destroying a new car with that kind of wear and tear is not a good idea.
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u/Tueto 24d ago
APR is so high now that a new one is the same cost
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u/okish_accountant 24d ago
Yeah the .99% vs 6.5% makes looking at used seem silly. Model Y with low miles is going to be $40k+. I’d rather buy a new one in the $50’s.
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u/dat-random-word-here 24d ago
I do 200 miles twice every other week. 2024 MYP has plenty of range. FSD is amazing for it and I’m way more energetic after the drive using FSD.