Our first road trip in Cars.com’s Tesla Model Y was anything but dull. It was filled with more charging stops than I’d anticipated and a flat tire. Thankfully, my husband and two teen sons rolled with the delays as we attempted to get from Chicago to a St. Louis suburb for the holidays, a 355-mile trip that we’ve made many, many times. The Model Y was fully loaded with gifts, luggage and four adult-sized people. We definitely put it to the test.
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For this road-trip test, I entered my destination into the Model Y’s navigation and mostly followed its guidance on route and charging points. I ignored its directions for getting out of Chicago in the first leg of the trip, but after getting through the never-ending traffic backup, I let the Model Y decide the route, which it picks based on charge level needed to reach the destination and plots out Superchargers along the way. I used Tesla’s Autopilot, setting the speed for 78 or 79 mph for most of the trip.