What do you call constant camping in your Tesla? Besides fun, interesting, and challenging, as it takes travel and mobility to new levels?
‘Kierra’, a LR Model 3 owner who’s done over 40K miles camping in her Tesla calls it, “Traveling indefinitely.” She lives and works out of her car.
Is this the next new, tiny home lifestyle?
A Tesla Tiny Home
When you think about it, there are a lot of commonalities among the folks opting to build or live in ‘tiny homes’ and those using their Teslas for travel accommodation. Environmental sensitivities, economics, and practicality come to mind.
Kierra has been on the road for almost two years and from the sounds of it, has no intention of returning home to her house anytime soon.
Dispelling Tesla Myths
Here are Kierra’s key points in her interview with Bob Wells.
- Model 3s don’t cost $100,000, more like $38-60K depending on features.
- It’s a mobile motel room.
- You have cheap heat and AC whenever you want it.
- The electric environment’s compatible with a digital, gig work situation.
- Charging cost is about 20% the cost of fuel.
Superchargers & RV Parks
Everyone struggles with range anxiety when they first get their Tesla. And that makes sense, this is a totally new, complicated technology to learn… a tech with specific, very different vehicle management requirements than we’re used to.
Kierra does what we did. Superchargers are easy to use when you know your route. The ‘splash and dash’ approach works (always top up when you stop and you never worry about your battery level). That approach is a natural fit with normal driving patterns. We all should stop every 2-3 hours and take a break, even when cruising on FSD. Plan ahead and make it a Supercharger stop. Simple.
When there isn’t a Supercharger where you want to go, spend the night at an RV park. You’ll be charged up by midnight and can take advantage of other amenities not available when camping in the wild: hot showers and washing machines!
If you’re caught out in the middle of nowhere, RV parks are usually happy to let you charge for a reasonable fee even if you’re not staying the night. Note the kWhs your charge has used and offer the $.25/kWh you’d have paid at a Supercharger.
If you’re staying at someone’s home, run an extension cord (should be standard gear for a road trip) and plug in. A home wall outlet will be slow but it’s better than nothing.
Constant Camping Practicalities
Bob and Kierra talk about the practical details of constant camping in this video.
Did Rick Talk with ‘Kierra’?
Before we set out on our 2019 road trip, Rick may have talked about camping in Teslas with Kierra at a Colorado Supercharger. He came home with a story that very much sounds like her. She was the first person we ran into that talked about traveling and sleeping in her Model 3… there weren’t many people sleeping in their cars back then. Or at least they weren’t talking about it on social media.
Yeah, we knew it sounded like a crazy idea until you really thought about it… and then it didn’t sound crazy at all, it made perfect sense. After his conversation at the Supercharger that day, Rick was convinced that yes, our upcoming trip through the Northwest was definitely doable!
Most important was the fact we knew there was this gal camping in her Tesla, doing this on her own, and it was working brilliantly. Knowing that gave us confidence as we prepared for this ‘crazy’ tripꟷwhich turned out to be beyond amazing in so many ways!
So thanks Kierra, or whoever it was Rick spoke with that day in early June, 2019! Us all sharing our experiences within the Tesla community is just one more thing that makes owning the car such a pleasure.
Back to the Future
In just a few years, we hope this becomes our camper. In the meantime, enjoy your adventures camping Tesla-style!
