With summer upon us, that means Texas is going to get hotter. And hotter temperature makes camping for sweaty nights, or is it?

One of the nice features of the Tesla, is camp mode. This allows the Tesla to be “on”, and turns off sentry mode to conserve energy. I would be able to sleep inside and tesla in full comfort regardless of the temperature.

Wanting to see how camp mode works in the real world, I booked an RV campsite at Palo Duro Canyon State Park. I book an RV site because it has electrical and water hook up. Accord to the Tesla GPS, I would have arrived 15%, and for sure would need a place to charge up.

Currently in 2022, rising gas prices is making travel expensive. In Texas is about $4.30USD a gallon for regular, and diesel hitting $5USD per gallon. Anther reason to take the Tesla since EV charging is significantly cheaper.

The downside with EV charging is more frequent stops and some places required longer changing. The longest I had to charge was 50mins. The next supercharger was decently far so, had to charge longer to make it. But you have to guess how much you have to charge. Tesla will automatically let you know when you have enough charge to make to the next destination. It very accurate and that easies the range anxiety.

The RV site has 50amp hook up meaning its the NEMA 14-50 outlet. The same one i have at home. The is also 30amp hookup which charges slower and you need an adapter for it. I do have that adapter just in case the 50amp didnt work. Thankfully I didn’t have issues.

Surprisingly, the weekend we arrived, there was a cold front. Temps in the 40s at nigh with highs of 70s. The Tesla didn’t have to work to hard to maintain a nice 68F. We brought black out shades to block the sun rays and also provide more privacy.

The advantage with camp mode is I don’t have to bring as much camping gear since I can sleep in my pajamas and not worry about freezing or sweating. Camping at establish campsites, you are provided with restrooms, showers, water, and shaded area with a table.

We stayed for 3 days and was beautiful. Palo Duro is the Gand Canyon of Texas and felt like I was in Sedona, Arizona or Red cliffs of Nevada. We hiked 6 miles, and end up becoming a 5 hr hike. Kinda tough on the climbing the ledges but the views where wonderful.

Weather was clear sunny skies, but air was dry and you can feel the UZ rays beating down. I got sunburned from the hike. Our dog, Lambo, was happy to be inside the Tesla and rested temps set at 68 degrees.

Our sleeping arrangements was simple and comfy. Wifey set folded the rear seats and inflated the mattress made for the Model 3. It took a little bit longer to set up compared to the rooftop tent on the Land Cruiser, but wasn’t an inconvenience for us. Once set up, the space inside the Model 3 is tight. I think of sleeping in those Japanese pods. I think car camping in the Model Y or Model X would be better.

I think this is the future of camping. We drove a total of 1,314 miles, spent $94.03 supercharging and $52 for the 3 day RV campsite. If we drove the Land Cruiser I would have paid at least $500 on gas averaging 10 MPG. Not bad at all.

Would I start camping in the Tesla more, then using the Land Cruiser? Probably not, and for one reason. The Land Cruiser will take me to places that cars or RVs cant go to. This leads to more private camping and better views that are less seen. To me, that the most important thing.

Of course if Im going to established campsites, I will take the Tesla.