{"source":"Fly or Tesla?","disclaimer":"Independent, unpaid project, not affiliated with Tesla, Inc. or any airline. Modelled estimates, not quotes. The author prefers driving; the full method is published at /cost-method. Every rate, its publisher and its year are listed at /sources.","sources":"https://flyortesla.com/sources","url":"/chicago-il-to-san-francisco-ca","question":"Is it cheaper to fly or drive a Tesla from Chicago, IL to San Francisco, CA?","answer":"Chicago, IL to San Francisco, CA is 2,149 mi by road — 36h 50m of driving and 12 Supercharger stops — against 7h 34m door to door by air. Flying is the better call: the flight costs $461 against $835 to drive, and it saves 29h 16m of travel. On the 0-100 stress scale the drive scores 100 and the flight 72.","origin":"Chicago, IL","destination":"San Francisco, CA","drive_miles":2149,"drive_minutes":2210,"charge_stops":12,"fly_minutes_door_to_door":454,"flight_miles":1850,"tesla_cost_usd":835,"fly_cost_usd":461,"tesla_stress":100,"fly_stress":72,"verdict":"fly","times_checked":2,"updated_at":"2026-09-18T23:21:13.684+00:00"}