Checked 4×
Is it cheaper to fly or drive a Tesla from Austin, TX to Los Angeles, CA?
Book the flightFlying is cheaper by
$137
In the car
23h 36m
Flying is calmer by
13%
Car 78 · Flight 68
6h 21m by air, only 3h 5m of it flying. 1 in 5 run late.
How this was priced
Austin, TX to Los Angeles, CA is 1,378 mi by road — 23h 36m of driving and 8 Supercharger stops — against 6h 21m door to door by air. Flying is the better call: the flight costs $405 against $542 to drive, and it saves 17h 15m of travel. On the 0-100 stress scale the drive scores 78 and the flight 68.
Priced with fast charging at $0.50 per kWh and 3.7 miles per kWh, airfare from a $95 base plus $0.13 a mile per person, one $35 bag and a $30 ride at each end. Airfare is modelled from flight distance, not a live fare quote, so treat it as a typical fare rather than today's price. Rates last reviewed 14 September 2026; this trip last priced 2 October 2026.
Checking the route…
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- Distance and drive time come from live road routing, not straight lines.
- Every rate used is listed on Cost analysis and sourced on Sources.
- This trip as raw data: austin-tx-to-los-angeles-ca.json
- Last recalculated 2026-10-02 · checked 4×. Costs are modelled estimates, not quotes.