Checked 5×
Is it cheaper to fly or drive a Tesla from Bethesda, MD to Detroit, MI?
Take the TeslaYou keep
$180
In the car
9h 4m
Car is calmer by
46%
Car 28 · Flight 52
4h 38m by air, only 1h 22m of it flying. 1 in 5 run late.
How this was priced
Bethesda, MD to Detroit, MI is 513 mi by road — 9h 4m of driving and 3 Supercharger stops — against 4h 38m door to door by air. Driving is cheaper: taking the Tesla costs $113 against $294 to fly, a saving of $180. On the 0-100 stress scale the drive scores 28 and the flight 52.
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 22 September 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: bethesda-md-to-detroit-mi.json
- Last recalculated 2026-09-22 · checked 5×. Costs are modelled estimates, not quotes.