San Diego to Dallas trip notes

[Bill55]

Day 1. Started trip Friday 4/29 with 3050 miles on the car and 96% charge. First stop was sunrise over the Borrego Valley. Charged car for first time at the Walmart in Indio. 146 mi with 61kW used for 2.4mi/kWh. We walked to a cafe for breakfast and after an hour the car was fully charged. No cruise control used. Next stop was Quartzsite to charge before exiting the interstate and heading to Jerome, AZ. We charged for 33 minutes to get back to full after 130 miles. Late lunch in Jerome, then to a Springhill Suites in Cottonwood AZ for the night. 3 J1772 and 1 Tesla. All empty. End of day 1 452.4 miles. 174kW/h. 2.6 average. Only about 90 miles on cruise. A couple acceleration runs and a short stint of spirited driving. Next day 2 Cottonwood to Monument Valley via the Grand Canyon.

 

[Steveinarizona]

85 on I-10 and 75 on most of the rest of the roads?

 

[DeaneG]

Fun trip! A tip for long journeys in an EV - usually you want to be using the "bottom of the battery", charging just long enough at each stop to reach the next charging stop with 10%-20% battery remaining. The reason for this is that the car charges MUCH faster at low state-of-charge (SOC) compared to the rate at high SOC. It's actually faster to make more stops and charge for shorter periods of time. Avoid charging to over 70% SOC to maximize charging speed and minimize total charging time for the trip.

 

[hydbob]

Fun trip! A tip for long journeys in an EV - usually you want to be using the "bottom of the battery", charging just long enough at each stop to reach the next charging stop with 10%-20% battery remaining. The reason for this is that the car charges MUCH faster at low state-of-charge (SOC) compared to the rate at high SOC. It's actually faster to make more stops and charge for shorter periods of time. Avoid charging to over 70% SOC to maximize charging speed and minimize total charging time for the trip.

What's that saying? "The journey is the destination?"

 

[Demosthenes]

Appreciate this write up!! I feel like I’ve been anticipating following along on this journey since before I got delivery of my GT.

 

[Bill55]

Fun trip! A tip for long journeys in an EV - usually you want to be using the "bottom of the battery", charging just long enough at each stop to reach the next charging stop with 10%-20% battery remaining. The reason for this is that the car charges MUCH faster at low state-of-charge (SOC) compared to the rate at high SOC. It's actually faster to make more stops and charge for shorter periods of time. Avoid charging to over 70% SOC to maximize charging speed and minimize total charging time for the trip.

After Quartzsite the next level 3 on our path was Flagstaff. I did not want to get to Quartzsite low with no options. I was willing to spend a little more time charging to have more options if a site has issues.

 

[Bill55]

Day 2 Started from Cottonwood AZ with 97% charging overnight on the level 2 at Springhill Suites. Drove up through Sedona to Flagstaff. Flagstaff plugged into Level 3 at Walmart and walked over to Cracker Barrel for breakfast. A quick car wash and Grand Canyon was next. Going up 89 and entering from the east entrance. Next stop Monument Valley. No alcohol on the Navajo Nation so a beer run to Mexican Hat. On the way back accelerating uphill on the grade up to the monuments it was ridiculous how easily this car pulls even uphill on a significant grade. It‘s possible that we mistook the highway number as a speed limit and matched it before shutting it down.

 

[Bill55]

Stayed at Gouldings in Monument Valley and charged overnight at the RV park with the included cable. $20 and it pulled a consistent 7kW. 804 miles and averaging 2.7 mi/kWh. Another car wash and heading to the Goosenecks to start day 3.

 

[Adnillien]

Drove up through Sonoma

I assume you meant Sedona?

 

[Bill55]

Ye

I assume you meant Sedona?

Yes. Thank you.

 

[pam4_AGT]

Stayed at Gouldings in Monument Valley and charged overnight at the RV park with the included cable

Can you clue me in? How do you get into an RV park without an RV? Or they just don't care as long as you pay? Was the place where you stayed right next to the RV park?

 

[Bbq9]

Love these write ups @Bill55
and super impressed with keeping the car looking amazing. I am embarrassed to say I haven’t washed mine since coming back from AZ. I am not afraid to be seen in public

 

[Bill55]

Can you clue me in? How do you get into an RV park without an RV? Or they just don't care as long as you pay? Was the place where you stayed right next to the RV park?

There are enough EV’s out there that many campgrounds that have RV hookups will allow you to charge for some fee. The “plug share” app is pretty good. In this case the cabin I stayed in was about a 1 mile walk from the Campground. Set fee of $20 to charge overnight.

 

[bhramabull]

Day 2 Started from Cottonwood AZ with 97% charging overnight on the level 2 at Springhill Suites. Drove up through Sedona to Flagstaff. Flagstaff plugged into Level 3 at Walmart and walked over to Cracker Barrel for breakfast. A quick car wash and Grand Canyon was next. Going up 89 and entering from the east entrance. Next stop Monument Valley. No alcohol on the Navajo Nation so a beer run to Mexican Hat. On the way back accelerating uphill on the grade up to the monuments it was ridiculous how easily this car pulls even uphill on a significant grade. It‘s possible that we mistook the highway number as a speed limit and matched it before shutting it down.

Was this overnight charging at Springhill Suites using that TeslaTap adapter?

 

[Bill55]

Was this overnight charging at Springhill Suites using that TeslaTap adapter?

The Springhill had 3 J1772 and 1 Tesla so I did not need the adaptor. I should have tried it out as I have yet to use it.

 

[Bill55]

Day 3. With the car clean and at 97% charge, we headed up to goosenecks state park. With a wind advisory we decided to head to Gallup.

In Gallup we went to the EA charger and for the first time a 350kW charger went over 200kW to 273kW. We got to 72% from 21% in 24 minutes. Had a late lunch at Sammy C's and headed to Albuquerque. No charger at the Hilton Garden Inn, Day 4 would begin with a trip to EA charger. 1194.8 miles 2.8 mi/kWh average.

 

[Bill55]

Day 4 Starts with a trip to EA. 71kW in 1:15 to get to 98% charge. Then to the car wash.

 

[Bill55]

Day 4 car wash notes.
1. The charge door with use is becoming more and more misaligned.
2. The aero inserts continue to become looser. 17 of 20 were out 1/16" to 1/8"
3. Driving through dust storm dust got by the first seal of the frunk. Nothing got by the second seal and everything in the frunk was clean.

 

[duc900]

Day 4 car wash notes.
1. The charge door with use is becoming more and more misaligned.
2. The aero inserts continue to become looser. 17 of 20 were out 1/16" to 1/8"
3. Driving through dust storm dust got by the first seal of the frunk. Nothing got by the second seal and everything in the frunk was clean.

I appreciate the facts and pics. Thanks

 

[Boomer AZ]

Likely drove right past my house! Would be interesting to do a side by side comparison of ABRP’s SOC prediction and what you actually achieved. You had a couple of good hill climbs in there. What was the air temperature in Quartzite? Thanks for sharing.