- Joined
- May 1, 2022
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- San Francisco, CA
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- Air Touring
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- MX1KDTYY
So my road trip from Boulder to San Francisco was completed just a few days ago. Still catching up on the forum, so I haven't posted until now.
Some highlights and notes:
Day 1:
Got started mid-afternoon and made it to Grand Junction in just over 4 and-a-half hours. 256.6 miles traversed.
Average efficiency during that stretch: 4.3 mi/kWh.
I kept my speed at or around 75 mph, which is the top speed limit for that stretch, anyway.
No fast charging needed. Started at 100%, arrived with 30%. Could easily have gone another 100 miles or so. Charged at my hotel L2 charger overnight.
Quite a bit of elevation change during this stretch. But once you reach Vail, the second half of the trip is mostly downhill. This helps.
Day 2:
Got started at 5:30 am. Traveled from Grand Junction, CO to Reno, NV. 800 miles traversed. Arrived about 7:30 pm.
Average efficiency during this part of the trip: 3.6 mi/kWh. It was hot, and there were a few uphill climbs.
Again, I kept my speed to 75 mph, except when passing the occasional truck. Several parts of this stretch have a speed limit of 80, but I had no issues only going 75 in the right lane. (Stay out of the left lane, and generally speaking, no one bothers you.)
Three fast charging sessions. I began at 92% (because I left so early in the morning my car hadn't reached 100% yet):
Salt Lake City EVGo: Managed a speed of 241 kW for the first part of this, since my SoC was around 11%. Charged up to 85% in around 40 minutes, which gave me time to find a nice breakfast sandwich and take a much needed walk. There were no other EVs at this station, so I didn't mind waiting a bit extra for that juice above 80. I wanted to reach Elko safely without needing a backup plan.
Elko, NV Electrify America: Best speed here was 225 kW. Also respectable. Wound down fast, though, due to 100+ degree temps outside. Again, about 40 minutes to get to 85%, starting at 11% or so. One other guy there who loudly announced upon my arrival "You have my car!" He actually had an IONIQ 6, but he had wanted a Lucid, he said. Got lunch while I waited.
Fernly, NV Electrify America: Managed just over 200 kW here before winding down. This one was a nail biter: I arrived with about 6% SoC. I only needed to top off to about 70 to be safe, though, as I had a hotel in Reno waiting for me with another L2 charger. I stayed in the car for this one, as it had started raining a bit.
Plugged in at my hotel in Reno and walked to dinner.
Day 3:
Got started around 7 am. Traveled from Reno, NV to San Francisco. 218 miles traversed. Arrived by 11:30 am.
Average efficiency for this leg: 4.3 mi/kWh. At one point I actually hit 5.0, though.
I made no attempt to keep my speed down, as I was starting at 100% and knew I had plenty of battery to get home. Ironically, I did a lot better on efficiency despite several stretches over 80 mph, because the trip was very much a downhill run. From about 5000 ft at one point to basically sea level.
No fast charging needed. Arrived with about 40% SoC left, if I recall? I didn't write that one down. It was plenty.
Notes:
I'm starting to pay more attention on longer trips to elevation. I'm convinced this matters more than many other factors. Though speed is still the ultimate killer of efficiency.
Temperatures got hot at some points, and it rained briefly a few times on the trip. This always effects efficiency, too.
I never sacrifice comfort for efficiency. So my AC and seat ventilation were on the entire trip. Same with entertainment. Plenty of podcasts, classic albums, and audio books to keep my occupied.
Day two was long.I normally wouldn't recommend going that far in a day. But I wanted to reach my new home before noon on Monday. So I stretched it.
Three fast charging stations to go 1,300 miles. Two overnight charging sessions. No major issues with charging. The EVGo station did briefly stop at 77% for no apparant reason. But I was able to get it going again. The Electrify America stations were flawless with plug and charge. Spent about $30 at EVGo. $8 at the first hotel ChargePoint L2 charger. Zero for EA and my Reno hotel. Beats the heck out of buying gas for that trip.
Once again, I will conclude by saying this car is the ultimate long road tripper. I had no software bugs my entire trip. CarPlay didn't drop once. HA worked well enough, only dropping out on sharper turns. Do hope they fix that eventually. Seats were super comfortable the whole way.
And I had a ton of stuff packed in the frunk and trunk, as I knew it would be a while before my movers arrived here with all the rest of our gear.
Now I just have to run the gauntlet of registering and insuring my car in California. Not looking forward to that.
Oh, and PS: Don't stop at the Bonneville Salt Flats. Unless you want a thousand little gnats flying into your car as soon as you open the door. I spent the next two hours killing them one by one. Had to wash the car when I got to Reno, it was so gross.
Some highlights and notes:
Day 1:
Got started mid-afternoon and made it to Grand Junction in just over 4 and-a-half hours. 256.6 miles traversed.
Average efficiency during that stretch: 4.3 mi/kWh.
I kept my speed at or around 75 mph, which is the top speed limit for that stretch, anyway.
No fast charging needed. Started at 100%, arrived with 30%. Could easily have gone another 100 miles or so. Charged at my hotel L2 charger overnight.
Quite a bit of elevation change during this stretch. But once you reach Vail, the second half of the trip is mostly downhill. This helps.
Day 2:
Got started at 5:30 am. Traveled from Grand Junction, CO to Reno, NV. 800 miles traversed. Arrived about 7:30 pm.
Average efficiency during this part of the trip: 3.6 mi/kWh. It was hot, and there were a few uphill climbs.
Again, I kept my speed to 75 mph, except when passing the occasional truck. Several parts of this stretch have a speed limit of 80, but I had no issues only going 75 in the right lane. (Stay out of the left lane, and generally speaking, no one bothers you.)
Three fast charging sessions. I began at 92% (because I left so early in the morning my car hadn't reached 100% yet):
Salt Lake City EVGo: Managed a speed of 241 kW for the first part of this, since my SoC was around 11%. Charged up to 85% in around 40 minutes, which gave me time to find a nice breakfast sandwich and take a much needed walk. There were no other EVs at this station, so I didn't mind waiting a bit extra for that juice above 80. I wanted to reach Elko safely without needing a backup plan.
Elko, NV Electrify America: Best speed here was 225 kW. Also respectable. Wound down fast, though, due to 100+ degree temps outside. Again, about 40 minutes to get to 85%, starting at 11% or so. One other guy there who loudly announced upon my arrival "You have my car!" He actually had an IONIQ 6, but he had wanted a Lucid, he said. Got lunch while I waited.
Fernly, NV Electrify America: Managed just over 200 kW here before winding down. This one was a nail biter: I arrived with about 6% SoC. I only needed to top off to about 70 to be safe, though, as I had a hotel in Reno waiting for me with another L2 charger. I stayed in the car for this one, as it had started raining a bit.
Plugged in at my hotel in Reno and walked to dinner.
Day 3:
Got started around 7 am. Traveled from Reno, NV to San Francisco. 218 miles traversed. Arrived by 11:30 am.
Average efficiency for this leg: 4.3 mi/kWh. At one point I actually hit 5.0, though.
I made no attempt to keep my speed down, as I was starting at 100% and knew I had plenty of battery to get home. Ironically, I did a lot better on efficiency despite several stretches over 80 mph, because the trip was very much a downhill run. From about 5000 ft at one point to basically sea level.
No fast charging needed. Arrived with about 40% SoC left, if I recall? I didn't write that one down. It was plenty.
Notes:
I'm starting to pay more attention on longer trips to elevation. I'm convinced this matters more than many other factors. Though speed is still the ultimate killer of efficiency.
Temperatures got hot at some points, and it rained briefly a few times on the trip. This always effects efficiency, too.
I never sacrifice comfort for efficiency. So my AC and seat ventilation were on the entire trip. Same with entertainment. Plenty of podcasts, classic albums, and audio books to keep my occupied.
Day two was long.I normally wouldn't recommend going that far in a day. But I wanted to reach my new home before noon on Monday. So I stretched it.
Three fast charging stations to go 1,300 miles. Two overnight charging sessions. No major issues with charging. The EVGo station did briefly stop at 77% for no apparant reason. But I was able to get it going again. The Electrify America stations were flawless with plug and charge. Spent about $30 at EVGo. $8 at the first hotel ChargePoint L2 charger. Zero for EA and my Reno hotel. Beats the heck out of buying gas for that trip.
Once again, I will conclude by saying this car is the ultimate long road tripper. I had no software bugs my entire trip. CarPlay didn't drop once. HA worked well enough, only dropping out on sharper turns. Do hope they fix that eventually. Seats were super comfortable the whole way.
And I had a ton of stuff packed in the frunk and trunk, as I knew it would be a while before my movers arrived here with all the rest of our gear.
Now I just have to run the gauntlet of registering and insuring my car in California. Not looking forward to that.
Oh, and PS: Don't stop at the Bonneville Salt Flats. Unless you want a thousand little gnats flying into your car as soon as you open the door. I spent the next two hours killing them one by one. Had to wash the car when I got to Reno, it was so gross.
