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The Summer Of Road Trips Continues: Shoreline WA to Santa Cruz CA!

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Our 2013 "Summer Of Road Trips, Electrified!" continues! We've gone East as far as Coeur d'alene, Idaho, as far north as Quadra Island BC and as far west as Port Angeles WA. Now for the big plunge south, 2,000 miles round trip to Santa Cruz, CA via Sacramento! Every year we drive down to visit family in Sacramento, this year it's going to be emission free! We've put 7,500 miles on our S so far and have become accustom to charging on route but could definitely use some help figuring out the best places to charge. The challenge is that the SC network is not up yet and Tesla does not yet offer a CHAdeMO adapter for the dozens of DC Quick Chargers we will pass along the way in WA and Oregon that make up the West Coast Green Highway http://www.westcoastgreenhighway.com/WAelectrichighways.htm. OH what I would give for a CHAdeMO adapter, it would cut many hours of public charging out of the trip, even allow us the option of going down the Oregon Coast for part of the trip.

Tom Saxton has been very helpful in providing me with links to trip reports:
-1,823-Mile Oregon Coast Tesla Road Trip:
http://www.saxton.org/tom_saxton/2012/07/ev-road-trip-ca-2012.html
-How To Plan A Road Trip:
http://www.teslamotorsclub.com/showthread.php/13678-How-to-plan-a-road-trip-how-long-will-it-take
- The Tesla Highway:
https://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF&msa=0&msid=213359050108102131982.00048cca5f440e03b1fe4

I am planning on hitting virtually every 70A charger along the way. it looks like I will be making these stops:

1. Centralia WA Burgerville

818 Harrison Ave Centralia, WA 98531
(360) 736-5212


2. Portland OR World Trade Center parking garage
56 Southwest Taylor Street, Portland, OR

3. Eugene Or Sequential Biofuels
86714 McVay Hwy Eugene, OR 97405
(541) 736-5864

4.Canyonville, OR
Seven Feathers Truck and Travel Center
130 Creekside Rd Canyonville, OR 97417
(541) 839-3110

5.Comfort Inn
1804 Fort Jones Road
Yreka, CA 96097
(530) 842-1612

6. Berry Patch restaurant, 900 Newville Road, orland ca

7. Folsom (after an overnight in Sacramento with the CA family)

8. Gilroy

the tricky part is going to be figuring out how long we need to charge at each spot given how weighed down the car is with a family of four, all the luggage and our dog. the weather, AC use and elevation gain all add to the equation. We plan to take 2 days each way.

Preparations include having borrowed a Roadster HPC to Tesla S adapter and having gathered up all the Tesla UMC adapters. We have also gotten the hatch heavily tinted to reduce solar heating for the kids in the jump seats... it was unbearable before, now it's manageable, at least so far this summer... thinking of adding a fan as well.

If anyone who has made it over the passes in Southern OR/Northern CA in a Model S can help with what SOC level is needed to get from the HPC in Canyonville to the HPC in Yreka it would be appreciated. any other general tips would be appreciated as well. The trip is complicated by having a 2 year old and a 4 year old in the car... we will have a fine balance to break between getting where we need to go efficiently and needing to take breaks, not always where there are 70A chargers... We have not decided where to stay over night but typically have made it to Roseburg OR. It would be nice to wake up to a full charge.
 
The link in my signature at the bottom of this post takes you to a thread where I detail my driving and charging times for that trip back in January. It was cold then, I there was rain/snow the first two days down, so that was a near-worst-case scenario.

I went down again three weeks ago; here are some quick stats from that near-best-case scenario.

Day 1, from Redmond WA to Canyonville OR. I left Redmond at 6:30am and arrived in Canyonville at 5:05pm.
Temps varied from 60 to 90 today. It was clear and dry the whole way. I generally went just barely over the speed limit, although I did hoon a bit in the hills just before Canyonville.

Redmond to Centralia:
93 real miles; 1:35 to get there
87 rated miles used

At Burgerville charged for 1:15 and got 59 miles of rated range (put me up to 235, a full standard charge)

Centralia to Portland (Tesla store in Tigard):
103 real miles; took 1:45 to get there
104 rated miles used

At Tigard charged for 2:25 and got 104 miles of range, up to standard full again.

Tigard to Eugene:
107 real miles; took 1:45 to get there
106 rated miles used

In Eugene charged for 0:30 and got 17 miles of range, up to 146.

Eugene to Canyonville:
93 real miles; took about 1:05 to get there
99 rated miles used

I arrived in Canyonville with 47 miles left.​

Day 2, Canyonville OR to Vacaville CA. I left Canyonville at 6am and got to Vacaville at 4:48pm

Clear and dry. 57 to 95 degrees.

Canyonville to Yreka:
127 real miles, 2:10 to get there
152 rated miles used

In Yreka charged for 2:45 and added 122 miles, putting me up to 236.

Yreka to Orland:
156 real miles, took 2:22
158 rated miles consumed

In Orland charged for 1:45 and got 76 miles

Orland to Vacaville
103 real miles, took 1:38
130 rated miles consumed​
 
Thanks Chad, that's very helpful. I also had a good chat with Doug today about his trip.

how full was your car approximately? we will be pretty much filled to the gills, 4 people, full frunk, dog, dog crate, two coolers full of food. it should be interesting! All my trips so far have involved being heavily weighted down which has eaten into the range some. at least there are no major passes between here and Canyonville. sounds like 7 feathers is a nice place to stay overnight with convenient overnight charging!
 
Nope they were cool about my car charging without staying. I offered some money but be declined saying it cost very little and even offered his lobby for us to relax. The blackbear was a nice play for breakfast which is right across the street.

Ken
 
What I learned on my trip is try not to use much energy until you get to Yreka because its all downhill from there. It's quite boring in Yreka and Orland especially with kids. The charge rate for both places was about 44mph. What I would recommend is get enough charge to get to Woodland and charge at the Red Robin there.
 
Thanks for the tip! We should be heading out on Sunday, I've cleared it with Tony Williams to make sure we won't be interfering with the BC2BC rally... might even make it up to Blane for the kick off on Saturday!

What I learned on my trip is try not to use much energy until you get to Yreka because its all downhill from there. It's quite boring in Yreka and Orland especially with kids. The charge rate for both places was about 44mph. What I would recommend is get enough charge to get to Woodland and charge at the Red Robin there.
 
I just came back about a week ago from a trip up to Seattle from Elk Grove (Sacramento Area). Spent the night at Canyonville overnight to charge each time and used Roadster chargers all the way. Only hic-cup was a Roadster unplugging me at the Tesla Store in Portland. I happened to be checking my charge rate and noticed it stopped; so we walked down to check it out and he was plugging me back in...said he didn't realize it was a customers car...hmmm. After that I started leaving a card on my parcel shelf with contact information (cellphone). Worked well in Bellevue since the Tesla Manager needed me to move my car to another spot.

I planned everything with a evtripplanner.com and set the cruise to 65 and we were good to go. Left a fairly sizable margin for error since my wife and daughter were with me. It was a great trip and experience for all and I have 5k in just about 2 months! Hopefully the attached spreadsheet will help with your plan. Have a great time!
 

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We are heading out today, the heat is going to be challenging! I mounted two battery operated fans on the roll bar of the Pano to divert air conditioned air into the back for the kids in the jump seats. Ipads are loaded with moves this should be interesting! thanks to everyone for all the helpful tips!
 
At every restaurant and hotel you stop at, it would be worthwhile to encourage the owner to install a NEMA 14-50 accessible to the parking area. Let them know Tesla owners will be patronizing those businesses. The 30% federal tax credit for installing electric vehicle recharging property ends this year so now is the time to do it.
 
We are heading out today, the heat is going to be challenging! I mounted two battery operated fans on the roll bar of the Pano to divert air conditioned air into the back for the kids in the jump seats. Ipads are loaded with moves this should be interesting! thanks to everyone for all the helpful tips!

Good luck!

I would like to do a trip from LA to Vancouver once the WA superchargers open. Looks like a big gap between Folsom and Centralia until at least Fall, though. Looks like there will have to be 3 non-supercharger stops at around Redding, Medford, and Eugene. I could knock Redding out by charging overnight, but it looks like 2 prolonged charges the next day which will waste the whole next day. Anyone have any advice on a more efficient plan?
 
Heading back north tomorrow. on the way down we stayed at Seven Feathers Truck and Travel Center, 130 Creekside Rd Canyonville, OR 97417. great for an overnight... arrived there with 7 rated miles left... did Portland to Canyonville in one shot! it's oh so nice to be asleep for the full charge! the casino shuttle runs regular trips from about where the Roadster HPC is to the hotel, it's also an easy walk under the freeway. the stretch from Folsom to Canyonville will require some longish stops, but once you are through the hills in northern CA, the range gets much more predictable. I'll post my times and charging. I've put about 30K on a Nissan Leaf, so I have sharpened my ability to gauge range vs speed and hills enough to feel comfortable cutting it close.

Good luck!

I would like to do a trip from LA to Vancouver once the WA superchargers open. Looks like a big gap between Folsom and Centralia until at least Fall, though. Looks like there will have to be 3 non-supercharger stops at around Redding, Medford, and Eugene. I could knock Redding out by charging overnight, but it looks like 2 prolonged charges the next day which will waste the whole next day. Anyone have any advice on a more efficient plan?
 
Punta Gorda, FL to Beech Mountain NC & Return
For a 70’s plus couple with a pet dog
July-Sept. 2013
This summary describes two different approaches to a road trip. On the way, we drove and charged to reach a destination beyond the range limits of the car. On the return, we drove a distance equal to the range limit of the car and recharged to the maximum. Both approaches required planning to locate charging stations as well as overnight pet friendly accommodations close to charging opportunities.
Going
We started in Punta Gorda, Fl with 260 miles of range and drove to the Tampa Service Center about 90 miles away where we charged for about an hour, no cost. Tesla people were friendly and helpful. These mileages and charge times are approximate, since my best intentions of record keeping were not met.
With 195 miles we took off to Gainesville, Fl. 100 miles away where there was a charging station in the U of F parking garage. After spending some time locating this site we charged at one of two spaces, both empty. We charged there for an hour and a half (no cost) in the heat and took off for Valdosta, GA.
We arrived after hours at the KOA campsite for an overnight after about 300 miles and about 20 miles of range left. It was a step above tent camping and the indoor plumbing was appreciated. The car charged overnight and charging was included in the cost of the room $68. After hitting McD’s for breakfast, we took off to the next KOA in Cordele, GA 90 miles away.
We charged here for a couple of hours for $20. At least this site was accommodating as others in the area refused charging for cars.
Next stop was the Tesla Service Center in Marietta, GA 120 miles away. Again the Tesla staff was friendly and helpful while we charged for a couple of hours. They even checked out the tire pressure system warning which came on and off. Conclusion it was a soft/firm ware problem so don’t worry. They sent us on the way to our overnight in Chattanooga, TN 120 miles away and 330 miles for the day.
We stayed in the Residence Inn and made use of a Blink charger overnight and proceeded to Knoxville about 115 miles away where we charged for an hour at the Crown Plaza with a Blink charger. The final leg was 143 miles to Beech Mountain at an elevation of 5100 feet. We arrived there with 11 miles of range left after driving about 260 miles for the day.
The condo owner had installed a 240 volt 50 amp. outlet which we accessed with a 15 foot extension and our charge cable so we were able to charge daily like we do at home. It’s interesting to note that with regenerative charging going up and down the mountain was a wash as far as range used going up and gained going down.
Returning
The return trip was more relaxing but a day longer. We left Beech Mountain and went 200 miles to Columbia where we stayed downtown and charged for free at a city parking garage.
Next day we went to Savannah, GA 160 miles and stayed downtown charging for free at a city parking garage.
Third day we went 239 miles to Port Orange, FL and used Charge Point at the hotel parking garage.
Final day was 188 miles to Punta Gorda.
Future trips will mimic our return approach, but allow longer days drives with the availability of the super chargers.