Hood River to Kirkland trip for new Model S owner

Just got my Tesla Model S about two weeks ago and am planning on a weekend trip from Hood RIver, OR to Kirkland, WA and back - 240 miles each way. Leaving Fri 7/19. I've driven to Portland and back a few times already so that doesn't bother me at all. I've been having some weird range anxiety dreams related to running out of juice on the way and the hassles involved (and embarassement factor) of being towed and getting recharged.


It is unclear whether the Centralia Supercharger will be online by then or not - although another member of the PDXTesla group spoke with one of the construction crew who claims that it will be operational Thursday 7/18 but I'm not going to depend on it.


Finally I decided to just make a plan so I can sleep peacefully. Since it is my first time, I actually want to check out some additional charging options as well as the supercharger and I'm going to give myself plenty of extra time to stop and charge in case the supercharger isn't ready or has problems.


Hood River, OR --> Ridgefield, WA (77 miles). J1772 charger, stretch my legs, scope out the place, maybe get some coffee. Charge for about 15 minutes.


Ridgefield --> Centralia (69 miles). If the supercharger is online, I will top off using that. If not, use the Wendy's J1772 while I get lunch. Maybe 30-45 minutes. Hoping the dining option are better than just crappy fast-food. Yelp is my friend.


Possible stop in Lacey at the Dept of Ecology chargers to check that out - it looks like there is a big shopping area nearby with nice restaurants, shops and a movie theater! Might be a good place to stop on the way back as well.


Centralia --> Bellevue Square Tesla (85 miles). Call ahead and try to reserve a spot so I can charge at their HWPC charger while browsing around the mall until my friend gets off work.


Bellevue Square --> Kirkland, WA (5 miles). There are supposedly many free ChargePoint J1772 stations at various locations in downtown Kirkland (City Hall, Marina Park, Public Library). Looks like one is about a 10 minute walk way from my friend's house. Do as much charging at these stations I can over the weekend.


This should give me some confidence and I can make appropriate adjustment for the trip back. Going back I hope to by close to a full, max range charge. If not, I will pop into Bellevue Square Tesla again. I basically intend to make the same stops on the way back as needed and based on my charging experience going up.


Any additional suggestions?


Thanks

Yes, I have twin chargers and 19" wheels.

deonb: Thanks for the tips on extending the range. I'll try to follow the advice - although it will be tough to put the already anemic air-conditioningl in range mode. I had a gut feeling that driving slower so you don't have to stop for slow charging would be an overall net gain in time. Where does it show your lifetime average? I've only noticed the averages for Trip A and Trip B.

drbradfo: I have fobs for Aerovironment and ChargePoint. I have also signed up for Blink Plus - they no longer charge an annual membership according to the customer rep I spoke to.

BTW - No range anxiety dreams last night after making my plan!

What I find with the "anemic" A/C is that if set I set it to 73 and it doesn't get cool enough. I have to crank it down to 70 or lower to be comfortable. I feel like the actual number on the A/C setting isn't really a target temperature. I keep my house at 74 and it is plenty comfortable and every other car I've owned with temperature settings on the A/C didn't have this problem.

Maybe something is wrong with my inside temperature sensor?

Good tip on keeping Trip B as my lifetime average - although all the demos of the speed and acceleration I'm giving to friends and neighbors is messing with that

deonb said:

Why is it specifically important to you what the actual setting value is? Interior temperatures in a vehicle is incredibly localized, and depending on where the thermometer is located it can be off by 10's of degrees.

Click to expand...

Just previous experience with other cars (Audi, Prius) where a setting of 73 to 75 was quite comfortable and they were good at maintaining interior comfort. But it is fine, 70 seems the sweet spot for me in the Tesla.

Plus I think Audi and Toyota and other big car makers have decades of experience figuring out and optimizing cabin climate control. Hopefully Tesla can just download new climate control firmware when they see fit to address this. It would be cool (no pun intended) if they partnered with Nest to figure this out.

Just a followup. With the Centralia Supercharger going live the day before my trip, it was a no-brainer. I ripped along from Hood River to Centralia (150 miles). Had 83 miles (~30%) left on the battery and it charged at a peak rate of 292 mi /hr !!!! Charged for about 40 minutes while doing some outlet shopping. Then 100 miles to Kirkland. I did a few hours at the free charger at Kirkland City Hall but otherwise charged on my friend's 110 v outlet. For the limited driving I did while in the Seattle area I was fulled charged by the time I left to return home on Sunday.

It was surprising to me how often the charging stations in Kirkland were occupied by other EVs - Leafs and Teslas. I downloaded and learned to use the ChargePoint app on my phone which tells me which stations in their network are being used so I don't waste time.