Tesla Cross-Country Trip

I thought they would follow the funky S-curve of chargers into New Mexico, but according to Twitter they're going straight from Flagstaff, AZ to Blanding, UT. Gutsy, that's 252 miles according to Google.

Getting charged in Flagstaff, AZ as we prep for the longest leg of the whole trip to Blanding, UT! #DriveFree pic.twitter.com/5Ki6REzsav

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Although if they do what I think, they'll cut it down to 247 miles and drive by Monument Valley for a photo op...

Trnsl8r said:

I thought they would follow the funky S-curve of chargers into New Mexico, but according to Twitter they're going straight from Flagstaff, AZ to Blanding, UT. Gutsy, that's 252 miles according to Google.



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Although if they do what I think, they'll cut it down to 247 miles and drive by Monument Valley for a photo op...

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It looks like this route change happened relatively recently. The route shown on the hoods of the two cars sure looks like it goes through Holbrook AZ, Gallup NM, and Farmington NM instead of skipping right from Flagstaff to Blanding to save about 175 miles.



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airj1012 said:

Just a quick thread to track the team as they move from LA to NY. Not sure if any one is planning on meeting them at any of the superchargers along the way.

Cross Country Rally | Blog | Tesla Motors

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Here is a video of the countdown to the beginning of the race at Hawthorne last night - http://instagram.com/p/jySwLSSdfZ/

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The group is now in Kingman, AZ - http://instagram.com/p/jy-ljGwJzv/

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Here is a better photo of the graphics on the hood of the cars: http://www.flickr.com/photos/mark-z/12221868895/in/set-72157640321871753/

wraithnot said:

It looks like this route change happened relatively recently. The route shown on the hoods of the two cars sure looks like it goes through Holbrook AZ, Gallup NM, and Farmington NM instead of skipping right from Flagstaff to Blanding to save about 175 miles.

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Also looks like they're missing the middle South Dakota charger. That's easy to fix, anyone have a white sharpie?

Trnsl8r said:

Also looks like they're missing the middle South Dakota charger. That's easy to fix, anyone have a white sharpie?

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Planning to skip it? This is about minimizing charging time, maybe using a super-duper whizz-bang, ooooh-inducing navigation calculator.

Wish them the best of luck!
Looking forward to seeing the number of hours they spent charging.

Goal now seems to be getting across the country with the lowest charging time. I would think that getting a range charge to make that long leg would be counter productive to the stated goal ?!?!?!?!!?

There's no point in them bypassing the Murdo, SD Supercharger: it would actually cost them extra time. The beauty of well-spaced Superchargers is that you can drive as fast as conditions allow and stop relatively frequently, and still make better average speeds than eking out a hypermiling segment just to bypass a Supercharger along the route.

OTOH, Avoiding the 4-Corners S-curve saves a lot of road miles as well as SpC time, so assuming they make it to Blanding without incident, it's worthwhile.

I'm still worried about the road conditions in Colorado: the current winter storm will continue through Friday afternoon and snow accumulations up to 30" are expected. Loveland Pass is closed as of 2am, diverting all HazMat trucks to the Eisenhower tunnel on I-70, which delays other traffic as CDOT closes the tunnel at the top of every hour to allow the HazMat trucks to transit. Chain laws are in effect for stretches of I-70, too. It will be dicey.

My point was that 1 range charge might take longer than 3 partial charges. They do not seem to be going for the fastest time across the country but the lowest amount of charge time.

Kevin Harney said:

My point was that 1 range charge might take longer than 3 partial charges. They do not seem to be going for the fastest time across the country but the lowest amount of charge time.

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Your point would be valid if they were bypassing Superchargers along the same route. Since the Flagstaff-Blanding cutoff saves 182 road miles in addition to passing up three SpC's the same calculus does not apply.

stevezzzz said:

Your point would be valid if they were bypassing Superchargers along the same route. Since the Flagstaff-Blanding cutoff saves 182 road miles in addition to passing up three SpC's the same calculus does not apply.

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So the 182 road miles saves 1 charge ? right ?

Does Tesla have a site where this trip can be followed ? Are they posting any videos ? News coverage ?

Kevin Harney said:

Does Tesla have a site where this trip can be followed ? Are they posting any videos ? News coverage ?

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The best I have found so far it the Tesla Motors Twitter and Facebook pages.

Kevin Harney said:

So the 182 road miles saves 1 charge ? right ?

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It saves most likely two charges (bypassing Holbrook but taking charges at Gallup and Farmington); AND it saves 182 road miles. That's a substantial time savings, no matter how you slice it.

stevezzzz said:

It saves most likely two charges (bypassing Holbrook but taking charges at Gallup and Farmington); AND it saves 182 road miles. That's a substantial time savings, no matter how you slice it.

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I think you are missing my point. road miles do not really count if they are going for the lowest charging times. 2 or 3 fast charges would be less charging time than 1 range would it not ? But you are also correct that eliminating miles will eventually eliminate charges.

It looks like they are driving at a leisurely pace. If the left LA City Hall at 12:40 AM and arrived at Barstow at 2:28 AM, that's about 61 MPH. Estimating charging time at Barstow and Kingman, I think they were going at a similar speed to Kingman and Flagstaff. If they go this rate all the way, I estimate it will take them 57 driving hours and just under 10 charging hours.