I thought I would write up a recent trip to give an idea on charging speeds, availability and other observations on the trip in case anyone is planning similar trips. Data is from TeslaFi tracking. 2022 LR MY AWD with roof rack and tow package, 2 adults, one toddler and 5 days worth of clothes and kids gear (toys, food, etc.).
Day 1 - Walla Walla to Missoula
Start at 100% (since, why not and let the BMS do some recalculation), left Walla Walla heading north on 125 then cut over to hit (an early) Climax and Clyde on the way to 261 in Perry then up through Washtucna and finally joining I90 in Ritzville. Battery is at 59% here. Made it to the Spokane Supercharger with 37% remaining. Should have been able to make it to Liberty Lake and maybe even CdA but didn’t want to push it and throw off other stops. Also needed a stretch break and to let the 2yo burn off some energy. Total time driving is 2:31, 43.84kwh used for an average of 297 wh/mile. 22 minutes adds 44% (32.5 kWh) peaking at 146kw and averaging 88kw.
Next leg, off to Saint Regis. Pretty straightforward, arrive with 28% remaining after 2:03 using 35.87 kwh for an average of 264 wh/mile. Here 33 minutes adds 62% with a maximum of 188kw and an average of 83kw.
Final leg of the day is to Missoula. Again, straightforward. Arrive with 53% remaining after 1:04 using 24.95kwh and averaging 338 wh/mile. Public charging here is spotty but there are 2 free L2 chargers in the Park Place garage on E Front Street. One on L1 and one on L2. Plug Share notes at some point these chargers were marked as leased spots only but those signs have since been removed. These are 40A Clipper Creek units (32A charging) putting out 7kw at 208V. They are marked as 2 hours spots and the garage charges $1/hr from 8-5 M-F (I think). Getting here at 4:30 we have to pay $1 for 28.4kwh added over 4:28, works out to $0.035/kwh. At full paying rate it works out to $0.14/kwh. Not sure how they police the 2 hour limit but I would guess it doesn’t matter after hours.
Day 2 – Missoula to Gardiner
Starting at 90%, heading to the Butte SC. 1:51 and 63% later (43.4kwh) leaves an average of 354 wh/mile. Charge to 90% in 34 minutes with 145kw max for an average of 89.9kw.
Notice that 63% here in 34 minutes vs 62% in 33 minutes at Saint Regis with very similar starting SoC. Easy conclusion is that above 25% starting SoC and charging to 90%, V3 is no different than V2. If the stations were closer and you could operate in the 10-50% range then V3 has benefits but there are very few states where this level of charging saturation is available. Saint Regis was only over 145kw for 2 minutes and it continued a downward taper (12.44kwh added over 5 minutes). Butte maintained 145kw for 5 minutes (10.75kwh).
With one quick stop to make on the way to the Bozeman SC for our last juice before Gardiner we again charge close to 90% here. We arrive with 51% left, using 27.16kwh over 91.55 miles for an average efficiency of 297 wh/mile. We add 37% over 23 minutes with a max of 119kw and average of 78.9kw. Side note: it is not near the charger but Mountains Walking/New Hokkaido Brewing is one of the best brewery experiences we have ever had. Wide variety of beers, great atmosphere and amazing food. Well worth a stop.
A couple more stops on the way out of town and in Gardiner before we reach our hotel leaves us at 52% after 84.09 miles and 23.74kwh used for an average of 282wh/mile.
Day 3 – Gardiner to Mammoth Hot Springs to West Yellowstone an Back
Now things get a little interesting. As many know, there is almost no public charging in Gardiner and the one Chargepoint DCFC on the way into town is not exactly reliable as far as speeds go. Decide to top up some before heading in to the park with about an hour to kill. Heading out there drops the battery to 50%. Price is $0.35/min which at full speed of 62.5kw is pricey but not too bad. However, I max out at 29kw and for the first 15 minutes, only 16kw is going into the battery. All told, I get 11.39kwh (but use 14.5kwh) and pay $10.76 for an average rate of about $0.75/kwh. Small town highway robbery. At full speed the rate would be about $0.34/kwh which is on par with most DCFC options. They need to switch to charge based on energy since it seems quite variable. I have used similar ChargePoint units and gotten 55kw from them.
Now at 65% and likely needing more energy, we notice a new dual head L2 Chargepoint unit at the new cabins at the Ridgeline Lodge. It is free for hotel guests and we see it while spending 15 minutes with friends staying there. We also get a little free energy from the Mammoth lodge while we attend a wedding at the chapel. There is also a charger closer to the Chapel but there are no sidewalks between the two and you have to walk almost back to the Lodge to get to the sidewalk to the chapel. Here data is spotty so TeslaFi info is not great. The data shows the charger as USING 12% so it is hard to piece together what actually happened but we decide to head down to West Yellowstone to fully charge so we can drive around and see some more of the park and avoid having to use the 29kwh Chargepoint station to make sure we can reach Bozeman when we leave. We arrive with 47% remaining and proceed to charge to 96%. This 49% addition takes 48 minutes with a max of 74kw and an average of 48.3kw. Believe we were sharing juice but not entirely sure. There is an hour of data missing but we drive for 1:33 covering 54.57 miles and expend 9.9kwh of energy for an average of 181 wh/mile. Gotta love slow speeds and 1400 feet elevation drop.
Day 4 – Gardiner to Missoula
Day 5 – Missoula to Walla Walla
And we start back. Retracing a few steps with a couple slight changes. I won’t get into all the details except to mention that chargers are much closer to full (or full) on Day 4 (Sunday). We do Gardiner to Bozeman, leave at 76%, arrive at 41%. We are 3rd car here so splitting at 75kw. One car leaves after 5 minutes, we move to their stall and jump to 110kw and charge to 75% averaging 100kw. Lunch is at Mountains Walking (it’s that good!) and then on the road to Butte. Arrive at 33%, 29.26kwh, 82.07 miles for an average of 361wh/mi. We are again car #3 but with 6 stalls here we get full speed, 145kw, at least until car #6 arrives 9 minutes later and we are down to 74kw from 106kw. Overall we add 53% over 28 minutes for an average of 90.7kw. Back to Missoula, 86% to 30%, 38.41kwh used, 122.19 miles, 314 wh/mile. Again, we do some free charging in the public lot (completely free this time) and get 21% over 2.5 hours. Back to the hotel and this 47% jumps to 50% overnight (recalculation). Leaving at 50%, we arrive in Saint Regis at 15%, 72.31 miles, 23.74kwh, 328 wh/mile. This is our best charge of the trip. Site is empty, we hit 257kw and 70% add to 85% takes 28 minutes for an average of 104.7kw. We get 9.8kwh in the first 3 minutes, if this could be maintained, that would be 100% charge in 24 minutes. From here we head to CdA to top up while waiting for lunch with friends (forgot about the time change and have an hour to kill). We use 42% (28.98kwh) going 96.57 miles for an average of 300 wh/mile. Arrive to see an older MS and a MY using the V2 chargers and only 1 MY using the new V3 ones. Another couple of cars arrive (another MY pulls into the V2) and magnifies the fact that these are poorly marked. In CA mixed sites of labels to show what is what. Also compounding confusion is using the same numbering for the different sets. There is 1A/B, 2A/B and 3A/B for the V2 and 1C/D (V3 1A/B not labeled) and 2A/B/C/D. The new V3 should be 4 and 5. We go from 43% to 76% with a max of 138kw and averaging 99.3kw over 15 minutes. Lunch, 84.67 miles and 25.42kwh later (300 wh/mile) we are parked nearby the giant cannabis sign at Sprague. 38-79%, 151kw max, 94.5kw average, and 18 minutes later we are back on the road and headed home. This time we go through Tri-Cities and take 12 back to WW. 2:02, 55%, 133.31 miles and 38.03kwh later (285 wh/mile) the trip is done.
Trip Totals
1420.26 miles
425.63kwh used
300 wh/mile average
Efficiency – 74.69% (1901.6 rated miles used)
L2 charging – 60.47 kwh
L3 charging – 357.22 kwh
Total Miles Added – 1696.27
Charging Efficiency – 83.7%
This is a little off since I don’t show charging back from 24% to 100% to give the total energy used for the trip. Based on the percentage used and kwh used the calculations show 100% usable battery as around 70kwh. Taking this number into account for the final recharge with overall charging efficiency added in, you can add 52.7 more kwh of charging in for a grand total of 470kwh added to the battery. Total energy used while charging is 513.6kwh. This leads to an actual usage including charging losses of 361.6 wh/mile. Just using the battery energy you get 331wh/mile, a 9% charging loss average.
Total Charging Cost - $146.50
Cost per Mile - $0.103
Comparing this to a similar SUV (Toyota RAV 4?) that gets 32mpg (slightly more highway that EPA rating) and gas averaging $4.25 (mostly Montana but some Washington) would cost thusly:
1420/32=44.375 gallons
44.375*$4.25=$188.59
Cost per Mile - $0.133
There is not that much overall savings since there is extensive use of Superchargers on this trip and higher than normal wh/mile due to high speed limits in this part of the country. Dropping MPG to 25 adds $50 to the trip and $/mile to $0.17 and leads to more savings with the EV.
Overall, the trip was quite enjoyable and only the Sunday part of the drive had some SC congestion. The 3 new SC in Missoula, Butte, and Belgrade (Bozeman) will significantly ease this for a while once they come online. I have some pictures I need to sort through that I will probably add to the individual charger threads if they seem worthy.
Day 1 - Walla Walla to Missoula
Start at 100% (since, why not and let the BMS do some recalculation), left Walla Walla heading north on 125 then cut over to hit (an early) Climax and Clyde on the way to 261 in Perry then up through Washtucna and finally joining I90 in Ritzville. Battery is at 59% here. Made it to the Spokane Supercharger with 37% remaining. Should have been able to make it to Liberty Lake and maybe even CdA but didn’t want to push it and throw off other stops. Also needed a stretch break and to let the 2yo burn off some energy. Total time driving is 2:31, 43.84kwh used for an average of 297 wh/mile. 22 minutes adds 44% (32.5 kWh) peaking at 146kw and averaging 88kw.
Next leg, off to Saint Regis. Pretty straightforward, arrive with 28% remaining after 2:03 using 35.87 kwh for an average of 264 wh/mile. Here 33 minutes adds 62% with a maximum of 188kw and an average of 83kw.
Final leg of the day is to Missoula. Again, straightforward. Arrive with 53% remaining after 1:04 using 24.95kwh and averaging 338 wh/mile. Public charging here is spotty but there are 2 free L2 chargers in the Park Place garage on E Front Street. One on L1 and one on L2. Plug Share notes at some point these chargers were marked as leased spots only but those signs have since been removed. These are 40A Clipper Creek units (32A charging) putting out 7kw at 208V. They are marked as 2 hours spots and the garage charges $1/hr from 8-5 M-F (I think). Getting here at 4:30 we have to pay $1 for 28.4kwh added over 4:28, works out to $0.035/kwh. At full paying rate it works out to $0.14/kwh. Not sure how they police the 2 hour limit but I would guess it doesn’t matter after hours.
Day 2 – Missoula to Gardiner
Starting at 90%, heading to the Butte SC. 1:51 and 63% later (43.4kwh) leaves an average of 354 wh/mile. Charge to 90% in 34 minutes with 145kw max for an average of 89.9kw.
Notice that 63% here in 34 minutes vs 62% in 33 minutes at Saint Regis with very similar starting SoC. Easy conclusion is that above 25% starting SoC and charging to 90%, V3 is no different than V2. If the stations were closer and you could operate in the 10-50% range then V3 has benefits but there are very few states where this level of charging saturation is available. Saint Regis was only over 145kw for 2 minutes and it continued a downward taper (12.44kwh added over 5 minutes). Butte maintained 145kw for 5 minutes (10.75kwh).
With one quick stop to make on the way to the Bozeman SC for our last juice before Gardiner we again charge close to 90% here. We arrive with 51% left, using 27.16kwh over 91.55 miles for an average efficiency of 297 wh/mile. We add 37% over 23 minutes with a max of 119kw and average of 78.9kw. Side note: it is not near the charger but Mountains Walking/New Hokkaido Brewing is one of the best brewery experiences we have ever had. Wide variety of beers, great atmosphere and amazing food. Well worth a stop.
A couple more stops on the way out of town and in Gardiner before we reach our hotel leaves us at 52% after 84.09 miles and 23.74kwh used for an average of 282wh/mile.
Day 3 – Gardiner to Mammoth Hot Springs to West Yellowstone an Back
Now things get a little interesting. As many know, there is almost no public charging in Gardiner and the one Chargepoint DCFC on the way into town is not exactly reliable as far as speeds go. Decide to top up some before heading in to the park with about an hour to kill. Heading out there drops the battery to 50%. Price is $0.35/min which at full speed of 62.5kw is pricey but not too bad. However, I max out at 29kw and for the first 15 minutes, only 16kw is going into the battery. All told, I get 11.39kwh (but use 14.5kwh) and pay $10.76 for an average rate of about $0.75/kwh. Small town highway robbery. At full speed the rate would be about $0.34/kwh which is on par with most DCFC options. They need to switch to charge based on energy since it seems quite variable. I have used similar ChargePoint units and gotten 55kw from them.
Now at 65% and likely needing more energy, we notice a new dual head L2 Chargepoint unit at the new cabins at the Ridgeline Lodge. It is free for hotel guests and we see it while spending 15 minutes with friends staying there. We also get a little free energy from the Mammoth lodge while we attend a wedding at the chapel. There is also a charger closer to the Chapel but there are no sidewalks between the two and you have to walk almost back to the Lodge to get to the sidewalk to the chapel. Here data is spotty so TeslaFi info is not great. The data shows the charger as USING 12% so it is hard to piece together what actually happened but we decide to head down to West Yellowstone to fully charge so we can drive around and see some more of the park and avoid having to use the 29kwh Chargepoint station to make sure we can reach Bozeman when we leave. We arrive with 47% remaining and proceed to charge to 96%. This 49% addition takes 48 minutes with a max of 74kw and an average of 48.3kw. Believe we were sharing juice but not entirely sure. There is an hour of data missing but we drive for 1:33 covering 54.57 miles and expend 9.9kwh of energy for an average of 181 wh/mile. Gotta love slow speeds and 1400 feet elevation drop.
Day 4 – Gardiner to Missoula
Day 5 – Missoula to Walla Walla
And we start back. Retracing a few steps with a couple slight changes. I won’t get into all the details except to mention that chargers are much closer to full (or full) on Day 4 (Sunday). We do Gardiner to Bozeman, leave at 76%, arrive at 41%. We are 3rd car here so splitting at 75kw. One car leaves after 5 minutes, we move to their stall and jump to 110kw and charge to 75% averaging 100kw. Lunch is at Mountains Walking (it’s that good!) and then on the road to Butte. Arrive at 33%, 29.26kwh, 82.07 miles for an average of 361wh/mi. We are again car #3 but with 6 stalls here we get full speed, 145kw, at least until car #6 arrives 9 minutes later and we are down to 74kw from 106kw. Overall we add 53% over 28 minutes for an average of 90.7kw. Back to Missoula, 86% to 30%, 38.41kwh used, 122.19 miles, 314 wh/mile. Again, we do some free charging in the public lot (completely free this time) and get 21% over 2.5 hours. Back to the hotel and this 47% jumps to 50% overnight (recalculation). Leaving at 50%, we arrive in Saint Regis at 15%, 72.31 miles, 23.74kwh, 328 wh/mile. This is our best charge of the trip. Site is empty, we hit 257kw and 70% add to 85% takes 28 minutes for an average of 104.7kw. We get 9.8kwh in the first 3 minutes, if this could be maintained, that would be 100% charge in 24 minutes. From here we head to CdA to top up while waiting for lunch with friends (forgot about the time change and have an hour to kill). We use 42% (28.98kwh) going 96.57 miles for an average of 300 wh/mile. Arrive to see an older MS and a MY using the V2 chargers and only 1 MY using the new V3 ones. Another couple of cars arrive (another MY pulls into the V2) and magnifies the fact that these are poorly marked. In CA mixed sites of labels to show what is what. Also compounding confusion is using the same numbering for the different sets. There is 1A/B, 2A/B and 3A/B for the V2 and 1C/D (V3 1A/B not labeled) and 2A/B/C/D. The new V3 should be 4 and 5. We go from 43% to 76% with a max of 138kw and averaging 99.3kw over 15 minutes. Lunch, 84.67 miles and 25.42kwh later (300 wh/mile) we are parked nearby the giant cannabis sign at Sprague. 38-79%, 151kw max, 94.5kw average, and 18 minutes later we are back on the road and headed home. This time we go through Tri-Cities and take 12 back to WW. 2:02, 55%, 133.31 miles and 38.03kwh later (285 wh/mile) the trip is done.
Trip Totals
1420.26 miles
425.63kwh used
300 wh/mile average
Efficiency – 74.69% (1901.6 rated miles used)
L2 charging – 60.47 kwh
L3 charging – 357.22 kwh
Total Miles Added – 1696.27
Charging Efficiency – 83.7%
This is a little off since I don’t show charging back from 24% to 100% to give the total energy used for the trip. Based on the percentage used and kwh used the calculations show 100% usable battery as around 70kwh. Taking this number into account for the final recharge with overall charging efficiency added in, you can add 52.7 more kwh of charging in for a grand total of 470kwh added to the battery. Total energy used while charging is 513.6kwh. This leads to an actual usage including charging losses of 361.6 wh/mile. Just using the battery energy you get 331wh/mile, a 9% charging loss average.
Total Charging Cost - $146.50
Cost per Mile - $0.103
Comparing this to a similar SUV (Toyota RAV 4?) that gets 32mpg (slightly more highway that EPA rating) and gas averaging $4.25 (mostly Montana but some Washington) would cost thusly:
1420/32=44.375 gallons
44.375*$4.25=$188.59
Cost per Mile - $0.133
There is not that much overall savings since there is extensive use of Superchargers on this trip and higher than normal wh/mile due to high speed limits in this part of the country. Dropping MPG to 25 adds $50 to the trip and $/mile to $0.17 and leads to more savings with the EV.
Overall, the trip was quite enjoyable and only the Sunday part of the drive had some SC congestion. The 3 new SC in Missoula, Butte, and Belgrade (Bozeman) will significantly ease this for a while once they come online. I have some pictures I need to sort through that I will probably add to the individual charger threads if they seem worthy.
