Declarations
This was an exploratory trip for a future Portland Oregon trip later this year.
The trip was planned two weeks before execution.
A few days prior to leaving, our Roadster to Model S charging adaptor stopped working.
Two adults and our 172 lb newfoundland "Poseidon" with luggage.
Outward trip cruise control 70 mph air between 66 and 68.
Homeward bound trip cruise control 75 mph air between 66 and 68.
Heard about the NYT article, saw Elon's tweets and some graphs. No in depth reading at all.
Details
02/14 7:30 AM Left home with max range charge of 269 using new HPWC.
02/14 9:43 AM Arrived at Tejon Ranch with 113 range miles left. Usage info = 121.6 miles, 43.6 kWh, 358 Wh/mi
02/14 10:35 AM Left Tejon Ranch with 247 range miles
02/14 12:14 PM Arrived Harris Ranch with 91 range miles left. Usage info = 116.2 miles, 44.2 kWh, 381 Wh/mi
02/14 1:00 PM Left Harris Ranch with 232 range miles
02/14 2:41 PM Arrived Gilroy with 86 range miles left, Usage info = 112.1 miles, 41.2 kWh, 368 Wh/mi
02/14 3:27 PM Left Gilroy with 229 range miles
We saw a truck load of Model S's soithbound but couldb't get a picture. Then we saw this Model S.
02/14 6:30 PM Arrived Santa Rosa with 86 range miles left
Major documentation over. Minor recorded documentation going forward.
02/14 Later drove to Coddington Mall and had dinner at BJ's Brewery while charging at a J1772 at 15 mph for two hours. Returned to Santa Rosa.
02/15 Left Santa Rosa, drove to Coddington Mall and charged again for an hour. Drove to Napa Valley Premium Outlets and charged at a J1772 at 30 mph while we shopped and dined. Ran into major traffic in Vacaville and stopped at the Nissan for a quick charge (~ 20 minutes). Traffic cleared.
02/15 5:14 PM Arrived at Folsom with 4 range miles left.
02/15 6:45 PM Left Folsom with 264 range miles
02/16 Left Santa Rosa Stopped at the Melo Park Store to charge up to 65 range miles (~ 1 hour). Walked the dog amd shopped.
02/16 1:07 PM Arrived in Gilroy with 6 range miles left.
A grey Model S was there when we pulled up.
And a white one when we went to leave.
02/16 2:05 PM Left Gilroty with 208 range miles
Saw another truck load of Model S's headed southbound.
02/16 Stopped in Harris Ranch just to top off enough to get to Tejon Ranch. Saw a Tesla vehicle engineer and expressed my enjoyment of the car and it's technology.
02/16 6:30 PM Arrived Tejon Ranch
02/16 6:52 PM Left Tejon Ranch with 167 range miles
End of documented details.
Lessons Learned
Having a large dog that needs more cooling than us required more energy usage.
Planning drive times will avoid excessive traffic. Ran into traffic in LA, even using diamond lane. Traffic through the Oakland area and major traffic the last 30 miles. Check for construction on planned routes and look for detours. Would have saved us hours over the whole trip.
Make sure to completely seat the electric charging connector. Had to reseat a few connectors to get charging. Thought our Raodster to Model S adaptor had failed and the Tesla service center agreed after testing it. Decided to retest it todat and after having to reseat it like a few of the connectors on the trip, it is now working.
Avoid machoism. The technical side said to drive to Folsom and then to Santa Rosa. The macho side decided to go to Gilroy and then to Santa Rosa not taking into account the Roadster to Model S adaptor issue.
Conclusions
Neither the wife nor I had range anxiety. We had calculated drive miles and times along with charging times, so we were not to far off. Traffic added more time than we had planned for with not much extra usage. We used the free apps, mostly recargo and maps.google.com to find charging stations on the way. This was an exploratory trip to check out all types of charging to make for better future planning. Some thing we alway do when going on any road trip.
Side Note
The scariest thing on the whole trip was other drivers. We had two near miss accidents. The second was only scary. Three lanes of freeway traffic, cement divider with half a lane space to my left, upcoming on ramp. Chevy SUV gets on and just goes all the way across the freeway. Luckily, my wife and I saw the SUV coming and I was able to use the half a lane and major braking, while honking and the wife waving vehemently, to avoid getting hit. The first event was harrowing! Four lanes of 70+ mph traffic, changed lanes to pass slower car in fast lane, as always, did a final check to my right before putting all my attention to going forward and saw a Checy SUV barrelling into my lane with no regard for me. Had to frantically brake, accelerate, brake and then accelerate again to avoid getting hit. The SUV missed me by less than an inch and had no clue. The dog suffered a sprained ankle in all the manuevering..
Thanks to the award winning design of the Tesla Model S, I was able to avoid an accident that I could not have in any of my other cars!! This car continues to amaze me.
This was an exploratory trip for a future Portland Oregon trip later this year.
The trip was planned two weeks before execution.
A few days prior to leaving, our Roadster to Model S charging adaptor stopped working.
Two adults and our 172 lb newfoundland "Poseidon" with luggage.
Outward trip cruise control 70 mph air between 66 and 68.
Homeward bound trip cruise control 75 mph air between 66 and 68.
Heard about the NYT article, saw Elon's tweets and some graphs. No in depth reading at all.
Details
02/14 7:30 AM Left home with max range charge of 269 using new HPWC.
02/14 9:43 AM Arrived at Tejon Ranch with 113 range miles left. Usage info = 121.6 miles, 43.6 kWh, 358 Wh/mi
02/14 10:35 AM Left Tejon Ranch with 247 range miles
02/14 12:14 PM Arrived Harris Ranch with 91 range miles left. Usage info = 116.2 miles, 44.2 kWh, 381 Wh/mi
02/14 1:00 PM Left Harris Ranch with 232 range miles
02/14 2:41 PM Arrived Gilroy with 86 range miles left, Usage info = 112.1 miles, 41.2 kWh, 368 Wh/mi
02/14 3:27 PM Left Gilroy with 229 range miles
We saw a truck load of Model S's soithbound but couldb't get a picture. Then we saw this Model S.
02/14 6:30 PM Arrived Santa Rosa with 86 range miles left
Major documentation over. Minor recorded documentation going forward.
02/14 Later drove to Coddington Mall and had dinner at BJ's Brewery while charging at a J1772 at 15 mph for two hours. Returned to Santa Rosa.
02/15 Left Santa Rosa, drove to Coddington Mall and charged again for an hour. Drove to Napa Valley Premium Outlets and charged at a J1772 at 30 mph while we shopped and dined. Ran into major traffic in Vacaville and stopped at the Nissan for a quick charge (~ 20 minutes). Traffic cleared.
02/15 5:14 PM Arrived at Folsom with 4 range miles left.
02/15 6:45 PM Left Folsom with 264 range miles
02/16 Left Santa Rosa Stopped at the Melo Park Store to charge up to 65 range miles (~ 1 hour). Walked the dog amd shopped.
02/16 1:07 PM Arrived in Gilroy with 6 range miles left.
A grey Model S was there when we pulled up.
And a white one when we went to leave.
02/16 2:05 PM Left Gilroty with 208 range miles
Saw another truck load of Model S's headed southbound.
02/16 Stopped in Harris Ranch just to top off enough to get to Tejon Ranch. Saw a Tesla vehicle engineer and expressed my enjoyment of the car and it's technology.
02/16 6:30 PM Arrived Tejon Ranch
02/16 6:52 PM Left Tejon Ranch with 167 range miles
End of documented details.
Lessons Learned
Having a large dog that needs more cooling than us required more energy usage.
Planning drive times will avoid excessive traffic. Ran into traffic in LA, even using diamond lane. Traffic through the Oakland area and major traffic the last 30 miles. Check for construction on planned routes and look for detours. Would have saved us hours over the whole trip.
Make sure to completely seat the electric charging connector. Had to reseat a few connectors to get charging. Thought our Raodster to Model S adaptor had failed and the Tesla service center agreed after testing it. Decided to retest it todat and after having to reseat it like a few of the connectors on the trip, it is now working.
Avoid machoism. The technical side said to drive to Folsom and then to Santa Rosa. The macho side decided to go to Gilroy and then to Santa Rosa not taking into account the Roadster to Model S adaptor issue.
Conclusions
Neither the wife nor I had range anxiety. We had calculated drive miles and times along with charging times, so we were not to far off. Traffic added more time than we had planned for with not much extra usage. We used the free apps, mostly recargo and maps.google.com to find charging stations on the way. This was an exploratory trip to check out all types of charging to make for better future planning. Some thing we alway do when going on any road trip.
Side Note
The scariest thing on the whole trip was other drivers. We had two near miss accidents. The second was only scary. Three lanes of freeway traffic, cement divider with half a lane space to my left, upcoming on ramp. Chevy SUV gets on and just goes all the way across the freeway. Luckily, my wife and I saw the SUV coming and I was able to use the half a lane and major braking, while honking and the wife waving vehemently, to avoid getting hit. The first event was harrowing! Four lanes of 70+ mph traffic, changed lanes to pass slower car in fast lane, as always, did a final check to my right before putting all my attention to going forward and saw a Checy SUV barrelling into my lane with no regard for me. Had to frantically brake, accelerate, brake and then accelerate again to avoid getting hit. The SUV missed me by less than an inch and had no clue. The dog suffered a sprained ankle in all the manuevering..
Thanks to the award winning design of the Tesla Model S, I was able to avoid an accident that I could not have in any of my other cars!! This car continues to amaze me.
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