Amarillo to Trinidad, CO supercharger stats - round trip

[reddy]

Although Amarillo's supercharger is still in eternal 'Coming Soon' status, it could be useful for Texas to Colorado drivers to know what the drive is like from Amarillo to the Trinidad SC.

Executive Summary:
Westbound to Trinidad: Trip at reduced speed consumed 252 of my 261 rated miles.
Eastbound to Amarillo: Easily made trip with lots of reserve energy


Here was my environment:
2013 Model S 85, 19 inch wheels
Ambient temp 95 in Amarillo , clear weather, 10mph wind from SSW
227 actual miles.

Amarillo to Trinidad
Left Amarillo with 261 RM. Evtripplanner predicted arrival with 8 miles remaining. Because that is a narrow margin of error, I drove the Amarillo to Dalhart segment at 63 MPH, and stopped at the free City of Dalhart RV park to add 24 miles of range. I left Dalhart with 205 RM.

The segment from Dalhart to Capulin was a gentle uphill climb almost all of the way, and was using over 350 wh per mile. I reduced speed to 60mph west of Clayton NM. After getting to Capulin, there was a relatively steep drop into Raton NM.

At the US87 - I25 junction I had 53 RM. I headed north up Raton Pass at 60mph and reached the crest with 35RM. Once over the pass, it was virtually straight downhill, and drove the next 11 miles at 70mph and arrived at the Trinidad SC with 33 RM remaining. If I had not added the 24 RM in Dalhart I would have made it with 9 miles reserve. I used 318 wh/mi on the Dalhart to Trinidad portion. Given that there is often a prevailing headwind, I don't think I would drive Amarillo to Trinidad without topping off somewhere en route.

Trinidad to Amarillo
Temp 78, partly cloudy, 14mph wind from SW
Left Trinidad with 261 RM. Not realizing that the return trip was much easier, and wanting to avoid another stop in Dalhart, I drove at only 62mph from Trinidad to Capulin. Once I got to Capulin and saw that my usage was only 290 wh/m I dialed up to 65 MPH, and at Dalhart increased to 70mph. I arrived in Amarillo nonstop with 36 RM remaining, and 274 wh/mi energy use.

Bottom line:
If you want to try Amarillo to Trinidad nonstop, keep your speed in the 60-62mph range, hope for no headwind, and you will need to have 25 or more rated miles remaining once you get to the Hwy 87 - I25 intersection to safely reach the top of Raton Pass. If you don't have that much left, there is a KOA in Raton.

The Trinidad to Amarillo trip is a breeze, since it is all downhill once you reach Capulin. I probably could have driven close to 70mph most of the way, but be aware that winds here can get extreme, and if they are going against you there are limited options to charge.

The identified RV parks for charging if you guess wrong are:
Dalhart - City RV Park is free
KOA - Clayton NM
Capulin RV park - right on US 87 so very convenient
KOA - Raton
NRA Whittington Center RV Park - (Not on Plugshare, but the people there tell me they have 50amp service, and are looking forward to their first EV. A bit out of the way SW of Raton. But they have a cool NRA Museum.)

 

[snellenr]

Thanks for the trip report, Reddy... That would be a fun drive in an S -- at speed, and with all of that power to pass the long lines of trucks & trailers that stack up between passing lanes. Not so much, the way you had to do it. That climb up Raton Pass would be a killer at the tail end of an extreme-range leg...

 

[Twiglett]

It would be nice to have enough to have a quick stop at Capulin volcano, thats always fun but quite steep

 

[houstonian]

Per the 2017 Tesla.com supercharger map it looks like a SC is planned/wished for Clayton NM. If this comes online it will go a long way to allowing lower capacity Teslas to do the direct Trinidad / Amarillo drive on 287/87.

Also for those going to TX, it looks like a supercharger location is planned for Wichita Falls. This one in addition to the new one in addition to the new one in Childress TX should open up 287.

 

[kort677]

I made that trip last winter in an S90D. you need to start with a max charge and then keep it below 65mph, arrived in Amarillo with around 30 miles of range. initially the trip planner kept warning me to slow it down so I drafted a truck for awhile on 287 but once I forced a recalc it showed that I'd make it with room to spare.

 

[reddy]

Clayton will be a great location for traffic between Texas and Colorado. It will eliminate all range anxiety and we won't need to top off at the Dalhart RV park anymore. If we hear about any construction I'll go check it out.

 

[houstonian]

Trinidad to Amarillo Report:

Car: S60D (software limited 75kw battery), Post Refresh
AP: 2.0
Miles Driven: 242
Rated Miles Used: 209
Average Efficiency: 221 wh/mi
Battery Usage: 53.41kWh or 98%
Average Speed: 60mph
Elevation Change: -2,623
Outside Temp: ~63-77 F

Notes: I-25 to 287, 287 to 87, 87 to Amarillo via Dumas. Made use of drafting trucks whenever possible. The trucks I drafted tended to cruise at 65mph.

Originally operated under the assumption of 60kw usable battery power. However, this was inaccurate. Per TeslaFi's logs, this drive consumed 53.41 kWh = 98% of the battery implying 100% yields ~54.4 kWh. A subsequent drive later in the day (Childress SC to Arlington SC) used 52.17 kWh = 96% of the battery, again confirming 100% to be ~54.4.

For refreshed S60D drivers (and maybe refreshed S60 and X60D drivers?) be sure you understand the usable KW of your battery. I made the Trinidad to Amarillo drive by limiting speed, closely tracking consumption, and drafting trucks. Certainly doable, but you 60's need to be on their A game when doing this drive.

If you're planning on driving Amarillo to Trinidad, you will want at least 10% of your battery left when reaching Raton and turning onto 25. That will get you over the pass and to the Trinidad Supercharger. For me, this requires I expend no more than ~48.5kw from Amarillo to Raton to ensure enough power remains (54.4 - 48.5 = 5.9) remains to get over the pass and to the Trinidad SC.

Have not yet attempted the reverse drive but am game to do so in the summer. The idea of fooling around with RV parks, no heat, and strong winter headwinds just don't appeal to me. Will report back if I do.

Also, this entire post may become moot once Tesla opens their Clayton SC, but until then...

 

[Piney999]

I can't believe I found this. Thank you for the write up! I was going to try the Amarillo to Trinidad run next week, but after reading this, I will take the long way round. Thank for the well written post.

 

[reddy]

Piney,

IMO , stopping for 45 minutes at the free public RV site in Dalhart (which often has zero RVs there) is more appealing than taking the long route on I-40.

The RV park is unattended. You just go there , and plug in. You don't need to check in with anyone.

Not only is the total time a lot shorter, but it gives me a few minutes to check email, read, relax, etc.

Again, this problem disappears once we get a supercharger in Clayton. But I've now made this trip several times and the brief boost in Dalhart is the way to go.

 

[Knightowl]

Although Amarillo's supercharger is still in eternal 'Coming Soon' status, it could be useful for Texas to Colorado drivers to know what the drive is like from Amarillo to the Trinidad SC.

Executive Summary:
Westbound to Trinidad: Trip at reduced speed consumed 252 of my 261 rated miles.
Eastbound to Amarillo: Easily made trip with lots of reserve energy


Here was my environment:
2013 Model S 85, 19 inch wheels
Ambient temp 95 in Amarillo , clear weather, 10mph wind from SSW
227 actual miles.

Amarillo to Trinidad
Left Amarillo with 261 RM. Evtripplanner predicted arrival with 8 miles remaining. Because that is a narrow margin of error, I drove the Amarillo to Dalhart segment at 63 MPH, and stopped at the free City of Dalhart RV park to add 24 miles of range. I left Dalhart with 205 RM.

The segment from Dalhart to Capulin was a gentle uphill climb almost all of the way, and was using over 350 wh per mile. I reduced speed to 60mph west of Clayton NM. After getting to Capulin, there was a relatively steep drop into Raton NM.

At the US87 - I25 junction I had 53 RM. I headed north up Raton Pass at 60mph and reached the crest with 35RM. Once over the pass, it was virtually straight downhill, and drove the next 11 miles at 70mph and arrived at the Trinidad SC with 33 RM remaining. If I had not added the 24 RM in Dalhart I would have made it with 9 miles reserve. I used 318 wh/mi on the Dalhart to Trinidad portion. Given that there is often a prevailing headwind, I don't think I would drive Amarillo to Trinidad without topping off somewhere en route.

Trinidad to Amarillo
Temp 78, partly cloudy, 14mph wind from SW
Left Trinidad with 261 RM. Not realizing that the return trip was much easier, and wanting to avoid another stop in Dalhart, I drove at only 62mph from Trinidad to Capulin. Once I got to Capulin and saw that my usage was only 290 wh/m I dialed up to 65 MPH, and at Dalhart increased to 70mph. I arrived in Amarillo nonstop with 36 RM remaining, and 274 wh/mi energy use.

Bottom line:
If you want to try Amarillo to Trinidad nonstop, keep your speed in the 60-62mph range, hope for no headwind, and you will need to have 25 or more rated miles remaining once you get to the Hwy 87 - I25 intersection to safely reach the top of Raton Pass. If you don't have that much left, there is a KOA in Raton.

The Trinidad to Amarillo trip is a breeze, since it is all downhill once you reach Capulin. I probably could have driven close to 70mph most of the way, but be aware that winds here can get extreme, and if they are going against you there are limited options to charge.

The identified RV parks for charging if you guess wrong are:
Dalhart - City RV Park is free
KOA - Clayton NM
Capulin RV park - right on US 87 so very convenient
KOA - Raton
NRA Whittington Center RV Park - (Not on Plugshare, but the people there tell me they have 50amp service, and are looking forward to their first EV. A bit out of the way SW of Raton. But they have a cool NRA Museum.)

Thanks for this post, I will be driving Trinidad to Amarillo in Feb, then back the opposite way in March fully loaded with the family in our 2014 S85. I will add my trip info here after the drive. Will see what the weather brings.

 

[reddy]

Good luck with your trip. Since you're from the Springs, I don't have to tell you that weather that time of year is unpredictable in NE New Mexico.

If you burn up too much Kwh with heating the car , there are free city owned RV parks in Dalhart and also Dumas.

If you get to Dalhart with enough energy, the fastest and shortest way to the Amarillo supercharger is NOT through Dumas. Go via HWY 385 to Channing and then go via FM 1061 at Boys Ranch/Tascosa to Amarillo. Take the Soncy exit going south from FM 1061. From Soncy Rd turn left at the next signal - Amarillo Blvd / (Business I-40). Go past the US Post Office and past the movie theater, then make a right into the parking for Home2 Suites and Holiday Inn for the Amarillo Supercharger. The supercharger is in the SW corner of the Holiday Inn parking lot, but is NOT accessible from the movie theater.

(NB: Holiday Inn. NOT Holiday Inn Express. They are across the street from each other, and it gets people confused.)

There is a lot of construction at I40, and the Tesla directions make you drive 2 extra miles by looping east on I-40 to Coulter, then back around west on I-40.

 

[Knightowl]

Good luck with your trip. Since you're from the Springs, I don't have to tell you that weather that time of year is unpredictable in NE New Mexico.

If you burn up too much Kwh with heating the car , there are free city owned RV parks in Dalhart and also Dumas.

If you get to Dalhart with enough energy, the fastest and shortest way to the Amarillo supercharger is NOT through Dumas. Go via HWY 385 to Channing and then go via FM 1061 at Boys Ranch/Tascosa to Amarillo. Take the Soncy exit going south from FM 1061. From Soncy Rd turn left at the next signal - Amarillo Blvd / (Business I-40). Go past the US Post Office and past the movie theater, then make a right into the parking for Home2 Suites and Holiday Inn for the Amarillo Supercharger. The supercharger is in the SW corner of the Holiday Inn parking lot, but is NOT accessible from the movie theater.

(NB: Holiday Inn. NOT Holiday Inn Express. They are across the street from each other, and it gets people confused.)

There is a lot of construction at I40, and the Tesla directions make you drive 2 extra miles by looping east on I-40 to Coulter, then back around west on I-40.

Thanks for the route tips, as an inbetween charge stop I plan to stop at coyote keeths RV Park to add a few miles, will be like $10 but there are restrooms and a safe area for the kids to run around, prefer stopping there vs the free Dalhart RV park since that one is not attended and guessing no restrooms for us. Spoke with Keeth on the phone about charging already on one of his 50amp hookups and he seems like a cool person and is looking forward to seeing the car.

 

[reddy]

Thanks for the route tips, as an inbetween charge stop I plan to stop at coyote keeths RV Park to add a few miles, will be like $10 but there are restrooms and a safe area for the kids to run around, prefer stopping there vs the free Dalhart RV park since that one is not attended and guessing no restrooms for us. Spoke with Keeth on the phone about charging already on one of his 50amp hookups and he seems like a cool person and is looking forward to seeing the car.

I actually had a Clayton resident visiting yesterday who told me this was a nice place to stop. It is probably within walking distance of the Dairy Queen as well. Sounds like a good choice.

 

[CarlW]

Hoping I can reopen this thread and someone has more recent experience and/or advice that may help me.
Planning to drive from Dallas to Crested Butte Colorado soon March 1 2019 in my 2014 Model S85. There is destination charging at the Hampton Inn in Dumas, (I think I've figured out to get there, using a destination charger in Vernon to get me from the Denton supercharger to Childress). So the issue is Dumas to the Trinidad supercharger, a distance of 188 miles. Is this doable? Should I stop in Dalhart at the RV park (38 miles closer to Trinidad)?

 

[reddy]

Carl, I've been back to Colorado Springs multiple times since my original post in 2015. I still have my 2013 S85.

Dumas is significantly closer to Trinidad than Amarillo, so it should be very doable if you are charging to 100% overnight in Dumas. The only provisos are whether you get strong headwinds, or cold temps causing you to run the heater.

For March 1, we are looking at a high of 68 and wind 15mph from the WSW. This is pretty typical, so if you don't overspeed you should be fine.

If you are going to reproduce my experience, I would shoot for having at least 205 RM left when you enter the south Dalhart city limits. If you have less, stop at the RV park there. I'll bet you won't need to.

I'd be more concerned about the Denton to Childress run. If you were planning on Hampton Inn at Vernon, I am told those chargers are off line and not repaired. The backup plan for Vernon would be to stop at the RV park there, (really friendly on the phone if you tell them you're coming) , or to route through Ardmore to Childress.

I run the Tesla Winds web page on my web browser to show me what my headwinds are. You might look at that to help estimate your energy demand , and adjust your speed as necessary.

Have a good trip!

 

[CarlW]

Hi Reddy, thank you very much for that valuable information.

I appreciate the tip on Vernon, where I was planning to stop. I tried calling the motel there yesterday and couldn't get through. So yes, I'll try an RV park. Which RV park in Vernon did you use? Google shows 3 of them: Rocking A, Mel's and A&A. I'm guessing one of the "A"s since Mel's is out of the way. And is it the Dalhart RV Park, Corral or Sunset Village that people use in Dalhart? Do you usually pay them or offer to pay at the RV parks? How many RMs do you get per hour of charge at those?

This is by far the most ambitious trip I've taken and heck, I've had range anxiety issues driving to Houston, Austin, Hot Springs, AR and Tyler in past years. Driving around Dallas in my aggressive way, I expend range miles at an alarming rate. So I know I need to slow down; use the cruise control; and if necessary dress warm so I can avoid using the heater (though it may be unavoidable farther up in Colorado: I have to cross Monarch Pass). What speed would you advise setting the cruise control to for the ambitious legs of the trip?

 

[CarlW]

I'm rethinking my route to Dumas.

Per Google Maps, it's 6:36 hours (418 miles) from my home in Dallas to Dumas routing through Denton supercharger, Vernon RV park, Childress.supercharger and Amarillo supercharger. Longest leg is 151 miles from Denton to Vernon.

It's 7:38 hours routing through Ardmore, Oklahoma City and Shamrock superchargers. (Shamrock to Dumas = 136 miles, so can bypass the Amarillo supercharger). Longest leg is 157 miles from OK City to Shamrock.

Question is how much time I'd need to charge at the Vernon RV park? If I can only charge about 25 RM/hour at the RV park, I may do just as well going through OK City on the interstates.

 

[reddy]

Carl,

How long you need to charge at Vernon would depend upon how fast you are burning through the RMs. You could need an hour.

In my 85, last year I drove that route from Dallas to Ardmore, had a nice meal at the Lucilles there, and charged to 96% then went on the US highways to Childress. That was more direct than messing with OKC, and didn't involve any RV parks. It won't show up on EVTRIPLANNER.COM, but its a very reasonable route.

On segments where I have any range concerns, I usually start out driving 63 mph. I load my destination into the navigation system, and I then look at my energy screen's 2nd tab to see the graph on how much battery will be left at arrival. As I see that my predicted battery on arrival is >15% I then creep up the speed. If the predicted gets below 10% I back off on the speed. That lets me get to the highest speed possible and still have a little buffer in case of problems.

 

[reddy]

Hi Reddy, thank you very much for that valuable information.

I appreciate the tip on Vernon, where I was planning to stop. I tried calling the motel there yesterday and couldn't get through. So yes, I'll try an RV park. Which RV park in Vernon did you use? Google shows 3 of them: Rocking A, Mel's and A&A. I'm guessing one of the "A"s since Mel's is out of the way. And is it the Dalhart RV Park, Corral or Sunset Village that people use in Dalhart? Do you usually pay them or offer to pay at the RV parks? How many RMs do you get per hour of charge at those?

This is by far the most ambitious trip I've taken and heck, I've had range anxiety issues driving to Houston, Austin, Hot Springs, AR and Tyler in past years. Driving around Dallas in my aggressive way, I expend range miles at an alarming rate. So I know I need to slow down; use the cruise control; and if necessary dress warm so I can avoid using the heater (though it may be unavoidable farther up in Colorado: I have to cross Monarch Pass). What speed would you advise setting the cruise control to for the ambitious legs of the trip?

It was Rocking A RV Park that I was referring to. They are next to a WalMart.

The Dalhart RV park is city owned, and they don't charge anything if you are there for only an hour. They charge if you stay overnight. It is on Lake Rita Blanca, and you turn left (west) on FM 281 which is on the south side of town just as you start to enter Dalhart. There should be a sign for the RV park, you would turn left (south) as you approach the Rita Blanca coliseum and drive toward the lake. You will see an 8 spot RV park. I've never seen more than 2 RVs there, and would expect 0 in February / March.

Here's a link to the free Dalhart RV Park on Plugshare.
PlugShare - Find Electric Vehicle Charging Locations Near You

 

[CarlW]

Many, many thanks, Reddy. I'll report back to this forum on how the trip goes.