WOW!!! That's travel for 1.6 cents per mile. Was someone along the way giving out free samples of electricity? Perhaps you were drafting behind a semi most of the way. Maybe you snuck a cord to somebody's dryer connection in their carport in the middle of the night. You and Jill are awesome!
-
Want to remove ads? Register an account and login to see fewer ads, and become a Supporting Member to remove almost all ads.
Arizona - Phoenix and Tucson Corridor
- Thread starter gjunky
- Start date
-
- Tags
- Mountain & Southwest USA
From Jill: If you are staying/renting at a KOA, or if you are simply charming, in our experience there's a good chance that they won't charge you to charge the car.
Sousaphil
P2,595
Hi all,
Not sure if you've been to Scottsdale Fashion Square since receiving your cars...but if you go, Tesla is more than happy to have you park in their charging stalls and juice up for free while you shop. It's in the green garage, level 2. Once you park, you just have to go in to the store (very close to the nearest door) and request the adapter cable. The HPWC units they have are the original (Roadster) models.
I already had about 160 miles of rated range (on a 60 pack), but it was great to top off the battery (standard mode) for free. Never happened to me in an ICE vehicle!
Not sure if you've been to Scottsdale Fashion Square since receiving your cars...but if you go, Tesla is more than happy to have you park in their charging stalls and juice up for free while you shop. It's in the green garage, level 2. Once you park, you just have to go in to the store (very close to the nearest door) and request the adapter cable. The HPWC units they have are the original (Roadster) models.
I already had about 160 miles of rated range (on a 60 pack), but it was great to top off the battery (standard mode) for free. Never happened to me in an ICE vehicle!
Phoenix to Las Vegas, and back, in a 60kWh Model S
Yes, it takes a bit of planning, but it can be done. We recharged at RV parks and stayed some nights in KOA campgrounds. Here is the summary.
We range-charged overnight to get a projected range of 197 miles. (Some rumors exist that this is displaying a bit under actual, and our results seem to confirm that. I'd call it 206, which is darn close to the 208 published rating for the 60kWh car.)
We left Phoenix (Desert Ridge area), mid-afternoon, cool temperatures outside, bright sunny days, so no need for much heating or cooling at any point. Drove 65 mph on cruise control.
1st stop just to top-off was Dazzo's Country Store and RV Park in Wikiup. We only stayed about 45 minutes or so and we wanted a little extra charge to ensure we'd make it to Kingman where we'd spend the night. Total cost was $1.20 -- we gave him $2 and said, "keep the change".
We had about 30 extra projected miles to get to Kingman, so started out at 65 mph. As time went by we started seeing that "projected range" dropping a bit faster than our actual remaining miles.
By the time we reach I40 and headed west, we were down to less than 15 miles of extra "projected range" and real range anxiety set in. This is in the middle of nowhere at night. Dropped speed to 55mph, and tried drafting behind a slow moving semi -- that didn't last too long. Thankfully, we soon saw a large, very bustling truck stop 16 miles before Kingman so we quickly decided to pull off the highway and hope for a place to recharge. Right there in the glow of our headlights was Blake Ranch RV Park. They were open, and for $5 let us recharge as long as we wanted. I happily paid the $5. Only stayed about 45 minutes until we felt we had enough added "buffer" to press on to Kingman.
Now it turns out we probably didn't need to stop after all because from that point on, Kingman was downhill. And that my friends is what we failed to anticipate -- up and down hills, and total elevation change.
So, we made it the KOA in Kingman, spent the night in a nice little "lodge" style cabin in the campground, with our car recharging in a NEMA 14-50 plug right outside our door; recharge overnight for free.
The next morning made it easily to Las Vegas which was only about 100 miles away, and as you see, it was all downhill. We drove faster for this leg of the journey.
We stayed at a KOA Campground at Circus Circus, and rented an Airstream trailer for the two nights were were there. Free recharging again.
The trip back home was done in one day. Full range charge in Las Vegas, a 4-hour stop to fully recharge in Kingman (we hung out, played miniature golf and stuff), then all the way back to Phoenix with no more stops and 20 miles to spare when we pulled into our garage (it was all downhill).
So, driving long distances is more like flying a plane. We need account for where we expect to refuel, headwinds or tailwinds can make a difference, travel speed and total elevation changes all impact how much "fuel" we'll need.
It was fun. I'm glad we did it. I have no concern whatsoever about taking a 60kWh Model S on long trips -- so long as we have our KOA campground directory with us and a good book to read.
Yes, it takes a bit of planning, but it can be done. We recharged at RV parks and stayed some nights in KOA campgrounds. Here is the summary.
We range-charged overnight to get a projected range of 197 miles. (Some rumors exist that this is displaying a bit under actual, and our results seem to confirm that. I'd call it 206, which is darn close to the 208 published rating for the 60kWh car.)
We left Phoenix (Desert Ridge area), mid-afternoon, cool temperatures outside, bright sunny days, so no need for much heating or cooling at any point. Drove 65 mph on cruise control.
1st stop just to top-off was Dazzo's Country Store and RV Park in Wikiup. We only stayed about 45 minutes or so and we wanted a little extra charge to ensure we'd make it to Kingman where we'd spend the night. Total cost was $1.20 -- we gave him $2 and said, "keep the change".
We had about 30 extra projected miles to get to Kingman, so started out at 65 mph. As time went by we started seeing that "projected range" dropping a bit faster than our actual remaining miles.
By the time we reach I40 and headed west, we were down to less than 15 miles of extra "projected range" and real range anxiety set in. This is in the middle of nowhere at night. Dropped speed to 55mph, and tried drafting behind a slow moving semi -- that didn't last too long. Thankfully, we soon saw a large, very bustling truck stop 16 miles before Kingman so we quickly decided to pull off the highway and hope for a place to recharge. Right there in the glow of our headlights was Blake Ranch RV Park. They were open, and for $5 let us recharge as long as we wanted. I happily paid the $5. Only stayed about 45 minutes until we felt we had enough added "buffer" to press on to Kingman.
Now it turns out we probably didn't need to stop after all because from that point on, Kingman was downhill. And that my friends is what we failed to anticipate -- up and down hills, and total elevation change.
- Phoenix elevation = 1117 feet above sea level
- Wikiup = 1,997
- Kingman = 3,336!
- then downhill to Las Vegas at 2,402.
So, we made it the KOA in Kingman, spent the night in a nice little "lodge" style cabin in the campground, with our car recharging in a NEMA 14-50 plug right outside our door; recharge overnight for free.
The next morning made it easily to Las Vegas which was only about 100 miles away, and as you see, it was all downhill. We drove faster for this leg of the journey.
We stayed at a KOA Campground at Circus Circus, and rented an Airstream trailer for the two nights were were there. Free recharging again.
The trip back home was done in one day. Full range charge in Las Vegas, a 4-hour stop to fully recharge in Kingman (we hung out, played miniature golf and stuff), then all the way back to Phoenix with no more stops and 20 miles to spare when we pulled into our garage (it was all downhill).
So, driving long distances is more like flying a plane. We need account for where we expect to refuel, headwinds or tailwinds can make a difference, travel speed and total elevation changes all impact how much "fuel" we'll need.
It was fun. I'm glad we did it. I have no concern whatsoever about taking a 60kWh Model S on long trips -- so long as we have our KOA campground directory with us and a good book to read.
NuclearPowered
Member
No more specifics needed, I was just trying to get a better estimate of the mileage.
Here is a summary of recent trip to the Grand Canyon in our 85kw S...
We put 1050 miles on the car traveling from the Los Angeles area to the Grand Canyon and back. From Los Angeles we headed to the Barstow Supercharger, we had a quick lunch at the Chilis . The car had just finished charging and by the time we finished lunch.
We then drove 216 miles to Kingman AZ, it was a bit windy and there was a 1000+ ft elevation gain so we kept it to 65 to be safe. We stayed overnight at the Kingman KOA in a cabin and charged on a 50A RV circuit. The next morning we ran into Monsoon and his family in their beautiful silver 60kw S just before we headed to Williams AZ. We took Route 66 and stopped for lunch. Once in Williams we checked out the local area, had dinner and relaxed a bit. We stayed in another Cabin at the Williams KOA an charged on a 50A circuit. The next day we went to the Grand Canyon, had lunch took a 15 Mile detour to visit the "deer farm" and headed back to Kingman. We put 226 miles (mostly highway) on the car and had about 20 remaining...
The last day was Kingman AZ to Barstow then home...
We had an Awesome time and the car performed great, it just took 30 minutes of planning to line up lodging/charging...
Total cost for fuel $14.00 ($0.013 per mile)
Total cost for lodging $90 (3 nights)
We put 1050 miles on the car traveling from the Los Angeles area to the Grand Canyon and back. From Los Angeles we headed to the Barstow Supercharger, we had a quick lunch at the Chilis . The car had just finished charging and by the time we finished lunch.
We then drove 216 miles to Kingman AZ, it was a bit windy and there was a 1000+ ft elevation gain so we kept it to 65 to be safe. We stayed overnight at the Kingman KOA in a cabin and charged on a 50A RV circuit. The next morning we ran into Monsoon and his family in their beautiful silver 60kw S just before we headed to Williams AZ. We took Route 66 and stopped for lunch. Once in Williams we checked out the local area, had dinner and relaxed a bit. We stayed in another Cabin at the Williams KOA an charged on a 50A circuit. The next day we went to the Grand Canyon, had lunch took a 15 Mile detour to visit the "deer farm" and headed back to Kingman. We put 226 miles (mostly highway) on the car and had about 20 remaining...
The last day was Kingman AZ to Barstow then home...
We had an Awesome time and the car performed great, it just took 30 minutes of planning to line up lodging/charging...
Total cost for fuel $14.00 ($0.013 per mile)
Total cost for lodging $90 (3 nights)
Chris1howell, thanks for the trip details. I should have included above (but my post was getting long), how utterly shocked we were when we returned to the KOA in Kingman on our return trip, and there was another Model S recharging in the exact same spot we had been in 2 days prior!
The fact we both put down deposits over 3 and a half years ago, and then our paths cross in a KOA campground in Kingman AZ is just bizarre to me.
Photo of both cars:
The fact we both put down deposits over 3 and a half years ago, and then our paths cross in a KOA campground in Kingman AZ is just bizarre to me.
Photo of both cars:
Kipernicus
Model S Res#P1440
Great info and congrats on the successful road trips! Surprised no one has posted a pic of Model S on top of the famous Route 66 signs painted in the road or in front of some historic gas station.
I had a super genius idea of driving our 60 from the Bay area to LA, through Palm Springs to Phoenix, up to the Grand Canyon, then along Route 66 towards Barstow and back home. But my wife said no. And the kids have a low tolerance for road trips. Maybe when they're older.
I wanted to give my friend in Scottsdale some Tesla time as he's not convinced about the car. He has a Prius for carpool lanes and a Porsche for other days. Flying in to see him for spring break and I'll direct him to this thread.
I had a super genius idea of driving our 60 from the Bay area to LA, through Palm Springs to Phoenix, up to the Grand Canyon, then along Route 66 towards Barstow and back home. But my wife said no. And the kids have a low tolerance for road trips. Maybe when they're older.
I wanted to give my friend in Scottsdale some Tesla time as he's not convinced about the car. He has a Prius for carpool lanes and a Porsche for other days. Flying in to see him for spring break and I'll direct him to this thread.
ZBB
Emperor
Hey AZ!
I'm considering putting a reservation in on a 60 kWh Model S in the next few weeks. I had been casually following Roadster and Model S news for years, but didn't started doing any serious homework until right about the time of Mark R's get together last month -- too bad I missed it! Since then, I've been to the Tesla store a couple times, priced up a few configs and done some range analysis (and Monsoon's Vegas trip posts were very helpful).
I'm a bit disappointed that we can't get test drives from Tesla in AZ yet -- and I'm a bit hesitant to put the deposit down before driving one (I know its refundable until the order is formalized closer to production...). So I'm looking at my options to get a ride and/or short drive. I'm in far north Scottsdale (just south of the Boulders / Carefree) -- if any of the nearby owners are up for a quick meet-up in exchange for coffee/lunch, I'd really appreciate it. If not, I may make a day trip to LA to get a test drive in a couple weeks (although I may do that anyway if a good friend that is an independent auto journalist is able to get a Model S for a week -- but he hasn't been successful yet).
I'm considering putting a reservation in on a 60 kWh Model S in the next few weeks. I had been casually following Roadster and Model S news for years, but didn't started doing any serious homework until right about the time of Mark R's get together last month -- too bad I missed it! Since then, I've been to the Tesla store a couple times, priced up a few configs and done some range analysis (and Monsoon's Vegas trip posts were very helpful).
I'm a bit disappointed that we can't get test drives from Tesla in AZ yet -- and I'm a bit hesitant to put the deposit down before driving one (I know its refundable until the order is formalized closer to production...). So I'm looking at my options to get a ride and/or short drive. I'm in far north Scottsdale (just south of the Boulders / Carefree) -- if any of the nearby owners are up for a quick meet-up in exchange for coffee/lunch, I'd really appreciate it. If not, I may make a day trip to LA to get a test drive in a couple weeks (although I may do that anyway if a good friend that is an independent auto journalist is able to get a Model S for a week -- but he hasn't been successful yet).
stephenpace
VIN S00219
In the Houston and Austin gallery stores, Tesla parking is also in the 'green' garage. AZ too? Does Tesla plan that ahead of time or does it just happen?
Sousaphil
P2,595
Send me a PM. I'm happy to meet up.
- - - Updated - - -
Monday, April 22 is Earth Day. I have been trying to think of something fun for us Tesla geeks to do around that date. There are two big events happening that weekend prior: Pat's Run and the AZ BBQ Festival. Pat's run is usually a royal cluster mess, so that wouldn't be the best choice.
I'm think the AZ BBQ festival would be a fun meet-up (and meat-up!) location. Not sure how we'd arrange to all be parked in the same area, but I'm sure we could figure something out. Check out the link. They have a nice VIP package, and there's also a vodka tasting tent for those of you with designated drivers!
Anyone up for some BBQ and Tesla talk?
Phil: the BBQ sounds like a fun event, but its date conflicts with the "100 Mile" event sponsored by Phoenix EAA:
Apr. 20 2nd Phoenix EAA 100 Electric Miles of the Valley of the Sun, Saturday 4/20/13
The Phoenix EAA will hold a second EV range/efficiency challenge. To participate with your EV in this event, complete the short registration form located here.
Electric Auto Association - Phoenix Chapter
Hope that many AZ people will make one of these fun meet ups.
ZBB
Emperor
Thanks for the offer Phil... A couple others PM'd me also and I met up with MarkR yesterday afternoon though...
Mark -
Thanks again!
ron8853
Member
Electrician suggestion north Scottsdale
We used
John Gorraiz Electrical
ofc: 480-821-1963
cell" 480-215 4542
We used
John Gorraiz Electrical
ofc: 480-821-1963
cell" 480-215 4542
Kipernicus
Model S Res#P1440
Visiting Phoenix
Hi folks, I'm flying to Phoenix for spring break next week (wife nixed my idea of driving the S) and was wondering if anyone's up for providing some Tesla time to my friend who lives in North Scottsdale? We could go to the Fashion Square store but without the ability to test drive it's much less attractive. Anyone free Mon-Weds?
Thanks
Hi folks, I'm flying to Phoenix for spring break next week (wife nixed my idea of driving the S) and was wondering if anyone's up for providing some Tesla time to my friend who lives in North Scottsdale? We could go to the Fashion Square store but without the ability to test drive it's much less attractive. Anyone free Mon-Weds?
Thanks
I'm in the processor working with Sean Lapointe of Mr. Electric. I got in touch with him through Solar City since the don't do condos yet in AZ. Mr. Electric does some of their work. He's been EXTREMELY PATIENT and HELPFUL with me because of the crazy situation with my HOA. I can't say he's the cheapest, but he's EVSE certified and will work options with you.
Mr. Electric @ 480-503-1339
ZBB
Emperor
Quick update -- I've put my reservation in and will finalize in a couple days (still debating the final config...). Tesla is saying ~4 months for delivery now...
