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Atascadero to Palm Springs

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Zapped

Model S - PURE EV
Aug 8, 2012
1,196
224
Work<->Home
I'm on the last leg of my road trip from Edmonton, Alberta, Canada to Palm Springs, CA.

Drove approx. 2,400 miles so far and will charge at Atascadero in the morning.

Trying to decide whether I :
1) charge at superchargers in Buellton , Hawthorne and risk waiting for a charger or LA traffic ( I read somewhere that Hawthorne gets very busy)
or
2) backtrack slightly and go to Tejon Ranch Supercharger Lebec and take the I-5 the rest of the way (202 miles)

On the way down the west coast I was able to use all superchargers without waiting except in Fremont for 30 minutes. (extremely good considering... )
I plan on leaving Monterey early tomorrow morning and do this in one day.

Any recommendation, suggestions.
 
If LA must be gone through, and you can't sneak through at 2 in the morning, it is best to go through it from 10am to 2pm, in my experience at least. I've been doing it for 25 years.

If you backtrack to Lebec, and you want a scenic, nice driving adventure, consider Highway 58 as the crossover to I-5...

A bit about Highway 58:

Highway 58 is a gorgeous trip from 101 at Santa Margarita near Atascadero, all the way east to I-5 at McKittrick-Buttonwillow. It's about 72miles from 101 to I-5. 72 very lonely miles, where you MAY see a single other car during those 72 miles, or you may not.

However it's an awesome drive in my opinion. It's what I call a "car commercial" road: full of twists, great vistas, a few amazing straightaways, a few 90-degree 15-mph turns, lots of nature, rural scenes, and solitude.

I haven't done it yet in the Model S, but did it for years in my old ICE when going home from Silicon Valley to San Diego, or going north from San Diego to Silicon Valley.

Best times of day are sunrise or sunset. Long shadows, golden skies, incredible colors.

I wouldn't even attempt it in a Model S unless I was maxed out from a SuperCharger at Tejon or Atascadero depending on which direction I was headed. It's risky from a "Tesla Ranger" perspective (think: make sure you have food and water), but it is an adventure.

- - - Updated - - -


In my experience Highway 166 is busy and full of trucks, and it's 2-lanes most of the way and you have to do a lot of passing of vehicles with trucks coming at you. Prolly no prob in the mighty Model S, but not my idea of fun. Highway 58 is more scenic and way more isolated.
 
I would skip LA traffic & Hawthorne & take the 210, keeping in mind going up the "Grapevine" will eat up lots of range but coasting down & using cruise control the rest of the way shouldn't be a problem.
 
Also, this is a trip where the Waze app might be very helpful. It weaves you across LA on freeways you didn't know existed, in an effort to shave off as much delay-time as possible.

Caveat: it can also occasionally get you lost and recommend exits that don't exist or are wrong, so there is that too.
 
Thanks Guys,
I've taken the Vegas - PSP trip through the Mohave Desert a few times... with an ICE and those trips were sure isolated and flat, but no traffic.

Did a quick street view on Hwy 166 and Hwy 58. Hwy 58 looks a little more weathered but I can't tell if the road is rough or not.
Has anyone driving Hwy 58 recently ?

Any waiting at Hawthorne with the renovation work recently ?
 
Made it yesterday with 32 miles to spare.
Hwy 58 is definitely a fun drive.

The 25 mile stretch on Hwy 210 after you leave Hwy 101 to Pasadena is quite rough.
You can sure tell were they milled the concrete highways to make then smooth.

Overall the 2800 mile trip with the Model S was fantastic.
Supercharges made all the difference.