Blue Ridge Mountain Drive

[tnt1971]

My daughter and I are doing an east coast college tour in a few weeks. I thought about driving the Blue Ridge Parkway on the way back. I see there is a SC in Asheville, NC and the next one would be Wytheville, VA. I have an S85D with the 19 tires and it has about 273 rated miles when fully charged. I punched the trip into EV Trip Planner and it said I would only use 159 rated miles for a nearly 200 mile trip through the mountains. I wanted to know if anyone else has done this drive and if it is doable as the EV Trip Planner data seemed a bit optimistic.

I know there are level 2 and level 3 chargers in that stretch but I don't have a Chademo adapter and we do not plan on stopping. Thanks for the info in advance.

 

[Saghost]

I drove from Wytheville to Asheville in December in my X75D by the interstates. I was nervous and started with a 100% charge, but I made it fine with almost 20 miles to spare - at 65 mph in freezing weather with a 238 mile EPA rating. (Bristol would have made this a non-issue, but it opened last month.)

I'm pretty sure you'll be fine - you've got a lot more range to work with, what's likely a shorter route, lower speeds (speed is always the killer for range,) and much better weather. Have a great time (but do have a backup plan if things go south.)

 

[dhrivnak]

The Blue Ridge Parkway is 45 mph and the reality it is hard to do much more than that. It is also cool in the high elevations so with the slow speeds and mild climate needs I would think you get 300 miles.

If on the interstate you will use more, and there is another super charger in Bristol, it just opened up.

 

[tnt1971]

I know it is counterintuitive, but the BR Parkway is actually longer than the interstate. I just punched it in to Google Maps and the interstate is 173 miles while the BR Parkway is 194 miles. They estimate the time at 5 hours. For 194 miles that is an average speed of about 40MPH. That will help, but I would image it will be more than offset by the climbs and descents, even with regen.

 

[Silverstreak]

Stayed in Marriott Grand Bohemian last week and used their destination charger. Great hotel. Used points for stay.

 

[BobV]

I drove the BRP in the opposite direction last month, from Waynesboro to Asheville. Taking the BRP up to US-21 or I-77 to Wytheville without stopping should be doable. On my trip south, I left from the Hotel Roanoke and had lunch at a Tesla destination charger in Blowing Rock at Canyons Restaurant (Canyons Historic Restaurant & Bar in Blowing Rock really nice view from the deck) to top off before heading to Asheville. EV Trip Planner wasn't as on-the-money as it usually is with "flat" routes, but I remember it being within the ballpark.

Road conditions were usually good, with some stretches of re-paving activity.

Do note that you're going to pass by the highest point in NC, Mount Mitchell, just outside of Asheville on the BRP. Coming in from the north, I'll admit to having a bit of range anxiety as my Wh/mi were off the chart as I was getting low on power. Coming down the mountain into Asheville, though, I had a net negative Wh/mi over the last 30 miles.

 

[wviands]

Driving that slow for that long is kind of difficult. I did the length of Skyline Drive earlier this year, which is the northern part of the Blue Ridge, and going that slow drove me crazy. That's probably a bigger issue than you think. All of that nice curvy road and you can't let loose and enjoy it.

 

[CHGolferJim]

The Peaks of Otter Lodge has an HPWC installed and shown on Plugshare, and the manager told me a few months ago that several of the Parkway lodges plan to install them in 2017.