How is the drive from Kansas City to Denver in the winter, especially during the holidays? Did anyone make that drive this thanksgiving? I'm going to Fort Collins for Christmas, coming from Kansas City, driving mainly across I-70 and am curious about the experience. I've done the drive many times before getting my Model 3 Long Range RWD. My main concern is if the cold and the wind has a significant effect on range, and if anyone has had issues with long waits or broken chargers at the few stations you have to stop at. When I plug in the route on the Tesla trip planner, it shows 4 stops at around 25 minutes each which doesn't seem bad at all. I just want to know if that is close to accurate at all, especially during the busier holiday times...
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Driving across Kansas during winter holidays?
- Thread starter ElectricSloth
- Start date
CharleyBC
Active Member
I haven't done that route in our Tesla (last time was many years ago in a Ford Ranger!), but I have crossed CA/NV/UT in winter conditions. Your range will be worse for sure. Cabin heat is expensive. Leave a Supercharger with at least 50% more than the actual miles to your next stop. Watch your speed. Bundle up and turn down the heat if you like--not for everyone. Seat heaters can help. After your first leg, you'll probably have a better feel for how to plan the next.
Enjoy your trip!
Enjoy your trip!
Urbancowboy
Member
ABRP will take ambient temp and headwind into consideration when planning a trip. I don’t know how accurate it is but would imagine it’s better than having no consideration for those variables. I plugged in some aggressive inputs and the results show 6 stops.
Thanks for the tips! That Max speed 56mph on the trip planner freaks me out some... Luckily my trip is pretty flexible, so I can leave a couple days earlier or later if the weather is bad. I also don't mind keeping the cabin cold to preserve some range. Before this I had a Jeep Wrangler with a terrible heater so I'm fairly used to just driving without heat and putting on a thick coat!
CharleyBC
Active Member
Range will be a lot worse in winter conditions but you are travelling along an interstate with plenty of superchargers so you'll be fine. I just wouldn't get the any bright ideas and try to skip any of them. The one exception is that you can probably skip Colby or Goodland. I prefer Colby. The amenities at these superchargers are fairly limited. You mostly have fast food and hotels within walking distance and that's about it. Colby is a gas station with a Qdoba, Subway and Starbucks attached to it. And it's one of the better stops on this trip.
You shouldn't have any problem. I do the trip in reverse every winter. You'll definitely want to charge sufficiently between Hays and Colby. The Colby location has a lot more chargers than Goodland and more dining options as well. Goodland had two Superchargers down last week and Limon had 5 cars when I was there on Sunday after Thanksgiving. It can get busy but normally you'll only see two or fewer cars charging at the Kansas Superchargers along I-70.
Urbancowboy
Member
Keep in mind it’s for just that one segment and I used pretty aggressive assumptions on ambient temps, headwinds, and road conditions. I also set the target arrival charge at 20% to be even more conservative.
Also he could easily stop at Colby instead of pushing on to Goodland. Colby is the better location anyways.
I made a similar trip from Omaha to Denver over Thanksgiving in my SR+. Started at temps of 30, arrived to 60degree temps. In your long range, you will be fine. At the start I was around 340 wh/mile once the car warmed up. Kept pace at 76mph and was fine. With your long range you will have more buffer than I did. The worst part was that some of the Denver superchargers were fully occupied at times. So give a little buffer on the last stop.
If you are in a rush I would have no problem using the abetterrouteplanner with the 10% remaining. There should be no reason to have a reduced speed unless you hit a snow storm. In that case you are going to be driving a little slower already.
I’m doing it as we speak and I’m sitting in the Colby Kansas Starbucks. I’ve done it many times. I’m in a 90 D model X. I pulled in with 2% charge just now. The stretch into Colby is the worst one. It is Uphill and I had a 40 mph wind straight on. If it gets tight, you can slow down and draft and turn off the heater for sure. Most of the times it is a non-issue. Take your time and charge up More than you need to feel comfortable.
M3BlueGeorgia
Active Member
We did it last year for Thanksgiving (actually Atlanta -> Denver -> Atlanta), but I-70 in Kansas was the most "interesting".
Driving with temps in the teens (F) was a novel experience compared to our normal winter experience here in Metro Atlanta. You lose about 40% range, so plan the trip carefully. If using abetterrouteplanner.com, make sure you set the temperature accurately in their settings. Recommend a conservative charging strategy, perhaps planning to have 25+% battery remaining when arriving at the 'next' Supercharger.
Coming back we tried to follow a major snow storm, but should have left a day later. Found ourselves being kicked off I-70 by the Kansas DOT because they'd closed 200 miles of it in front of us. It all worked out as we found a hotel for overnight and continued the next day after KDOT had re-opened I-70.
M3BlueGeorgia
Active Member
Always good to look at the map and see what Superchargers are skipped.
For reasons I don't understand, the route skipped the Supercharger at Colby (between Hays and Goodland) and in those temperatures and with a headwind, that would be a must-stop.
right. Charged to 80. My point is charge extra in case of cold, delays and headwinds. I had 600+ wh/mi for a while. Also, don’t skip any chargers even if the map says so. It’s a fairly easy drive unless a snowstorm.
I've done it several times. It is easy now with Colby. It has only been there a couple of years. Before that you had to go from Hays to Goodland which is only about 145 miles but I did it in 15 degree weather with a head wind. I had charged to about 285 miles in a S100D thinking that was plenty. Started out driving about 75 MPH and had to slow down and made it with about 10 miles of range left. But with Colby it's no big deal but I would want a 100 mile buffer if you drive the speed limit, if you have cold weather, and a head wind.
FYI - sample drive - Canadian prairies, perfectly flat, no headwinds or tailwinds, -4ºC (25F) temp set at 18C (65F) one bar of seat heat. Model 3 AWD LR charged to 90%...
I was doing 105kph (65mph) and one way, battery went from 393km to 235km for a trip of 115.1km (70mi or so) or about 1.4 km consumed per 1km traveled. Same numbers return - 230km to 72km so about the same battery consumption. When it gets real cold, it gets worse. Wind, uphills, can get worse.
I was doing 105kph (65mph) and one way, battery went from 393km to 235km for a trip of 115.1km (70mi or so) or about 1.4 km consumed per 1km traveled. Same numbers return - 230km to 72km so about the same battery consumption. When it gets real cold, it gets worse. Wind, uphills, can get worse.
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