I went on an epic road trip with my model Y to pick up my Roadster that was in Seattle at Carl Medlock’s shop. 4774 total miles, 49 supercharger stops for at total of 2344kWh of energy at a cost of $741 for the charging at the superchargers. Here are the highlights of the trip. Click the links for each day to see more pictures.
Day 1 – Tuesday March 1
Left my hometown Frisco TX early in the morning and made the following supercharger stops.
Henrietta TX, Childress TX, Amarillo TX, Clayton NM, Trinidad CO.
Day 2 – Wednesday March 2
Departed from Trinidad CO and made the following supercharger stops.
Poncha Springs CO, Montrose CO, Green River UT, Price UT, Draper UT, Burley ID
Day 3 – Thursday March 3
Departed from Burley ID and made the following supercharger stops.
Twin Falls ID, Boise ID, Ontario OR, Baker City OR, Pendleton OR, Kennewick WA, Cle Elum, WA
The first three days were largely uneventful. I had nice clear weather and made good time through the Rockies. I ran into some light rain, mist/fog, and intermittent drizzle in Oregon and Washington states.
Day 4 – Friday March 4
Picked up the Uhaul trailer in the morning. Met Carl at his shop in Seattle. Got a nice tour. Visually inspected my roadster and loaded it up on the trailer for the trip home. As you can imagine, my range was drastically reduced by pulling the trailer. I could “easily” make about 100 miles range on a 90% charge. I only made two supercharger stops for Day 4. Federal Way WA, Kelso WA.
Day 5 – Saturday March 5
Very long day. I woke up early and hit the road with the trailer. 8 Supercharger stops.
Woodburn OR, Salem OR, Springfield OR, Myrtle Creek OR, Medford OR, Klamath Falls OR, Alturas CA, Susanville CA. Temperatures really started dropping after sundown, and I was a nervous wreck on the last leg to Susanville. The temps were in the teens and totally affected range. I had to slow down to 50mph to make it to Susanville.
Day 6 – Sunday March 6
Reno NV, Gardnerville NV, Hawthorne NV, Tonopah NV, Beatty NV, Las Vegas NV, Henderson, NV
Seven charging stops, and I had to unhook the trailer in Reno and Las Vegas. Temperatures were cooler than I anticipated, but my range is ok to make it to my charging stops.
Day 7 – Monday March 7
I decide to go south to I-10 and I-20 instead of cutting across I-40. The gaps between superchargers are too big with the trailer. And the temperatures were forecast to be in the 30’s and 40’s (Fahrenheit).
Kingman AZ (West Andy Devine), Wickenburg AZ, Phoenix AZ (Agua Fria Freeway), Casa Grande AZ, Tucson, AZ (West River Road).
Day 8 – Tuesday March 8
Willcox AZ, Deming NM, El Paso TX, Van Horn TX
Spent a lot of time charging to 100%. There were some big gaps on Day 8. 134 miles between Wilcox and Deming. 130 miles between El Paso and Van Horn. I had to go 55-60 mph to make those legs and most of the time the speed limits were 75 mph.
Day 9 – Wednesday March 9
On the home stretch, I thought it would be pretty easy. The biggest gap between superchargers was 113 miles between Midland and Sweetwater. But from Pecos to Midland, the wind started picking up, and I had a strong crosswind. I saw the trip computer eating away at the predicted range, and I was forced to slow down. My progress became even slower as as I was forced to charge near 100% to make it between superchargers. The crosswind finally let up after sunset when I left the Cisco supercharger. My range estimates started to increase, so I was able to skip the Fort Worth supercharger and go all the way to the Arlington supercharger for my last charge before getting home.
Pecos TX, Midland TX, Sweetwater TX, Cisco TX, Arlington TX, and finally back home in Frisco TX.
In hind sight, I was pretty lucky throughout the whole trip with very decent weather with minimal precipitation and minimal winds except on the final day of my journey. If the wind suddenly picked up during one of the long 130 mile gaps, I would have been screwed. I tried to keep a backup plan going at each charging stop. I would pull up PlugShare and RV-Parky to look for Level 2 chargers in case I needed them on the way to my next charger. But that would have been disastrous if I had to pull over in the middle of the day to get an emergency charge at a Level 2 charger. It would pretty much add an extra day to my trip. If you made it this far, thanks for reading my post.
Edited to insert links.
Day 1 – Tuesday March 1
Left my hometown Frisco TX early in the morning and made the following supercharger stops.
Henrietta TX, Childress TX, Amarillo TX, Clayton NM, Trinidad CO.
Day 2 – Wednesday March 2
Departed from Trinidad CO and made the following supercharger stops.
Poncha Springs CO, Montrose CO, Green River UT, Price UT, Draper UT, Burley ID
Day 3 – Thursday March 3
Departed from Burley ID and made the following supercharger stops.
Twin Falls ID, Boise ID, Ontario OR, Baker City OR, Pendleton OR, Kennewick WA, Cle Elum, WA
The first three days were largely uneventful. I had nice clear weather and made good time through the Rockies. I ran into some light rain, mist/fog, and intermittent drizzle in Oregon and Washington states.
Day 4 – Friday March 4
Picked up the Uhaul trailer in the morning. Met Carl at his shop in Seattle. Got a nice tour. Visually inspected my roadster and loaded it up on the trailer for the trip home. As you can imagine, my range was drastically reduced by pulling the trailer. I could “easily” make about 100 miles range on a 90% charge. I only made two supercharger stops for Day 4. Federal Way WA, Kelso WA.
Day 5 – Saturday March 5
Very long day. I woke up early and hit the road with the trailer. 8 Supercharger stops.
Woodburn OR, Salem OR, Springfield OR, Myrtle Creek OR, Medford OR, Klamath Falls OR, Alturas CA, Susanville CA. Temperatures really started dropping after sundown, and I was a nervous wreck on the last leg to Susanville. The temps were in the teens and totally affected range. I had to slow down to 50mph to make it to Susanville.
Day 6 – Sunday March 6
Reno NV, Gardnerville NV, Hawthorne NV, Tonopah NV, Beatty NV, Las Vegas NV, Henderson, NV
Seven charging stops, and I had to unhook the trailer in Reno and Las Vegas. Temperatures were cooler than I anticipated, but my range is ok to make it to my charging stops.
Day 7 – Monday March 7
I decide to go south to I-10 and I-20 instead of cutting across I-40. The gaps between superchargers are too big with the trailer. And the temperatures were forecast to be in the 30’s and 40’s (Fahrenheit).
Kingman AZ (West Andy Devine), Wickenburg AZ, Phoenix AZ (Agua Fria Freeway), Casa Grande AZ, Tucson, AZ (West River Road).
Day 8 – Tuesday March 8
Willcox AZ, Deming NM, El Paso TX, Van Horn TX
Spent a lot of time charging to 100%. There were some big gaps on Day 8. 134 miles between Wilcox and Deming. 130 miles between El Paso and Van Horn. I had to go 55-60 mph to make those legs and most of the time the speed limits were 75 mph.
Day 9 – Wednesday March 9
On the home stretch, I thought it would be pretty easy. The biggest gap between superchargers was 113 miles between Midland and Sweetwater. But from Pecos to Midland, the wind started picking up, and I had a strong crosswind. I saw the trip computer eating away at the predicted range, and I was forced to slow down. My progress became even slower as as I was forced to charge near 100% to make it between superchargers. The crosswind finally let up after sunset when I left the Cisco supercharger. My range estimates started to increase, so I was able to skip the Fort Worth supercharger and go all the way to the Arlington supercharger for my last charge before getting home.
Pecos TX, Midland TX, Sweetwater TX, Cisco TX, Arlington TX, and finally back home in Frisco TX.
In hind sight, I was pretty lucky throughout the whole trip with very decent weather with minimal precipitation and minimal winds except on the final day of my journey. If the wind suddenly picked up during one of the long 130 mile gaps, I would have been screwed. I tried to keep a backup plan going at each charging stop. I would pull up PlugShare and RV-Parky to look for Level 2 chargers in case I needed them on the way to my next charger. But that would have been disastrous if I had to pull over in the middle of the day to get an emergency charge at a Level 2 charger. It would pretty much add an extra day to my trip. If you made it this far, thanks for reading my post.
Edited to insert links.
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great story, I appreciate you sharing it, thank you.
