I made a long winter trip to Jackson Hole from my Denver home and I thought I would post my notes. I hope this helps anyone wanting to make the trip. Sorry if it is a bit too detailed, but I like reading detailed accounts and I am betting as an early adopter of EV's, you like it, too. We EV owners are still a bit in the pioneering stage, but it is getting easier to make trips like these. I thanked my wife making this trip for me and for being willing to be an explorer with me as we support a cleaner energy future!
12/27/17 DENVER TO JACKSON: Total elapsed time: 12 hours; Charging time: 133 minutes
Departure: Denver at 7:47am
Stop 1: Laramie, WY: 10:24am to 10:47am (23 minutes)
Stop 2: Rawlins, WY 12:30pm to 1:20pm (50 minutes)
1/1/17 JACKSON TO DENVER: Total elapsed time: 10 hours, Charging time: 109 minutes
Departure: Jackson, WY at 9:40am
Stop 1: Rock Springs, WY: 12:38pm to 1:33pm (55 minutes)
Stop 2: Rawlins, WY: 3:02pm to 3:20pm (18 minutes)
Stop 3: Laramie, WY: 4:35pm to 5:11pm (36 minutes)
Final Stop: Home (Denver, CO): 7:40pm
12/27/17 DENVER TO JACKSON: Total elapsed time: 12 hours; Charging time: 133 minutes
Departure: Denver at 7:47am
Stop 1: Laramie, WY: 10:24am to 10:47am (23 minutes)
- Segment distance: 153 miles
- At the Fairfield Inn. Nice hotel and has a restroom and coffee and a few snacks, but not much of anything else around if you want to have a meal. There is a Petro gas station within .25 miles if you want to brave it.
- Arrived with 36 miles of range remaining
- It was 33 degrees and very windy (30mph+), so I really didn’t want to walk anywhere.
- When I left home, the car said I needed to charge for 20 minutes, but once I arrived, it said 30 minutes. Actual charging time was 23 minutes
- Next segment is 96 miles long
- Charging at 306mph/108kW
- Left with 129 range miles
Stop 2: Rawlins, WY 12:30pm to 1:20pm (50 minutes)
- Segment distance: 96 miles
- This was a really scary drive! Despite charging a few minutes more, the cross winds (60mph+) of this segment ate up 100% of the cushion range on this segment. I drove the last mile on zero range, so it is good to know that zero didn’t mean zero in my case.
- Tesla recommends that I charge for 40 minutes at this supercharger, but I decide to go longer.
- The charger here started a bit slow and is now at 252+43 @ 104w.
- It's gone from 0 to 47 range miles in the first 10 minutes
- The next segment, to Rock Springs, is 114 miles from here. I decide to charge to 154 if the last degradation of 34% holds up in the next segment.
- I guess it was somewhat comforting that the car was automatically suggesting charging to 164 range miles. I decided to give it a little bit longer just in case I experience the same wind and low temps of this segment.
- Strange that when I pulled in, it said I would need to charge for 40 minutes, but at the 30 minute mark, it said it was done.
- Segment distance: 108 miles
- The extra charging definitely gave me some peace of mind. I arrived here with 36 miles left.
- Not a lot of choices here for our late lunch. Basically Applebee’s or an Asian food restaurant unless you want to walk a quarter mile or more.
- I charged here for an hour and ended up with 237 miles of range, which should be enough to get us to JH, since it is only 177 miles.
- Segment distance: 180 miles
- Arrived with 24 miles of range remaining
- I stayed at the Lexington Hotel, which has a Tesla destination charger. It is 40 amp. Charges at about 23 mph
- There is a supercharger about 2 miles from the hotel at the Jackson Hole Food Grocer
- The Tesla NAV was a bit wonky. It twice told me I wouldn’t make it, but finally settled in and arrived with about 11% left
1/1/17 JACKSON TO DENVER: Total elapsed time: 10 hours, Charging time: 109 minutes
Departure: Jackson, WY at 9:40am
- Segment distance: 180 miles
- Left with 250 of range miles
- In my opinion, Tesla needs a supercharger at Pinedale, WY. That's about halfway through this segment 100 miles out. There's plenty of businesses where it could be located (my choice would be the Hampton Inn) It's just too much of a stretch during the winter with low temps, high winds, and the elevation gains.
Stop 1: Rock Springs, WY: 12:38pm to 1:33pm (55 minutes)
- Next segment distance: 108 miles
- We with 44 mi of range remaining. I conserved well by going 50-60mph with no heat.
- I lucked out that even though it was very cold in spots, the wind was never as bad as I thought it would be. It is good to know I can stretch range when I need to.
- When we arrived at the SC, I immediately hooked up and we then went to eat at the Applebee's.
- The section to Rawlins is only 108 miles, so we only needed to charge for about 30 minutes, but it was nice to take the extended time to eat lunch.
- Left with 230 RM.
- The car says we will arrive in Rawlins at 3:17pm and charge for 15min and will have 33% left when I arrive.
- I saw one other Tesla charging, a silver Model S with Colorado plates as we were leaving.
Stop 2: Rawlins, WY: 3:02pm to 3:20pm (18 minutes)
- Arrived with 82 miles of range, due to the longer charging stop for lunch
- Another Tesla, a black Model S, was already charging when we arrived.
- After 4 minutes of charging, I'm pulling 320mph/104kW. The charger added 52 miles in the first 10 minutes.
- I left with 164 of range miles.
Stop 3: Laramie, WY: 4:35pm to 5:11pm (36 minutes)
- Arrived with 35 miles of range remaining.
- After 4 minutes of charging, I was pulling 328mph/107kW
- The car said I needed 40 minutes to charge to hit the next segment.
- The Fairfield Inn that this stop is located at is fantastic. They made us feel welcome, told us we could use their restrooms and have free coffee if we wanted. In addition, they have a small selection of items for sale, such as soft drinks, light snacks, etc.
- Completed charge at 195 range miles at 5:11pm.
Final Stop: Home (Denver, CO): 7:40pm
- Arrived with 11 miles of range
- The trip from Laramie to Fort Collins, CO was pretty hilly and I got the warning a couple of times that I needed to slow down to 65mph in order to make it home without having to stop at the Loveland supercharger.
- I turned off the heat and managed the energy carefully until I got to I-25 at which point I felt like I could manage the power less conservatively with the last 65 miles.
