Family Road Trip Coast to Coast to Coast...

[EdA]

Intense!!!!

 

[Chris1howell]

Intense!!!!

No.. that is Road Trip Story Number 2...

After we left East Greenwich headed for Bar Harbor Maine with a full charge we headed to Daniels house in Salem, NH. He was nice enough to offer his HPWC on PlugShare. We charged for about an hour and a half until the charge had tapered off. We were still slightly out of range from our destination so we stopped at Portland Maine. We had 177 miles to go and arrived in Portland with 160. We started charging after 900 and as soon as we stopped both girls woke up.

The plan was to take a nap and pick up a couple hours charge with plenty of buffer. Both girls would not sleep, Mommy was getting really flustered so with just 5 miles buffer we left. We used 1 mile buffer getting coffee, I was able to maintain the 4 miles buffer by closely watching the energy usage. As we approached our destination at 200am, I missed a turn which killed another mile or so of buffer. We were getting very close and our buffer was at 1 mile. Then at the top of a hill, in the middle of nowhere the NAV said we had arrived at our destination...

The map display went to all white tiles and none of our phones had a signal. I slowly drove a little bit further down the road and found a "Hot showers" building. I pulled in and fortunately there was a 120v outlet on the front of the building. I started charging and took a walk down the road looking for the correct street or a cell phone signal. I found a store and hotel but at 200 AM nobody was around. I could not get any Signal so I was headed back to the car to check on the girls. Half way back I decided to see if I could find an open Wifi signal. I found one and made a call on a VoIP app. We had gone about a mile too far.

I got back to the car and we now had 3 miles of range. I thought we were at the top of a hill so it would be an easy mile. After a few thousand feet we were going up hill and 3 miles range became 2 and 2 became 1 and 1 became 0. Just then we found the road that was just before our destination and saw our friends with their flashlights. WE MADE IT... We plugged into 120v and went to bed... My wife was awesome and let me sleep until almost noon (I have not done that in years...) then with 40 miles range we took the car to a 30A L2 station at a local college campus.

We all had a good sense of humor about the situation and it turned out well. Road trips are about adventure and this leg of the trip was full of adventure...

- - - Updated - - -

California Model S on the cliffs of Mt. Desert Island Maine.

View attachment 50207View attachment 50208

 

[Chris1howell]

here are a couple shots along the way...

 

[Bulletproof]

You and your family have a great time traveling! Sounds like quite a road trip. I remember growing up I went on two road trips from TX to Canada with my parents and both of my grandparents. It was a tight fit but such great memories!

You may already use this, but here's a link to the Telsa Supercharger Map, may help you along the way. If you recharge in Hawthorne, CA stop by we are located in the same complex!
http://www.teslamotors.com/supercharger

 

[DrGuest]

I got a kick out of these last two photos, the juxtaposition of the old Service Station and the old Philips 66 Gas pump and your Beautiful High Tech Model S. Great to see your Family spending precious Family Time together. My Sons are 15 and 18 and they and their friends just love being driven around in my Model S. We did a weekend trip just a few days after receiving delivery 12/2013. I figured this first trip would determine if my new Model S was a family car or a midlife crisis mobile. The guys fell asleep in the back seat within an hour of leaving home. Seeing them comfortable and asleep, I knew I had bought a wonderful Family Car and have many more enjoyable trips across Montana and the US. With all the wonderful invites we keep getting from Tesla owner's, I just may have to retire soon to have more time to do more trips and take people up on those invites!