So after 10 weeks of 60 mile daily commutes, and a couple of 150 mile days, we finally got the chance to take our Model S on a road trip across Oregon. It was uneventful -- and a total blast.
For my birthday, the wife planned a white-water rafting trip for the family on the Deschutes river in North Central Oregon, visit friends in Bend, attend a car show in Redmond, and then hangout with my Brother, and parents, before heading home.
We start with 266 miles max charge. 2:30pm.
Descend 600 feet, but a 1/2 mile from home, we realize we forgot iPads for the wife and kids, turnaround, go back up our "hill", and start over. Now 264 miles range.
Beaverton to Maupin - 114 miles.
3000 foot net elevation gain (not to mention major mountain descents and gains in between). Drove at common speeds, but not seeking to pass or be too assertive. Avg speed 60 - 65 mph. Note, Maupin is out in the middle of nowhere, down in the middle of nowhere, with no cell service down at the bottom of the canyon. No app connection to the car. Bummer. But the city is about half way back up from the river, and cell service is at least somewhat available there.
50 amp RV test.
Check into hotel. Drive to city park down at the river, where they have 14-50 RV options. Pay $5 for car day use, and begin charging, with 140 miles left. A full 40 amps, ~32mi/hr. Piece of cake.
Dinner.
Walkover across the parking lot over to the Imperial River Co. Hotel and restaurant, and have a great dinner on the patio overlooking the river. 90 minutes later, we walk back to our car, with 180 miles now ready.
Sleep.
Drive back up to Deschutes Motel. Quaint old place, well kept, very affordable. Manager allows us us to plug into outside 110v overnight (he had never been asked about EV support before, didn't fully understand what 100% battery powered meant). Charge rate was 3-4mi/hr.
Breakfast.
Wake up in the morning now with 210 miles ready to go.
Drive down to the Oasis for breakfast, a local dive with out of this world flap-jacks and bacon 1/4" thick. Yum. Finish and head up to High Dessert River Outfitters, to park in dusty field, along with about 100 other rafters gearing up to do the same thing. This company is first class, with a lively bunch of fired up River Guides. The car drew quite a crowd. People didn't know it was possible to drive an EV this far.
After a fantastic half day of rafting, we went back up to town to have lunch and ice cream. This town really feels remote, almost back in time, but the people are super nice.
Heading out, the wrong way.
Took off for Bend, back up the canyon, only to realize I was headed the wrong way, wasted about 8 miles climbing out. Turn around and start over. Oy!
Maupin to Bend - 95 miles.
Left about 1/2 an hour late, and drove like a bat of hell. Had friends to meet and have dinner with, and a tight time schedule. Average speed about 75 mph. At one point I needed to hustle up to pass 3 cars and a semi (much of this route is a long straight 2 lane highway in the middle of the desert). Before I was done passing, I looked down at the speedo... 104 mph! Wow, that was no effort, but yikes, I better slowdown.
Stopped at the Bend Old Mill district to pick up some wine, and arrive just in time for dinner. Great friends (old neighbors), good food, lots of laughs. With ~70 miles left, I figure I have enough to give a spirited demo ride for our friends in their quiet community. They love it, but he's not in a hurry to get rid of his Porsche just yet. Now down to about ~65 miles.
Bend to Redmond - 20 miles.
Leave at 9 pm. Stop in at Redmond Albertson's to get some necessities, then hit Brother's home around 9:40. Get kids in bed.
My Brother has an unused dryer outlet just inside from the garage. So a while back, I picked up a 14-30 and a 10-30 adapter for the UMC... to cover my dryer outlet options. Turns out his outlet is a 14-60 outlet (on a 30 amp breaker). Drat! With 40 miles left, we plug into 110, and get 4mi/hr. It was a fun day, but time for sleep. We'd deal with proper charging the next day.
Redmond Car Show.
Saturday, wake up with 80 miles ready, and we head to the car show.
As we roll in, the show Directors were so impressed ogling my Model S, they move me to one of the best spots up front in the show. With over 200 really quality cars, there was some stiff competition there. My brother brought his '42 convertible Packard, and a friend of drove in our parent's '69 convertible Malibu Chevelle. The Packard won an award for best '40's and Newer automobile, while the Malibu took second for '60's and Newer. The Tesla? Nada. But how do classify this car? Muscle car? '70's and Newer? Best stock vehicle? I wish (like Zextra found at one the shows he attended) they had a class like, "Car I'd like to drive most" category. Maybe I'd win that. But I put it under the "Sports Car" category. My only competition in this class were two beautiful 60's era Corvettes. But they deserved to win, which they did. It was a classics show anyway.
I easily drew the most crowds though and never got a break answering many many questions. However, I was all smiles, helping to set many misconceptions straight. That was a fun hot August day.
Sunday drive home coming soon, and miles dwindling.
Show over, and now about 60 miles left, we leave for Lowes to get a new outlet to replace the 14-60 back at my Brother's home. I should have picked up a 14-30, but got excited when I saw a 14-50 outlet, and I just grabbed that (convenient for me, but not for possible future use for my brother). Get back to his house, and I starting wiring in the 14-50. Afterwards, we realize he never switched off the right breaker, so I was working with live 240v the whole time. Thank goodness I have a basic understanding of electricity and always assume I'm dealing with hot wires anyway. Finally get green light on the UMC, with 30 amps and 17mi/hr on the dash, we're charging! Note, since the car thought this was plugged into a real 14-50 source, it wanted to charge at 40 amps, so I had to dial down on the dash to 80% of 30 amps - to 24 instead for safe current pull. I decide to charge to 90% for the drive home the next day. It would need 12 hours at this rate.
Redmond to Beaverton/Home - 168 miles.
233 miles of charge in the morning. After going to church, picking up our bags, visiting my parents one last time, we finally head home at 2:15 with about 205 miles rated. We drive with the faster moving crowd. With a net elevation drop of about 3000', I wasn't to worried about range coming home.
Side stop to see Super Chargers.
On I5 halfway between Salem and Portland, we take 10 minutes and stop off at Woodburn to see the nearly complete Super Charging station. Excited to see this coming together. Should be done by end of week. Getting back on the highway, traffic is now stop and go for nearly 12 miles.
Made it home at 6pm with 47 miles remaining.
I didn't keep a trip log over the weekend, but with side trips, etc., I figure we put 410 miles of road down.
Net result... this car is awesome! Trip... Epic! Looking forward to the next one!
For my birthday, the wife planned a white-water rafting trip for the family on the Deschutes river in North Central Oregon, visit friends in Bend, attend a car show in Redmond, and then hangout with my Brother, and parents, before heading home.
We start with 266 miles max charge. 2:30pm.
Descend 600 feet, but a 1/2 mile from home, we realize we forgot iPads for the wife and kids, turnaround, go back up our "hill", and start over. Now 264 miles range.
Beaverton to Maupin - 114 miles.
3000 foot net elevation gain (not to mention major mountain descents and gains in between). Drove at common speeds, but not seeking to pass or be too assertive. Avg speed 60 - 65 mph. Note, Maupin is out in the middle of nowhere, down in the middle of nowhere, with no cell service down at the bottom of the canyon. No app connection to the car. Bummer. But the city is about half way back up from the river, and cell service is at least somewhat available there.
50 amp RV test.
Check into hotel. Drive to city park down at the river, where they have 14-50 RV options. Pay $5 for car day use, and begin charging, with 140 miles left. A full 40 amps, ~32mi/hr. Piece of cake.
Dinner.
Walkover across the parking lot over to the Imperial River Co. Hotel and restaurant, and have a great dinner on the patio overlooking the river. 90 minutes later, we walk back to our car, with 180 miles now ready.
Sleep.
Drive back up to Deschutes Motel. Quaint old place, well kept, very affordable. Manager allows us us to plug into outside 110v overnight (he had never been asked about EV support before, didn't fully understand what 100% battery powered meant). Charge rate was 3-4mi/hr.
Breakfast.
Wake up in the morning now with 210 miles ready to go.
Drive down to the Oasis for breakfast, a local dive with out of this world flap-jacks and bacon 1/4" thick. Yum. Finish and head up to High Dessert River Outfitters, to park in dusty field, along with about 100 other rafters gearing up to do the same thing. This company is first class, with a lively bunch of fired up River Guides. The car drew quite a crowd. People didn't know it was possible to drive an EV this far.
After a fantastic half day of rafting, we went back up to town to have lunch and ice cream. This town really feels remote, almost back in time, but the people are super nice.
Heading out, the wrong way.
Took off for Bend, back up the canyon, only to realize I was headed the wrong way, wasted about 8 miles climbing out. Turn around and start over. Oy!
Maupin to Bend - 95 miles.
Left about 1/2 an hour late, and drove like a bat of hell. Had friends to meet and have dinner with, and a tight time schedule. Average speed about 75 mph. At one point I needed to hustle up to pass 3 cars and a semi (much of this route is a long straight 2 lane highway in the middle of the desert). Before I was done passing, I looked down at the speedo... 104 mph! Wow, that was no effort, but yikes, I better slowdown.
Stopped at the Bend Old Mill district to pick up some wine, and arrive just in time for dinner. Great friends (old neighbors), good food, lots of laughs. With ~70 miles left, I figure I have enough to give a spirited demo ride for our friends in their quiet community. They love it, but he's not in a hurry to get rid of his Porsche just yet. Now down to about ~65 miles.
Bend to Redmond - 20 miles.
Leave at 9 pm. Stop in at Redmond Albertson's to get some necessities, then hit Brother's home around 9:40. Get kids in bed.
My Brother has an unused dryer outlet just inside from the garage. So a while back, I picked up a 14-30 and a 10-30 adapter for the UMC... to cover my dryer outlet options. Turns out his outlet is a 14-60 outlet (on a 30 amp breaker). Drat! With 40 miles left, we plug into 110, and get 4mi/hr. It was a fun day, but time for sleep. We'd deal with proper charging the next day.
Redmond Car Show.
Saturday, wake up with 80 miles ready, and we head to the car show.
As we roll in, the show Directors were so impressed ogling my Model S, they move me to one of the best spots up front in the show. With over 200 really quality cars, there was some stiff competition there. My brother brought his '42 convertible Packard, and a friend of drove in our parent's '69 convertible Malibu Chevelle. The Packard won an award for best '40's and Newer automobile, while the Malibu took second for '60's and Newer. The Tesla? Nada. But how do classify this car? Muscle car? '70's and Newer? Best stock vehicle? I wish (like Zextra found at one the shows he attended) they had a class like, "Car I'd like to drive most" category. Maybe I'd win that. But I put it under the "Sports Car" category. My only competition in this class were two beautiful 60's era Corvettes. But they deserved to win, which they did. It was a classics show anyway.
I easily drew the most crowds though and never got a break answering many many questions. However, I was all smiles, helping to set many misconceptions straight. That was a fun hot August day.
Sunday drive home coming soon, and miles dwindling.
Show over, and now about 60 miles left, we leave for Lowes to get a new outlet to replace the 14-60 back at my Brother's home. I should have picked up a 14-30, but got excited when I saw a 14-50 outlet, and I just grabbed that (convenient for me, but not for possible future use for my brother). Get back to his house, and I starting wiring in the 14-50. Afterwards, we realize he never switched off the right breaker, so I was working with live 240v the whole time. Thank goodness I have a basic understanding of electricity and always assume I'm dealing with hot wires anyway. Finally get green light on the UMC, with 30 amps and 17mi/hr on the dash, we're charging! Note, since the car thought this was plugged into a real 14-50 source, it wanted to charge at 40 amps, so I had to dial down on the dash to 80% of 30 amps - to 24 instead for safe current pull. I decide to charge to 90% for the drive home the next day. It would need 12 hours at this rate.
Redmond to Beaverton/Home - 168 miles.
233 miles of charge in the morning. After going to church, picking up our bags, visiting my parents one last time, we finally head home at 2:15 with about 205 miles rated. We drive with the faster moving crowd. With a net elevation drop of about 3000', I wasn't to worried about range coming home.
Side stop to see Super Chargers.
On I5 halfway between Salem and Portland, we take 10 minutes and stop off at Woodburn to see the nearly complete Super Charging station. Excited to see this coming together. Should be done by end of week. Getting back on the highway, traffic is now stop and go for nearly 12 miles.
Made it home at 6pm with 47 miles remaining.
I didn't keep a trip log over the weekend, but with side trips, etc., I figure we put 410 miles of road down.
Net result... this car is awesome! Trip... Epic! Looking forward to the next one!
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