**Initial apologies on inserting pictures, I had a difficult time using the interface on the road and they are hard to see**
Here at the Shamrock Supercharger chatting with Larry and Diane the nice directors of the dog friendly U-Drop Inn. It inspired me to share my experiences with a trip report.
P85D daily trip notes with my two Weimaraners Trixie and Binky. Starting in Niceville Florida and finishing Sedona AZ. I spent a great deal of planning and made a spreadsheet for my stops and destination charges. Since I am a pilot I approached it like flying cross-country, planning fuel stops, diverts and places to bed down. My initial plan for the trip:
I planned on 4 days, which was a bit long for my wife to be away from work so she chose to fly out and meet me in AZ. So I took the opportunity to bring the dogs for company.
Week before trip.
I took the car up to Montgomery AL dropped it off with Donald Fazekas of
Concours Detailing for an Opticoat application and clear wrap on entire front end. The process was painless, he had the car for 4 days but I got a rental and Donald helped by picking me up and dropping me off at the airport. On my way back to Florida through my excitement I must not noticed my speed and was pulled over in Georgiana AL and received my first speeding ticket in 15 years. So I have mitigated my future risk by installing at Beltronics Stir with AL Priority quad heads. Having RADAR and ECM on board may be overkill, especially since I will be hyper-miling for sections of the trip. Fool me once..
Day 1
30 Apr
Niceville FL-Lake Charles LA
Car packed seats down and lots of quilts and dog bones in back to make dogs comfy. I was able to pack all our stuff including camping equipment in frunk and rear cubby. Dogs quickly adapted to their new home for the next 4 days by sleeping most of the trip.
I drove straight to Fairhope AL and got a top off from Howard from Plugshare an 80 amp HPWC, he also owns P85D.
Ray and his wife were very accommodating and I was on my way in about 1.5 hrs. The max top off allowed me to make it the 215 miles to Baton Rouge Supercharger. Once the Mobile Supercharger is on line that leg will be a lot more painless. Its is actually a lot of fun for the adventurous to be a pioneer on the EV superhighway, you meet a lot of nice people on the way. I drove conservatively as it was a fairly long leg.
I was even below 300 wh/mi at one point. Finishing up at a respectable 306wh/mi.
Arriving with 34 remaining at Baton Rouge I could not find the Supercharger as the navigation does not lead you directly to the Tesla chargers. This is where the new app ConnecTT helped as their spots are marked more accurately.
An hour later I was charged and on my way to Lake Charles for another charge and dinner at Sonic right next door.
I then drove to the pet friendly La Quinta in Sulphur LA . I stayed on the ground floor and was able to actually plug my car in on an outlet. I spent the next hour talking to guests at the hotel, as the car seems to attract a crowd when at rest.
Day 2
31 Apr
Lake Charles LA-Wichita Falls TX
This leg was planned so I could bypass Oklahoma City by going through Wichita Falls. I left early on a foggy morning for 167 miles to Huntsville TX. Not sure it if was because I drove more at night but I needed to hyper-mile some on that leg to get more in my comfort zone energy reserve. Pulling in at 45 rated miles remaining.
I then charged enough to get me the 113 miles to Corsicana TX.
While charging at Corsicana I received a notification of the 6.2 update and elected to say yes not realizing that the charge stops until update is complete. I then found out that it took 2.5 hours to update so kind of a mistake on my part as it made for a long day. After the update I received an error message Drivers Assistance not Available. Called Tesla then did my own research on the Forums and went out and cleaned the RADAR lens and did a reboot and it worked fine after that. I was finally on my way to Arrowhead State Park just south of Wichita Falls. Good tailwinds and some drafting gave me best range so far:
Arrowhead park alone on RV campsite. NEMA 14-50 plug, a very nice stop, coyotes visited the dogs and me during the night.
Day 3
1 Apr
Wichita Falls TX-Albuquerque NM
My first 183 mile leg to Shamrock SC started seemingly normal until I notice I was going actually to Ardmore SC. The new software routes you to the nearest not necessarily to the quickest so I quickly learned you have to use a few additional keystrokes to get where you really want to go. Shamrock was fun as the old U-Drop Inn is now a visitor’s center and a cool place to visit being it inspired some of the scenes in the animated movie Cars.
I could not make it to the next operable Supercharger on I-40W so I had to stop next in Amarillo TX.
Shorty a fellow Model S owner helped me out for a few hours while I calculated how much I needed to make it to Santa Rosa, 169 miles 193 range miles from EVtripper.
Out in front of Shortys home with his HPWC
So I put in 200 range miles because I got tired of waiting and off I went. First off you will never make it as calculated in TX because the speed limit is 75. If you drive 80 or above you will eat away any buffer you planned. So I decided on following a semi doing 65 to maximize my range. Half way to my destination I started to suck up the seat cushion when I encountered unexpected headwinds. With buffer all but gone and droning uphill I looked to see alternate fuel stops. I found a few RV parks on the way but finally elected to cut it as close as I have been and continue on to Santa Rosa SC.
I took on enough energy to go the 145 range miles to Albuquerque NM. I planned on staying the night at an RV park on Kirtland AFB but when I arrived there were no tent spaces left. I pulled into a gravel 14-50 RV hookup and slept in the car for the next 4 hours and left at 1AM for Gallup NM.
Day 4
2 Apr
Albuquerque NM- Sedona AZ
I charged up in Gallup enough to bypass Holbrook and make it straight to Flagstaff AZ. All these legs are a bit deceiving because of the climb in elevation. The last 30 mile leg into Sedona from Flagstaff was a lot of fun if not the coolest part of the drive. All downhill….Arrived at our cabin averaging only 103 wh/mi for 32 miles.
Fun!!
For my return trip I think I am going to try and stay in a nice hotel in Albuquerque and probably go via OKC. Instead of Wichita Falls cutoff. We shall see.
Overall, it was a lot of fun. Good learning experience.
Ill be leaving for the return leg starting tomorrow 13 April.
Here at the Shamrock Supercharger chatting with Larry and Diane the nice directors of the dog friendly U-Drop Inn. It inspired me to share my experiences with a trip report.
| AZ TRIP | |||||
| Miles | Rated Miles | Dep/Arr | Enroute Time | Charge Time | |
| Day 1 Monday 30 Mar | |||||
| Niceville | 6:00:00 AM | ||||
| 105 | 90 | 2:26 | |||
| Howard Fairhope | 8:26:00 AM | 2:00 | |||
| 215 | 257 | 10:26:00AM | 3:10 | ||
| Baton Rouge | 1:36:00 PM | 1:00 | |||
| 131 | 164 | 2:36:00 PM | 1:55 | ||
| Lake Charles | 4:31:00 PM | 1:00 | |||
| 10 | 14 | 5:31:00 PM | 0:18 | ||
| La Quinta Sulphur | 5:49:00 PM | ||||
| 461 | 11:31 | ||||
| Day 2 Tuesday 31 Mar | |||||
| Lake Charles | |||||
| 167 | 191 | 7:00:00 AM | 2:47 | ||
| Huntsville | 9:47:00 AM | 1:00 | |||
| 113 | 152 | 10:47:00AM | 1:35 | ||
| Corsicana | 12:22:00PM | 1:30 | |||
| 194 | 219 | 1:52:00 PM | 3:10 | ||
| Arrowhead | 5:02:00 PM | 8:00 | |||
| Arrowhd St Park | |||||
| 474 | 10:02 | ||||
| Day 3 Wednesday 1 Apr | |||||
| Arrowhead | 6:00:00 AM | ||||
| 183 | 225 | 2:50 | |||
| Shamrock SC | 8:50:00 AM | 1:30 | |||
| 66 | 122 | 10:20:00AM | 1:30 | ||
| Shortys Amarillo | 11:50:00AM | 2:00 | |||
| 169 | 193 | 1:50:00 PM | 2:24 | ||
| Santa Rosa SC | 4:14:00 PM | 1:00 | |||
| 127 | 145 | 5:14:00 PM | 1:45 | ||
| ABQ | 6:59:00 PM | 8:00 | |||
| Kirtland AFB RV Park | |||||
| 545 | 12:59 | ||||
| Day 4 Thursday 2 Apr | |||||
| ABQ | 8:00:00 AM | ||||
| 145 | 170 | 2:10 | |||
| Gallup | 10:10:00AM | 1:00 | |||
| 84 | 92 | 11:10:00AM | 1:20 | ||
| Holbrook | 12:30:00PM | 1:00 | |||
| 94 | 114 | 1:30:00 PM | 1:22 | ||
| Flagstaff | 2:52:00 PM | 0:45 | |||
| 24 | 10 | 3:37:00 PM | 0:35 | ||
| Sedona | 4:12:00 PM | ||||
| Sedona | |||||
| 347 | 8:12 | ||||
Week before trip.
I took the car up to Montgomery AL dropped it off with Donald Fazekas of
Concours Detailing for an Opticoat application and clear wrap on entire front end. The process was painless, he had the car for 4 days but I got a rental and Donald helped by picking me up and dropping me off at the airport. On my way back to Florida through my excitement I must not noticed my speed and was pulled over in Georgiana AL and received my first speeding ticket in 15 years. So I have mitigated my future risk by installing at Beltronics Stir with AL Priority quad heads. Having RADAR and ECM on board may be overkill, especially since I will be hyper-miling for sections of the trip. Fool me once..
Day 1
30 Apr
Niceville FL-Lake Charles LA
Car packed seats down and lots of quilts and dog bones in back to make dogs comfy. I was able to pack all our stuff including camping equipment in frunk and rear cubby. Dogs quickly adapted to their new home for the next 4 days by sleeping most of the trip.
I drove straight to Fairhope AL and got a top off from Howard from Plugshare an 80 amp HPWC, he also owns P85D.
Day 2
31 Apr
Lake Charles LA-Wichita Falls TX
This leg was planned so I could bypass Oklahoma City by going through Wichita Falls. I left early on a foggy morning for 167 miles to Huntsville TX. Not sure it if was because I drove more at night but I needed to hyper-mile some on that leg to get more in my comfort zone energy reserve. Pulling in at 45 rated miles remaining.
Arrowhead park alone on RV campsite. NEMA 14-50 plug, a very nice stop, coyotes visited the dogs and me during the night.
Day 3
1 Apr
Wichita Falls TX-Albuquerque NM
My first 183 mile leg to Shamrock SC started seemingly normal until I notice I was going actually to Ardmore SC. The new software routes you to the nearest not necessarily to the quickest so I quickly learned you have to use a few additional keystrokes to get where you really want to go. Shamrock was fun as the old U-Drop Inn is now a visitor’s center and a cool place to visit being it inspired some of the scenes in the animated movie Cars.
I could not make it to the next operable Supercharger on I-40W so I had to stop next in Amarillo TX.
Out in front of Shortys home with his HPWC
I took on enough energy to go the 145 range miles to Albuquerque NM. I planned on staying the night at an RV park on Kirtland AFB but when I arrived there were no tent spaces left. I pulled into a gravel 14-50 RV hookup and slept in the car for the next 4 hours and left at 1AM for Gallup NM.
Day 4
2 Apr
Albuquerque NM- Sedona AZ
I charged up in Gallup enough to bypass Holbrook and make it straight to Flagstaff AZ. All these legs are a bit deceiving because of the climb in elevation. The last 30 mile leg into Sedona from Flagstaff was a lot of fun if not the coolest part of the drive. All downhill….Arrived at our cabin averaging only 103 wh/mi for 32 miles.
Fun!!
For my return trip I think I am going to try and stay in a nice hotel in Albuquerque and probably go via OKC. Instead of Wichita Falls cutoff. We shall see.
Overall, it was a lot of fun. Good learning experience.
Ill be leaving for the return leg starting tomorrow 13 April.
