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First Trip Report: Santa Monica, CA to Big Bear Lake, CA

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EV Trip Planner doesn't have the P85D selection but roundtrip to the Big Bear Airport from Rancho Cucamonga looks doable even if you added 20% to rated miles used.

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Oh it is easily doable. I just went last weekend with full car packed to the brim charged to 200 RM at rancho cucamongA, arrived with 100 RM in freezing cold and snowing (not hard). Lost 20! RM over 48 hours and then went back to cucamonga arrived there with like 50 RM. you recharge the battery about 30 RM down the hill!
 
Not sure about using torque sleep/range mode because I'd want 100% of my AWD to be ready to go if it gets slippery.
There is a small chance of rain this weekend, but we haven't had snow or ice on the highways up here in weeks. Our mountain weather has been very Spring-like. Last year the daffodils came up in the middle of February, more than a month early, and I'm guessing the same will happen this year. I'm glad I didn't bother getting new tires for our LEAF before the start of Winter. Still, a "March miracle" (lots of snow) would be quite welcome.
 
i just a did a trip to Big Bear Lake, CA from Redlands, CA in a AP2 75D - left not fully charged at 160 miles (last minute getaway), started the climb up highway 38 with prob 145 miles and finished the summit and into big bear city with only 46 miles (18%)....interestingly the Tesla Navi is impressively accurate with range predictions. Came down a few hours later - Coming back down coasted down highway 18 (faster route) and made tightly with 8-9% to spare (which is what the car had predicted on it's navi). (shut A/C to OFF mode for extra margin). Recommend going fully charged ideally and could consider supercharging at Rancho for additional comfort on range.

Also big bear doesn't have any destination chargers or ideally a supercharger. The RV park was "closed" and a few Nema 14-50 sockets were out of order. This would be a good spot for one since it's a vacation/tourist/ski destination. Lake Arrowhead has one at the Marriott but it was off the way. Good to know the car can pull this kind of trip off. Do your research ahead of time on evtripplanner and also the car's navigation before even leaving to calculate range left etc.

One additional place to stop - ayres hotel in Redlands - the Ayres chain is generally very friendly and I've had no problem charging even when not staying. They usually will have several tesla destination chargers.
 
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On March 24 we drove from Glendale to Snow Summit, starting with 279 rated miles and arriving with 106. We moved to Bear Mt. for the afternoon. We left Bear Mt. with 98 rated miles and arrived at the Cabazon supercharger with 52. Temperatures were warm so not a factor with range that day. Nonetheless I believe that even in winter I can drive from home to Big Bear, then back to Rancho Cucamonga without a charge stop.
 
i just a did a trip to Big Bear Lake, CA from Redlands, CA in a AP2 75D - left not fully charged at 160 miles (last minute getaway), started the climb up highway 38 with prob 145 miles and finished the summit and into big bear city with only 46 miles (18%)....interestingly the Tesla Navi is impressively accurate with range predictions.
Using 100+ miles of rated range doesn't seem all that surprising, as CA-38 is longer and tops out over 8300'. I'd definitely stick with CA-330 and CA-18 if range is a concern. Of course, during peak visitation periods, traffic is generally worse on the front of the mountain (330 and 18).

Came down a few hours later - Coming back down coasted down highway 18 (faster route) and made tightly with 8-9% to spare (which is what the car had predicted on it's navi). (shut A/C to OFF mode for extra margin).
Wow, you were brave to shut off A/C considering the heat we've been having. I don't care if our charge is going to drop to 3% or we have to slow down to make it - our A/C stays on if it's hot out!

Had you reached the base of the mountain in Highland, CA with insufficient charge to get home or reach a Supercharger, you could have plugged in at the evGo stations by Walmart. With a CHAdeMO adapter, this could be a pretty quick stop. Even without CHAdeMO, a bit of shopping (we like ALDI at the other end of the shopping center) would give you enough charging time.

Also big bear doesn't have any destination chargers or ideally a supercharger. The RV park was "closed" and a few Nema 14-50 sockets were out of order. This would be a good spot for one since it's a vacation/tourist/ski destination.
Totally agree about the need for more destination charging up here. One option, if staying overnight, might be to rent a cabin and plug in using whatever outlet may be available (might want to check with the owner as to available outlets). Otherwise, the best way to get destination charging is probably to ask for it whenever you can. Businesses will be motivated to install charging if they think this will draw more customers. Let them know that Tesla is willing to subsidize the charging hardware.

Also, while a Supercharger in Big Bear would be nice, I'm not convinced that this needs to be a priority for Tesla. They already have plans to put Superchargers in the San Bernardino Valley near the base of the mountain.
 
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