Help planning trip from SF east bay to Fort Bragg in M3 LR AWD

[xanatos]

Need some help from the community planning a trip from SF bay area (east bay) all the way up to Fort Bragg (near Mendocino).
Would like to drive the M3 LR AWD if possible, but the lack of charging stations is making me reconsider taking the minivan instead. Would like people's opinion on this, especially if they have taken a similar drive before.

Seems like the closest superchargers are Santa Rosa or Ukiah, while still on the 101. But to get to Fort Bragg / Mendocino area, you have to cross through a long stretch of mountains, and once you are on the coastline, there are no more superchargers. According to Plugshare, there are some Chargepoints and Clipper Creeks spread around, but they are slow and not located near any places I am staying.

So I am concerned that once I charge up along 101 and then cross over to the coast, I may not have sufficient range getting back to 101 when we are heading home, especially since going uphill through the mountains will drain the battery more.

Anybody have some advice on my situation?

 

[Zextraterrestrial]

where are you staying? there is(was?) a 14-50 at north coast brewery(not on plugshare so maybe gone? I think it is there though) , a tesla charger at the hotel just north of pudding creek that you'd probably need to stay at to use? or offer $
Comptche-ukiah road is pretty fun / super pretty if you like mountain roads and most direct from Ukiah to Mendocino. slower speed so a little less use.
If they turn on FB SC - like now! you'd be set

I made it from Eureka down to Mendocino on hwy 1 and over comptche-ukiah in my '12 S. no problem.
that is a lot farther than Ukiah to FB and back and much less range in that car

& if you stay anywhere with a 15A wall outlet that would almost be plenty to get to Ukiah alone if you started empty

 

[Russell]

Plan your route with abetterrouteplanner.com. It will tell you when to stop to charge and for how long.

You can also use plugshare.com to find additional chargers.

 

[xanatos]

where are you staying? there is(was?) a 14-50 at north coast brewery(not on plugshare so maybe gone? I think it is there though) , a tesla charger at the hotel just north of pudding creek that you'd probably need to stay at to use? or offer $
Comptche-ukiah road is pretty fun / super pretty if you like mountain roads and most direct from Ukiah to Mendocino. slower speed so a little less use.
If they turn on FB SC - like now! you'd be set

I made it from Eureka down to Mendocino on hwy 1 and over comptche-ukiah in my '12 S. no problem.
that is a lot farther than Ukiah to FB and back and much less range in that car

& if you stay anywhere with a 15A wall outlet that would almost be plenty to get to Ukiah alone if you started empty

Thanks, that helps a lot!
BTW, what about route 20 thag goes between Fort Bragg and Willits, is that also a good route for Tesla?

 

[israndy]

Not sure why you are stressing. I see it's 58 miles from Ukiah to Ft. Bragg, That means you could still have 200 miles of range when you return to Ukiah. It's just not that far. Take any route you like, go on HWY 1 even. Very pretty drive.

Going up a mountain you'll lose range, going back down you'll gain range. Try that in an ICE

 

[bmah]

Not sure why you are stressing. I see it's 58 miles from Ukiah to Ft. Bragg, That means you could still have 200 miles of range when you return to Ukiah. It's just not that far. Take any route you like, go on HWY 1 even. Very pretty drive.

Going up a mountain you'll lose range, going back down you'll gain range. Try that in an ICE

I think sometimes people forget you don't need to have a Supercharger at your destination.

OP, you just need to get from the closest Supercharger to your destination and back. If there's a Level 2 or even Level 1 charger there, you can use that to give yourself a little extra margin or peace of mind. I did this a few times for a destination 80 miles away from the closest Supercharger (granted the terrain was pretty flat). Just range change when you get to Ukiah, it's probably going to be fine.

Bruce.

 

[_ayn]

I'm heading up to Mendocino this weekend as well, will make a stop in Healdsburg on the way up. From ABRP looks like if I charge for 38 minutes at Ukiah I'll get to Mendicino with 70% SoC, so that should be more than good enough for the weekend there with minimal driving and then back to Ukiah or maybe even Santa Rosa and back to the city.

Can't wait for the Fort Bragg SC to come online though! (but most of all the Target/Geary location)

 

[LoudMusic]

I would just stop in Ukiah on the way north and charge up to ~90%. If you can find somewhere to plug in at Fort Bragg all the better, but certainly not required. Round trip from Ukiah to Fort Bragg and back is a cakewalk.

 

[mociaf9]

Depending on when your trip is, you may not need to worry about charging at all. There's a supercharger under construction in Fort Bragg as we speak, see this TMC thread on the location. It may be operational some time this month, but there's certainly no guarantee on that.

For finding a place to charge in the area if you need it, check Plugshare.com. Looks like there are a number of options in the area for L2 charging.

 

[Zextraterrestrial]

Thanks, that helps a lot!
BTW, what about route 20 thag goes between Fort Bragg and Willits, is that also a good route for Tesla?

20 is the normal route & pretty fun too. definitely smoother, part of comptche-ukiah is rough, but super pretty out there