Tesla trip report.
Loveland Colorado to Las Vegas Nevada 1700 miles
June 29 2016 to July 3 2016
Loveland, CO
Left home at 90% charge on Wed June 29 at 845am. We drove to Denver Airport to drop off my wife’s mom. Stopped at the Denver SC by Pena Blvd and I-70. 9:56amMT, 62% 78F, 66.7 miles. There were 2 Tesla S’s charging. We showed off our X to one of the Tesla owners. We charged for about 20 minutes to 85%, left around 10:15amMT.
We drove on I-70 West towards the Silverthorn SC. About 3 times turned off Auto-pilot by turning the steering wheel due to other cars/trucks encroaching in my lane. At the top of the pass, 11013 feet, we were at 38%, temperature 66F. Downhill to the Silverthorn SC, arrived around 11:38MT, 41%, 74F, 80.8 miles from Denver SC, 1:23, 420Wh/mi. We had lunch at Silverthorn. The SC is next to Starbucks; the GPS instructions say the SC is on the left, is really on the right. The Silverthorn SC is located next to an Outlet mall. There is a sandwich shop and Chipolte. We shared a sandwich and sat on a bench next to the river; very scenic. This is a very nice location. We charged to 85%, left at 12:16pmMT.
We then continued towards the Glenwood Springs SC. Just west of Vail a ladder flew out of the back of a pickup truck in the next lane. We were in the left lane (fast lane) in Auto-pilot. The car next to us swerved toward and into our lane in order to miss the ladder. I had my hands on the steering wheel and swerved left which took the Tesla out of Auto-pilot. Arrived at Glenwood Springs SC 1:46pmMT, 54%, 88F, 92.5 miles, 1:30, 266Wh/mi. Total miles 239.2, 80.4Kwh, 336Wh/mi. We charged for about 20 minutes, to 84%.
Grand Junction SC is at the Mesa Mall several miles from the freeway. The GPS is good; just look for a wooden fence at the edge of the parking lot. Arrived at 3:40pm, 44%, 94F, 91.1 miles, 1:22, 346Wh/mi. We charged for about 15 minutes to 68% (a mistake) we should have charged to at least 80% to minimize range anxiety. Left about 3:55pmMT.
On to Green River SC. We used lots of power, high cross winds. We could not use auto-pilot to change lanes. But Auto-Pilot kept us in our lane. Without auto-pilot it was more difficult to keep car in center of lane since the cross wind were so high. Seemed like we were always going uphill. I slowed down from 85 to 70mph in order to reduce energy consumption. Both ICTP (in car trip planner) and ecTP do not seem to know that the speed limit in Utah is 80mph. I usually set speed control to 5mph over the speed limit. At times the number of miles to Green River exceeded our expected range. Finally we started to head downhill. We arrived at Green River SC at 521pmMT, 11%, 91F, 98.1 miles, 1:20, 454Wh/mi. We had dinner at the Tamarisk restaurant across the street. We plan to stay at the River Terrace hotel on our way back. We charged to 85%.
Next stop Richfield, UT SC. 830pm, 16%, 70F, 103.6 miles, 1:26, 383Wh/mi. Right off the freeway, next to the Holiday Inn Express.
Next stop Beaver UT SC. 930pm, 34% 64F, 64.9 miles, 429Wh/mi. Average speed about 85mph. Speed limit is 80. We spent the night at the Quality Inn and charged up to 90% before we left at 8am.
Next stop St. George UT. 9:34am, 45% 89F, 104.7 miles, 1:25 332Wh/mi. The St. George SC is located about 3 miles from I-15 in a shopping center next to a Starbucks. We had a snack at a crepe place in the shopping center. Charged to 86%, left at 10:04MT.
Next stop Las Vegas SC. 10:57amPT, 23%, 99F, 122.8 miles, 1:49 403Wh/mi. Total so far 848.6 miles, 2040.7Kwh, 371Wh/mi. The Las Vegas SC is located in a parking garage close to old Las Vegas and the Fremont Experience. The GPS gets you close to the parking garage. Turn left on 8th street and you will see the red Tesla supercharger sign. We had lunch at one of the casinos and charged to 79%. When we left all the SC slots were full.
We then spent two days at the Delano next to Mandalay Bay. The last night we did valet parking so that they could charge the Tesla. While parking at valet another Tesla X drove up. Wow, two Tesla X’s at the Delano.
On Saturday we left Delano at 8:02am with 96% charge. I had a problem with AP not staying in the lane. We had about 4 times when AP just veered off for some reason. I had to manually take control. I could not figure out why. Perhaps a road bump would cause the car to veer. I then did some “manual” driving and I could see that sometimes there is a divot in the road and you can tell the car veers right or left and you just naturally correct. We arrived at St. George UT at 10:54am, 33%, 80F, 127.8 miles, 49.4kwh, 387 Wh/mi. We had breakfast at the Egg and I restaurant next to the SC. We charged to 93%. Next stop is Beaver UT. ICTP estimated 40% charge at arrival at 1:33pm. Actual arrival time was 1:16pm, 35%, 75F, 104.7 miles, 1:31, 427Wh/mi. Since I knew we had lots of charge remaining I used a bit more energy to drive faster. The Tesla drives very nice and smooth at 105mph.
We left Beaver at 1:49pm, 77%. Estimated arrival at Richfield at 2:45pm, 50%. Actual arrival at 2:37pm, 46%,73F,64.4mi,51minutes,370Wh/mi,24.0Kwh. Left Richfield at 3:16pm,90%. Estimate to Green River 122mi, 1:52, 5:09pm,41%. Actual arrival at Green River at 5pm,30%,124.4mi,373Wh/mi,96F. We spent the night in Green River at the River Terrace motel. This motel is right on the river, nice views, but the motel is old and has a very noisy air conditioner. I suggest staying at the Holiday Inn Express or the Comfort Inn across the street. We had dinner at the Tamarisk restaurant which was nice. We charged up while seeing the John Wesley Powell River History Museum. Charged to 92%. We left the next morning to Grand Junction at 740amMT. ICTP estimated 97 miles, 1:27, 9:08am, 49%. We arrived at Grand Junction at 33%, 70F, 98.2mi, 473Wh/mi, 1:15. We had breakfast at the I-Hop next to the SC. We had set speed control to 85mph. We did notice that the maximum AP speed is 90mph. Next stop was to our daughter’s ranch in New Castle, 85.4mi, 423Wh/mi, 36%, 74F. They have a 10-50 plug we used to charge to 54%. Next stop was Glenwood Springs arrived at 48%, 78F, 18.3mi, 290Wh/mi. We met a couple with their kids in a Model X which unfortunately had a large crack in their windshield. They were going to stop at the Denver Service Center, but the service center has no spare windshields so I do not know what they were going to do. We left Glenwood Springs at 77%, estimate to Silverthorn at 30%, 92 miles. We arrived at Silverthorn at 32%, 70F, 92.9 mi, 384Wh/mi. Next stop home. We left Silverthorn at 85%. At the tunnel we were at 74%; then almost all downhill. At Georgetown 76%; at Idaho Springs 75%. We stopped for dinner at the Charthouse restaurant off of I70 (close to the Sleeper house). Arrived home at 50%. 112.6mi, 237Wh/mi. Total miles 1698.3, 6461kWh, 380Wh/mi.
And just now I found the “Trip” tab on the Energy Usage screen. I cannot believe that I missed this screen. I cannot wait to take another trip.
