Montana Road Trip

[scottyd]

We’re headed out in our first really long road trip in our Model X, and plan to post a few things along the way. We’ve only previously done regional trips here in Washington State, and never gone far enough to require multiple Supercharger stops.


742 miles ahead, a couple of overnight stops along the way, the X charged to 100% for the first time, 294 miles of rated range on the dash.... LET’S GO!

 

[scottyd]

Left Seattle at 8:48 and arrived at the Ellensburg supercharger at 10:22 with 51% charge remaining, all spots wide open. First leg wa 397 wh/mile with the climb over the pass.

Autopilot did ok. I took over once on the west side of the pass, where it veered too close to next lane on a bridge with messed up pavement, and 3 other times on the east side of the pass where there’s lots of construction, narrow lanes, and some confused markings.

Initially get 115kw of power on pedestal 1A, and 25 min later we’re up to 86%, and a forecasted 10% remaining once we hit our stop in Spokane.

 

[Eclectic]

If you need some restaurant recommendations in the Bozeman area I'd be happy to give a few of our favorites.

We spend a lot of time in Montana and the supercharger coverage is ok on the main travel routes but a note of caution if you start exploring--while the days of Montana having no speed limit are over, there are a TON of roads that beg those with a lead foot to see what the car can do. It's pretty common on these roads to just settle into 90+ mph travel for many miles. The energy use spikes dramatically at certain speeds above, er, 80 and you can easily find yourself without enough charge to make it back to a supercharger. And a lot of the areas where these speeds are possible have no cell/data coverage. I found this out the hard way. So at a minimum, know where the RV parks are in the area.

 

[Utahken]

If you need some restaurant recommendations in the Bozeman area I'd be happy to give a few of our favorites.

We spend a lot of time in Montana and the supercharger coverage is ok on the main travel routes but a note of caution if you start exploring--while the days of Montana having no speed limit are over, there are a TON of roads that beg those with a lead foot to see what the car can do. It's pretty common on these roads to just settle into 90+ mph travel for many miles. The energy use spikes dramatically at certain speeds above, er, 80 and you can easily find yourself without enough charge to make it back to a supercharger. And a lot of the areas where these speeds are possible have no cell/data coverage. I found this out the hard way. So at a minimum, know where the RV parks are in the area.

I'll be traveling through Bozeman supercharger too. What are your restaurant recommendations?

 

[Eclectic]

I'll be traveling through Bozeman supercharger too. What are your restaurant recommendations?

Though it's not right next to the supercharger in Bozeman, there are two really good places about a mile or so away in the Cannery district. Lot G Cafe and Pizza Campania. Lot G is a breakfast/lunch place that happens to be gluten free. The food is outstanding. Pizza Campania makes great thin crust pizzas and is a good close-by choice if you are looking for dinner (or just a dang good pizza).

If you're spending more time in Bozeman, the Feed Cafe on Main is owned by the same lady as Lot G and has even better food than Lot G...lots of game meat options usually and a great place for breakfast. Also downtown-Emerson Grill and Bisl are top notch dinner places (the equal of the best of any big city) and if you have a craving for sushi, Montana Fish is remarkably good. Can't say I was a huge fan of Blackbird Kitchen, but it gets great reviews and is always crowded, so maybe I just had a bad experience and should go back. And Jam! is also a great breakfast place on Main.

 

[Utahken]

Though it's not right next to the supercharger in Bozeman, there are two really good places about a mile or so away in the Cannery district. Lot G Cafe and Pizza Campania. Lot G is a breakfast/lunch place that happens to be gluten free. The food is outstanding. Pizza Campania makes great thin crust pizzas and is a good close-by choice if you are looking for dinner (or just a dang good pizza).

If you're spending more time in Bozeman, the Feed Cafe on Main is owned by the same lady as Lot G and has even better food than Lot G...lots of game meat options usually and a great place for breakfast. Also downtown-Emerson Grill and Bisl are top notch dinner places (the equal of the best of any big city) and if you have a craving for sushi, Montana Fish is remarkably good. Can't say I was a huge fan of Blackbird Kitchen, but it gets great reviews and is always crowded, so maybe I just had a bad experience and should go back. And Jam! is also a great breakfast place on Main.

Thanks. We are staying at the motel 6 in bozeman for one night on the way to Glacier. We'll try some of your recommendations. Is the motel 6 good? (At $70)

 

[Eclectic]

Thanks. We are staying at the motel 6 in bozeman for one night on the way to Glacier. We'll try some of your recommendations. Is the motel 6 good? (At $70)

It's a Motel 6...and it's not in a great location (not bad, just sorta away from anything good). There's nothing wrong with the Motel 6 if you're looking to keep costs down.

If you're willing to spend more, the Element is a modern place that has EV charging and it's in a great location downtown, so lots of good restaurants within a few minutes walk.

 

[scottyd]

If you need some restaurant recommendations in the Bozeman area I'd be happy to give a few of our favorites.

We spend a lot of time in Montana and the supercharger coverage is ok on the main travel routes but a note of caution if you start exploring--while the days of Montana having no speed limit are over, there are a TON of roads that beg those with a lead foot to see what the car can do. It's pretty common on these roads to just settle into 90+ mph travel for many miles. The energy use spikes dramatically at certain speeds above, er, 80 and you can easily find yourself without enough charge to make it back to a supercharger. And a lot of the areas where these speeds are possible have no cell/data coverage. I found this out the hard way. So at a minimum, know where the RV parks are in the area.

Thx so much for the tips! We’re not going to hit Bozeman in this trip to Yellowstone, but will spend 2 nights in Missoula if you have recommendations there. Thx!

 

[scottyd]

We ended up making two detours: one at the PSE Wild Horse wind farm, which had a worthwhile exhibit, and one for a park picnic in Moses Lake. This put us at 7% projected arrival battery at Spokane, and we needed a coffee anyway, so we pulled into Ritzville for a quick charge. 15 minutes and 30kwh later, we were back on the road, and arrived in Spokane with 38% charge. 117kwh total, 391wh/mi for the day.

Seems like Moses Lake is the supercharger missing link on this route. It would be perfect distance to maximize charge for 100D. Maybe it will show up on the new map Elon mentioned this week.

 

[scottyd]

We’re spending the night at the Doubletree in Spokane, which has a destination charger. But don’t depend on it: there’s only one and it’s only 40amps. 9 hours to top off

 

[Utahken]

I think Moses lake is where BMW gets the carbon fiber material for the i3.

 

[scottyd]

Had a very scenic drive today from Spokane to Missoula. Had a nice stop for a picnic lunch at City Beach & Park in Coeur d'Alene, and an energy-sucking climb up to Lookout Pass. Although we could have made it to Missoula on the 94% charge we had from Spokane, the crew was ready for another stop so we supercharged in Superior. 45kwh in 27 minutes, and arrived in Missoula with 48% charge remaining (407 wh/mi for the day).

Now sitting on the hotel deck watching the Clark Fork roll swiftly past...

 

[Mobius484]

Hope you enjoyed my backyard in Coeur D’alene..... it was a beautiful day! Agree with having gazateer maps handy in the likely case of no cell connection. Also agree with LOTS of fun roads around here!!! Just watch out for logging trucks and gravel...

 

[scottyd]

Today’s destination is West Yellowstone. Sorry nice the Doubletree in Missoula didn’t have a destination charger, we back tracked a few miles to top up at the Missoula Supercharger. We arrived there with 38% charge, but couldn’t get a charge rate higher than 75kw. Tried several different pedestals, but all were the same. Got it up to 79% in 29 minutes, and headed east on i90.

Eclectic had great advice about energy usage. We drove right at the 80mkj speed limit, and ended up using 458wh/mi on the 124mi drive to Butte. The gradual 2,500 foot climb took its toll too. Ended up arriving at the Butte supercharger with 18% remaining, short of the cars original estimate of 23%. But Butte delivers elections quickly at 116kw at the beginning of the charge.

I think the dog sees a clear benefit of all-electric travel, in terms of periodic walks and snacks.

Depart for West Yellowstone after 44 minutes and 64kwh of charge, at 84%.

 

[Rocky_H]

We arrived there with 38% charge, but couldn’t get a charge rate higher than 75kw. Tried several different pedestals, but all were the same.

That sounds about right for the charge tapering down, so there wouldn't be any need to try different pedestals. For the older 85kWh batteries, there was a pretty good rule of thumb that described the almost linear Supercharging rate. Add your % full to your rate in kW, and that number was around 120, plus or minus maybe 4 or 5. I didn't hear what battery size you have. The charging is lower than that for the 75kWh and higher than that for the 100kWh. So your 38% + 78kW is 113. That seems very normal and expected.

 

[PLUS EV]

Charge rate reported from Missoula definitely looks low to me.

 

[OlderThanDirt]

If you get near Livingston ... Pinky's Cafe

Pinky's Cafe | Livingston, MT

 

[Eclectic]

If you get near Livingston ... Pinky's Cafe

Pinky's Cafe | Livingston, MT

The Mustang restaurant on the same block too. A bit funky but great food.

 

[scottyd]

That sounds about right for the charge tapering down, so there wouldn't be any need to try different pedestals. For the older 85kWh batteries, there was a pretty good rule of thumb that described the almost linear Supercharging rate. Add your % full to your rate in kW, and that number was around 120, plus or minus maybe 4 or 5. I didn't hear what battery size you have. The charging is lower than that for the 75kWh and higher than that for the 100kWh. So your 38% + 78kW is 113. That seems very normal and expected.

We’ve got a 100D. Your explanation makes sense, but I swear I’ve seen higher charge rates at higher SoC. For example, our Ellensburg supercharge in this trip started at 115kw before beginning a slow taper down.

I wonder if there was some issue with battery temp or something similar...

 

[scottyd]

The drive from Butte to West Yellowstone was gorgeous. The Madison river was raging along in a deep valley to our right, and snow-capped mountains poked through the clouds on each side. And somehow I had never heard about the 1959 earthquake and landslide. The drive through the Geologic Area near Quake Lake was fascinating.

We arrived in West Yellowstone with 11% battery to spare (a record low for us!). Energy use was still high on the climb to 6,680 ft elevation - 452wh/mi.

Lodging for the next two nights is at the Explorer Cabins in West Yellowstone. They’re nice, but no destination chargers on property. We called their sister property at the Holiday Inn a few blocks away and got ok to use their 15kw chargers. Six hours later, X was back at 90% and ready for the next day’s exploration of the park.