Yesterday, I took my S85 Model S up skiing, to Mt. Hood Meadows from the west side of Portland. I thought some might be interested in my experience. It's just about 75 miles from my house to Meadows, and I wasn't sure how the car would handle the elevation change. Also, the good news (from a Tesla standpoint; bad from a skiing standpoint) was that it never got colder than the high 30s...
Anyway, I range charged before I left (265 miles rated), and got to Meadows with about 140 miles remaining. I did put the climate control in "range mode" and drove 60-65, just to be sure. There is a J1772 charger at Ski Bowl, so I figured that if I had less than 100 miles remaining when I got to Meadows, I would pick up a few miles there... but obviously had no issues at all.
On the way back down, it was neat to see the rated range increase three miles at a time, as I came back down the mountain. After a small side excursion, I ended up back home with about 70 rated miles left.
If it was really cold, it might be a little bit tighter, but all in all it was very easy. And if it was really cold and nasty, I wouldn't have driven the S since I'm on my summer tires, etc.
Anyway, I range charged before I left (265 miles rated), and got to Meadows with about 140 miles remaining. I did put the climate control in "range mode" and drove 60-65, just to be sure. There is a J1772 charger at Ski Bowl, so I figured that if I had less than 100 miles remaining when I got to Meadows, I would pick up a few miles there... but obviously had no issues at all.
On the way back down, it was neat to see the rated range increase three miles at a time, as I came back down the mountain. After a small side excursion, I ended up back home with about 70 rated miles left.
If it was really cold, it might be a little bit tighter, but all in all it was very easy. And if it was really cold and nasty, I wouldn't have driven the S since I'm on my summer tires, etc.