Apologies for jumping the gun, but I did the drive with our four daughters last week - unintentionally on the Solstice as it turns out, Robert. I can't make the August 3 date and last week had the kids between school and camps while my wife was away, so planned a quick trip to New Hampshire. Here are some details that will hopefully help with your planning.
We drove from Cambridge to Gorham, NH (10 miles north of the Auto Road entrance, on Rt. 16) Thursday afternoon. We left later than planned and hit commuter traffic on 93 north but 95 and 16 were ok. Stayed at a motel in town, the Mt. Madison Inn, that's #1 rated on Tripadvisor and had a two bedroom plus foldout couch suite that could fit us. The only Level 2 charging option anywhere near there is Berlin City Nissan, 1.2 miles north of the hotel according to Google maps. I called them a few days beforehand and asked to speak to someone about the Leaf. The guy I spoke with said I should feel free to use the charger, it's available all the time. He said they don't get much demand for EVs around there and I thanked him for the support.
On the way up, with four girls ages 4-15, I started worrying about what I would do if I couldn't access the charger. So I called from the car around 6pm, and got a sales guy who had no clue about a charger even existing, nor did his manager who was the only other person there. That made me a bit concerned, but I have seen chargers outside other Nissan dealers so assumed it was fine. We arrived towards 7, checked in and dropped our things, and immediately went to Nissan to test the charger which was fine, about 14 mph. See this thread about the possibility of charging at the Mt. Madison inn using a plug in their former laundry room (
Any hotels in the White Mountains offer charging? - Page 4), but you would need the right UMC adapter (none of mine fit), and probably an extension cord.
Went to a pizza place in town for dinner, Mountain Fire Pizza, and after putting in our order got a young guy working there to run to Nissan and back twice so I could charge for an hour - I wanted to get as much juice as I could. Apologies for being Broder-like in not noting down my miles remaining, etc. - but remember I was dealing with four girls! I gave Brandon $15 on the spur of the moment, but think $10 would have been adequate.
After dinner at the hotel desk clerk's suggestion we drove north a
bout 20 miles on Rt. 16 towards Errol, and saw two female and one male moose. We had picked up a couple of strong flashlights at Ocean State Job Lot in Ossipee, NH on the way up, which were vey useful. The S was perfect because we could silently follow the moose as they moved and eventually walked away. Also had a chance to test the Model S's powerful brakes which saved a large skunk's life. After dropping the kids at the motel I walked from Nissan and back to charge overnight at about 14 miles per hour - I had maybe 30 miles remaining after 10pm when I plugged in. If you want to maximize charging time and not burn miles looking for moose, Gorham Moose Tours (http://www.gorhamnh.org/Pages/GorhamNH_Moose/Index) can take you on a guided tour in a small bus - that was my original plan until the hotel suggested we drive ourselves, which was cheaper and better for our little one.
Friday morning we took our time getting ready and having breakfast at White Mountain Cafe and Bookstore, hoping to get as much charge as possible before leaving. I hiked back to Nissan and picked up the car with about 230 miles range. 10 miles of driving to the Auto Road entrance burned 20 miles of range because of the climbing road, so I reached the bottom with 210 and was starting to think about where I might need to charge on the way home. Paid and got set for the drive up. They provide a narration CD, but of course no where to play it. I had partially thought ahead and downloaded the up and down tour mp3s from the Auto Road site, but hadn't gotten them onto my iPhone. After some quick thinking I paired my MacBook Pro to the car's bluetooth, and played the mp3 on iTunes with the laptop perched in the open console space - I could stop and start playback from the car, which was handy as we stopped once or twice on the way up to take pictures. We listened to Abbey Road on the way down, as the kids got tired of the narration and there was no slacker coverage (note, I had no maps during the moose drive due to weak/nonexistent cell coverage in the area).
After driving 8 miles up at the recommended 15-25 mph we had burned 41 miles of rated range - from 210 down to 169!
But on the way back down I relied almost entirely on regen to brake the car (I think I might have touched the brakes on two or three turns at most) and gained back 20 miles to 189.
At the toll house I stopped in to ask about EVs making the climb. They had never seen a Model S before - said they'd been asking themselves what kind of car it was after I had entered - so I explained a bit and gave them a brochure. Told them there would be a whole group coming in August. They both said it was a beautiful car, and when they heard the name assumed it was European. Never thought of that but makes sense.
We had 159 miles to home with 189 rated. Made it with 13 rated remaining.
A few tips / lessons learned:
- Make sure you've got enough charge - chargers are few and far between around there. This will be your biggest challenge. In addition to the Nissan dealer, see if Attitash has their chargers in by then (they didn't as of last week), check out campgrounds in the area, and maybe someone with electrical savvy can work with Mt. Madison Inn to use their dryer plugs.
- Stop after paying to read the driving instructions.
- Don't worry about folding in mirrors - there is room to pass people on the road without doing so.
- Standard regen is a must.
- No need to raise the suspension, as the road is smooth (though one stretch is dirt rather than asphalt).
- Get the mp3 onto your phone in advance if you want the narration.
- Suggest wearing long pants and having sweater/jacket/whatever for the summit, where it's windy and can be unseasonably cold (was not bad in the low 50s when we were there vs. high 70s in Gorham, but windy).
- Have fun - we all did!
- And please don't put the bumper sticker on (they give it to you in the envelope with driving instructions). I got a magnet for $2, but no where to stick it! Placed it temporarily on the dash...
I'm looking forward to photos of a whole fleet of S's on the summit!