We just got back from a fun trip through part of the Sierras. Sonoma --> Coloma --> Lake Tahoe --> June Lake --> Inyo National Forest above Yosemite --> Sonoma.
Worthwhile mentions - we made it from Coloma (with a 97% charge from our campsite) all the way up to Tahoe without stopping to charge at the CHAdeMO in Strawberry Station (this was my original plan). Consumption was 951Wh/mi on that route, but the nice thing about US 50 is that speed is naturally limited in comparison to taking I-80 to north Lake Tahoe. I think that made the trip doable.
We stopped upon arrival at the Raley's in South Lake Tahoe to use their CHAdeMO and get some shopping done. It was excruciatingly slow. We pulled 30kW most of the time, occasionally peaking up to 35kW. I used two 45-minute sessions to get a reasonable charge before giving up. I still had to unhitch, so it probably would have been worth my while to make the drive over to Stateline and use the Supercharger.
From there, we proceeded to DL Bliss and camped in a great site without hookups.
After two days of camping and a bit of driving around, we were nearly able to make it to the Gardnerville Supercharger without stopping, but I chose to stop at Stateline anyway and top up for 15 minutes. Due to the parking garage, I had to unhitch in the back parking lot of the Hard Rock, which was no big deal.
In Gardnerville, we were able to charge without unhitching, and only blocked one stall (plus one for charging).
Our campsite in June Lake was unremarkable, and I'd come down with a cold in addition to nearly breaking a toe on a root at the beach, so we couldn't do any major hikes. We enjoyed a loop around Gull Lake and scoped a USFS campground for the following days, which was a valuable excursion.
What we found was Aspen Campground up above Yosemite. First come, first served. I charged the X to full at June Lake and knew that we'd have plenty of charge going downhill to Groveland in a few days. EVTO, which was incredibly accurate on this trip, suggested that we'd have about 43% remaining when reaching Groveland. Given that, I felt confident we could stay a few days even with vampire drain.
The site we found was very rocky, not level, and took some serious focus to back into. But it was all worth it since we backed up to a waterfall in a gorgeous setting.
From there, we headed home. Downhill to Groveland went as expected. We arrived with.. 43% battery remaining. Thanks, EVTO! I was able to charge in Groveland without unhitching, and could easily back out instead of doing a loop in the parking lot.
From there, we went to Manteca, where we were easily able to charge without unhitching in the new pull-through stalls. There was a Model S charging there with a utility trailer as well.
Out of Manteca, we were hit with fierce headwinds and were consuming 850Wh/mi headed west at about 55mph. I began to think I'd need to stop at Concord or maybe Napa on the way home. After climbing the pass, however, and turning north, the winds were mostly cross-winds and consumption dropped. The traffic that slowed me down to 35mph helped as well, and we made it back to Sonoma with 7% remaining. I was happy to park the camper and plug the X in.
Great trip, and our next one is a simple trip to Lassen in August.
