Yes, it takes a bit of planning, but it can be done. We recharged at RV parks and stayed some nights in KOA campgrounds. Here is the summary.
We range-charged overnight to get a projected range of 197 miles. (Some rumors exist that this is displaying a bit under actual, and our results seem to confirm that. I'd call it 206, which is darn close to the 208 published rating for the 60kWh car.)
We left Phoenix (Desert Ridge area), mid-afternoon, cool temperatures outside, bright sunny days, so no need for much heating or cooling at any point. Drove 65 mph on cruise control.
1st stop just to top-off was
Dazzo's Country Store and RV Park in Wikiup. We only stayed about 45 minutes or so and we wanted a little extra charge to ensure we'd make it to Kingman where we'd spend the night. Total cost was $1.20 -- we gave him $2 and said, "keep the change".
We had about 30 extra projected miles to get to Kingman, so started out at 65 mph. As time went by we started seeing that "projected range" dropping a bit faster than our actual remaining miles.
By the time we reach I40 and headed west, we were down to less than 15 miles of extra "projected range" and real range anxiety set in. This is in the middle of nowhere at night. Dropped speed to 55mph, and tried drafting behind a slow moving semi -- that didn't last too long.
Thankfully, we soon saw a large, very bustling truck stop 16 miles before Kingman so we quickly decided to pull off the highway and
hope for a place to recharge. Right there in the glow of our headlights was
Blake Ranch RV Park. They were open, and for $5 let us recharge as long as we wanted. I happily paid the $5. Only stayed about 45 minutes until we felt we had enough added "buffer" to press on to Kingman.
Now it turns out we probably didn't need to stop after all because from that point on,
Kingman was downhill. And that my friends is what we failed to anticipate -- up and down hills, and total elevation change.
- Phoenix elevation = 1117 feet above sea level
- Wikiup = 1,997
- Kingman = 3,336!
- then downhill to Las Vegas at 2,402.
So, we made it the
KOA in Kingman, spent the night in a nice little "lodge" style cabin in the campground, with our car recharging in a NEMA 14-50 plug right outside our door; recharge overnight for free.
The next morning made it easily to Las Vegas which was only about 100 miles away, and as you see, it was all downhill. We drove faster for this leg of the journey.
We stayed at a
KOA Campground at Circus Circus, and rented an Airstream trailer for the two nights were were there. Free recharging again.
The trip back home was done in one day. Full range charge in Las Vegas, a 4-hour stop to fully recharge in Kingman (we hung out, played miniature golf and stuff), then all the way back to Phoenix with no more stops and 20 miles to spare when we pulled into our garage (it was all downhill).
So, driving long distances is more like flying a plane. We need account for where we expect to refuel, headwinds or tailwinds can make a difference, travel speed and
total elevation changes all impact how much "fuel" we'll need.
It was fun. I'm glad we did it. I have no concern whatsoever about taking a 60kWh Model S on long trips -- so long as we have our KOA campground directory with us and a good book to read.
