Range Needed For Rocky Mountains Trip

[Skotty]

Anyone have any insights into how much range is needed to make using an EV in the rocky mountains a reasonable choice? A typical trip for me is a week in the mountains of Colorado, making a loop and visiting a couple of different areas. For example, starting in Denver, I might go to Breckenridge area for half a week (not the ski lodge, I hike trails around there), then maybe around Pikes Peak for another half a week. It seems to me to be one of the worst places to find charging, and I don't think the current range of my EVs is sufficient. It's kind of sad, because an EV can really shine in the mountains -- no power loss, low brake wear, and huge regen advantage over gas cars -- if you don't run out of charge.

For those of you who have attempted an EV mountain trip, how much range do you advise having? How much trouble was finding charging? I feel like I would need a solid 400 mile range. Enough for the full trip without charging. My P85 is more like 225, and my 3 is more like 275. I don't think either is enough. How many realistic miles do you get on a long range S now?

 

[mk677]

Anyone have any insights into how much range is needed to make using an EV in the rocky mountains a reasonable choice? A typical trip for me is a week in the mountains of Colorado, making a loop and visiting a couple of different areas. For example, starting in Denver, I might go to Breckenridge area for half a week (not the ski lodge, I hike trails around there), then maybe around Pikes Peak for another half a week. It seems to me to be one of the worst places to find charging, and I don't think the current range of my EVs is sufficient. It's kind of sad, because an EV can really shine in the mountains -- no power loss, low brake wear, and huge regen advantage over gas cars -- if you don't run out of charge.

For those of you who have attempted an EV mountain trip, how much range do you advise having? How much trouble was finding charging? I feel like I would need a solid 400 mile range. Enough for the full trip without charging. My P85 is more like 225, and my 3 is more like 275. I don't think either is enough. How many realistic miles do you get on a long range S now?

you will need to locate places to charge.
coming up from denver stop at the silverthorne supercharer to top off on the way to breck.
going down to pike's peak there is a supercharger in colorado springs.

as for range, the severe elevation changes will have big effects on your range.

www.plugshare.com is a good resource to locate chargers as is the find us page on the tesla site is a good place to locate hotels with destination chargers.