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Hello all,

I will chronicle my experience in case it helps someone in the future.

I am planning a road trip from Toronto Canada, to Casper Wyoming. I will spend a week there for the Adventure Racing World Championships. Much of that will be on dirt roads (or worse) in an area already devoid of chargers. You could say I am trying to prove something about what EVs can do.

After that, a friend will join me to mountain bike Moab Utah, see the Solar Eclipse in Idaho, hike Yellowstone park, and drive back to Toronto.

Road Trip History from Toronto Canada:
- In February 2015 and during a record cold snap of -25C (-13f), I drove to Northern Wisconsin in a Model S 85. The Supercharger network had massive gaps then and meant driving below the speed limit and without heat. I also had to get creative with charging. I was a videographer shooting area hospitals and discovered US clinics have Nema 14-50 plugs to accommodate mobile MRI machines. With permission, plugging in saved my trip.
- 2015 to 2016: Various uneventful road trips to New York, Boston, Montreal, the White Mountains, and Shenandoah National Park.
- February 2017: New Model X 90D and a winter road trip to Halifax, Nova Scotia. This was another trip devoid of Superchargers, driving slowly and without heat. A couple of broken chargers almost left me stranded but I rolled into a hotel about 5km past the battery saying Zero Range.

Towing Test:
- I purchased a SylvanSport Go camping trailer. Amazing thing that converts from compact tow mode, to a larger utility trailer, and finally a comfy tent camper. It only weighs 800 pounds and seemed the perfect choice for a Model X. It even has roof racks since the Model X can't. (See attached photo)
- I just drove 170 test kilometres of mixed city and highway to get a feel of how much extra power I'll need. It was shockingly reasonable. The Wh/km was actually lower than my lifetime average after 8-months of ownership. (See attached photo with km and miles).

My next post will be about all the charge adapters I've bought to make sure I can plug in somewhere... anywhere.

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Very cool indeed! I believe @bonnie has this trailer too.

Good luck at your competition!

Can't wait to read more!
Yep, I've had it for several years. There's a solar option I'm getting installed later this summer (they're finalizing details).

Love the GO & several friends have ended up getting one after seeing mine. One of my cousins calls it the Swiss army knife of campers.

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Yep, I've had it for several years. There's a solar option I'm getting installed later this summer (they're finalizing details).

Love the GO & several friends have ended up getting one after seeing mine. One of my cousins calls it the Swiss army knife of campers.

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LOL. I saw this photo posted on the manufacturer's Instagram last week and thought "awww, I won't be the first Model X".
 
I just drove 170 test kilometres of mixed city and highway to get a feel of how much extra power I'll need. It was shockingly reasonable. The Wh/km was actually lower than my lifetime average after 8-months of ownership. (See attached photo with km and miles).
Thanks for the data. So you are saying that your X lifetime average is 424Wh/km and recently when towing your trailer for 170km you averaged 263Wh/km? I assume that your much X lifetime driving was in severe winter weather (since you have only owned it since Jan 2017) while your trailer towing was in fair weather? Because if you did a "towing / not towing" test under identical conditions obviously towing the trailer is going to take more energy, not less.

@bonnie, do you have any energy usage data while towing your trailer? Thanks.
 
Because if you did a "towing / not towing" test under identical conditions obviously towing the trailer is going to take more energy, not less.

Agreed. Obviously an extra 800 pounds is going to require more power to move around (regardless of whether it's towed or even inside the car).

However, much of my winter driving was long distance road trips where I specifically had to drive at low power to get the Rated Range. So, ironically... that lowered my average.

I just expected the trailer to be dramatically worse. My preliminary test makes me feel optimistic about getting reasonable mileage between charges.
 
Not yet - first decent roadtrip with the X/GO combination (I hear a bad joke in there, but moving on...) will be the eclipse trip to Idaho in August. Plenty of roadtime with it behind my Jeep, but that's not helpful here.

No exageration, my road trip puts me around Idaho Falls on Eclipse day. Where will you be?

Should we completely blow Sylvan Sport's mind with a shot of two Model Xs towing two Go trailers?
 
I just expected the trailer to be dramatically worse. My preliminary test makes me feel optimistic about getting reasonable mileage between charges.

It's easy to forget it's back there. I suspect the biggest hit will be when stuff like kayaks and bikes are loaded on top, since that will mess with the aerodynamics (though it's still a low profile). It would be interesting to do the same trip without the trailer, and then with/without the top loaded. I might be up for that at some point, just a nice loop through the Gorge for three mornings in a row, under similar conditions.
 
No exageration, my road trip puts me around Idaho Falls on Eclipse day. Where will you be?

Should we completely blow Sylvan Sport's mind with a shot of two Model Xs towing two Go trailers?
We could! Want to meet in Idaho? My cousin will be there with his new GO. SylvanSport has an eclipse gathering happening of 70 GOs. Can't wait to see the pics for that.
 
As promised, here is a showcase of my various charge adapters.

I’ve added a few just for this trip. Looking at the PlugShare map around Casper Wyoming, EV charge options are few. Compounding that is knowing I’ll be going onto gravel roads or worse and possibly overnight.

I won’t talk about all of these adapters because I haven’t even seen some of these configurations in the wild. I just want to be ready if I do.

1) The J1772 extension cord is the one I would recommend most. In a sentence, it ensures you can charge when a spot is ICEd. I have only used it twice in three years but I absolutely NEEDED to use it those two times.
2) CHADEMO: I bought this three years ago. Over the first two years, I only plugged it in once to make sure it worked. Nowadays, it’s really a no-brainer and should be in your trunk. I use it twice a month around Toronto (primarily plugging into the free spots at Pearson Airport).
3) NEMA 10-30: I learned the hard way this is NOT the same plug as a campground. Why Tesla doesn’t make a TT-30 plug is beyond me.
4) TT-30: Learning from the above, I made sure I had one for this trip. I bought a TT-30 to NEMA 14-50 from my local automotive store and had the foresight to test it at a local campground. It did NOT work.
I discovered that EVs need this wired differently and ordered it from EVSEadapters.com. I haven’t tested it but I expect it to work wonderfully.
5) Twist Lock Plugs: Recently added to my kit, I do see these plugs often enough at convention centres and stadiums (typically indoors). I think they are also around marinas and generators.
6) NEMA 14-50: I have both the American version and slower, lower amp Canadian version.
7) NEMA 14-50 30-foot extension cord: By far the heaviest addition. I got this because I suspect I may need to plug into an oven at one location and run the cord out the kitchen window.
8) NEMA 5-20: Basically useless but a slight upgrade to a wall plug if the option exists. Home Depot stores in Ontario offer these in their ‘green’ parking spots.

All the other official Tesla adapters I haven’t even seen in the wild. I may never use them but I want them on hand.

My big debate is whether I bring a second Tesla charger in case the first one fails. All the adapters in the world won’t help if the Tesla plug breaks

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It will be interesting to hear just how much of that you needed once you get back. My prediction is that you'll need the J1772 adaptor, mobile bundle + 5-15 adaptor, the 14-50 adaptor but only if you camp, and that's it. You'll be on the Supercharger network almost the whole way there and back. You may come to regret not packing a heavyish 5-15 extension cord, but you can buy those almost anywhere along the way.