Anyone done a trip to Mount St Helens from Seattle and back? We may try to do it as a day trip or we may be willing to stay somewhere in between for a night. Can we do a full charge at the Centralia supercharger each way and have enough range to not stress a small side trip when at the visitor center? We have a P85 Model S. Is there any charging at the visitor center? Any other ideas?
Seattle to Mount St Helens
- Thread starter badgerlake
- Start date
wcalvin
Member
Well, I will let you know how it goes. Hopefully someone has already done the supercharger to St. Helens and back to supercharger route (or great wolf lodge with charging options???) and can chime in. Should be doable, but not sure about the elevation gains.
AMPd
Active Member
The Johnson Ridge Observation Center is about 45 miles from Centralia. So 90 miles round trip. 40 miles for a safety pad/elevation and you will have around 100 miles to play with on a normal charge. You will lose some on the elevation gain but make back a lot of it coming back down.
Cool, thanks PhilBa. I get 72 miles from google maps (1200 Lum Rd, Centralia, WA 98531 to Johnston Ridge Observatory - Google Maps), but still easily doable I think.
ChadS
Last tank of gas: March 2009
Johnston Ridge Observatory is at about 4,200'. Centralia Superchargers are at about 200'. So you will lose about 40 miles as you drive up; right in line with Phil's numbers. But you should get 24 of them on the way back down, so a net cost of only 16 miles. Plus the roads are slow so you'll save plenty of miles on speed and could well end up ahead of rated miles on the round trip if the weather is good. (I just got slightly better than rated range on a round-trip over Stevens pass last weekend). If there is heavy rain and really strong headwinds, you could cut it a little close - but I can't see you not making it.
My rough "rule of thumb" is that pretty much any trip under 177 miles is doable in an 85 if you are TRYING to make it. A thread with way more details is HERE.
My rough "rule of thumb" is that pretty much any trip under 177 miles is doable in an 85 if you are TRYING to make it. A thread with way more details is HERE.
This past February I drove Seattle to Kirkland to Paradise (Mt. Rainier), and returned the same way -- 242 miles on one charge, and got home with 18 miles to spare. I know it is not the same trip, but it was amazing how well the car did in the mountains. With the supercharger in Centralia it should not be a problem, plus there are chargers in Castle Rock if something unexpected comes up.
brianman
Burrito Founder
- Nov 10, 2011
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ChadS
Last tank of gas: March 2009
100% charge; I assume that's what anybody uses when they stretch the range. It's a lot better to have too much than too little if there is ever a question.
Here's my story. On Tuesday, in great weather, I left the Centralia supercharger with 220 rated miles. 5 miles from and about 1000 feet in elevation below the Johnson Ridge Observatory, I was at 120 rated miles. My calculation and gut told me I would be fine, esp. since I had already gained 3000 feet. But I chickened out and headed back to the SC. I arrived in Centralia with 68 miles (!) of rated range. So I charged up to 235 rated miles and drove hard back to the Observatory. It was beautiful there. The displays, movie and Rangers are all terrific. For those of us who remember watching that towering cloud of ash and rock on May 18th, 1980, it was quite moving.
I drove hard back to the SC and arrived with 88 miles of range. My Beastie is a standard 85.
This is a great example of how the car keeps surprising me that I get better milage than my (conservative) calculations suggest. I use a 1.2 or a 1.3 factor for google-supplied miles, and I've always beaten that with lots of miles to share. I've yet to experience any of that Brianman excitement of arriving at home with 2 rated miles. As always, YMMV, esp in cooler, wetter weather.
I drove hard back to the SC and arrived with 88 miles of range. My Beastie is a standard 85.
This is a great example of how the car keeps surprising me that I get better milage than my (conservative) calculations suggest. I use a 1.2 or a 1.3 factor for google-supplied miles, and I've always beaten that with lots of miles to share. I've yet to experience any of that Brianman excitement of arriving at home with 2 rated miles. As always, YMMV, esp in cooler, wetter weather.
