I arrived on Saturday at 11am and only 2 of the 12 chargers were being used. Tesla must have predicted a heavier demand in the region given Coachella, Stagecoach, super-blooms, college graduations, etc, because mobile chargers were added at Cabazon, Indio, and Quartzsite. I got spoiled on our drive to Tempe since all the V2 Supercharging lots were less than 50% utilized. Not so on the return.
We hit Quartzsite yesterday around 5:30pm and 4 of 12 stalls were available. Not a huge deal. My mom and I enjoyed an iced coffee at Carl's Jr, and chatted with a retired couple from South Dakota who was curious about the economics and ease of driving an EV. We left with 177 range miles and barely made it to the 118 mi to Indio (got there with 5% left). It got incredibly gusty in the Indio region. We consumed 78 range miles to go 31 mi from Indio to Cabazon because of the strong headwind. I was utilizing 525W/mi to sustain 68mph...it felt like I was dragging a parachute. Making an unanticipated stop in Cabazon to recharge, I inspected the undercarriage and checked the brakes to make sure there wasn't something mechanical causing the drag but didn't see anything wrong. I was concerned there was something wrong with our MS, but after driving 5 mi west, the winds completely died down and I was seeing 310W/mi again. Got back home to Orange County around 10:30pm...suddenly that updated MS100 with 370 range miles is looking a whole lot more attractive.