Susanville traffic on a 4th of July holiday weekend? (duplicate)

[goneskiian]

Yes, I'm duplicating a thread I put in the California discussions. Figure it might get more traffic here since most Californians probably don't care much about the NE corner of their state.

Contemplating a run from Reno to either Mt. Shasta or Klammath Falls this next Sunday. We'll need to spend some time in Susanville either way. Just trying to gauge how busy it might be at those HPWC's at the Red Lion or the J1772 at the casino.

We're traveling from Mammoth Lakes to Seattle and are really hoping not to have to back/side track over I-80 to Sacramento and I-5 if at all possible.

Thanks!

 

[ReddyLeaf]

Patience Grasshopper. Holiday weekends, especially Sunday's have been very busy at many California SCs. I would also expect those in OR/WA on I-5 to fill at times. As for the destination chargers, well, have a backup plan or at least put significant float in your schedule. It's showing 255 mi from Reno to Klamath Falls, so maybe with some slow driving you can actually make it with an X90D.

 

[PLUS EV]

I did the Reno to Mount Shasta run in an S90D back before K-Falls was online. This was during the day in late September so temps were like 70F or so. I drove slowly and didn't use a/c prior to Susanville where I plugged in to the Red Lion HPWC. I did not go into the lobby and ask figuring it was easier to ask forgiveness than permission. No one seemed to mind. Ate at the pizza place in the same parking lot while we charged for an hour. It's a decent family style pizza place. After that the trip was smooth sailing.

As for 4th of July traffic, I wouldn't expect any issues at all in places like K-Falls. Susanville shouldn't be too crazy either but with only 2 HPWCs (I'm going from memory), you might want to call ahead or at least have a backup (level 2) plan.

 

[goneskiian]

Oh, we've got patience. Thanks for the reminder though!

Thanks for the input. We're also trying to book a hotel room for our halfway stop so we are actually guaranteed a place to stay. I got the day wrong though as it will be Saturday not Sunday that we're going through there. Might actually reduce the chances of running into others.

As for the straight shot run from Reno to either Mt. Shasta or Klamath, I don't think I could make it as I also have a couple bikes hanging off the back reducing my range a bit.

 

[ReddyLeaf]

...As for the straight shot run from Reno to either Mt. Shasta or Klamath, I don't think I could make it as I also have a couple bikes hanging off the back reducing my range a bit.

Nope. I see about 70% range with two bikes on the S70D (speed dependent). Maybe the hit is less on an X, but it's probably similar. Booking a hotel half way is an excellent way to do it. I've found destination charging to work out very well, to supplement SCs, even 120V can give you 50 mi overnight and more when staying extra days.

 

[cpa]

I made the trip from K-Falls to Truckee in May. (I have a 2014 plain vanilla S85.) I range charged in K-Falls and reached Susanville with 85 RM remaining, or about 30%. I used those HPWC for about 75 minutes to gain enough range to reach Truckee via Vinton and Sierraville. I have dual chargers so was able to charge at 208/80.

You have some choices. Reno to K-Falls is about a 500-foot decrease in elevation overall. The most direct route is to leave Susanville on California 139 north. Several miles south of where SR139 joins California 299 at Adin, there is a turnoff called Susanville Road that will take you due west to cross SR299. Turn north onto Lookout Road and take that back road to where it rejoins SR139 just south of the Ag Inspection Station. That is the shortest, most direct route to K-Falls. SR139 is a little serpentine in places, however, especially climbing out of Susanville.

Or, you could continue on US395 and spend the night in beautiful Alturas [sarcasm here] at the famous Niles Hotel. The Niles has a HPWC, so you could charge overnight and reach K-Falls the next day without breaking a sweat. The Niles does have a pretty cool old-fashioned bar, however.

As far as traffic is concerned, I would not sweat it much. Most Teslans are leery of going off the SC grid, as it were. I have yet to encounter anyone charging at Burns, Oregon, McDermitt, Nevada, Susanville, California, Salida, Colorado, Pagosa Springs, Colorado (twice), Telluride, Colorado, Alamosa, Colorado, Woodland, California, Minden, Nevada (twice), and a couple more. Yes, those chargers do get use, but not very often.

I think the same person owns both the Niles Hotel and the Red Lion in Susanville, and he might (emphasis on might) drive a Tesla.

 

[PLUS EV]

I actually did see another Tesla charging at the Red Lion when I charged in Susanville. IIRC there were multiple HPWCs though so it wasn't a big deal.

 

[goneskiian]

Thanks for the short cut tip. We're going to give it a go. Found a hotel in KFalls so we're good there. Hopefully one of those Susanville Red Lion DC's is open when we roll through!

Cheers!

 

[goneskiian]

Thanks again for the responses here. Turns out we were worried for no reason. Both chargers were open and we hung out in Susanville for about 2 hours and then made it to Klamath Falls with no problems.

This was our first real road trip and it went great! Biggest thing we (I?) learned is that we could probably spend a bit less time charging. We're trying to get used to shooting for 10 - 15% battery capacity margin instead of 20 - 30%.

Cheers!

 

[GHammer]

Thanks again for the responses here. Turns out we were worried for no reason. Both chargers were open and we hung out in Susanville for about 2 hours and then made it to Klamath Falls with no problems.

This was our first real road trip and it went great! Biggest thing we (I?) learned is that we could probably spend a bit less time charging. We're trying to get used to shooting for 10 - 15% battery capacity margin instead of 20 - 30%.

Cheers!

Nice going for a "first real road trip", most people don't dare venture away from the supercharger safety net ever. I've been looking at that route recently, glad it was as easy as I thought it would be. I recently did a leg from Winnemucca NV to Bend OR across the eastern Oregon wasteland (350 miles between superchargers) and it wasn't that bad.

 

[ReddyLeaf]

..This was our first real road trip and it went great! Biggest thing we (I?) learned is that we could probably spend a bit less time charging. We're trying to get used to shooting for 10 - 15% battery capacity margin instead of 20 - 30%...

Congratulations. Yes, it's a bit hard on the first trip to really stretch the range. With the energy estimator tool, it's really quite easy to speed up or slow down as needed to arrive on estimate. I find 10% is usually enough (unless exceeding the speed limit or driving faster than 70 mph). On my last trip back on I-90 through MN,SD,WY,MT,ID the speeds were often near 85 mph and thus a bit more buffer was needed. At those speeds, even a small headwind has a greater impact than at 60 mph. Winter is similar and 20-40% buffer is better. Read ChadS' post from many years ago for more help.

 

[PLUS EV]

Thanks again for the responses here. Turns out we were worried for no reason. Both chargers were open and we hung out in Susanville for about 2 hours and then made it to Klamath Falls with no problems.

This was our first real road trip and it went great! Biggest thing we (I?) learned is that we could probably spend a bit less time charging. We're trying to get used to shooting for 10 - 15% battery capacity margin instead of 20 - 30%.

Cheers!

Ha I'm usually shooting for 5-10% but I am a gambler!

 

[PLUS EV]

I recently did a leg from Winnemucca NV to Bend OR across the eastern Oregon wasteland (350 miles between superchargers) and it wasn't that bad.

That is one of the most desolate parts of the entire country imo. NE Montana and the Oklahoma panhandle area are up there as well.