Traveling in a wind storm

[ibdb]

My family and I are on a road trip that has taken us about 1,000 miles south of our home in Washington. The trip down was great. I am starting to get a little concerned about the trip back north this weekend. We'll likely be leaving Saturday morning, and while having a strong tailwind all the way home will be nice, I'm a little worried about how the wind storm set to roll over the west coast might affect any of the Superchargers we'll need to use on the way.

We'll probably hit our first Supercharger in Freemont, but will follow up with stops in Vacaville, Corning, Mt. Shasta, Grants Pass, Springfield, Woodburn, and maybe Centralia depending on how things have gone to that point. Only one of those is realistically a stop that can be skipped. Have any of you had any experience traveling the I-5 corridor during inclement weather? How has the Supercharger network held up for you? A few of those stops are in areas that would seem potentially vulnerable.

Many thanks!

 

[rpo]

I've done the Sacramento-Seattle drive 11 times now. Twice were in mid-winter with temps below freezing for a majority of the drive. I had no issues at all except falling on ice in Mt Shasta while trying to get to a bathroom wearing flip flops, shorts, and a t-shirt when it was 16 degrees out. Dumb.

 

[goneskiian]

I believe the nav will show you whether or not the Superhargers on your route are live. If not, perhaps you can call Tesla and ask. Of course, that might change while you're on the road. The West coast is pretty well covered now so maybe the coast route is an alternative. Also check out the West Coast Green Highway as an alternate if SC's are down.

West Coast Green Highway: Home

Of course, I'm sure those are all listed on Plugshare as well.

 

[ilovemycoffee]

Some weather reports report the possibility the snow level going down to 4000 feet. Watch out for snow on the Siskiyou Pass. Here's a handy website for road conditions in Oregon TripCheck.com

BTW, I wouldn't do 101, several landslides along the coast reported.

 

[PLUS EV]

I would not do the coast at all. This is a common problem in winter storms driving the WA-CA route. Your options are to deal with potential snow on I-5 near the OR/CA border or deal with landslides and downed trees on 101. With rare exceptions, taking I-5 is the safer choice. In this case, there is less wind along I-5 and I don't believe there will be any snow this early in the year, so it's a no-brainer.

 

[goneskiian]

D'oh! Thanks for pointing that out! Yeah, coast is bad news. I was just thinking of other charging options. I've been stuck in NorCal before for Siskyou and the 101 closures. Not fun.

Good luck!

 

[aesculus]

Some weather reports report the possibility the snow level going down to 4000 feet.

The weather guys always say this, but this is after the front has past and there is like three drops of moisture left in the clouds.

 

[S4WRXTTCS]

Have they stopped the flooding issues in Centralia? I know a few years back (before the supercharger) that the Centralia area would get some bad flooding.

 

[ecarfan]

, I'm a little worried about how the wind storm set to roll over the west coast might affect any of the Superchargers we'll need to use on the way.

A "wind storm" will not adversely effect Supercharger operation unless the storm knocks down a power line that is supplying the Supercharger.

What I recommend you concern yourself with is how headwinds are going to increase your enegery usage. Keep the energy usage graph up on the center display. If the actual energy usage line on the graph starts to deviate significantly from the predicted energy usage line and the estimated battery power remaining when arriving at the next Supercharger starts to go below 10%, then SLOW DOWN a sufficient amount to keep the battery power remaining above 10%.

 

[ibdb]

A "wind storm" will not adversely effect Supercharger operation unless the storm knocks down a power line that is supplying the Supercharger.

What I recommend you concern yourself with is how headwinds are going to increase your enegery usage. Keep the energy usage graph up on the center display. If the actual energy usage line on the graph starts to deviate significantly from the predicted energy usage line and the estimated battery power remaining when arriving at the next Supercharger starts to go below 10%, then SLOW DOWN a sufficient amount to keep the battery power remaining above 10%.

Forecasts call for 20+ mph tailwind, with gusts to 50+. I don't think that will be the problem. ;-)

I am more concerned with winds knocking out power.

 

[ChadS]

I drove from Whistler to Seattle in the wind today. No issues. Even efficiency seemed OK, it can be significant but I guess I got enough tailwinds to make it average out.

Like rpo, I have taken many long trips, including in Winter, and never had a problem. That said, I do carry a CHAdeMO adapter and a mobile connector with lots of adapters, and have Plugs are bookmarked. And when possible I choose routes that have backups. I almost never need it these days, but good to be prepared.

 

[ibdb]

I signed up for Teslawinds (search for it on the forum) to keep an eye on things during this trip, knowing it would be windy, but the forecast has worsened since we left town.

I think there are enough options along the way that we'll always have alternatives, but I hope to be able to avoid very long stops on an already long drive. I would hope the Superchargers are on pretty solid lines, but mother nature may have other ideas.

 

[ecarfan]

I am more concerned with winds knocking out power.

Fair enough. But that is a low probability event. And if a location has no power, gas pumps don't work and ICE vehicles can be stranded as well.

In August 2015 I was in Montana at the Superior Supercharger, which ironically is located at a gas station. I arrived to find that the entire town (which is tiny) had lost power a about 20 minutes earlier (nothing to do with the weather, I never learned the cause of the outage). People were standing next to the gas pumps at the station looking anxious. They needed gas. I was standing next to a Supercharger pedestal wondering how long I was going to be stuck there. 5 minutes later the power returned and everyone was happy.

 

[melindav]

@ibdb - I suspect you are still a ways from S.Oregon, but FYI - I-5 is currently shut down at Grants Pass
Mark Dornfeld on Twitter

 

[S4WRXTTCS]

Fair enough. But that is a low probability event. And if a location has no power, gas pumps don't work and ICE vehicles can be stranded as well.

In August 2015 I was in Montana at the Superior Supercharger, which ironically is located at a gas station. I arrived to find that the entire town (which is tiny) had lost power a about 20 minutes earlier (nothing to do with the weather, I never learned the cause of the outage). People were standing next to the gas pumps at the station looking anxious. They needed gas. I was standing next to a Supercharger pedestal wondering how long I was going to be stuck there. 5 minutes later the power returned and everyone was happy.

Would be kinda ironic if one of the major customers of the Tesla Powerwall ended up being gas stations. Seems to me that a Tesla Powerwall would be extremely useful to a gas station in an area prone to power outages.

 

[ibdb]

@ibdb - I suspect you are still a ways from S.Oregon, but FYI - I-5 is currently shut down at Grants Pass
Mark Dornfeld on Twitter

We're actually charging at Grants Pass right now. Lots of rain, but winds have let up considerably. A 25mph tailwind was great for efficiency through California's central valley.

No issues for us, but we saw a wrecked FedEx truck off the side of the highway north bound I-5 and another on its side south bound in almost the same spot north of Mt. Shasta. It was definitely nasty there today.

 

[goneskiian]

Oregon and the coast most definitely got the worst of it this go round!