boredcleaner
Well-Known Member
- First Name
- Thomas
- Joined
- Oct 9, 2021
- Threads
- 8
- Messages
- 87
- Reaction score
- 184
- Location
- Moraga, CA
- Vehicles
- Bolt, Model 3, R1T VIN 34XX LE Glacier White
- Occupation
- Engineer
- Thread starter
- #1
We completed our first road trip yesterday. It was a short one by comparison to others, but our first in the truck.
Jumping to the end, if you aren't competing in a distance race where efficiency and charging speed are critical, then the R1T is a very capable and comfortable road tripper. (Don't buy an R1T if efficiency and charging speed are your top wants!)
We left home early in the morning unsure how the truck and the charging networks would respond. After a couple of stops around town to get cash and coffee, we set out. Our first charging stop was 210 miles away. We made it about 150 miles before we decided to refuel on coffee and use the facilities. Short stop, we hopped back in and kept going. We reached our destination noting that our mileage and the map data were pretty spot on. The fast chargers were located a little off the freeway (~3 miles) at a Safeway in Willits, CA. We found them easily enough. For the truck, the parking lot was a little tight to maneuver in. We plugged in to an EA 350kW station and watched the charge rate ramp to 211kW! We headed into Safeway for some ice (more on that in a bit). While inside, I checked the charging session and noticed the station was oscillating between 211kW and 37kW. Maybe this is ok? I interpreted it as thermal cycling on the charger and decided to switch units. After switching, we got a steady 197kW past 60%. We stopped charging (probably a mistake) and decided to keep going. We had 70 miles to our destination and had about 200 miles range.
On the road again, we briefly checked out our expected return charger at One Tree House just south of Garberville. We didn't charge, but this location is right on 101. We continued and things got more fun. The road to Petrolia is narrow, rough, hilly, and long stretches of gravel. The last 40 miles took 90 minutes. We got to Petrolia with 100 miles of range. The grades and climbing out to the coast cost us a little extra.
Ok, time for the ice story. If you are anti-meat, please skip this section. We went to Petrolia to get a whole goat from Lost Coast Ranch. The owners are relatives of a good friend of mine. They don't normally allow people to pick up meat, but they made an exception for us and the owner really likes the R1T. The ranch is not easy to locate and there is no cellular service anywhere near there. So, we got lost. Google told us to make a right turn into the Mattole River. We drove back and forth out to where we thought the ranch was and back to town where we got WiFi and tried to exchange messages. The back and forth drives cost us 25 miles (almost all gravel roads). We did finally connect. Whew. The goat was freshly slaughtered, hanging overnight but still whole. I planned poorly and only brought two coolers (one powered). They weren't going to cut it. What to do? Goat Trunk! We emptied the frunk and put the carcass in there. The cooler had chilled ice packs to -4ÂşF and we added the ice from Safeway. a 125 pound goat fits in the frunk! Whole (minus the head, which we put in the powered cooler with the internal organs and set to 34ÂşF)!
After a nice lunch and conversation, we headed back to the charging station...74 miles of range and 40 miles to go over hills and gravel roads. I was more than a little nervous. Every pass had me doing calculations in my head, panicking, and repeating on the next climb. After the last climb, we had 9 miles to the charging station and 18 miles of range. No problem. The charger fired right up and we went to explore. We stopped at 70% SOC knowing we'd need to stop again. And knowing we were going to need to stop to eat.
We stopped in Santa Rosa and used an EVGo charger which gave a reliable 110kW. For us, that was plenty. We went to get a bite to eat and walk around the mall. Nice location if you don't need peak charging speeds. The rest of the trip was uneventful.
One more thing...we did make a quick stop at a tourist trap. We went to Drive-Thru tree. The truck fits! Barely.
Photos...
Jumping to the end, if you aren't competing in a distance race where efficiency and charging speed are critical, then the R1T is a very capable and comfortable road tripper. (Don't buy an R1T if efficiency and charging speed are your top wants!)
We left home early in the morning unsure how the truck and the charging networks would respond. After a couple of stops around town to get cash and coffee, we set out. Our first charging stop was 210 miles away. We made it about 150 miles before we decided to refuel on coffee and use the facilities. Short stop, we hopped back in and kept going. We reached our destination noting that our mileage and the map data were pretty spot on. The fast chargers were located a little off the freeway (~3 miles) at a Safeway in Willits, CA. We found them easily enough. For the truck, the parking lot was a little tight to maneuver in. We plugged in to an EA 350kW station and watched the charge rate ramp to 211kW! We headed into Safeway for some ice (more on that in a bit). While inside, I checked the charging session and noticed the station was oscillating between 211kW and 37kW. Maybe this is ok? I interpreted it as thermal cycling on the charger and decided to switch units. After switching, we got a steady 197kW past 60%. We stopped charging (probably a mistake) and decided to keep going. We had 70 miles to our destination and had about 200 miles range.
On the road again, we briefly checked out our expected return charger at One Tree House just south of Garberville. We didn't charge, but this location is right on 101. We continued and things got more fun. The road to Petrolia is narrow, rough, hilly, and long stretches of gravel. The last 40 miles took 90 minutes. We got to Petrolia with 100 miles of range. The grades and climbing out to the coast cost us a little extra.
Ok, time for the ice story. If you are anti-meat, please skip this section. We went to Petrolia to get a whole goat from Lost Coast Ranch. The owners are relatives of a good friend of mine. They don't normally allow people to pick up meat, but they made an exception for us and the owner really likes the R1T. The ranch is not easy to locate and there is no cellular service anywhere near there. So, we got lost. Google told us to make a right turn into the Mattole River. We drove back and forth out to where we thought the ranch was and back to town where we got WiFi and tried to exchange messages. The back and forth drives cost us 25 miles (almost all gravel roads). We did finally connect. Whew. The goat was freshly slaughtered, hanging overnight but still whole. I planned poorly and only brought two coolers (one powered). They weren't going to cut it. What to do? Goat Trunk! We emptied the frunk and put the carcass in there. The cooler had chilled ice packs to -4ÂşF and we added the ice from Safeway. a 125 pound goat fits in the frunk! Whole (minus the head, which we put in the powered cooler with the internal organs and set to 34ÂşF)!
After a nice lunch and conversation, we headed back to the charging station...74 miles of range and 40 miles to go over hills and gravel roads. I was more than a little nervous. Every pass had me doing calculations in my head, panicking, and repeating on the next climb. After the last climb, we had 9 miles to the charging station and 18 miles of range. No problem. The charger fired right up and we went to explore. We stopped at 70% SOC knowing we'd need to stop again. And knowing we were going to need to stop to eat.
We stopped in Santa Rosa and used an EVGo charger which gave a reliable 110kW. For us, that was plenty. We went to get a bite to eat and walk around the mall. Nice location if you don't need peak charging speeds. The rest of the trip was uneventful.
One more thing...we did make a quick stop at a tourist trap. We went to Drive-Thru tree. The truck fits! Barely.
Photos...
Sponsored
