Category: Tesla

After completing our loop, we made it home. 1,864 miles, 438 kWh at an average 235 Wh/mi. Total cost for charging was $54.83.

$0.029/mile.

That’s the best we’ve ever done on a road trip thanks to all the free charging locations. Charging along the way was simple, easy and very accessible with the exception of the Steens trip.

Maybe that will change in the near future.

We bought a Modern Spare tire to take, just in case, since we were going to be in remote areas with no cell service and potholes but we didn’t need it.

Thanks to the huge trunk in the car (as well as the sub-trunk and the frunk), everything else still fit: two suitcases, two duffel bags, two backpacks, a small cooler, a boatload of charging cables and adapters (that we also didn’t need), extension cords (110v and 240v), a tire pump, binoculars, hiking poles, water bottles, coats and sweaters.

And nothing in the back seat.

To those who ask “yeah, but would you take it on a long road trip?” I have to say, “of course. We have in the past and we will in the future.”

On our next segment, we wanted to stay close to the Painted Hills. We had been there once before, but it was a pretty good jaunt just to get there. I had heard about the Fish House Inn and RV Park in Dayville. They also have rooms in addition to RV spots. I rented half of an old small home called the Salmon Room plus a power-only RV spot to charge the car.

I have to confess I had low expectations. But they were dispelled. The room was actually quite nice, it was clean, comfortable bed and quaint. We had a picnic table right outside where we ate and enjoyed ourselves.

A couple of plusses were the guy staying in the other half of the house that night, Greg, was part of the family that originally owned the property and the house we stayed in was his grandmother’s house back in the day. We had a great conversation and learned some history of the RV park and the town.

The second “plus” was meeting one of the new owners, David, and he was very hospitable. He is even going to check into putting in a Tesla Supercharger (yes, a Supercharger) on the site. His thoughts: it’s the future and if people stop to charge, they may come back to stay at the Inn. Forward-thinking.

The Painted Hills are always a treat. This was our second visit and they are just as beautiful as the first. We did the loop up through Fossil (a cute little town), Spray and Kimberly. A nice diversion and not that far.

While in this area, you must stop at Tiger Town Brewing Company in Mitchell. Mitchell is a small community of 138 people. Tiger Town has awesome sandwiches and beer. Plus, two blocks away is what I would call the most unique Tesla charger ever. It’s at Whole in the Wall, an aging, falling down vacant building. There are two Level 2 chargers, one has never worked as far as I know, but the other delivers about 50 miles of range while you’re eating lunch. You have to back up over a low curb into the weeds to plug in. But it’s also free.

After Baker City, we drove to Burns to home-base for a trip to the Steens. Charging in this part of Oregon south of Burns was a bit challenging. Lodging at the Steens was a bit too primitive for our taste. There are a couple of Level 2 charing options there, however, the FrenchGlen Hotel seemed the best option, but it’s currently closed. I spoke with a ranger there and they hoped to have a new operator for the hotel in a couple of months. They are also looking at installing a charger (hopefully). The previous operator would allow travelers to plug in to a dryer plug there. But such was not the case this trip.

I found a really cool prohibition-themed hotel in Burns, The Historic Central Hotel, and we stayed there. Very nice place. From there, we charged to 100% at the Supercharger, then trekked down to the Steens. Again, the weather was marginal, so we saw a lot of the lowland areas and wildlife refuge, but not so much of the Steens.

Also, with the lack of charging options along the way, we did not do the Round Barn or the auto tour loop. We just went down to Fields, had the famous greasy cheeseburger and milkshake at the Fields Station, then made our way back. Leaving with 100% charge, we arrived back in Burns with about 16% range left, which is about as close as I like to run it.

Some notes on Burns. 

There is a Level 2 charger at the Chamber of Commerce which is free and a couple of blocks from the hotel. It was in use. All afternoon. By the same person. There is also a Chademo and CCS charger at the CofC, but they were out of order. The Supercharger isn’t too far away and is inexpensive.

Burns is a wasteland as far as restaurants. Especially on a Sunday. The hotel is the sole oasis. We ended up eating dinner Sunday evening at the Apple Peddler across the road from the SC. Surprisingly not bad, but they were going to have to close early because they ran out of food. Yes. Really.

But do stay at the hotel. They are awesome. Plus, all the clocks in the hotel are permanently set to 4:20. Well-played.

We stopped for a night in Baker City to charge and stay at the Geiser Grand Hotel. Beautiful historic hotel. Close to a really good dinner spot (Barley Brown’s Brew Pub) and breakfast stop (Sweet Wife Baking). 

On our way to Burns, we stopped in Sumpter and toured the Sumpter Valley Dredge. This was an old, gold mining dredge that was all-electric.

With a 19 mile extension cord.

Really.

Our next leg of the trip took us to Joseph. We had never seen the Wallowas and wanted to give it a shot. Leaving fully charged from Hood River, we stopped at the Supercharger at Pendleton (listening to an audio book in the car while we charged, since we aren’t really casino people). That gave us plenty of range to get to Joseph.

In Joseph, I had booked the Bronze Antler Bed and Breakfast, partly because they are about the only ones in the area with EV charging. They have both a J-1772 and Tesla Level 2 charger. Free to guests. You can use them for a fee if you aren’t staying there. But, we like B&Bs, so we stayed.

Oh. My. Word. This has got to be the best B&B we have ever stayed at. Comfortable bed, great architectural character, walking distance to downtown Joseph and one of the best hosts we have ever encountered. Just stay there.

In Joseph, we had pizza at Embers Brew House and it was excellent. And, on recommendation of our B&B host, our lunch at The Dog Spot was awesome. It’s a funky little restaurant and dog supply store just a couple of blocks from the Inn. It’s great food!

As to the Wallowas, we saw the lower parts of them, but not the tops. The weather was a bit cloudy. So we’ll have to go back! Do take the tram to the top. If it’s clear, it would have been an amazing view. And, you never know, you might run into a friend of yours from Eugene who was also road-tripping through Oregon (we did). Small world!

We took the Hells Canyon Scenic Byway  (Hwy 39) to the overlook (mostly cloudy, still, so we’ll have to go back someday) and through Halfway.

On our way to Hood River from Redmond, we were looking for some places we had never been and Lake Billy Chinook is one. Not too far off the main road north, it’s a nice diversion.

The day use area also has two free Level 2 chargers, courtesy of Rivian. So we plugged in for our short walk at the lake and gained a few more miles. And some mosquito bites.

Once in Hood River, we stayed at a bed and breakfast and utilized the Tesla Supercharger down by the river. It’s supposed to be a fast charger (250 kW), but the best we ever got was about 300 mph of range. But it gave us the opportunity to walk along the river. Nice.

We used this as a home base for driving the scenic highway and seeing some of the waterfalls along the gorge. We started at Vista House and worked our way back. It was a beautiful, sunny day! We bought the timed pass for the road trip and the parking pass for Multnomah Falls. But I think because we were there on a Tuesday in early June, neither were needed.

For a good dinner in Hood River, check out The Mesquitery, if you like steak fare. We split the Beef Cheeks and added a side salad. It was amazing. For pizza, our B&B host recommended Double Mountain Brewery and specifically the Jersey Pie pizza. Also amazing. 

Our first two nights were in Redmond, Oregon. We wanted to be close to Smith Rock and our new-favorite restaurant in Redmond, Carnaval Mexican Grill. After an online search, I found SCP Redmond, two blocks from Carnaval and one block from free Level 2 charging (thank you, City of Redmond!).

SCP stands for Soul, Community, Planet. This small, boutique chain of hotels practices sustainability and giving back. Visit their website for more; it’s pretty cool. A medium-size hotel at 49 rooms, the service and rooms were over the top good. Highly recommend you stay there if overnighting in Redmond. They have a roof top bar, exercise room and very comfortable beds.

And Carnaval is probably the best Mexican restaurant we’ve ever eaten at. Great menu and great service. This trip marked our third time there and we will be going back on our return loop home. For breakfast and coffee, don’t miss Junction Roastery just a block from the hotel by the park. Fresh pastries and good coffee.

Smith Rock is a place we hike almost every year. It is probably one of our favorite hikes. We pack a lunch, hike along the river to Monkey Face, eat lunch, then hike back out. This year, the weather was perfect. Mid-70s and sunny. We had a great hike.

The Level 2 chargers are in the City parking lot behind the hotel. Redmond recently built a new City Hall with a new park and parking lot. There are two J-1772 chargers free to the public. And the park is really nice as well.

We bought a Red Tesla Long Range Model 3 in February 2018 (310 rated miles, we named her Scarlett because you have to name your Tesla).

It was our first electric vehicle, and, a year later, it became our ONLY vehicle.

We’ve encountered several people along the way asking the universal two questions: How do you like your car? (Love it. Wouldn’t trade it for anything. Will never go back to an ICE) and the second question: Yeah, you love it, but would you take it on a long road trip? (usually they’re thinking 700 miles or so).

The answer to that last question is a resounding “yes!” In fact, we’ve taken our Model 3 on numerous road trips ranging from 1,200 to over 3,000 miles.

No issues. No problems. Easy.

So I wanted to share this latest trip with those of you that may be on the fence about road tripping in an EV.

Here we go!

Passing from Eugene, our home, through Sisters on the first leg of our trip, we stopped at High Camp Taphouse. We always stop at High Camp. They have Himalayan and Nepalese food that is incredible. It now has joined Sisters Coffee as one of our “must stop” places when we travel this direction.

Also, High Camp is right across the street from the Sisters Library, which has free Level 2 charging (thank you, City of Sisters!). So we plug in, eat, walk down to coffee and get some extra miles added for free.

PLUS, we ran into one of my business partners whose family rode their bikes along the Old McKenzie Highway! Tomorrow: Redmond and Smith Rock.

February 10, 2018 we took delivery of our RWD LR Tesla Model 3. We were fortunate enough to have a friend who was a first day reservation holder from April 2016 and who didn’t want to wait two years. He instead bought a Model S and just recently upgraded to a new Model S.

So he gave us his spot in line. And after almost two years, we were able to order our car, which we named Scarlett. We found if you buy a Tesla, you have to name your car. And since we went red, Scarlett was a natural choice.

Our move to completely electric was probably as big a shift as our move to have just one car. When we moved downtown in 2015, we committed to use just one car. It actually was pretty easy. When we committed to go all-electric, the shift was equally easy. Things like range anxiety, etc. simply didn’t materialize. We’ve never “run out of electricity.” And that’s because of a) charging at home (just like your cell phone) and b) Tesla’s robust supercharging network for our road trips and travels.

As I’ve done in previous years, I look back on our experiences going 100% electric and abandoning gas stations completely (except for ice tea and bathroom breaks). So here’s my four year update.

We’ve driven just under 42,000 miles. Most has been around town, but we’ve taken several road trips of 1,000 to 3,000 miles. We’ve used just over 10,000 kWh of electricity and probably spent just a little over $1,000 on “fuel.” About $20/month on average. The equivalent of 138 miles per gallon. At $0.61 per gallon.

Our original 100% charge range was 310 miles. It has dropped to about 308-309. That’s about 0.6% battery degradation over four years. Our battery has an 8 year warranty. I think we’ll be fine.

We’ve spent $176 in regular maintenance (cabin air filter, tire rotation, wiper fluid and wiper blades). Total. And we’ve replaced the tires at a cost of just under $1,200.

Really, nothing to add. We still love driving her.

We recently returned from a 3,300 mile road trip through southern Utah and the five National Parks there. We also did a short side trip to Mesa Verde in southern Colorado.

And we did it all in an electric vehicle.

We’ve done road trips before, but this time, we seemed to have more people asking questions about our experience with our trip. Specifically, those questions centered around charging. So I thought a short recap might be in order.

Big picture: our trip would start in Eugene, head east through central and eastern Oregon, down through Idaho to Salt Lake City, east to Moab and Mesa Verde then back and south through Canyonlands, Bryce and Zion National Parks. We would then head north back home pretty much along the same route as we came in. In the middle of the trip, from Moab to Zion, we decided to take the scenic Route 12, which was a nice winding road, beautiful scenery and limited EV chargers.

About charging: it wasn’t a problem at all. It actually never has been. I’ve heard that the best cure for range anxiety is to actually own an EV. And that is really true. We’ve never been nervous that we might run out of charge on a road trip.

There are a couple of reasons for that. First, we drive a Tesla. And the Tesla Supercharging network is very robust. On this last trip, with just two exceptions, there were fast chargers about every 100 to 150 miles. And with a range of just over 300 miles, that makes it easy. We could stop at a Supercharger, have an iced tea, stretch our legs, get lunch, use the restroom and be on our way in 15 to 30 minutes on average.

Second, we plan our trips. Driving an EV cross-country does require some planning ahead of time. I use the PlugShare app, which lists virtually every charger location across the US. I also favor lodging that has overnight, or destination chargers. Many hotels and bed and breakfasts have complimentary chargers that we can plug in when we go to bed and be fully charged by morning.

Just like a cell phone.

And that’s what we did along that scenic Route 12. From the Green River Supercharger through Bryce and Zion then on to the Cedar City Supercharger, it’s a little over 350 miles. And that’s without any side trips. But we stayed at a very nice hotel in Escalante (Canyon Country Lodge) that had four Tesla chargers and one universal charger. Then we stayed at some of the cutest cabins in Tropic (Bryce Canyon Inn) that had two Tesla chargers. In Zion, our hotel had six universal EV chargers. At all of those locations, when we checked out to head on our way, we had 100% charge.

So overall, while it does take some additional planning, it isn’t difficult or nerve-wracking. Will we do a long road trip again? 

Absolutely!