We had the opportunity this weekend to take our first TRUE road trip with Scarlett. Every April, we attend a conference in Seattle’s Belltown and have traditionally taken the train, in part, because it is cheaper.
But, since we had Scarlett and we have a road trip vacation coming up this fall to Yosemite, Tahoe and the Napa Valley, we just HAD to know how Supercharging and timing and all that would play out.
So we left and headed up I-5.
Our first stop was at the Supercharger in Vancouver, Washington right about lunch time. It’s right next to a Fred Meyer (many SC seem to be). With a really good Thai restaurant just a short walk away. No extra time spent and a cost for charging of $7.25.
Our next stop was the Centralia, Washington Supercharger. A shorter time needed to charge (we might have made it to Seattle, but didn’t want to risk it). A visit to the Starbucks (again, just a short walk away), a boosted battery range and $5.75 later, we are on our way.
Once in Seattle, we stay close to our conference venue, so we parked the car and walked while there. The hotel was going to charge the battery, but didn’t really have the facility to do so. Even with the 110v connector and an extension cord, we gained maybe 10 miles of range at no additional cost, so I’ll ignore that in our review. It did, however, make for a nice conversation about preparing for the future and the coming demand for destination chargers with the hotel manager. We stay at they hotel every time we’re in Belltown and LOVE it.
Here’s where I’ll add in the cost for valet parking. $40 per night for four nights; a total of $160. It won’t factor in to our per-mile costs, but it will when we compare to the trip via the train. I’ll get to that.
So coming back today, we left around 11:00am and hit the Centralia Supercharger on our way home. Superchargers seem to be either at Fred Meyers’ or Outlet Malls. This one was an outlet mall.
Sort of.
While there is a nice Starbucks, the restaurant fare within walking distance is pretty weak. A McDonalds, Arby’s, Taco Bell, Country Cousin (scary looking building) and a Denny’s. We picked Denny’s.
This was the first time we’d been to a Denny’s in a couple of decades. And it was OK. Not great by any means, but not horrible.
We were able to almost completely charge there and have more than enough range to get home. About 45 minutes and $11.75 later and we’re on our way again.
One more Starbucks stop in Kelso along the way home, a passing wave to the Supercharger at the Woodburn, Oregon Outlet Mall and we booked it home.
To be fair, I do have to add in the cost to charge at home to bring it back up to full charge. We had 55 miles of range left when we pulled into the garage. At our retail charging cost of $0.0235 per mile, that’s another $5.75.
Our total hard cost for “fuel” to go about 580 miles was right at $30. Compared to gas, we would have spent about $85. And we would have still had to pay for valet parking.
As a side note, the train would cost $175 for two round trip tickets plus about $25 for our Car2Go rides to and from the hotel. That totals about $200. Scarlett cost about $190. The Passat would have cost $245. And one other note: on long trips, the Passat seats get very uncomfortable.
In the past, we took the train in part to save a little money and not have to drive. Now, with just how fun Scarlett is to drive, the seat comfort which is excellent, and the ease of Supercharging, I think we’ll drive next year.