Clean Fuel Rebate for Southern California Edison Follow Up Communications and Waiting for the Rebate…

A few weeks ago, I wrote about a new rebate available to Southern California Edison customers that drive a Plug-In vehicle.  I had thought that the program was limited to BEVs, but apparently it is also available to Plug-In Hybrids as well.

To give some update regarding the status of the three applications that we’ve done in our family I would like to provide the following status.

SCE Clean Fuel Email Confirm

Our Roadster application was accepted and confirmed as received on May 22, 2017 at 4:09 PM. Our Model S application was accepted and confirmed on May 22, 2017 at 4:26 PM.

However, the Model S rebate was approved on June 5, 2017 at 3:28 PM (as can be seen on the screenshot above.) Even though the Roadster rebate application was completed about 17 minutes earlier than the Model S application, the rebate was approved about 20 hours later on June 6, 2017 at 11:16 AM.

Additionally, my mother’s Leaf was approved on June 7 at 5:55 PM and her application was about a day after our two applications. Her application is numbered between 1100 and 1200.

So, hope that helps others figure out when they should get the email confirming their rebate request.

(Click here for the initial instructions for the rebate.)

New limited time clean fuel rebate for Southern California Edison customers

I was made aware of a program offered yesterday for new, existing owners of electric vehicles in Southern California Edison territories.  This is an interesting rebate in that participating vehicles need not be purchased new.  A particular vehicle and household can use the rebate once, but up to two more subsequent owners of that same EV are also eligible.  (If the owner that applied for the rebate re-sells the car, the buyer, can apply for another rebate in the SCE territory for up to two more subsequent owners.)  This applicability for used and currently owned vehicles is fundamentally different than the original California state program which was limited to brand new EVs only.  Furthermore, providing for future resale to other SCE utility customers, shows a commitment to the future for this program.

So, what exactly does this rebate offer.  In a nutshell, $450 a car (as of the writing of this article on May 23, 2017.)  Considering that the program is for SCE customers, it means that your address and utility matters for this. This whole process should take most people less than fifteen minutes to complete, assuming they have ready access to the documents on hand and that their car registration is scanned or photographed for the evidence requested by the Center for Sustainable Energy (who I assume are the same administrators for this program.)

Where to start, well, the SCE “special” website that is gathering all applications for this website is https://www.scecleanfuel.com/.  Understanding that you may have some additional questions, here are the FAQshttps://www.scecleanfuel.com/faqs.

So, what do you need to prepare for filing.

In my case, I had to create a login for scecleanfuel.com (this is different than your regular service account) and is a rather straight forward process that took longer to read all the disclosures than actually click and accept the terms.

Second, I had to find and obtain my service number (which is readily available on the PDF bill (or paper bill)) from SCE.  Without the bill, it’s available on sce.com if you have a registered account on THAT system.

Example:

Find your Service Number Here

Next, you fill out the online form on scecleanfuel.com.

Here are the screens to fill out, in reality, it’s one long one.

SCE 2017-EV-Rebate-01

SCE 2017-EV-Rebate-02

SCE 2017-EV-Rebate-03

SCE 2017-EV-Rebate-04

SCE 2017-EV-Rebate-05

In total after clicking submit, the next page (which I forgot to get a screenshot of) will require you to upload a scan of your registration. Luckily, I typically scan my registration for my records, so this is good.

Once you upload your registration, your application should show the status of the application and you wait.

Here is a screenshot of the page for our application for our two EVs.

SCE 2017-EV-Rebate-06

We filed yesterday afternoon (May 22, 2017) and our applications were already in the mid-hundreds. About 22 hours later, my mom (assisted by my sister) filed hers and her application was in the one thousand applications… I’m not sure how many applications will be accepted for this, but I always feel that these are almost always first come, first serve, so get your paperwork ready and apply.

If we sell an EV and there are still funds in the program, subsequent purchasers (up to two more times) of an EV that is placed in service at SCE territory may be eligible for this rebate again. The amounts may change in subsequent years, but it’s a nice little benefit for being a customer of Southern California Edison.

On the confirmation email for this program:

Once we receive a copy of your permanent vehicle registration we will review your application for completeness and accuracy. This process may take up to 30 calendar days. Delays beyond normal processing times may occur. If your application is approved, we typically issue rebate checks within 90 days of application approval date. All status updates are communicated through your email. As we cannot guarantee our emails will not be blocked by your email server, we highly recommend periodically visiting scecleanfuel.com/login to check the status of your application.

So, now, we wait.

Update on the wait… Applications Approved (a few weeks later)

National Drive Electric Week 2016 – Santa Monica, Long Beach, and a wrap-up

I usually attend two or three of the National Drive Electric Week (formerly National Plug In Day) events a year. I’ve always found them to be fun and key to confirming me as a member of the rEVolution.

This past year’s events in Diamond Bar and Los Angeles were published on this blog pretty much as it happened.  I wanted to cover the other two events that I attended in the same manner, but also wanted to share our Long Way Round Trip with readers two months from when the trip happened (and, intentionally, as a way to celebrate National Drive Electric Week.)  The trip won out and so, here we are with Santa Monica and Long Beach coverage weeks later.

Santa Monica, September 16, 2016

The Santa Monica NDEW2016 event was held on Friday and Saturday (September 16-17, 2016) in conjunction with Alt Car Expo.  I actually went to Santa Monica to attend Alt Car Expo, and was pleasantly surprised by the NDEW2016 event that was being held at the same time.

Drove to Santa Monica in the better half’s Roadster.  We’ve been having some challenges with its charging and I wanted to test the car and see if it faults with the chargers at the parking lot in Santa Monica.  Luckily (and yet frustratingly), for the test, it did not.

IMG_20160916_083559

Untitled

The City of Santa Monica is one of the most EV friendly cities and many of the municipal lots have free charging and the one at the civic center is no exception.  Additionally, these Level 2 chargers were also powered by a solar carport.

IMG_0476.JPG

At 30A, charging was going to take a while, but I’m here for the whole day, so I put my contact information on the EV Hangtag, checked into Plugshare and gave a status on when I expect to be done with charging, and went inside to the Alt Car Expo conference.

IMG_20160916_092155

The NDEW part of the conference was set up in a cordoned off section of the parking lot.

IMG_20160916_144529

The check in table for the Alt Car Expo was apparently where one also signs up for the Ride & Drive portion.  Something which I did not fill up at the time, and turns out, I should’ve.

IMG_20160916_144603

The Santa Monica set-up was a mix between EV owners and drivers demonstrating their EVs to the public (no Ride and Drive.)

IMG_20160916_144612

The Coda Sedan that was at the site was owned by the same gentleman who owns and operates several Codas and Coda gliders. In talking with the owner, it turns out that he was the same Coda that I spotted at the Los Angeles event as well.

IMG_20160916_144621

The Corbin Sparrow that was at Santa Monica is also the same exact one that was in the Los Angeles event.  I guess, I’m not the only EVangelist who enjoys talking EVs with the public.

IMG_20160916_144624

At this location, only the car manufacturers were the only ones providing Ride and Drive events at this location. The participating vehicles were more than just BEVs, there were several hydrogen fuel cell vehicles as well.

IMG_20160916_150451

The Honda Clarity,

IMG_20160916_150456

the Hyundai Tucson Fuel Cell,

IMG_20160916_150502

and the Toyota Mirai was there too.

IMG_20160916_150613

I was surprised to spot a Diesel Volkswagen at the site, it was part of the Zipcar car-sharing program and I suppose that Alt Car considers this to be an acceptable solution.  I’m not too keen on any more diesel vehicles.

IMG_20160916_150513

Personally, I think the service from Waivecar.com is a better candidate as it provides car sharing AND an EV (Chevy Spark EVs, to be precise) for no cost for the first two hours is quite an amazing deal.

IMG_20160916_150528

There were other exhibitors here as well.

IMG_20160916_150507

It looks like the same Chevy Bolt EV that was in Portland for EV Roadmap 9 was in Santa Monica as well.

IMG_20160916_150642

The only plug-in that was at the site that I have yet to drive was the Audi A3 E-Tron.  Unfortunately, I did not sign up for the Ride and Drive portion of the event in front, and I wasn’t that thrilled to drive a plug-in hybrid anyway, so I skipped it.  I spent the time at the event talking to and catching up with EV friends and decided to pass on the evening reception for the conference.

Leaving Santa Monica during rush hour is often an exercise in futility.  I decided to take some surface streets South through Venice.  Had an interesting sighting on my drive.  I spotted some manufacturer cars being driven around.   Unfortunately they were not EVs, but still a thrill to spot these camouflaged vehicles on the road.  I’m guessing its a new BMW 7 series, but could be a 5 series, I suppose.

IMG_0485.JPG

IMG_0481.JPG

IMG_0482.JPG

Hard to see, but click and zoom in on the rearview mirror. Can’t mistake the “kidney beans” on the front grill.

Untitled

I know that BMW is working on further electrification, but it would have been cool to spot a new EV on the road.

Long Beach, September 17, 2016

The following day, Saturday, September 17, I attended the NDEW gathering in Long Beach, CA.  This event was the closest to the traditional NDEW events that I have attended in the past. This one had less manufacturer involvement in it and more public-facing event. It was more traditional in that we were welcomed by some politicians and spent the time just “hanging out” and talking to folks.

NDEW2016 - MF - 1

There were a lot of Teslas at this event because the Tesla Owners Club of Orange County had identified this particular NDEW for its annual NDEW event.

IMG_3329

IMG_3330

IMG_3332

All manners of Teslas were represented.

IMG_3333

IMG_3334

The red roadster was for sale and is VIN #5.

Of course the Falcon Wing Doors have to go up with the Model X in the crowd.

IMG_3347

It is the latest Tesla around.

and we had three Roadsters at this event.

IMG_3348

There was representation from members of the EV community as well.

From other vehicles like the Zero Motorcycle and Smart ED.

IMG_20160917_105626

IMG_3350

To several Leafs and a Porsche 912 conversion that gets around 150 miles.

IMG_20160917_105738

IMG_3354

NDEW2016 - MF - 2

NDEW2016 - MF - 3

NDEW2016 - MF - 4

There was a Fiat 500e and a Coda (same owner as was in Santa Monica the previous day and Los Angeles the previous week.)

IMG_3355

Even the Honda Fit EV made an appearance.  Three times, to be exact.

IMG_20160917_105723

I don’t believe many of the Tesla owners allowed the public to take a drive in their vehicle.  The owner for the Red Roadster #5 did take a few interested parties out in that car, then again she was also taking the opportunity to see if anyone wanted to buy her car.

The other manufacturer’s car was different.  I saw a few take rides in the converted Porsche and I believe one of the Leafs took a drive around.

IMG_3336

IMG_3337

Conclusion

Around Southern California, National Drive Electric Week is celebrated in many places and some get a lot of car manufacturer support, whereas others are sparsely attended by the manufacturers. It’s great to see all the participation in these events and I hope that more and more and convinced to go electric as a result of attending these EVents.  As for letting folks drive our EVs, I was a lot more forgiving when I drove the Active E for this event, but when we moved to the Tesla, not so much.  Besides, in California, Tesla does a great job providing folks with a nice long drive at their retail locations. Some of the events seem well attended, whereas others are more sparse. The one in Diamond Bar was much better this year, but the Los Angeles one seemed to have less people. Either way, I hope that we’ve convinced more people to go electric.

I often look forward to September because of this week and am looking forward to when it becomes every day that we celebrate Drive Electric Days.

National Drive Electric Week 2016 – Los Angeles

One of my favorite National Drive Electric Week events last year was the one in Los Angeles.  Mainly because almost all the EVs and PHEVs available on the market were represented by the OEMs for test drives at that event.

I was able to test drive the new, larger battery Nissan Leaf last year and we saw one of the early Bolt EVs at the same event.

Untitled

So… I had high expectations for 2016.

The location for this event this year was at the same place as the previous year, so it was easy to find. (Interestingly enough, all three of the locations that I intend to visit this year are all being held in the same, exact location as 2015. This is also true of the Long Beach event that our Tesla Owners Club of Orange County (formerly OC Tesla Club) will be attending as a club on September 17, 2016.

The particular lawn on Expo Park that the event is located was just behind the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.

IMG_3303

We arrived just before 11:00 AM, about two hours after the event started.  As opposed to the Diamond Bar event where EV and PHEV drivers park separately from ICE vehicles, the LA event has OEMs provide the Ride and Drive event, so all public attendees have to park in the parking lots nearby.

IMG_20160911_105756

IMG_20160911_105829

IMG_20160911_105834

We headed to the sign-in tent and got some giveaways from the organizers.

IMG_20160911_105926

This year’s event did not seem to have as many people as the previous year’s event.

IMG_3306

It was well attended by the car manufacturers.

IMG_3308

The Bolt EV was there, alas, Chevy was only letting folks drive the new Volt.

IMG_3309

One of the cool things that is at this carnival-like atmosphere were the creative games that some of the exhibitors allowed the public to play with, and I had a good time playing Chevy’s Plinko game. I ended up winning some “flip-flops” by pairing the token with its corresponding Chevy color.

IMG_3310

IMG_3311

IMG_3312

Around the driveway where the ride and drive events were being held, was an interesting solar powered Level 2 charger.  I didn’t see anyone use these chargers, but it was cool to spot it.  It’s not permanently installed, so I’m sure it’s meant to be portable.

IMG_20160911_111129

Looks like LAPD still kept the Tesla Motors Model S and BMW i3, but the i8 from last year was nowhere to be found.

We caught the vehicles with their lights flashing…

IMG_3313

VID_20160911_112431

…about the only time I like to see the flashing lights.

I signed up to ride the Volve PHEV, the Volvo XC90 T8 as it was the ONLY one of the plug in cars that was available to test drive that I have not driven yet.  I went to the Volvo tent to fill out all the information to get a test drive.  The wait was a few minutes, but as my turn was up, the panel regarding EV Storytelling with Chris Paine, Dean Devlin, and Chelsea Sexton was about to start.  So, I paused my drive to go and listen to the panel.

I figured to stream the event, so I set it up my iPad for a Periscope session. (I also uploaded the same content on Youtube for those that prefer that.)

IMG_20160911_113309

IMG_3321

IMG_3322

Volvo XC90 T8

So, how was the drive for the Volvo XC90 T8? Well…

IMG_20160911_120920

It has a nice interior.

IMG_20160911_120931

IMG_20160911_120936

IMG_20160911_120939

and the seats were comfy…

IMG_20160911_120943

IMG_20160911_120958

However, I never did get to experience it in EV mode. For the very short amount of time that I did drive it, the representative and the car wouldn’t let me experience it without the ICE engaged. So, it was quite disappointing.

I think Volvo has a lot to learn of why folks do drive events at National Drive Electric Week.

As a reward for doing a test drive, we got vouchers to get food from the food trucks at the event. We used ours for Border Grill and Coolhaus.

IMG_3326

IMG_3327

There were other choices there as well.

IMG_3328

One of the interesting exhibitors at the event was Greencommuter.org and one of their Tesla Model X.

IMG_20160911_125723

IMG_20160911_125730

Had a good few minutes to talk to their representatives about their business and their plans to assist area commuters to swap their vanpools for clean EVs (such as the Model X.)

Additionally, the guys from Tesla Club LA had a tent at the event and had a few of their cars there.

IMG_20160911_130503

IMG_20160911_130512

(one of our OC members’, Jamie had his Black Roadster there (as well as at Diamond Bar, the previous day.)

IMG_20160911_131028

IMG_20160911_131033

IMG_20160911_131041

IMG_2523.JPG

One of the cool things about California National Drive Electric Week is to play “rare” EV spotting.

So, I did pretty good today. Saw a few RAV4EV (both first and second generation)

IMG_20160911_123012

IMG_20160911_124332

There was a Corbin Sparrow, front and center.

IMG_3318

However, even more rare than the RAV4EV, possibly as rare as a Corbin Sparrow, is spotting a Coda Sedan…

…and we spotted one on the way back to our car.

IMG_20160911_132127

IMG_20160911_132146

That’s one rare EV.

Either way, we added today’s photos on the same Flickr album as yesterday’s Diamond Bar event.  Starts about 23 photos in…

National Drive Electric Week 2016

As I mentioned yesterday, since one of the many questions that the public often ask at these events is “how far can you go with your EV.” Last year we went from Southern California to Maine, this summer, we went to the Tesla Gigafactory Party, The Long Way Round via Vancouver, BC.

National Drive Electric Week 2016 – Diamond Bar

For the past few years, I’ve always attended several of the National Drive Electric Week events throughout Southern California.  This year, the first EVent that we visited was in Diamond Bar at the Southern California Air Quality Management District.

Drive Electric Week is happening Internationally now and have started today, September 10, 2016 and continues on until next week.  Our club, Tesla Owners Club of Orange County (formerly OC Tesla Club), will be attending the event in Long Beach on September 17, 2016.  However, we, as a family, try to hit several throughout the week.

You can look up where the nearest one is to you on the driveelectricweek.org site.  With 241 sites worldwide, here’s to hoping that the event grows even more.

We took some great pictures of the event and set up a Flickr album.

National Drive Electric Week 2016

I chose our parking spot today to complete the Red, White, and Blue Classic Tesla Motors Model S parked on the edge of the event.

IMG_0466

We’re on the left, have to read it right to left to get Red, White, and Blue.

Previous sessions at Diamond Bar had a lot more EV conversions. This year, I spotted only one EV conversion (parked by the Chevy Volt.)

IMG_3287

The owner of the BMW i3 put his car in what he called “presentation mode.”

IMG_3290

Some crazy Smart ED owner put a different kind of Range Extender (wind up version…)

IMG_3293

IMG_3294

IMG_3295

Lots of Fiat 500es.

IMG_3296

IMG_3297

One of the OC Tesla Club member’s Model X participated at this EVent.

IMG_3299

We had hoped to bring my wife’s Roadster to the event, but we found a puddle of coolant in the garage and didn’t want to risk it. Glad to see a couple of Roadsters here.

IMG_3302

More of the pictures from this event are on the Flickr album.

Since one of the many questions that the public often ask at these events is “how far can you go with your EV.” Last year we went from Southern California to Maine, this summer, we went to the Tesla Gigafactory Party, The Long Way Round via Vancouver, BC.

Celebrating Four Mostly Electric Years of the rEVolution.

On February 23, 2012, we joined the rEVolution with the addition of our BMW ActiveE.

This was one of the first pictures we took of our ActiveE when we picked up the car at Long Beach BMW. Shows a very happy, young rEVolutionary:

IMG_2626

Brought it home and plugged it in… We didn’t even have our Level 2 installed at the time and had to charge a BEV with an 80-100 mile range on 120V.

IMG_1019

IMG_1020

Granted, my commute at the time was 70 miles roundtrip if I took the most direct route, and the “fastest” route used the carpool/HOV lanes and that was 100 miles roundtrip.

BMW’s friendly policies for ActiveE Electronauts meant that I was able to charge at Pacific BMW (a 10 minute walk from my office) J1772 station and ensure that I recovered my miles that first week.

Side by side ActiveE 1

I wrote about my first year of electric driving on the blog three years ago.

Once you go electric, it’s hard to look back. At the time that we picked up the Active E, we had a few ICE vehicles in the garage. The Active E was outnumbered by ICE vehicles and we figured to keep the ICE for our hybrid garage.

After taking delivery of the Active E, we we sold our Honda Civic Hybrid. There was no real need to keep it since we originally purchased the Honda as a commuter vehicle and the Yellow HOV stickers were expired by the time we picked up the Active E.

The two year lease of the Active E meant that there was pressure to see what “the next car” will be and we decided to place a deposit for the Model S. However, at the time, the plan was for my wife to get the S and for me to look for a replacement for the Active E.

We received our “configure your Model S” message in the beginning of 2013. However, we still had another year on the 2 year lease on the ActiveE and we didn’t think we would run with 2 EVs concurrently, so I took the time to test out other cars for me to use when we decide to become a 2 EV family, after all, the Model S was going to be her car.  Since I wanted to ensure to get the Federal Tax Credit in 2013, we delayed the delivery of the vehicle to the end of the year.  The ideal delivery would be December 31, 2013, however, understanding the Tesla process and to ensure that I get the vehicle with some “buffer” we settled to take delivery in November 2013.

Long time readers of the blog and participants of the now defunct Active E forums will remember the many test drives (a few sample test drives: CodaFiat 500e,  Smart ED to name a few) and discussions over what my next car will be. I was really hoping to love the i3 and my wife was “under protest” if I went with the i3. At the end of the day, we skipped the i3, a decision that I discussed on a previous posting.

To make November 2013 delivery, we figured that we needed to start configuring our Model S on August 2013.  It was at this time that we noticed a bunch of Tesla Roadsters being sold as Certified Pre-Owned (CPO) and my wife fell in love with her Roadster.  So, it was at this point that we decided to pick a Roadster up and the Model S became my car.

Here is the Roadster on our pick-up day:

IMG_4992

And here I am with a rare (driving my wife’s baby) picture:

IMG_4995

Picking up the Roadster was awesome, but not without problems.

And a few months later, we did our first roadtrip with our Model S when we picked it up at the factory. And live-blogged the weekend a few hours before and a few days after. I summarized the whole weekend.

Here is our Model S on pickup day:

IMG_5286

After the early start, factory tour and pickup of the Model S, our first recharge for the car…

The driver and passenger needs to refuel.

…was for the driver. Needed Starbucks.

Though we started the year thinking that we wouldn’t need to drive 2 EVs, we ended up with 3 EVs from November 2013 until the return of the Active E to BMW on February 2014. The second year anniversary was a bittersweet one.

The following year of EV ownership strengthened our positive impression of Tesla Motors. The BMWi debacle in the launch of the i3 in the United States made us adjust back to the original plan of 2 EVs for daily use. Originally we wanted to get a third EV so that we can minimize the miles in the Roadster, but my better half was having too much fun driving her Roadster and didn’t feel like swapping it out on daily drives. So, we saved some money and skipped the third EV.

I didn’t even write a 3rd EV Anniversary post.

So, from February of last year to now, we’ve settled into a life with our two EV, one ICE hybrid garage.

This past year, we’re really just living the rEVolution on a day to day basis. We took our Model S on a Roadtrip Coast-to-Coast and back, and it was a blast. With over three years of EV driving, we don’t suffer from range anxiety, however the trip solidified our “can do” attitude as far as driving our EV for distances and this past year we took more roadtrips than we’ve done the previous years.

I would have loved to say that we hit 150,000 miles of all electric driving, but I will just have to settle on 148,404 electric miles vs 14,194 ICE with a little under 3 hours from the time we brought our Active E home 4 years ago (9pm Pacific vs. 9pm Eastern (6pm Pacific right now)). [EDITED 2016-March-5, Looks like I had an error in my tracking spreadsheet…  We’re closer to 125,000 EV miles…  I had transposed numbers in Month 16 of our tracking spreadsheet that overstated total miles by around 20,000 miles for totals.  I was preparing for the Year 3 of our EV vs. ICE posting, and found the error…]

So, what’s in store for our EV future?

To begin with, we’re about 2 weeks from the third anniversary of my ICE vs EV statistics that I’ve been tracking and we broke 90% EV vs 10% ICE use after almost three years. But that’s another post.

My Thanksgiving 2015 post gives a good hint of what I’ve been up to. Additionally, I am happy to report that my client, EV Connect, Inc., was selected for three of the nine Electric Charging Highway Corridors for the California program. This project, when completed will allow all EVs equipped with CHAdeMO and/or CCS DC Fast chargers to complete the travel from the Mexican border to the Oregon border with Level 3 charging stations.

Additionally, the Model 3 reservation process will be open on March 31st for a $1,000 deposit. We’re trying to see if we’ll take advantage of this or not.

Lastly, we’re thinking of expanding our long EV roadtrip plans. We are tempted to do another coast-to-coast trip using one of the newer routes. Perhaps we’ll finally join the Teslaroadtrip folks on one of their cool get togethers. This year, they’re planning on something at Colonial Williamsburg, and we’ve never been. We’ll have to see if things work out for this trip.

Here’s to hoping that the Model 3 and its competing EVs become massive successes and we transition from ICE to EV at a faster rate.

In the meantime, time flies when you’re having fun.

Here, There, and EVerywhere – Day 23

A quick note of thanks to the Beatles for inspiring the title for this series of posts. This is the twenty-third in a series of posts written about our trip that will be published four weeks to the day of the trip.

Missed Day 22, click here.

Day 23 – Drive on Sunday, May 24, 2015

Yesterday’s drive was fun and scary at the same time. We decided to head South on I-15 when we reach it rather than North and through a longer way back to Southern California. The question at the start of the day is where do we stop tonight?

There are many National Parks to visit in Utah and we got to the one that was top of my list. Mainly because I like to drive through this process and not necessarily get out of the car, I’m kind of funny that way. The only other place I wanted to drive through in Utah was Monument Valley. Unfortunately, we drove a different direction from that location when we left Moab and proceeded to stay the night in Richfield, a location several hundred miles away. It seems like the superchargers between Blanding, UT and Flagstaff, AZ would be a really hard stretch (251 miles per Google) and though the car on a max charge can do 255 miles, I didn’t want to backtrack to Moab and beyond. Additionally, I’m not sure as to the state of the three mobile providers that we have for that 251 Mile stretch (in case we needed to call for help.) We decided to abandon that area of the country for this trip.

We had a “fuzzy plan” of perhaps staying in Vegas for the night and just doing the “usual” Vegas things. Oh wait, Vegas is like “Fight Club,” after all, “What Happens in Vegas, Stays in Vegas.”

Holiday Inn Express Richfield

Either way, after the fiasco of a stay that was the Omni Hotel Interlocken, we were glad to have had the comfort and consistency of the Holiday Inn Express. Though the hotel is considered a “limited service” class of hotel, their hospitality was top notch.

Additionally being a hosting site for the supercharger is a huge plus.

Unlike the “gentleman” we met at the Moab Best Western, we practiced “Best Practices” of parking our vehicle away from the supercharger stall when we’re not charging. Notice our Blue Model S, just by the entrance and the tree on the right, as it sat there waiting for us to move it to start the morning’s charge.

IMG_20150524_090437

Richfield Supercharger

Colder weather in the UT desert. Notice the dashed yellow lines for power and regenerative braking. This means that supercharging will also be slower until the pack warms up.

IMG_20150524_090741

We used 1.353 kWh to move the car to the supercharger stall, but we’ll get that back in a blink when we charge it.

IMG_20150524_090911

The car firmly parked in the stall with our filled out Pluginamerica EV Card on the dash while I head back to the room to get ready for the drive ahead.  The speed limits in UT are 80 MPH and we have to travel about 160 miles to St. George as we figured to skip Beaver on this drive, so we range charged to full.

IMG_20150524_091032

Must be early or folks are sleeping in. Relative to other hotels that we’ve stayed at on this trip, there are still a lot of people at the hotel when we got up.

IMG_20150524_091036

No other cars were with us at the supercharger though.

IMG_20150524_091039

So, I got back up to the room and here’s a picture of the car supercharging by itself.

IMG_20150524_112905

IMG_20150524_113210

Before heading out, we decided to pay closer attention to the condition of our car after yesterday’s drive.

IMG_20150524_113413

You can see the effect of the wind on how the dirt is moved around.

IMG_20150524_113421

IMG_20150524_113426

We reached out to Mark Larsen, a fellow EV and Solar rEVolutionary to see if he can meet us today and were in luck.  Looks like our schedules match up and we can meet up. We were not able to meet up on the way East over three weeks ago.

We still get 255 miles on a range charge and we timed it so that we roll out when full. Though the Beaver, UT Supercharger is between Richfield and St. George, we opted to skip it as we have enough charge to get to Richfield, even with the insane Utah speed limits.

IMG_20150524_113617

IMG_9187

IMG_9188

IMG_9190

It’s interesting to continue to see snow in May.

IMG_9192

IMG_9195

The clouds today are not as threatening as yesterday’s clouds, but it still manages to block quite a bit of sunlight.  Rain is threatened today, but compared to what we had in the Rockies, we’re ready for anything.

IMG_20150524_121159

As I mentioned earlier we definitely know that we’re in Utah, the speed limit is 80 MPH. (P85, P85+, P85D speedsters, the speed limits alone might be reason enough for you to visit Utah on a Tesla/supercharger powered roadtrip.)

IMG_9196

My wife managed to capture a picture of the Beaver Supercharger as I was zooming by at 80 MPH. That’s pretty impressive.  We didn’t slow down and this was using the Optical Zoom on our digital camera as I was speeding by Beaver, UT.

Besides, we’ve already stopped off at all the superchargers on this route and made our entries in the beta of the (now released) Teslarati App for iOS.

IMG_9197

It didn’t look like anyone was supercharging there right now.  I wondered whether we should’ve stopped for a wash at the car wash that is supercharger adjacent in Beaver.

A nice sign for Beaver, UT.

IMG_9198

It’s Sunday on a holiday weekend, so I don’t expect there to be any construction at these construction zones.

IMG_9199

We spotted some smoke from the distance. I wonder whether these fires were “controlled” and what it was that they were burning if it was.

IMG_9200

IMG_9202

We spotted a bunch of cows on the side of the freeway.  The cattle on the side of the Utah road doesn’t seem to be as “free range” as the ones in the other states that we’ve passed through.  I often think of the Far Side comics as I pass by cows on the side of the freeway.  I wonder what they’re thinking.

IMG_9203

What are they burning?  We spotted a second set of smoke and fires.

IMG_9204

IMG_9205

IMG_9208

As we were getting closer to St. George, in Cedar City, UT, we spotted a strange sight on the side of the Freeway.

A lighthouse on the side of I-15.  Apparently, this is not the ONLY lighthouse in Utah off the side of I-15.  Because I was searching for the answer when I was researching this lighthouse and the first hit on the search was one North of Salt Lake City.  Here is what others have written about it. We just continued on, we had a meet-up in St. George to make.

IMG_9217

Normally if one were to see 80 MPH on the speedometer, one could surmise that we were speeding.  Not so in Utah, besides we just hit 42,500 miles on the odometer there.  Not only were we going 80 MPH, our 30 mile average consumption was less than 200 Wh/mi.  That’s fast AND efficient.

IMG_20150524_133619

IMG_9227

Each state in the Union has a distinctive feel to its place.  We noticed that there seems to be a change with every state crossing that we’ve done.  And Southern Utah and these deep red hues speak of the St. George area for us.

IMG_9229

IMG_9228

Just North of St. George is a BIG Walmart distribution center when we originally passed it on Day 1 of our drive, I was impressed by it, but forgot to take a photograph.  I suppose when you operate one of the world’s largest retail establishment, you need really large distribution centers and I was impressed with the size of this location.  Traversing the freeway at 80 MPH we were still able to capture the center in three shots.

IMG_20150524_134523

IMG_20150524_134524

When we made the exit toward, St. George’s, we spot a really large D on the side of the hill.  We passed a “P”, a “C”, and some other letters.  Considering all the humor regarding the D launch event, figured to capture another D on our blog.

IMG_9232

We arrived in St. George making the long trek across town to get to the oasis that is Starbucks and the Tesla Supercharger.  In contrast with the various other supercharger locations on this trip, the St. George location seems to be a ways off from the highway.  I suppose that Tesla had to find a willing participant to host the site and we’re glad that Starbucks and their landlord was good enough to oblige.

St. George Supercharger

Traveling at 80 MPH for most of the drive was fun, but I was more impressed with the 290 Wh/mi figure that we were able to sustain.  Even with some light rain on the drive.

IMG_20150524_140034

IMG_20150524_140037

Since the area around the Las Vegas Supercharger felt unsafe, we decided to get as much a charge as possible.  Besides, we were going to be meeting Mark Larsen in real life. So, we had pleasant EV company to discuss all things EV and Solar with.  Mark has done a great job creating and maintaining a graphic representation of EV sales through the years.

IMG_20150524_140138

Aside from Twitter, Mark also writes on his own website.  Before the establishment of the Tesla Superchargers in St. George, Mark was one of the first people to share his plug on Plugshare to provide folks with a charge when they visit Utah.

IMG_20150524_142814

Both Mark and I are big fans of the Transport Evolved, so it was nice for a couple of rEVolutionaries to meet up at the St. George Supercharger (my wife is taking the picture of the two of us.)

IMG_20150524_142859

Another Model S from Riverside, CA pulled in during our meetup to get a charge and head back South. They were friendly enough, but we didn’t spend much time talking to them. They were up in the area playing golf and out for the holiday weekend.

After getting our charge and spending time with a fellow rEVolutionary, we headed off to Vegas.  At this point, we were planning on playing it by ear.  Hotel rates in Vegas were a little higher because of the holiday, but not too bad. Additionally, we wanted to see how we felt when we got there since we knew that traffic between Vegas and Southern California on Monday would probably be worse than the traffic today or on Tuesday.

IMG_20150524_150308

IMG_20150524_151939

IMG_20150524_151946

IMG_9235

IMG_9237

The drive between Utah and Arizona is through a canyon pass that was under construction.  No active work being done on a Sunday during a holiday weekend, but the number of lanes was restricted.

IMG_9238

IMG_9239

IMG_20150524_153716

IMG_20150524_153816

IMG_20150524_153927

We missed taking a photo of the Arizona State line, but we’re not missing the crossing into Nevada.

IMG_0702

What is that mirage (not the Mirage, just a mirage) that we see?

IMG_20150524_154909

IMG_20150524_155545

It was strange to see Vegas from this view.  It’s not the angle we’re used to seeing on the drive from California.  We usually see the Strip first, but that’s because we approach it from the South.  We’re coming in from the North and we see Downtown Las Vegas first.

IMG_20150524_155551

Under the auspices of “Whatever Happens in Vegas, Stays in Vegas.”  I can neither confirm nor deny any “gaming” activities that occurred between seeing Downtown Las Vegas and stopping off at the Las Vegas Supercharger.  But, between you and I, I was doing pretty well at the table that I sat in… If you know what I mean. 😉  However, not well enough to stay in Vegas for another couple of days.  We decided to head home.  We’ve been out for 23 days at this point and the allure of the “short” drive home from Vegas was overwhelming.

Las Vegas Supercharger

We could have made the drive to Primm Supercharger from where we were (it’s approximately 40 miles) but we decided to get an insurance charge.  After all, it was in the desert on our first day that we decided to charge often and charge lots.

We arrived at a near full house at the Las Vegas Supercharger.  We didn’t take a photograph of the charger stalls at this time because folks were all in their cars. We did notice that the car from Riverside that was charging beside us when we arrived was the same one that we met in St. George earlier in the day.  They lapped us, i.e. we left them charging when we left St. George.  We greeted them when they got out of their car to unplug from the supercharger as they prepared to leave.  Because of the heat many stay in their cars in Vegas and run their air conditioning while supercharging.

We had the detour, which I can neither confirm, nor deny, and now we met up with them again at the Las Vegas Supercharger.

IMG_20150524_170530

IMG_20150524_170532

Satisfied with our insurance charge, we skipped the famous Las Vegas Strip and headed to Primm.

However, my wife was able to take photographs of some of The Strip properties as we passed it from the freeway, The Mirage.

IMG_20150524_174121

We skipped New York, New York.

IMG_0710

We skipped The Excalibur.

IMG_0712

And we skipped Luxor.  Though it’s pretty cool to have a pyramid in the shot.  I sent this photograph to my East Coast cousins telling them that I must’ve made a wrong turn somewhere (implying Egypt, of course.)

IMG_0715

Primm Supercharger

And a short drive of about 40 miles later, we find ourselves at the border of Nevada and California at the Primm Superchargers.

IMG_20150524_181543

IMG_20150524_181546

IMG_0963

IMG_20150524_185704

There’s plenty to do at Primm while supercharging.  Aside from “gaming” there is a big outlet mall attached to the Primm Valley Resort and Casino.  We opted to do the activity which shall remain nameless.  Let me just say that we ended the “gaming” part of the trip with $0.77 in profit.  (Penny slot machines really do pay out in pennies.  Though you don’t get the coins anymore, it’s printed out on a claim ticket that you have to redeem at the casino cashier cage.)

It’s been a while, but my wife graciously offered to drive the leg back into California.  So, I accepted.  I’ve seen some of her photographs (as you have too as she’s been the main photographer for this blog) from the trip and I needed to ensure that I didn’t embarrass her.  So, I made sure to capture the state line photograph.  (Oh the pressure…)

I did a two device technique for the crossing back to California shot and was glad with both of them.

IMG_20150524_190114

IMG_9248

Up next is that huge solar farm at the border of California and Nevada that’s been in operation for a year or so.

IMG_20150524_190141

IMG_9254

Good for us California, but not good enough! Let’s get more! (I’m a Californian, I can complain about the progress.)

It’s my turn for the sunset pictures.  There are several more on Flickr, but these are the ones that I thought to share on the blog.

IMG_20150524_192957

IMG_20150524_193008

As we expected, the Sunday of a three day weekend usually shifts the traffic to Monday and the traffic this evening was quite moderate for this trip.

IMG_20150524_193020

IMG_20150524_193233

With all the newfound time that I found in being in the passenger seat, I start to do some photographic compositions of “The Moon and I”

IMG_20150524_193242

or, just the moon.

IMG_20150524_193249

Some more sunsets.  My theory on photography is akin to the theory of the thousand monkeys typing the works of Shakespeare.  A good composition “could happen” in volume.  That’s one of the great things about the exponentially cheaper cost of digital photography versus the last time I took a cross country trip and the photographs had to be shot on film (and the cost to develop, etc.)

IMG_20150524_193302

Back then film was expensive.  Additionally, I was barely an adult, and still needing assistance from my mom.  Her rule with photographs was that there better be someone we “know” in the shot.  So, I wasn’t much for “nature” photography or anything like that.  So, boy am I glad that digital photography is now the norm.

IMG_20150524_193404

I can do this picture in two shots that I am calling “Passing a Truck 1” and

IMG_20150524_193709

“Passing a Truck 2”.  Yes, that’s the same truck.  I had a LOT of time to snap away, I’m not driving this leg, remember.

IMG_20150524_193719

IMG_20150524_201036

I was supposed to rest and nap, but I couldn’t.  I was having too much fun taking pictures.  And getting loopy as we got closer to home.

IMG_20150524_201636

And just after sunset we reached the Barstow Supercharger.  Now, the handy-dandy navigation trip planner originally had us routing to the Rancho Cucamonga Supercharger, but we know from experience that we can make it home on a full charge in Barstow, so we ignored the beta software again and just charged up.

Barstow Supercharger

We arrived in Barstow with plenty to spare and plenty of time to charge.

IMG_20150524_204802

IMG_20150524_204808

As we charged away at the site, another Model S pulled up to the hotel next door and was letting its passengers out for the night before he pulled into a couple of stalls over from us.

In the meantime, a new brown 70D pulled up on the newer stalls (not covered by the solar canopy.)  Since we haven’t seen that color before, I stepped out and introduced myself and my wife and had a pleasant conversation with the father and son that arrived in the 70D.  They were on a long Sunday drive that the son was using to convince his dad to go Tesla.  The son is a Service Concierge at the Palm Springs Tesla location and they took some back way to the supercharger from there.  We spent the time helping the son make the case for Tesla before we wished them well as they were on their way to dinner.  Here’s to hoping that the dad followed his son’s advice.

Long Beach, CA

We arrived in our home city just passed 11:00 PM and decided to counter our Atlantic Ocean view with a photo of the car by the Pacific.  We headed to Seal Beach for the beach parking lot shot, but it was too late and dark.  So, we opted for a Marina shot in Long Beach for our arrival night.

IMG_9271

IMG_9272

Besides, readers of previous days of this blog know what time it is when our shots are REALLY blurry. And after 23 days on the road, it is definitely time to get to sleep.

We were fairly efficient on the last leg from Barstow to Long Beach and more efficient than how we’ve been driving around home for the day (304 Wh/mi.)

IMG_20150524_234959

IMG_20150524_235006

After 23 days on the road. 25 other states visited. 8,245 miles. As varied an experience that we’ve had in our various hotels, it was great to once again sleep on our bed and be home.

We’re taking tomorrow off, it’s a Holiday after all, and publish our trip conclusions and such on Tuesday, three hours later than we’ve been publishing. So, come back and join us for that, will you?

As we’ve neared the end of this series of posts, after the post on Tuesday, I will be updating the blog somewhat randomly. So, if you’re interested in being notified, just subscribe to the blog (there’s a choice to do so in the sidebar) or follow me on Twitter, I tend to auto-tweet new posts there.

Go on to Lessons Learned.

23_Richfield to Long Beach

Here, There, and EVerywhere – Day 22

A quick note of thanks to the Beatles for inspiring the title for this series of posts. This is the twenty-second in a series of posts written about our trip that will be published four weeks to the day of the trip.

Missed Day 21, click here.

Day 22 – Drive on Saturday, May 23, 2015

Omni Hotel Interlocken

If yesterday’s Hyatt Place is the picture of consistency, the Omni Hotel Interlocken is its inverse. We have had nothing but great experience with our lodging at the other Omni Hotels that we’ve stayed at. That’s how we were able to complete enough nights to have a “free night certificate” for last night’s stay. It was free. However, even that price was “too expensive” for the disappointment that was our stay at the Omni Hotel Interlocken.

If you intend on staying at this part of Denver (Broomfield, CO) metro area and expect to stay at a “full service hotel.” Let me advise you to look elsewhere. This hotel needs improvement, a lot of improvement.

IMG_20150523_101553

IMG_20150523_102342

IMG_20150523_102540

IMG_20150523_102543

After parking with 199 miles of rated range last night, we’re starting the day at 196 miles, we lost three miles of rated range last night.

When we drove out on our first day, we consciously wanted to drive far from Southern California.  If you remember, we drove 808 miles on our first day. What that day did was sacrifice some of the most beautiful views in the West, the Utah desert.  Today’s goal is to have a plan for either heading home or routing ourselves to the Pacific Northwest. Our main inflection point to make that decision is either Richfield or Beaver, UT.

The next few supercharger stops will be the same ones that we took on our trip East.  With one exception.  We would like to make it to Arches National Park near Moab, UT before or around sunset this evening.  After that, it’s either spend the night in Moab, Green River, or Richfield, UT.

As we were climbing into the Rockies, one of the exits close to the Denver Metro area had a funny sign about a Buffalo or Bison Herd (we were unable to take a picture of the sign.)

However, we were able to take a picture of the herd as we drove by.

IMG_8957

Heading West on I-70 from the Denver Metro area, means a change from the city scenes to the mountain scenes.  Like the Buffalo or Bison herd in the previous photograph.

IMG_8958

It was fairly light rain, to start.

IMG_8960

However, it looks like we were going to be encountering some “weather” on the way to Silverthorne, and perhaps beyond.

IMG_8964

IMG_8965

It was getting harder to enjoy the sights outside of the car when the weather starts to be a challenge.

IMG_8967

Some rain starts to turn into showers, and in as cold as it is, some showers turned into snow showers.

IMG_8968

I’ve driven in rain before, not often until this trip (Southern California is in a drought after all).  I’ve driven in snow, not with the Model S, mind you.  But I’ve hardly ever driven in snow showers, and this drive to Silverthorne was the first time that I’ve ever done such a drive in the Model S.

IMG_20150523_120427

So, I figured to take my time and go as slow as the traffic will allow it.  We picked the white SUV on the right lane as it was going conservatively, but not irritatingly so.  Additionally, I figured that the SUV is about as heavy as the Model S, so it should react somewhat similarly as the Model S in the current road conditions.

IMG_20150523_120531

IMG_20150523_120532

IMG_20150523_120700

IMG_20150523_121415

The weather was quite tough and I was glad that we had a good buffer of rated range miles so that the only thing I had to worry about was the weather and be comfortable in our available charge.

IMG_20150523_121433

IMG_8975

IMG_8976

IMG_8979

IMG_8980

IMG_8985

IMG_8986

Did someone not send the memo to tell Colorado that it’s already LATE MAY.

IMG_8988

There’s still snow on the runaway truck ramp

IMG_20150523_121439

IMG_8987

We used a lot of energy getting to Silverthorne, but it makes for some great energy graphs.

IMG_8989

Just like that, the weather cleared.  It’s as if Silverthorne had a protective bubble from the weather.  We said goodbye to our white SUV guide and exited at Silverthorne.

IMG_8956

IMG_8990

IMG_8991

Silverthorne Supercharger

We arrived at the Silverthorne Supercharger during the outlet mall’s open hours is different than the last time we stopped here.  Rather than just stay in the car while we charged, we figured to stretch our legs and check out the shops.

IMG_8996

IMG_20150523_122346

It might only be approximately 90 miles between Silverthorne Supercharger and Glenwood Springs Supercharger, but with the way the weather’s been and the elevation changes, I’m charging it up.

IMG_20150523_122349

So, the differential between what we consumed on our drive and the rated range is about 31 miles. The drive from the hotel to Silverthorne was about 76 miles with a consumption of 387 Wh/mi.

IMG_0951

As I mentioned, we got to stretch our legs.  We felt welcome at the Colorado Welcome Center.

IMG_0952

We took the time to enjoy the dry, cool weather at Silverthorne.

IMG_20150523_130623

By the time we got back to our car, we had some company.

IMG_20150523_130755

These pictures are a reminder of my wife’s suggestion to Tesla that it might be nice for the supercharger stalls to have the name of the location on them for these sort of photo opportunities.

IMG_20150523_130913

So, the next supercharger in Glenwood Springs are 92 miles away.

IMG_20150523_130927

We have enough for bad weather and elevation and more.  This is significantly more than the 100 mile “whatever” buffer that we’ve settled on.

IMG_20150523_130930

But first, it was time to take a picture of dry, happy travelers.

IMG_20150523_130812

So with 233 miles of Rated Range in the tank, we drove off toward Glenwood Springs Supercharger.

The last time we were at the Breckenridge exit, it was Winter. We didn’t stop off at Breckenridge, CO on this trip, but the thing with Breckenridge is the altitude sickness when visiting the resort.  Each time I visit Breckenridge from Southern California, I have to take at least a day and a half to adjust to the altitude.  So, if you’re prone to bad altitude sickness, be prepared for it when you visit Breckenridge.

IMG_8998

IMG_9000

We’re passing another set of ski runs that would’ve been fun to ski.  Unless it was the same ski run that we photographed on Day 2.

IMG_20150523_132306

The drive to Glenwood Springs Supercharger is made easier by the fellow Grey Colorado Model S.

IMG_8999

When the weather turned bad again, we figured to follow the Grey Colorado Model S. He looked like he knew what he was doing.

IMG_9002

IMG_20150523_133054

This sort of energy usage tells us that there are lots of ups and downs on this route.

IMG_9003

There is hope and a clearing ahead.

IMG_9004

Through inclement weather and clear and sunny routes, it’s always more pleasant to be driving behind another Model S. No fumes.

IMG_9006

I wonder if he’s getting tired of the Blue Califonia plated Model S behind him.

IMG_9007

Now that’s the sight that I was expecting for Colorado in May, and not the snow showers we were being challenged by earlier.

IMG_9008

IMG_9010

Still some snow on those mountains.

IMG_9015

I wonder if that Grey Colorado Model S will be supercharging at Glenwood Springs with us.

IMG_9016

My wife is getting good at these interior panoramic shots.

IMG_0649

IMG_0652

IMG_9017

IMG_9018

IMG_9020

Before we enter into the White River National Forest part of this drive, we spotted a familiar sight on the Southern side of I-70.  Costco Hot Dogs, anyone? Not us.

IMG_9019

Just before the Glenwood Springs is the White River National Forest, it is the coolest part of this drive.  And it looks like the Grey Model S really enjoyed it ’cause they pretty much disappeared ahead of us.

IMG_20150523_141703

IMG_20150523_141714

IMG_20150523_141959

IMG_20150523_142010

IMG_20150523_142023

IMG_20150523_142030

IMG_0655

IMG_0656

IMG_20150523_142255

The speed limit on this leg seems unusually low for me, it was difficult to stay there. The drive was too tempting. Here’s a fun video of the ride through a tunnel with us. Please don’t mind the person singing along to the music, he didn’t know that he was being filmed. 😉

IMG_20150523_142258

IMG_20150523_142309

IMG_0661

IMG_0663

IMG_0664

IMG_9021

IMG_9022

IMG_9024

With much to see above, we remembered to take some photographs through the panoramic roof.

IMG_9027

IMG_9030

And with that, we reached Glenwood Springs, Colorado.

IMG_9035

IMG_9036

Looks like our Grey Colorado Model S did exit at Glenwood Springs.

IMG_9037

We crossed over a bridge and saw some rapid seeking adventurers enjoying the Colorado River.

IMG_9038

Glenwood Springs Supercharger

The Glenwood Springs Supercharger were empty when we arrived here.

IMG_20150523_145743

IMG_20150523_143758

Our drive to Glenwood Springs was surprisingly efficient at 232 Wh/mi.  Adding the 93 miles consumed to the 156 remaining rated range puts us at a start mile of 249 miles, since we left Silverthorne at 233 miles mean that the consumption rate was quite efficient.

IMG_20150523_145800

IMG_0953

It was interesting that we were alone supercharging. The Grey Model S parked in one of the regular spots in the same parking lot and met with people who they obviously knew. We didn’t get a chance to thank the Grey Model S folks for being our guide through the weather. I figured that they must be locals, because they drove off without stopping off at the supercharger.

We charged up to a bit before we rolled out to Grand Junction since it’s only 91 miles.

IMG_20150523_150233

IMG_20150523_150237

We really enjoyed the calm weather that we had on the drive to Grand Junction.  The calm weather was a welcome respite from the rain and snow showers that we went through the first two legs of today’s drive.

IMG_9039

IMG_9041

IMG_9042

Always like spotting solar panels, I wonder what these ones were used for.

IMG_9045

IMG_9046

IMG_9048

IMG_9049

This drive to Grand Junction gets us really close to the Colorado River.

IMG_9050

IMG_9051

IMG_9053

IMG_20150523_155822

IMG_9059

IMG_9054

IMG_9056

IMG_9060

IMG_9061

IMG_9062

IMG_9066

IMG_9068

IMG_9071

We’re really close to Grand Junction now…

IMG_9072

We were able to take a photograph of the grapes and Colorado wine country.

IMG_9073

IMG_9076

IMG_9077

IMG_9078

IMG_9080

IMG_9083

IMG_9085

Grand Junction Supercharger

When we got to Grand Junction, we figured to look up some hotels in the Moab area, but they were all booked up. The challenge with making plans at the last minute during a holiday weekend is the higher demand areas get full fast.  We looked at Green River, but settled on the Holiday Inn Express at Richfield.  After all, we seek to give back to those that are enabling the operation and expansion of the Tesla Supercharger network.

IMG_20150523_162504

IMG_20150523_162458

We met with a Green Colorado Model S that was on its way as we arrived.  They were friendly and on their way toward Denver.

IMG_0956

Our charge was close to 90% as we roll out to our first new stop on this drive Moab Supercharger.  Which means a chance to add another entry in the beta of the (now released) Teslarati App for iOS.

IMG_20150523_170111

IMG_20150523_170115

The last time we did this drive, the route was at the end of our 808 mile Day 1 adventure.

IMG_9088

We know that we’re back in Utah because the speed limits start to increase.

IMG_9089

IMG_9090

We didn’t see this sign the last time we left Colorado, then again that was later at night.

IMG_9091

So, we crossed into Utah again.  It is such a cool state sign.

IMG_9092

And we got an even better shot of the welcome to Utah sign.

IMG_9093

IMG_9094

IMG_9095

We saw a rest stop and decided to stop and take a photo of the car with a desert background.

IMG_20150523_173011

IMG_20150523_173018

IMG_20150523_173059

Yeah, it was a little windy here.

IMG_20150523_173031

We figure to take a few more Model S nature shots.

IMG_9096

IMG_9097

Or at least shots of the car in a Utah rest stop.

IMG_9098

IMG_9100

IMG_9101

IMG_9102

The weather was better than what we’ve had earlier on our drive, but it was still cloudy.  But at least it was dry.

IMG_9103

IMG_0685

IMG_0688

IMG_0689

IMG_20150523_182322

IMG_20150523_182925

Things kept looking up as we were getting closer to Moab.  The weather was clearing up and we still have a bit of sunlight as we headed into Moab for the sunset.

IMG_9104

IMG_20150523_183410

The rocks were amazing, and we’re not even at Arches National Park, yet.

IMG_9105

IMG_9106

The folks were making use of the smooth sand to sled down. The dessert [thanks for the edit Brian H, I do tend toward desserts] desert toward Moab looked strangely full of people. It probably has to do with the Memorial Day Weekend.

IMG_9107

IMG_9108

IMG_9109

IMG_9110

IMG_9111

The entrance to Arches is before the Moab supercharger, I don’t know how many miles the drive around the Arches National Park is, but we wanted to have enough to do the drive and head to Green River for the night.

So, we tried to find the information out at the visitor center for the park.  We stopped by first before we went to the Moab Supercharger, however, it was after hours and the visitor center was closed.

IMG_20150523_183943

IMG_20150523_183951

IMG_20150523_184004

IMG_20150523_184010

Since the visitor center was closed, we couldn’t pick up a map, so I took pictures of the map to help us find our way on the drive.

IMG_20150523_184020

Even though we have three different mobile providers on our trip, I don’t expect ANY coverage on mobile during the drive into Arches National Park.

IMG_20150523_184025

Rather than find any information from the visitor center, I actually got the information that we needed from a fellow visitor.  They said that the drive around was approximately 40 miles.  Now, we had about 90 miles of range left in the car, so we had enough to do the drive, but I wanted to also have enough to get to Green River, so we headed into Moab to get a charge.

The drive to Moab would have been faster, but since the town was full for the weekend, it did take a little bit longer because of the traffic.

IMG_20150523_184924

Moab Supercharger

The Moab Supercharger is located in the parking lot of the Best Western in Moab.

IMG_20150523_185706

IMG_20150523_185711

IMG_0958

After we plugged in, the occupants of the SUV parked by our car at the superchargers arrived and was admiring our car and the white Model S parked beside us.  The SUV was filled by a family that was visiting Moab from Colorado.  They were curious about the Model S and EVs and we took the time to talk to them about Model S and EVs in general.

We found a White Nevada Model S occupying a charging stall.  After we finished our conversation with the SUV family, the owner of the white Model S came out to check on his car.

Apparently this person was staying at the hotel.  Rather than move from the supercharger to a parking spot, he mentioned that he was planning on using the supercharger stall as his spot for the evening. He made the comment that he’s never seen the supercharger stalls full the last few times that he has visited this location.  I reminded him that perhaps it would be a good idea to put his contact information on his car, just in case four other Model S showed up to use the chargers, he scoffed at what I presume was his way of taking the suggestion under advisement.  He was not the friendliest or most considerate person we’ve met on this trip.

IMG_0957

And with the necessary and buffer charge completed, we rolled back out to Arches National Park.

Arches National Park

Not being much of a “nature” guy, I really enjoy the Arches National Park way of visiting.  Many of the places in the park can be visited by driving through the park.  No hiking required.

IMG_9113

So, we entered the park and headed in with the express purpose of “having a nice drive” and to get some great pictures of our car for the Model S Nature Pictures thread on Tesla Motors Club.

IMG_9114

IMG_9116

IMG_9117

IMG_20150523_194007

The navigation had signal near the entrance to the park, but we will soon lose it when we get deeper into the drive.

IMG_9118

IMG_20150523_194007

IMG_20150523_194242

IMG_20150523_194245

IMG_20150523_194350

IMG_20150523_194419

IMG_20150523_194425

IMG_20150523_194457

IMG_20150523_194425

IMG_20150523_194519

We were soon reminded that not only do we have a panoramic roof that we can OPEN that panoramic roof for better, untinted shots of the view.

IMG_20150523_194545

IMG_20150523_194609

IMG_20150523_194658

IMG_20150523_194808

IMG_20150523_194825

IMG_20150523_194917

We took many pictures of our visit to Arches National Park, so enjoy.  They say that a picture is worth a 1,000 words, and it’s not often that you will find me “speechless.”

IMG_9119

IMG_9120

IMG_9121

IMG_9122

I imagine that in the future the National Park system may want to consider the fact that EVs have less of an impact on driving routes like this than our ICE brethren.  Unfortunately that is not the case right now.

IMG_9123

IMG_9124

IMG_9125

IMG_9126

IMG_9127

These rock formations looked like a sculpture of people facing to the right from the shot above. And they look like they’re in a meeting in this closer shot.

IMG_9128

IMG_9129

IMG_9130

IMG_9132

IMG_9134

IMG_9135

Not sure if we can get to another stop for our Model S Nature Pictures, we stopped off in the first one that had space.

IMG_9137

IMG_9138

IMG_9139

This one is in the Ancient Sand Dunes part of the park.

IMG_20150523_195006

IMG_20150523_195016

IMG_20150523_195021

IMG_20150523_195033

IMG_20150523_195105

IMG_20150523_195113

IMG_9140

IMG_20150523_195214

IMG_20150523_195317

IMG_20150523_195404

IMG_20150523_195527

IMG_20150523_195719

IMG_20150523_195806

IMG_20150523_195936

IMG_20150523_200038

IMG_20150523_200124

IMG_9141

IMG_9142

IMG_9143

IMG_9144

Our next stop was the Balanced Rock section.

IMG_9145

IMG_9146

Can you spot the rainbow in the next couple of pictures?

IMG_9147

IMG_9149

IMG_9151

We headed down to the valley for the Delicate Arch.

IMG_9152

IMG_9153

IMG_9154

IMG_9155

We tried to see if we can see the Delicate Arch from the car.  However on the way there there were several warnings of flash floods and evidence of roads that were washed out (not pictured, unfortunately).  Since we’ve been through a bit of weather before we got here and those rain clouds look like they’re getting closer, we decided to find a different place to take another set of Model S Nature Pictures thread worthy shots.

IMG_9156

IMG_9157

IMG_9158

We figured to find another point on higher ground so we don’t have to worry about it.

IMG_9159

IMG_9160

Our next stop was at the aptly named Panorama Point.

And the next shots are what we plan to enter into Model S Nature Pictures thread.

IMG_9161

IMG_9162

IMG_9163

IMG_9164

Now it’s just a matter of picking which one(s).

We were at our final stop before sunset.

IMG_20150523_201410

IMG_20150523_201546

IMG_20150523_201549

IMG_0959

Arches National Park is what I envision when I think of Utah.

IMG_20150523_201725

IMG_20150523_201813

IMG_20150523_201823

IMG_0960

IMG_0690

IMG_0691

IMG_0961

IMG_0692

IMG_0693

IMG_0694

IMG_20150523_202016

IMG_0695

IMG_0696

Time to start heading out of the park as the darkness will drop quickly in the dessert.

IMG_9166

IMG_9169

IMG_9171

IMG_9172

IMG_9173

IMG_9174

IMG_9176

IMG_9178

IMG_9179

IMG_20150523_202021

IMG_20150523_202029

Heading out

IMG_9181

IMG_20150523_193917

We made it back to the parking lot of the visitor center as the rain started to fall.

IMG_9182

IMG_9183

And I for one was glad to be away from the “flash flood” signs that we passed inside the park.

IMG_9184

I took the opportunity to see what our energy consumption was on the drive within Arches.  So, it looks like we used less than the 40 rated miles that we had been told the drive would take.  Then again, we didn’t drive all the routes.

IMG_20150523_203959

IMG_20150523_204019

IMG_20150523_204057

It looks like our drive through Arches was fun.  Take a look at the energy consumption chart on the right.  However, the 278 Wh/mi since the charge says that we had fun efficiently.

With the sun setting fast, we were on our way back to Green River.

IMG_9185

Green River Supercharger

The last time that we charged at Green River Supercharger it was the middle of the night, now it’s just the night.

IMG_0962

IMG_20150523_215740

We got to the Green River Supercharger and decided to make our decision on whether to continue the trip North and through the Coast or choose the more direct route home.

After much consideration we figured that it was time to head toward home.  We still have to figure out whether we’re staying in Utah longer or just head to Vegas tomorrow.

IMG_20150523_215747

Holiday Inn Express Richfield

We didn’t figure out what to do on the drive to Richfield.  It’s been a long day and the drive to the Holiday Inn Express actually consumed more energy than the drive through Colorado and the Rockies.

IMG_20150524_003221

IMG_20150524_003226

The great thing about checking into a hotel that is supercharger equipped is that we don’t have to worry about the vampire loss.  Besides, we can always park at the supercharger stall overnight if its more convenient for us. (Just kidding) ;-).

Go on to Day 23. Click here.

22_Broomfield to Richfield

Here, There, and EVerywhere – Day 21

A quick note of thanks to the Beatles for inspiring the title for this series of posts. This is the twenty-first in a series of posts written about our trip that will be published four weeks to the day of the trip.

Missed Day 20, click here.

Day 21 – Drive on Friday, May 22, 2015

Predictability in experience is one of the strengths of Hyatt and its Hyatt Place brands. It’s interesting to me because everytime I stay at a Hyatt Place, I can’t tell where I am (as in city). They all look and feel the same. And when one has been on the road for 21 days, a sense of familiarity is good.

Hyatt Place Topeka

If the following pictures had not been geo-tagged, it could have been any Hyatt Place at any city.

IMG_20150522_094131

 

The design of the front lobby desk is definitely one of those “things” that shout out Hyatt Place to me.

IMG_20150522_094126

IMG_20150522_094146

It could be at Nashville or Las Vegas or Topeka, as is the case in this particular location.

IMG_20150522_094155

And that’s not a bad thing. Many times a surprise in hotel lodging is usually a “bad” surprise versus a “good” one. So, I’ll take consistent (when it comes to lodging) any day.

With that in mind, we had an ambitious goal to make it to Denver this evening. We normally travel a lot (via airplanes and rentals, and not driving trips in our Model S) and as a result have membership with many hotel and airline programs.

One of the things that we “cashed in” was a “free night certificate” from the Omni Hotel. The certificate actually was expiring as we were leaving for a trip, so we redeemed it. In considering the locations that we will be driving to and from, we redeemed the certificate for the Omni Hotel Interlocken in the Denver metropolitan area. The stipulation on the certificate is that it must be booked ahead and only if the room type and rate was available. After booking, we can only move the room to another date in the same hotel if the same conditions exist. Once redeemed, we can not get the certificate back nor change the certificate to another hotel.

Since we didn’t know when we were going to make it to Denver, we kept moving the booking, and the hotel was not available on Saturday night, so it was either Friday or Sunday, and today was a better day for this attempt.

Besides, we’ve always had very good stays at Omni Hotels and expected the Omni Hotel Interlocken to live up to those experiences. It is, after all, a “proper hotel.”

IMG_20150522_094602

IMG_20150522_094607

Looks like there was no rated range lost last night.

IMG_20150522_094543

Well rested, bright-eyed, and bushy tailed. We headed off to the Salina Supercharger.

We saw signs on the road directing travelers to visit the “Little Apple”, Manhattan, KS.  Didn’t have a hankering for that, so we continued on.  Just passed the Manhattan, KS exits, was Fort Riley, home of the Big Red One. The only thing I really know about the Big Red One is what I saw in the movie of the same name.

I spotted the “really cool” helicopters on the side of the highway and we tried to take some pictures.

IMG_8820

IMG_8821

 

IMG_8822

IMG_8823

IMG_8825

And soon after that, we noticed a sign on the side of the road.

IMG_8826

President Dwight David (“Ike”) Eisonhower’s Presidential Library and Museum was ahead in Abilene, Kansas.

We had so much fun visiting the President Ronald Reagan Presidential Library and Museum with the Orange County Tesla Club that we thought that it would be cool to visit President Eisonhower’s Museum.

IMG_8828

After all, the Interstate Highway system that we’ve been traveling on may not have happened had it not been for President Eisonhower and his championship. Besides, this was the start of the Memorial Day Weekend and President Eisonhower was Supereme Commander Allied Forces Europe and one of the architects of the victory in Europe.

Eisonhower Presidential Library and Museum

The parking lot had its fair share of visitors, no other Model S, but quite a bit of folks from many states.

IMG_20150522_110310

One of the interesting facets of this Presidential Library and Museum is that it was built around President Eisonhower’s childhood home.  The trustees actually bought out the homes and businesses around his childhood home to create the space for the Presidential Library and Museum.

IMG_20150522_110315

IMG_20150522_110444

IMG_20150522_110454

Visitors can actually take a tour inside the home as part of their entry to the museum.

IMG_0933

IMG_20150522_110637

So, we figured, why not.

IMG_20150522_111048

The tour was only in the ground floor and we were not allowed to go upstairs.  They at least provided a photograph to show the upstairs rooms.

IMG_20150522_112059

The downstairs rooms were quite modest.

IMG_20150522_112105

IMG_8830

IMG_20150522_112117

The front door.

IMG_20150522_112141

IMG_20150522_112209

The Front Salon was rarely used and only such when there are distinguished guests.

IMG_20150522_112224

The Family Bible where they recorded the births in the family was opened to the page of President Eisonhower’s entry.

IMG_20150522_112303

There was a room that the family converted into an indoor restroom

IMG_20150522_112916

that is adjacent to the kitchen.  Notice the old phone on the wall.  Apparently it was in the same state as it was when the foundation acquired the home and land around it.

IMG_20150522_112920

IMG_20150522_112927

A shot of President Eisonhower’s family (parents and siblings.)

IMG_20150522_113009

And then we headed back to his museum.

IMG_20150522_113250

IMG_20150522_113252

IMG_20150522_113256

IMG_20150522_113301

IMG_20150522_113305

IMG_20150522_113309

Since President Eisonhower spent most of his adult life as a military man, a good portion of the Eisonhower Presidential Library and Museum covers military stuff, for more pictures, let me refer you to my Flickr album.

The military things were cool, but I’d like to highlight a few of the things at the museum that were not military themed (as well as some military vehicles and technology.)

The first is to highlight that President Eisonhower actually drove an Electric Vehicle.

IMG_8845

It was a 1914 Rauch and Lang Electric Automobile with a maximum 100 mile range when driven at 13 miles per hour (top speed was 19 miles per hour.)

We took a photograph of the write-up that was provided for guests beside the vehicle.

IMG_20150522_115303

The car itself looked like many cars of the era.

IMG_20150522_115235

IMG_20150522_115357

There were also other vehicles (mainly military) in the museum.

IMG_20150522_120404

A Jeep.

IMG_20150522_120415

I think that this was an Armored personnel carrier.

IMG_20150522_120431

And the sort of vehicle befitting transporting members of the command staff.

IMG_20150522_120449

It was interesting to see technology that inspired the modern mobile telephone.

IMG_20150522_120438

The Interstate highway system was named in honor of President Eisonhower for a reason.

IMG_8855

And look who took the time to be a little presidential. Or at least a Press Secretary, perhaps?

IMG_8857

This stop was another of those that “just happened” because of a road sign. We were glad to have spotted the sign for the Eisonhower Presidential Library and Museum and glad to have made the stop. Especially for the Friday that started Memorial Day celebrations.

IMG_20150522_121705

Besides Abilene, KS is along the route (86 miles) between Topeka and Salina and is definitely worth it. The diversion was probably close to a three mile round trip off I-70.

IMG_20150522_121911

Besides, it’s even closer to Salina Supercharger (less than 30 miles away) than the Topeka Supercharger.

IMG_20150522_121924

And we were headed to Salina.

IMG_8859

No tour for Russell Stover unfortunately. Besides it’s no Hershey’s (is that a good thing or a bad thing?)

One of the biggest complaints that Model S owners have is the cost of replacement tires. The 21 inch tires are much more expensive than the 19 inch ones.  For those that worry about the cost of tires. I wonder how much these tires cost.  I would guess that these tires are over 15 feet.

IMG_8860

IMG_8861

The weather ahead is cloudy and cool. So, I would guess that we won’t have to worry about tornadoes as much. Though I wonder if this is foreboding of pending weather ahead.

IMG_8865

How many of these trucks are there? And what is the vehicle that they need to provide the spare tires for?

IMG_8866

I also wonder how big the nail is that will puncture that tire.

You know that you’re really bored in the Kansas drive when a curve excites you.

IMG_8868

IMG_8870

We reached the Salina Supercharger. This supercharger is also hotel adjacent. A Holiday Inn Express this time.

IMG_8871

Salina Supercharger

We arrived at Salina with plenty of rated range to spare.

IMG_20150522_124523

IMG_20150522_124526

When we got to the supercharger stall, another Model S was already charging. We didn’t head into the lobby and the owner of this vehicle was not near the car, so we didn’t meet the owner of this grey Tesla.

IMG_0934

Soon after we started to charge, another grey Model S arrived.  It was driven by a new local Kansas owner who just took delivery of their Model S the prior week.

IMG_0935

I was curious as to why it had temporary Colorado tags. Apparently, Kansas Tesla Model S purchasers need to go to Colorado to buy their car.  It seems that he was unable to purchase the car in a state that has many supercharger locations and stalls. I take it that this means that there probably are no service centers in Kansas either.

After charging in Salina, we needed to make a stop at a Post Office. We had to mail several parcels that required a post office stop. We headed to the Salina post office.

When we were departing the post office we met with the gentleman who was parked beside us in his Ford C-Max Plug-in Hybrid. He was admiring our Model S and was friendly. So, we struck up conversation with him. He spoke how he loves driving an EV. He communicated that he and his family rarely go beyond the 20 mile EV limit of the vehicle.  However, when they do, he appreciates the ability to go beyond. He told us a funny story of how smooth the electric drive train was that he didn’t realize that he had hit 100 MPH when he was driving on the highway.

We had a good laugh and left our new-found PHEV friend and headed to the Hays Supercharger.

Another long day of relatively flat and straight terrain.

The cows must not be worried about that giant snake on the billboard.

IMG_8872

Check out those horses.

IMG_8874

Wait, are those windmills I see?

IMG_8875

IMG_8876

They are windmills!  Well, that’s cool.

IMG_8877

The windmills distract me enough that I didn’t even notice that there was our nemesis, the “Deer Crossing” sign in the picture. Besides, I’m only worried about the “Deer Crossing” at night when I sens that they’re just lurking there.

This windmill design seems to be prevalent in the windmills that we’ve seen around the country.

IMG_8878

Windmills near and windmills far.

IMG_8882

It’s quite a sight.

IMG_8884

IMG_20150522_143324

Good for you Kansas.  I wonder how much of the wind power generated by these windmills find their way to the superchargers that we’ve been visiting.

We discovered taking panoramics while driving.

This is our first attempt.

IMG_0936

I think the second attempt was better.

IMG_0937

But the built in panoramic function on my iPhone doesn’t seem to like to work in moving vehicles.

Some more windmill shots.  This team, really close to the highway.

IMG_8887

IMG_8890

On the way to Hays, we spotted an interesting structure in the distance.

IMG_8895

IMG_8896

This is the Cathedral of the Plains – the Basilica of St. Fidelis.

IMG_8898

IMG_8899

The structure was impressive from the highway, but we didn’t feel like stopping there, so we continued on.  Perhaps next time.

Hays Supercharger

The distances between superchargers on the I-70 route seem to be quite close to each other.  I suppose the effect of winter weather needs to be part of the planning on these parts of the country.  We continued to stop at each location to make sure that we provide content for the beta of the (now released) Teslarati App for iOS.  Besides, we’re a lot more conservative when it comes to charging “insurance miles” than many folks out there.

IMG_20150522_152401

IMG_20150522_152404

IMG_20150522_152604

The Hays Supercharger is located at an Applebee’s Restaurant. I have not had a meal at an Applebee’s in many years and thought that it is good idea to try to have a meal at the restaurants that had the forethought to support the Tesla Supercharger network.

IMG_0941

The lunch hit the spot, but we had Denver in our target and we need to keep moving.

IMG_20150522_161135

It’s been a rather cloudy day today.  Though the clouds make the weather cool, it also signifies the potential for rain.  And the cloud cover looked foreboding.

IMG_8918

It seems that people in Kansas like to build some impressive looking churches. This is another one that we spotted in the distance and decided to skip. I didn’t catch the name of it, but it looked interesting.

IMG_8902

IMG_8903

All the lemonade at Applebee’s forced us to seek a rest stop before we got to Goodland, KS. We took the opportunity to take a photo of the Eisonhower Interstate System sign at this stop.

IMG_20150522_171157

There was an interesting map of Kansas that was placed at the rest stop building.

IMG_20150522_171355

IMG_20150522_171421

Just before the Goodland, KS supercharger is this giant replica of Van Gogh’s “Three Sunflowers in a Vase.”

IMG_8915

The easel is huge, it’s as big as the water towers that we’ve been obsessively photographing on this trip.

IMG_8916

IMG_8917

IMG_20150522_172213

A photograph of your guides on this journey with the Giant Van Gogh.

IMG_20150522_172310

The Goodland Supercharger is a short drive from the Van Gogh that we took local streets to get there from the giant reproduction.

The view of the Goodland Supercharger as we approach it.

IMG_8919

Goodland Supercharger

The drive from Hays to Goodland was a good time to discuss our plans for the rest of the trip.  Denver is approximately 1,000 miles of driving to home if we return along the same route that took us East.  At this time, we were toying with the “crazy” idea of heading North to Washington State and go home along the Pacific coast.  But we’ve been on our drive for 21 days and we need to figure out where to go.  The last point of inflection for us to make that decision is around Beaver, UT or Richfield, UT. If we decide to “take the long way home,” we can expect to be on the road for another week.

IMG_20150522_172926

IMG_20150522_172929

The navigation to the Omni Hotel Interlocken had us skipping the Limon Supercharger.  But we figured that we were stopping at each charger to make our entries into the beta of the (now released) Teslarati App for iOS, so we figured to charge on the upcoming climb and still stop at Limon.

We made sure to note that the supercharger at yet another Holiday Inn Express was adjacent to a Steak N Shake that was currently closed.

IMG_0942

I haven’t counted all the hotel collocated superchargers, but there seems to be a fair share of Holiday Inns that have one on property. At least two in Kansas.  We don’t normally stay at Holiday Inns, but their support of supercharging needs to be rewarded with a stay.

IMG_0943

The weather was turning chilly and precipitation threatened our continuing journey.  We still had a lot of light and we had “crossed the Rubicon” with our “free hotel certificate” at the Omni Hotel Interlocken.  So, we were committed to sleep there tonight.

When the drive ahead of you is fairly flat, large buildings tend to stand out.  You’ve seen the two churches that have drawn our attention.  One of the other things that seem to pop up were these buildings.  I think they are grain silos, but I’m not sure.

IMG_8920

Ooh cows. (See, I’m getting better with being in the country, I’m not referring to them as steak.)

IMG_8923

We found ourselves departing Kansas and crossing back into Colorado during sunlight.

IMG_0609

IMG_8927

The climb to Denver was not the sudden climb that I was expecting. It was a gradual one. I thought that the elevation changes would be more pronounced and I was pleasantly surprised at how easy it is. However, the clouds really are starting to look threatening.

IMG_8928

IMG_8929

We had the promise of sunshine ahead, and with it, the sunset photographs that my wife had enjoyed taking.

IMG_0617

IMG_8930

We switched panoramic devices to an older Pano App that played with the moving vehicle better.

My wife was able to capture the rainy weather ahead in panoramic.

IMG_0624

IMG_0625

She was also playing with taking inside the car panoramic shots.

IMG_0637

IMG_0638

IMG_0640

And then the rain started to drop.

IMG_8938

IMG_0618

IMG_8933

IMG_8936

The rain was quite refreshing.  After being threatened by it for the day, it was nice to finally have it pour.  Nature is definitely impressive and the backdrop of the country beside it makes one appreciate how much smaller we are in comparison to it.

The majesty of the sunset ahead as the rain took a break was a sight to behold.

IMG_0628

IMG_0631

Some chase rainbows, others are chased by rainbows.

IMG_8942

IMG_8943

And as we headed toward Limon, we see windmills in Colorado.

IMG_8951

The Colorado windfarms look a lot more dense than the ones to their neighbor East, Kansas.

IMG_8952

IMG_8953

I wonder if they get more wind in Colorado, or if it’s a case of “Keeping up with the Kansans.”

IMG_8954

Either way, the pursuit of renewable energy is something to be commended and good for you Colorado!

IMG_8950

Looking at the inclement weather in our rearview side mirror we made it to the Limon Supercharger.

Limon Supercharger

The Limon Supercharger is also located at an Arby’s (like the Topeka, Kansas one.) As much as I like to support those businesses that promote supercharging, we were still full from the stop at Applebee’s. Now if it was an Ice Cream or Ice Custard stop, I might have been able to be convinced.

IMG_0647

IMG_0648

It was actively raining at the Limon Supercharger stop.

IMG_20150522_194922

IMG_20150522_194918

In fact, some small hail pellets started to fall. The sunset and rain coupled with the red of the Tesla signs made for some interesting photo opportunities for the car as we charged.

IMG_20150522_195148

IMG_20150522_195152

Now, this was one of those stops that was “not required” by our range, so we intended to take a quick break, charge a few miles and then head on our way.

IMG_20150522_195208

IMG_0946

As I was taking panoramic pictures of the car with the supercharger and Arby’s behind it,

IMG_0947

another Tesla Model S from California drove in.

IMG_0948

We introduced ourselves to the nice couple that was driving the California Model S. It turned out that not only were they from California, they are from the same city that we live in. What are the odds to run into a fellow Model S traveler from our own city? They were proceeding Eastward to Iowa as we were headed West.

IMG_0949

We rolled out of Limon with 201 Rated Range to get to the Denver/Aurora Supercharger.

IMG_20150522_202109

IMG_20150522_202112

Figured we were still climbing the Rockies here so I wanted to make sure we had lots of charge.  Additionally, I photographed the trip meters because I wanted to see what the effect of this elevation and weather would have on our consumption of rated range.  After all, the day’s consumption was at a pretty inefficient 351 Wh/mi per Trip B, was that the rain or elevation?  Probably both.

Denver Supercharger

It was only 77 miles away, but we used 91 rated miles to travel. So, the usage wasn’t as bad as I thought.

IMG_20150522_213310

IMG_20150522_213316

The drive to Denver from Limon was actually more efficient than the drive through Kansas to Limon. Our day’s efficiency went down from 351 Wh/mi to 347 Wh/mi.

Now, the hotel we’re staying at is around 30 miles away and we wanted to get to Silverthorne tomorrow without having to charge overnight, so we charged up close to full again.

It was raining while we charged in Denver/Aurora, so we stayed in the car.  It was another hotel location.

IMG_0950

IMG_20150522_221018

It was getting late and we were looking at the promise of a “full service hotel”, so we charged close to 90% state of charge (SOC.)

IMG_20150522_221108

IMG_20150522_221113

Took a photograph again as I was interested in seeing the consumption from the charger across a rainy Denver metro area.

Omni Hotel Interlocken

IMG_20150522_224906

IMG_20150522_224910

We arrived at the hotel with 199 Miles of rated range overnight. and an improvement from our 347 Wh/mi consumption to 346 Wh/mi.

Go on to Day 22. Click here.

21_Topeka to Broomfield

Here, There, and EVerywhere – Day 20

A quick note of thanks to the Beatles for inspiring the title for this series of posts. This is the twentieth in a series of posts written about our trip that will be published four weeks to the day of the trip.

Missed Day 19, click here.

Day 20 – Drive on Thursday, May 21, 2015

Today’s goal is to cross Missouri, hopefully be on the other side of the state (around Kansas City, MO) by the end of the day.

Holiday Inn, Effingham

As I read on a T-shirt at the joint Tesla Supercharger-BP Gas Station that we charged in last night, “Where the Effingham am I?”. Looking out from our hotel room is another view of the supercharger and gas station.

IMG_20150521_100155

The same view, zoomed in.

IMG_20150521_100202

We lost six miles overnight, not enough vampire loss to prompt us to stop at the supercharger again. So we packed up and headed toward the St. Charles, MO supercharger.

IMG_20150521_101829

Pay attention to the 518.8 miles on Trip B. That’s what we did the previous day.

IMG_20150521_101824

A rather impressive cross can be seen at the side of the highway shortly after leaving the supercharger.

IMG_8666

Looks like Effingham, IL is on the way to many places. Thinking of Paul Simon’s song, “Graceland” with this sign. i.e. “I’m going to Graceland / Memphis, Tennessee / I’m going to Graceland…” Except, we’re heading to St. Charles, which is just past St. Louis.

IMG_8667

It was strange because our regenerative braking is being limited. I wonder if this was because of the weather overnight. Not the sort of thing we normally see as we garage and live in Southern California, so I’m guessing that’s what the dashed limit lines are for. It didn’t stay long for long, but enough to take a picture of it.

IMG_20150521_102418

We encountered another issue on the drive to St. Charles Supercharger, it seems that the mobile data on the Model S just wigged out. (Yes, that’s a technical term.) If you look at the photo below, there are 3 bars, but neither 3G nor Edge is indicated. The typical fix for these sort of “Ghost in the Machine” errors is to reset the center console and driver display; however, that’s entirely inconvenient to do when driving. So we proceeded on.

IMG_8669

Figured that this data connectivity issue was the Model S because my wife’s iPhone 4 is on AT&T 3G. On this trip, more often than not, the Model S actually had a signal when her phone had no signal, I suspect that the Model S either has a stronger antenna or the Tesla SIM card has additional roaming agreements to cover those parts of the country that an AT&T direct product does not. Either way, this was the first time on the trip that we’ve encountered the car’s Internet connection being disabled while her iPhone still worked.

We’ve been traveling with three different mobile networks (AT&T, T-Mobile, and Virgin Mobile), so we tethered the car to my T-Mobile Blackberry and kept on driving. You can see the wi-fi indicator on the car in the photograph below. With that temporary fix in place, we proceeded on our journey with the plan to reset things when we come to a stop.

IMG_8679

Is today partly cloudy or partly sunny? Either way, a beautiful view of the countryside.

IMG_8671

IMG_8672

The view was rudely interrupted by the start of some construction on the roadway.

IMG_8673

IMG_8674

Looks like we’re passing Lebanon. Again, not the same Lebanon, either. 😉 It seems that a lot of places are named after other locales.

IMG_8682

IMG_8684

When I spotted the sign, I asked my wife to try to take a picture of it. I found it entertaining to be driving on the Paul Simon Highway away from Memphis, TN. Especially after thinking of his song “Graceland” just a few miles earlier.

IMG_8686

The route to St. Charles had us bypass St. Louis by taking the Northern route via I-270.

IMG_8687

With that we crossed into Missouri. Like many borders, the river is the border between Illinois and Missouri. This state line sign is over the midway point of the bridge.

IMG_8693

We crossed over to the mighty Mississippi River. A river immortalized in the writings of Mark Twain and his characters Huckleberry Finn and Tom Sawyer. The river is brown. I wonder if that’s because of the depth of the river, or something worse. Apparently, it’s been brown for a while.

IMG_8695

A much nicer state welcome sign was ahead on this route.

IMG_8696

We made it to St. Louis on this drive.

IMG_8697

St. Charles is just passed St. Louis. The Gateway Arch (aka “Gateway to the West”) is South of us at this point (off I-70.)

IMG_8698

It was near lunchtime for us. We didn’t know what to expect when we arrive at the St. Charles supercharger, so we went online and found out that according to Trip Advisor 2015 two of the top three BBQ restaurants in the US were in Missouri, specifically, St. Louis and in Kansas City.

This information gave us the idea for “the BBQ run.” (We thought, why not try to do our own comparison between the two restaurants ourselves.) We were barely passed St. Louis that I proposed to turn around and head to Number Three on the 2015 List (and 2014 as well,) we re-directed ourselves to Bogart’s Smoke House.

IMG_8700

Until we decided to re-direct ourselves to St. Louis on our route, we were going to ditch the Arch.

IMG_8701

The arch is an impressive sight to behold from afar.

IMG_8702

And our route took us closer to it.

IMG_8704

In fact, the restaurant is on the other side of the arch from us.

IMG_8705

IMG_8706

My wife was able to catch an interesting shot of the arch through the panoramic glass roof.

IMG_8707

As well as our rearview mirror.

IMG_8708

Bogart’s Smoke House 

IMG_20150521_124516

We made it to Bogart’s Smoke House and found a line out the door. We queued up and parked the car down the street. However, as we were waiting in line, the prime parking spot in front of the restaurant opened up, and I moved the car.

IMG_8714

The barbecue was excellent, went with some ribs and brisket sandwich.

IMG_20150521_125759

Some happy diners seated outside and enjoying the sun in the picnic benches for some al fresco dining.

IMG_20150521_125722

The prime parking right in front of the restaurant has a meter, but is a great spot for pictures of the car with a really great restaurant in the background. Or a great shot of the restaurant with a great car in the foreground. Either way, it was cool to get the spot in front.

On the way to @TeslaMotors St Charles MO Supercharger... Bogart's BBQ in St. Louis! Roadtrip 2015!

IMG_8713

Now, if you visit Bogart’s we found out later that the parking on the street perpendicular to the entrance is free (right beside the same picnic benches that we sat and ate our lunch on.) But, the picture was worth paying St. Louis street parking.

IMG_20150521_132656

The line upon our arrival was much longer, however, there is still a line later in the lunch hour crowd.

IMG_20150521_132621

IMG_20150521_132752

The barbecue was not only top-notch, but the service was even better. The restaurant staff were very helpful and accommodating. We would not have heard of the picnic benches had we not been assisted by the restaurant staff. As a special treat, the chef was very friendly and welcoming to the diners and even posed for a picture with us.

IMG_20150521_131836

The barbecue restaurant in Kansas City, MO have very big shoes to fill.

We were full from lunch and happily headed back to St. Charles for our supercharge for our Missouri state crossing.

Before we started on our trip, remember the lack of 3G/Edge on the car’s Intenet connection, so I proceeded to reset the front panel and display by doing the reset pattern (press and hold the top two buttons (right and left) at the same time for a minimum ten seconds AND press and hold the two rocker wheels (right and left) at the same time for a minimum ten seconds.) Unfortunately, this did not resolve the 3G/Edge issue.

We wanted to stop off at the arch for a picture near the base, but the construction and other things made it difficult, so we pressed on.

IMG_8718

IMG_8719

Until we meet again St. Louis. And now, we’ve officially passed the “Gateway to the West.”

IMG_8720

As we headed toward St. Charles, I gave Tesla’s Roadside Assistance to help with the 3G/Edge issue. Roadside Assistance saw the signal from the car just fine. We determined that this was because we had it tethered to my Blackberry. However after we turned off the tether, it resolved itself. The agent said that he was just checking status and had not actually done anything else to fix it. So, we just made note of it and pressed on.

St. Charles Supercharger

This supercharger is interesting in that it had five stalls. Most superchargers are even and the St. Charles. When you’re faced with a choice to charge in a supercharger with an odd number of chargers, I would suggest to pick the sole A stall that does not have a B stall to pair it with. I would guess that that charger will not be split by any other car coming to charge.

As you can see, I didn’t follow my own advice. I was used to charging by myself on this trip.

IMG_0919

IMG_20150521_141553

Forgot to reset Trip B, so we decided to reset at St. Charles and calculate the first miles of the day as 159 miles. Remember the 518.8 miles that was on Trip B at the start. The distance between last night’s charge and the hotel at the start of the day is 0.8 miles, after all.

IMG_20150521_141601

IMG_20150521_141607

One of the main reasons why we supercharge extra miles is to be able to go on a “detour.” And we were rewarded with our stop in St. Louis today.

IMG_0920

IMG_0921

At the St. Charles Supercharger, we wanted to see what the navigation would do when one were to try to navigate from St. Charles Supercharger to the Independence Supercharger, the car will try to route you quite a ways around. 1,148 miles to travel a 213 mile distance. I suppose this is the appropriate time to remind folks that the trip planner on firmware 6.2 is still in beta.

IMG_20150521_141920

Here is the route when you force it to route directly. (i.e. select the “Remove all charging stops option.”

IMG_20150521_141938

It’s important to note that the car doesn’t trust that you’ll have enough charge to get from St. Charles to Independence. Note the empty battery with the red triangle through it and “–” percentage under the battery denotes that the car will think that you’ll be empty before you arrive at the location.

IMG_20150521_141948

Impromptu Tesla Model S Meetup

We’re not nearly as brave as others that have driven this route. We figure to stop off at Columbia, MO at one of the destination chargers enroute. To minimize the time spent at Columbia, MO high power wall charger (HPWC,) we decided to do a range charge. (Realizing that I haven’t defined this term in a while,) a range charge is when one charges the car to 100% of the battery’s capacity.

As we charged the car, other Model S soon started to arrive at this location.

The first to arrive was the P85D on the left. The car was driven by recent owners from Colorado on the way to Florida. They did the drive from Independence to St. Charles on one charge (driving very close to 65 mph for that route).

Shortly thereafter, a big SUV drove up to us to welcome us to the city and supercharger. The gentleman driving the vehicle was a member of the city council and helped approve the installation of the supercharger. We had good conversation and we thanked him for his vote.

IMG_20150521_151947

The other two Model S were driven by a couple of locals. Jim M and Matt M, no relation.

Matt works nearby and decided to just drop in and check out the new supercharger in his area. He was surprised by the number of Model S that were using the SCs when he arrived.

Jim is a very experienced Tesla owner and has actually done some several thousand mile roadtrips before the SCs were even in existence. Jim knew @LithieTWTesla and the HPWC that they share on Plugshare 30 miles West of St. Charles. However, we already had a plan to stop in Columbia, so we stuck with that.

IMG_0925

So, this is how an impromptu Tesla Meet-up was borne.

Now I planned to show the new D owners one of the benefits of standard (non Dual Drive) ownership and show our spare tire to him. However, when we tried to open the frunk, it jammed. Looking at a jammed frunk made me somewhat cross, so I called the Tesla St. Louis Service Center to see if they can fit us in. The service concierge went to check. However, one of the benefits with meeting with other Tesla owners is the fact that there is always someone who might know more about the car than you.

By the time the service advisor called back, my wife had told Jim what the problem was and he was in the process of teaching us how to fiddle with the manual frunk release.

IMG_20150616_175857

There is a release underneath the right side of the glove compartment. Pull it toward you (down and to the rear of the vehicle.)

IMG_20150616_175843

Once you pull that back, within the frunk is a button around the middle that you can depress and push slightly then pull up to release.

IMG_20150616_175934

IMG_20150616_175929

This took some fiddling, but it worked just fine and we cancelled our planned detour to the Tesla St. Louis Service Center.

The appearance of four Model S became the talk of SmashBurger (located right across the superchargers,) that one of the customers at SmashBurger, came out to ask us about the cars. We spoke to him about the benefits of EVs and Tesla and he was intrigued. Nothing drives home the point of limitless driving to someone located in the MidWest than showing him a California license plate. Additionally, those that are prone to purchasing American vehicles have no counter to the fact that Tesla is a decidedly American car, and more so when the Gigafactory is producing the batteries for the car’s use.

IMG_0926

With our range charge completed and our EV advocacy completed, we headed out toward Independence, MO with the plan to get dessert and coffee at Glenn’s Cafe at the Tiger Hotel in Columbia, MO.

IMG_20150521_154915

The route between St. Charles and Columbia is through Missouri Wine Country. We opted to skip it.

IMG_8734

The first “classic” water tower that we’ve spotted on this trip.

IMG_8736

Tiger Hotel, Columbia

The valet parking at the Tiger Hotel is shared with Glenn’s Cafe.

IMG_20150521_173637

We switched the car to valet mode and handed the valet our key.

IMG_20150521_173626

Prior to choosing to stop at the Tiger Hotel, we called ahead and inquired as to the charging policy. We were told that it is complimentary for guests of the hotel or Glenn’s Cafe. We were also told that the valet parking is $4.00 if we opted to just valet/charge the car. We chose to go for dessert and coffee at Glenn’s Cafe.

IMG_20150521_173633

When the valet parks the car, they will make a right at the first street ahead and an immediate right into the alley around the corner from the entrance to plug it in.

IMG_0928

The Tiger Hotel has both the HPWC and a J1772 charging station available to guests in the alley behind Glenn’s Cafe. Each charger is locked up in a box with a combination like below.

IMG_20150521_184036

IMG_0927

The HPWC is located in the rear box. The front box is where the J1772 is located.

IMG_20150521_184028

We plugged in and started charging with 79A/213V for an approximate 50 miles per hour rate.

IMG_20150521_184054

The Tiger Hotel is located a comfortable 103 mile distance from St. Charles Supercharger.

IMG_20150521_184101

IMG_20150521_184228

Some closer shots of the HPWC behind its locked cabinets.

IMG_20150521_184233

IMG_20150521_184235

IMG_20150521_184240

We made sure to check in to the the beta of the (now released) Teslarati App for iOS for this Tesla destination charger.

Glenn’s Cafe

Though we got to Glenn’s Cafe close to 5pm, we were determined to make it to Kansas City, MO to complete the BBQ Run.

IMG_20150521_175917

We had Bread Pudding – with whiskey sauce & chantilly cream.

IMG_8741

IMG_20150521_175920

And the Gold Brick Sundae – Brownie topped‏ w/ double bean vanilla ice cream, strawberries & banana topped w/ new orleans gold brick topping & whipped cream.

IMG_8740

The coffee was good, nothing spectacular, but the dessert made up for it. So a recharge for the car and travelers and we are good to roll.

IMG_20150521_184319

The Tiger Hotel

The Tiger Hotel lobby and entrance looks like it was restored well. This is a shot from where we waited for the valet to come back to take our ticket. The door pictured is the entrance to Glenn’s Cafe from the Tiger Hotel lobby.

IMG_8742

IMG_8743

From the valet, the entrance is just up these stairs.

IMG_8744

The lobby looks good, but we had a goal to cross Missouri today.

A picture of your travelers with the Glenn’s Cafe sign in the background.

IMG_20150521_185300

IMG_8745

And another shot of us with the Tiger Hotel sign in the background.

IMG_20150521_185315

We got our car back from the valet, switched back from valet mode to me and we were on the way to Kansas City for dinner and try to catch Joe’s Kansas City Bar-B-Que.

IMG_8747

Columbia is definitely a University town. That looks like a University building.

As we drove out of town and stopped at an intersection, we noticed a gentleman in a nice Porsche 911 that was checking out our Model S, not an entirely unheard of reaction on this trip. What was comical was my wife noticed the guy in the pickup beside him was checking out the 911.

IMG_8748

IMG_8750

Challenge of heading West is the sunset is ahead of you. The challenge with taking sunset pictures is choosing the one to share with our readers, so here are a bunch of sunset pictures, enjoy.

IMG_8757

IMG_8759

IMG_8761

IMG_8766

IMG_8776

IMG_8778

Switching devices gives us a different view of the things that we photograph.

IMG_8798

IMG_8800

IMG_8801

IMG_8804

Now these sunset pictures meant that it was going to be tough to make it to Joe’s Kansas City Bar-B-Que original ‘Gas Station’ location. So, we figured to call them to see if we can make arrangements to pay for our BBQ ahead and just take the order to go.

The GPS was estimating our arrival at their location around the 9pm closing time (with a variance +/- 5 minutes.) Around 8pm we called and spoke with the person on staff who answered the telephone to see if we can place an order for pickup. That person was unable to assist, so we asked for a manager. The manager was unwilling to take our order even when we offered to pay for the food ahead with a credit card.

So, the BBQ Run ended with a whimper and Bogart’s Smoke House won the contest by forfeit. It’s interesting to contrast the type of service and congenial nature of the staff that we received at Bogart’s with the somewhat irascible treatment that we received from the manager at Joe’s Kansas City Bar-B-Que. I don’t know about those that got to rank the place, but service is definitely something that I value, so we decided to just skip the place and proceed to the Independence Supercharger instead.

Independence Supercharger

Having nearly completed our Missouri crossing before the evening, we decided to press onto one more supercharger. We figured to find a place to stay at or near the Topeka Supercharger.

IMG_0930

IMG_8810

IMG_20150521_203924

IMG_20150521_203921

We were the only ones at the supercharger.

IMG_8811

The superchargers are located beside a Bass Pro Shop. Up until today, we’ve never been to a Bass Pro Shop. Since the shop was still open and I was curious, we decided to head into the shop.

IMG_8812

Bass Pro Shops

As I’ve mentioned numerous times, we’re “city kids.”

The Bass Pro Shop is a “trip.”

IMG_20150521_204316

It is huge and multi-leveled.

IMG_20150521_205021

The top level is apparel and the bottom level is something else.

IMG_20150521_205024

There’s an impressive aquarium stocked with fish. I don’t know what the purpose of the aquarium was, to practice fishing in, perhaps?

IMG_20150521_205128

IMG_20150521_205131

There were these “nature” scenes with what I hoped were animatronic animals, but would guess were probably not artificial.

IMG_20150521_205219

IMG_20150521_205231

IMG_20150521_205718

IMG_20150521_205722

So far, this is probably the closest I got to “wild” animals on the trip.

We stayed in the store until it closed and headed back to finish our charge in the car.

IMG_20150521_210106

IMG_0931

Once completed, we headed to Topeka.

Apparently Kansas has a Turnpike, ’cause we had to pay a toll when we took the drive to Topeka.

On the way there, there was this interesting truck and trailer that was ahead of us.

IMG_8816

Topeka Supercharger

So, a short drive from the Independence Supercharger, we found ourselves in Topeka. We were planning on staying at a hotel about a mile away from the Topeka Supercharger.

IMG_20150521_230355

IMG_20150521_230401

We decided to supercharge in the evening as we were still quite awake when we arrived in Topeka. So, we redirected ourselves from the hotel to the supercharger location.

The supercharger is located in the parking lot of an Arby’s that was already closed when we got there.

IMG_0932

There were hotels on the other side of the Arby’s but we decided to stay at the Hyatt Place about a mile away from the supercharger.

IMG_20150521_232619

IMG_20150521_232715

We charged the car to a high enough level so that we will not need to charge in the morning even if we lost ten miles of rated range.

Hyatt Place Topeka

The Hyatt Place Topeka is a very comfortable hotel. Hyatt has done a good job of ensuring that each location in Hyatt Place sub-brand is very close to how other Hyatt Place locations are. As a result, there’s a baseline one can expect. And this location met the expectations.

IMG_20150521_233354

IMG_20150521_233358

We arrived after 465 miles of driving, remember to add 159 miles to the total mileage for the day as we forgot to reset the mileage when we arrived at the St. Charles Supercharger. We checked in with 215 miles of rated range and a drive to the Rockies tomorrow.

Go on to Day 21. Click here.

20_Effingham to Topeka