With a hat-tip to the 2004 TV mini-series from Ewan McGregor and Charley Boorman. This is the thirteenth day in a series of posts written about our 2016 EV Roadtrip written in the same manner as our 2015 trip. Here, There, and EVerywhere Trip – Day 01, i.e. summaries written for each day of the trip, published each day, this time two months from the day of the trip. It may seem funny to some to have a summer trip published at the start of the Fall, think of it as some daily entertainment for those that are back in their offices thinking about their past summer trips that could have been or thinking about their next trip.
Missed the previous day’s post, click here to read Day 12 of this trip. You’re just joining us on this trip? Click here for Day 1 and start from the beginning!
So, why the long way round? Well… We got four referrals on the Fourth Tesla Referral Program (May 30, 2016 to July 15, 2016) and we expected to get an invite to the Gigafactory Party, so we thought to start our trip and go to Reno (a nearly 500 mile direct drive from home) via the Pacific Northwest (about a 1600 mile detour) with the intermediate goal of attending the EV Roadmap 9 Conference in Portland, visiting family who were spending time in Seattle, WA and family in Vancouver, BC before turning back for the party.
So, what do we have in store today? We had no real plans, hang out in Reno to help open the Reno Supercharger with TMC and then head South, our initial plan was to head to Napa Valley area and check out the new Napa Supercharger and possibly do some wine tasting.
Day 13 – Reno, NV – Southbound. July 30, 2016
We headed to Atlantis Resort to have our final goodbyes at the TMC Connect breakfast. It was an opportunity to say hi and goodbye to friends and join them celebrate the Grand Opening of the Reno Supercharger.
As we headed out of breakfast from TMC Connect, we passed by one of the most NON EV vehicles made and I couldn’t help but take a photo.
The Hummer must be the nadir of all personal vehicle production and it is always important to note where we came from to see where we can improve to.
Many of those Teslas that were parked here for the weekend were still around this Saturday.
And there were also some new Teslas to join the party.
Some came to Reno from even farther locations than we did…
Some Non-Tesla EVs were there to join in the party.
And there was a small festival atmosphere.
All stalls were full and there was a wait in line.
The Supercharger grand opening in Reno had no official Tesla presence. The closest thing to an official presence is the user community from Tesla Motors Club.
Nevertheless, it was well attended.
One thing to note is how the supercharger in Reno is constructed.
The equipment supporting the superchargers are in a locked shed.
This would be a great if the shed was air conditioned. I did not notice any such air conditioning or ventilation in the shed, so I wonder how this would affect the reliability of this site.
After the Reno Supercharger Grand Opening, we decided to head South and our plan was to see if we can head to Napa for the weekend. We had no hotel reserved at this time, and went on our way.
Before we left Reno, we saw a new icon on a supercharger on the route and decided to check it out. It was a warning sign to expect reduced service at Tejon Ranch. The 395 Route through the mountains also had a supercharger with the same warning sign. Since we were planning to head to Napa, we’re more interested in the US-101 or I-5 route.
And we head back to California… After all, Napa is the plan of the moment.
We opted to stop off at the Original Truckee Supercharger for a quick charge and coffee.
Truckee Supercharger (Donner Summit)
Needless to say, it was quite full this afternoon.
We took the last stall. And quickly marvelled at how clean the car looks from a few days ago.
There were still several more in line when we started our charge.
I was craving coffee… So, we went to the first Starbucks that we spotted… There was one inside the grocery…
Well, if you don’t care about earning your stars from the Starbucks reward program, or paying more for the coffee, this would be ok… However, there was an actual Starbucks location on the other side of the grocery location.
We get back to our car to see that there is still a line. Welcome to California, we have supercharger congestion.
We didn’t really have a destination, but the GPS thinks that we do, and it says to slow down to get there with enough charge.
Roseville Supercharger
Our third stop today is at the Roseville Supercharger.
We were a little patriotic with our charge at the Roseville Supercharger. Heck I think FRANCE would be happy with how those Model S look! (oops, quick Google search and France goes Blue, White, and Red…)
The stalls were pretty full here too, but it’s at a shopping mall, so that’s sort of expected on a Saturday.
It was hot around us, so we made sure to keep the air conditioning cranked up.
While charging at Roseville, we tried to see if we can find a place to stay in Napa for the night. It looks like many of the hotels we would consider were either sold out or very expensive. (READ: $100 hotel rooms for $450 a night). Furthermore, the very helpful agent (we decided to call as well) found us a room… an hour North of where we are now… We’re not back-tracking…
So, we thought to head South and try our luck with other destinations… Perhaps San Francisco, or Santa Cruz…
As we headed South, we see another BMWi i3 chasing us… It seems that we’ve been spotting a lot of these on our West Coast trip.
We decided to continue the drive and encountered some “excitement on the drive.” There was a small brush fire started on the other side of the freeway.
We drove through the smoke and slowed down.
That looks like the start of a brush fire on a very hot day.
We decided to head toward the Vacaville Supercharger as we’ve never been there. So, we took some back roads to get there.
Back road routes in California definitely feel a little “dryer” and “dustier” than the ones in Washington State.
Vacaville Supercharger
But the handy, dandy GPS in the car directed us well and we find ourselves at the Vacaville Supercharger.
This supercharger is also located at a shopping center. This time at some outlet stores. Still a pretty full lot, and we were still looking for places to stay. So far, we’re headed INLAND and away from “fun communities to visit.” This is one of the drawbacks to “winging it” on a Summer Weekend in California. Based on what we were seeing at this point of our drive, we consider heading home.
We were sort of “out of position” to head to Harris Ranch safely that we decided to traverse over to Manteca Supercharger first, and then resume our “usual” Interstate 5 route…
…perhaps we’ll finally catch a Pasta truck on this drive.
Leaving Vacaville, we can see why the town was named as such when a ton of cows appear on the side of the road. Though, I suppose from the cow’s perspective, we appeared ON the road.
The city is full of cows.
We’re definitely taking the “back roads” to get to Manteca.
Looks like some sheep or goat join us on this road…
Even more cows…
And what do we spot in the distance? Are those windmills?
Yes, they’re windmills, say the cows…
The windmills keep getting my attention.
It’s a good thing that my better half took over this portion of the drive. I was getting tired and was supposed to take a quick nap between Vacaville and Manteca… HOWEVER, she said to do so once I get her on the freeway… umm… This is a BACKROAD drive, and has been for a while. I’m not getting that nap on this leg.
Here’s one I call windmills and cows…
And a close-up of both.
And we leave windmill country and get closer to Manteca.
We cross some vineyards…
I really am not getting a nap on this part of the drive. I think we found the parts of California with no freeways.
At least it’s not a one lane road.
Oh, thank goodness… A freeway sign!
Back on the freeway.
There’s a port in Stockton… I thought Stockton was inland.
A nice, wide freeway…
…but the GPS takes us off it again as we near Manteca.
Manteca Supercharger
And back at the Manteca Supercharger. The better half still doesn’t know about my apprehension for this location because of the July 3rd entry on Teslarati, it’s one of a few comments, so could just be a one-time thing.
Yup, we’re committed to head home now… Better half decided to keep driving to Harris Ranch, and we’re NOW on a freeway, so I can actually take a nap while she drives.
Pretty uneventful drive to Harris Ranch with the exception of the GPS doing some “weird routing”.
We decided to just stay on the “usual route” we check our device maps to see if anything pops up that would force us to take the weird route, and just plodded through with no incident.
Harris Ranch Supercharger
We’re back at Harris Ranch Supercharger.
It was pretty lonely here on a Saturday night…
Everyone else must have booked their rooms ahead of time.
We switch drivers and head to Buttonwillow. Late night driving on Interstate 5 is pretty boring and I’m sure one of those times that one wishes an Auto Pilot version of the Model S. Perhaps when we get our Model 3 our drives will be in that instead.
Buttonwillow Supercharger
We’re alone at Buttonwillow at nearly 1:00 AM on Sunday morning.
This is our last supercharge before we get home.
After being on the road for almost two weeks, It’s always good to get home.
And that’s why we charge up in Buttonwillow. We get home with 67 miles left “on the tank.”
There’s a software update available that downloaded while we were driving.
Set the update to complete later in the morning…
Go to sleep around 3:30 am and wake up to a fully charged car.
Oh, with new software too…
So how was the trip? Give me a few days to rest and digest and come back tomorrow for the wrap-up, trip statistics, and lessons learned. (one quick one from today, there is a benefit to planning ahead for lodging. It would have been more fun to be in the Wine Country, but am glad to be home in my own bed.)
The next post of this series is the wrap-up and available here.
It’s important to note that our Gigafactory invite would not have been possible had folks not used our referral code. So, I have to thank those that were convinced to pick up a Tesla Model S or Model X and decided to save some money by using our referral code. So, if you’re as inclined as those that took us up on the offer, and in the market for a Tesla Model S or Model X, you can save $1,000 USD/$1,200 CAD/£750 GBP (and whatever the equivalent is in your market) if you use our referral code – http://ts.la/dennis5317.
