Brian's Blog: Teslacation 2015 - Proving You Can Travel in a Tesla Model S

The most common question we recieve about our all electric Tesla Model S 85D is 'How far does it go?' quickly followed by 'How long does it take to charge?' My answers are '270 miles' and 'it depends' respectively. I believe the real information being sought is 'can I travel with it'. To find out more, my wife Jodi and I took our car, 'Tess', for a trip from our home in Des Moines, IA to the Black Hills of South Dakota and beyond. This is our story.

Day 1 - September 6th, 2015

The first day we traveled from Des Moines to Murdo, SD via I35 and I90. We had stops to use Tesla Superchargers in Albert Lea, MN (where we grabbed a quick snack), Worthington, MN (where we grabbed lunch), Mitchell, SD (where we visited the world's only Corn Palace), and ended our trip for the day at the Range Country hotel next to the Murdo, SD Superchargers. Charging times required were between 10 to 30 minutes. We consumed quite a bit less energy than predicted on the first leg since we had a 10 MPH tailwind. We used more energy than expected when traveling in SD. South Dakota recently increased their speed limit to 80 MPH and the car didn't seem to account for this or the 10-15 MPH headwind we experienced later in the day. At no time were we at risk of running out of energy.

Learning for the Day:

The Model S doesn't currently seem to account for wind very accuratly and the speed limit in SD may need to be updated in its software.
The corn palace is not entirely made from corn...potentially more disappointing than the software refinements required.

Day 2 - September 7th, 2015

We started the day in Murdo. Our first stop was to travel through the Badlands National Park. We arrived after a brief downpour so we didn't do much hiking because we didn't want to get too much mud in Tess. From there we stopped at Wall Drug...who couldn't, we'd only seen signs pointing us in that direction for hundreds of miles! Jodi and I enjoyed a maple doughnut and Tess took an opportunity to get a photo with this landmark attraction.

From there we headed to Rapid City to Supercharge. Our next activity was going to be scenic driving and we weren't sure what energy consumption would look like so we did a 100% charge while we checked out the adjacent mall for about an hour. While the scenic drive had more elevation changes than we are used to, we didn't go very fast so we had plenty of energy. We took the blue route on the map below and headed from Rapid City to Nemo (not the fish), Sturgis, Deadwood, Lead, around to Spearfish, and then I90 back to Rapid City. Along the way we stopped at Roughlock Falls were we drove Tess on an unpaved road for the first time. We spent the night in a hotel near the Supercharger in Rapid City, SD.

Learning for the Day:

Scenic driving takes much less energy than highway driving.
Wall Drug's maple doughnuts are quite tasty.

Experience I never thought I'd have: Driving Tess on an unpaved road

Day 3 - September 8th, 2015

Since we had not charged the night before, I charged the car at the Supercharger that morning, again to 100% since we had big plans for the day. We then headed through the Black Hills on the Orange/Red route (map below) - roads specifically design for beauty and an exciting driving experience. Our first stop was Mount Rushmore, then down the Iron Mountain Road to Custer State Park for the Wildlife Loop Road. Along the road we ran across some bison (commonly called buffalo), and then up the Needles Highway. The bison experience was interesting as they were so close to our car Tess was giving us proximity warnings! We finished the day at Crazy Horse Memorial and then onto Custer where we stayed at one of the hotels with Destination Charging.

Learning for the Day:

Driving the car was a very enjoyable experience. Great handling and the regenerative breaking means you never use the brakes. It worked like a champ on the steep grades and made driving a breeze.
The panoramic roof can come in handy for photographing bison.
Electric vehicles don't alarm bison nearly as much as IC engine vehicles
Destination charging is a beautiful thing. More hotels and attractions need to consider this.

Experience I never thought I'd have: Driving Tess on among the Tatonka

Day 4 - September 9th, 2015

This day we decided to push the range a bit (in our minds at least). We had calculated it out, consulted with Tess, and then made the decision to head on to Devils Tower in Wyoming. Estimates had us with 10-20% charge remaining once we got back to Rapid City with absolutely zero charging options along our route since we had neglected to pack our wall charger. We drove a little under the speed limit on the way out and used only about 75% of the predicted energy. We got to see Devils Tower and go back to Rapid City (driving the speed limit of 80 MPH) with no issues. We charged, caught up on email and the Apple event that took place earlier that day, and then headed out to Murdo to spend the night at Range Country again but not before stopping at Wall Drug for another maple doughnut.

Learning for the Day:

Driving just a bit slower can conserve quite a bit of energy.
A typographical error resulted in the name Devils Tower rather than Devil's Tower...thank you whoever invented spell check.

Day 5 - September 10th, 2015

This day was the reverse of Day 1. Rather than visiting the Corn Palace we stopped in Sioux Falls, SD to visit Falls Park. We got home with 20% charge remaining.

Learning for the Day:

The more charging stops you do, the better you get at them. We enjoyed a snack at a grocery store in Mitchell, lunch in Worthington, and a snack and conversation with other Tesla owners in Albert Lea.
This was the first day we saw any other Teslas. One was heading west on I90 in SD, a red 85 in Worthington, and 2 in Albert Lea.

Overall Comments

Distance Traveled: 1,838 Miles
Energy Consumed: 571 kWh
Average Energy Consumption: 310 Wh/mi
Energy cost based on 'summer rates' $63.63
Energy cost based on 'normal rates' $38.35
Except for the final charge once we returned home, we paid nothing...our actual cost $6.63 for our final charge based on summer rates ($4.01 for normal rates)
Cost in an equivalent gasoline vehicle based on our historically low gas cost of $2.60 and 22 MPG = $217.22
We had anticipated full auto pilot to be available for this trip...still waiting

Conclusion

Not only is traveling in our Model S completely possible, the range estimate is generally quite accurate, it's very enjoyable, and our cost was only 3% of what our cost would have been driving a similar gasoline powered car!

The stops to charge are a bit longer than typical pit stops but are something that is very doable and the more you do them, the better you get at them. As the charging networks expand, it'd be nice to see more charging at attractions.

If traveling is keeping anyone away from buying a long range electric vehicle, I think it's fair to say that you need not worry. The quietness, smoothness, and enjoyment far outweigh the bit of extra time you spend on the road...I like to look at it as a bit of extra time I was able to spend with Jodi.