800 mile road trip through Colorado Rockies

[Tighlines]

After nearly 3 years of ownership, I finally took my car on an extended road trip. Ft. Collins to Telluride Co, 800 miles, all through the Rockies during the peak leave changing season. This is the kind of drive where you expect minor damage and hope to avoid major damage and I definitely incurred minor damage. A new windshield and some off road fender parts will need to be replaced. All-in-all, I'm ok with that result.

I charged 3 times on the way down and 3 on the way back, 2 at EA stations and 1 at Chargepoint, each way. Charging went flawlessly, quick, easy, no complaints.

The car performance was amazing. I honestly can't think of a better car for shredding mountain passes. My radar detector saved me many times. On one pass I could see a 911 aggressively passing cars behind me. It didn't take long before he was behind me and fortunately traffic opened up right then. We both punched it at the same time (I could see the vaporized dinosaur cloud behind his car) and we launched up the hill as I was slowly pulling away, I hit 135 before pulling over and letting him pass (which I blame on my wife). Turns out it was a 911TS (2017ish) and I think the altitude gave me the advantage, his HP down around 20% due to the ~9,000ft elevation. It's always awesome when you find a dance partner at the perfect time.

Some other photos from Telluride

And Vail

Very happy with the trip but not sure I'll be doing too many more in the Taycan due to the high probability of car damage.

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[cometguy]

how did the damage occur? I've done a bunch of off-pavement driving the past year in my Taycan (a small portion of 15k miles across 17 states and 3 provinces in the past year), and zero damage...

 

[Tighlines]

While doing some off-roading, I misjudged a dip and scraped the left front bumper and I think this flexed the bumper and broke the seal on the off road cladding, later causing the cladding to fly off at high speeds.

A rock totally smoked the windshield leaving a baseball size snowflake.
I realize both of these issues could have occurred anywhere and anytime. I do around 30k miles a year in my truck throughout Colo and Wyoming and the amount of debris, animals, stupid tourists, truckers, rock slides, rock salt, bad weather, road damage, etc... keeps me from subjecting that car to it when I don't have to.

 

[cometguy]

While doing some off-roading, I misjudged a dip and scraped the left front bumper and I think this flexed the bumper and broke the seal on the off road cladding, later causing the cladding to fly off at high speeds.

A rock totally smoked the windshield leaving a baseball size snowflake.
I realize both of these issues could have occurred anywhere and anytime. I do around 30k miles a year in my truck throughout Colo and Wyoming and the amount of debris, animals, stupid tourists, truckers, rock slides, rock salt, bad weather, road damage, etc... keeps me from subjecting that car to it when I don't have to.

Yep, I've done a lot of off-pavement driving in the Rockies in that same region (usually Forest Service roads) in my Volvo XC60 and my Macan, but don't think I'd take my Taycan CT on those same roads (surely not without a full-size spare wheel/tire in the back).

 

[MoniqueDenver]

Tighlines, what incredible pictures! Just bought mine in January. I'm Denver based. I have done a number of trips through CO. The most similar is Durango to Denver. As a test, I put it in Range mode (admittedly not as much fun as sport) and only needed one charge in Salida at Mojo's eatery (my FAVORITE charger. It was June. [Mojo's Eatery's food is fantastic and the charger is right next to the restaurant.] If you ever need a guide to the best chargers, let me know.

I was considering a drive to Big Sky, MT via Wyoming (talk about car damage), but I literally can't get there from here because only two Tesla Super Chargers work with the Taycan.

I'm sorry to hear about your damage. I've done 'soft' roading, but I admit I go at a crawls pace and have most of the car wrapped in ppf. (And full windshield replacement insurance.)

I love the story of the 911. I'm sure he was shocked and impressed that a 'golf cart' beat him. Smooth. hahaha

 

[Tighlines]

Tighlines, what incredible pictures! Just bought mine in January. I'm Denver based. I have done a number of trips through CO. The most similar is Durango to Denver. As a test, I put it in Range mode (admittedly not as much fun as sport) and only needed one charge in Salida at Mojo's eatery (my FAVORITE charger. It was June. [Mojo's Eatery's food is fantastic and the charger is right next to the restaurant.] If you ever need a guide to the best chargers, let me know.

I was considering a drive to Big Sky, MT via Wyoming (talk about car damage), but I literally can't get there from here because only two Tesla Super Chargers work with the Taycan.

I'm sorry to hear about your damage. I've done 'soft' roading, but I admit I go at a crawls pace and have most of the car wrapped in ppf. (And full windshield replacement insurance.)

I love the story of the 911. I'm sure he was shocked and impressed that a 'golf cart' beat him. Smooth. hahaha

Yes. Wyoming is the worst. Ido see a lot of tesla's up there but nothing else. Commercial and oilfield trucking is the match to a combustible environment that is not friendly to our cars. I only drive my truck up there, trying to blend in...

Im sure the 911 was surprised that a lil ol' 4S could pull like that. Of course, he had no idea the redshift tune sweetsopt is 50mph to 140

 

[cometguy]

Tighlines, what incredible pictures! Just bought mine in January. I'm Denver based. I have done a number of trips through CO. The most similar is Durango to Denver. As a test, I put it in Range mode (admittedly not as much fun as sport) and only needed one charge in Salida at Mojo's eatery (my FAVORITE charger. It was June. [Mojo's Eatery's food is fantastic and the charger is right next to the restaurant.] If you ever need a guide to the best chargers, let me know.

I was considering a drive to Big Sky, MT via Wyoming (talk about car damage), but I literally can't get there from here because only two Tesla Super Chargers work with the Taycan.

I'm sorry to hear about your damage. I've done 'soft' roading, but I admit I go at a crawls pace and have most of the car wrapped in ppf. (And full windshield replacement insurance.)

I love the story of the 911. I'm sure he was shocked and impressed that a 'golf cart' beat him. Smooth. hahaha

I see EA in Cheyenne and Casper, then only a couple of single 60-kW dealership DCFC pumps between Casper and Billings (280 miles). Then there's no DCFC til Bozeman, but that's only 145 miles, so not a problem. Big Sky is only 45 miles from Bozeman, so not a problem. It's just that Casper-Billings stretch along I-90 where you'd have to depend on those two dealerships. Somehow all the cars in Kyle Conner's "I-90 Surge" run from Seattle to Boston made it through this area ok, including their (new-gen) Taycan. Hopefully these off-limits Tesla Superchargers will open up soon to us. But it shows that DCFC infrastructure is woeful in the states bordering Canada from Idaho to Maine (especially the northern halves of all those states); I wonder how long it'll take to fill out DCFC stations there.

 

[gnr3312]

I see EA in Cheyenne and Casper, then only a couple of single 60-kW dealership DCFC pumps between Casper and Billings (280 miles). Then there's no DCFC til Bozeman, but that's only 145 miles, so not a problem. Big Sky is only 45 miles from Bozeman, so not a problem. It's just that Casper-Billings stretch along I-90 where you'd have to depend on those two dealerships. Somehow all the cars in Kyle Conner's "I-90 Surge" run from Seattle to Boston made it through this area ok, including their (new-gen) Taycan. Hopefully these off-limits Tesla Superchargers will open up soon to us. But it shows that DCFC infrastructure is woeful in the states bordering Canada from Idaho to Maine (especially the northern halves of all those states); I wonder how long it'll take to fill out DCFC stations there.

Are these some Tesla charging stations not open to non-Tesla EVs? How would I avoid these using their app or Porsche’s?

 

[cometguy]

Are these some Tesla charging stations not open to non-Tesla EVs? How would I avoid these using their app or Porsche’s?

The Tesla iPhone app and Plugshare both show that about 1/3 of all Tesla supercharger stations remain closed to non-Teslas... Not sure about the Porsche iPhone app; I don't use that for any charging, ever.

 

[Tighlines]

Are these some Tesla charging stations not open to non-Tesla EVs? How would I avoid these using their app or Porsche’s?

I have the Tesla app and there are about 4 tesla stations that will charge Taycans in WY. All in the center of the state and none on I25 and I80, which is the only place you really need them. Driving into a typical 60mph WY breeze will drop your range to worthless.

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