Trip Report: San Francisco to North Lake Tahoe

[Flying ace]

Do you also have a quickjack for an easy swap?

No. Regular jack

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[CDT]

No problem charging at the Deerfield Rd. location. Not the fastest charge, but not that bad. Having access Tesla, charging in the Truckee area is game changing.
Absolutely gorgeous day and the snow was great. I have to say, with the racks and boards on top I get worse range than if I drive up alone with the board inside the vehicle. Which should come as no surprise.

 

[whitex]

These types of write ups are better than the guy who stopped 25 times on his Tesla going from California to South Carolina. I mentioned that trip to my wife and she said “he stopped 25 times to charge? Why???” That type of report is what still makes people have range anxiety and not move into EVs.

The likely answer to your wife's question is because they wanted to. How many times would she stop on the same trip with an ICE car (count all stops for food, bathroom, etc)? Sure, you can cannon-ball it, even switch drivers and pee in bottles, but why?

I took my Taycan from Valdosta, GA to Seattle, WA in the middle of winter - 29 charging stops, no complaints.
https://www.taycanforum.com/forum/threads/cross-country-in-a-cross-turismo.15020/

I did Toronto, ON (Canada) to Seattle, WA in a Tesla with 28 stops (included the pictures of those stops in the above linked thread too). Stopping every 2-3 hours is great for me, makes for quicker charging, usually just enough time to stretch the legs, use the facilities, refill coffee and snacks. I could have pushed for less stops, but why? I did the entire trip without any pre-planning, just got in the car and started driving.

Range anxiety is real, but often fueled by exaggerated news, and people's incorrect assumptions leading to irrational arguments (such arguments comparing number of gas stations vs. charging stations). I had range anxiety with my first EV in 2013, only had a 60kWh battery, but you know what, I made it work (back then a little pre-planning was necessary for road trips). Took me 3 years of EV driving before I got rid of our last ICE car from the garage, not going back. Drove coast-to-coast 3 times in EVs, zero drama. Take my J1.1 Taycan on road trips without any issues too, even though my wife's EV actually has higher range (but not as fun for me to drive). Now that Taycans have access to Tesla superchargers, this becomes even more trivial.

 

[Flying ace]

No problem charging at the Deerfield Rd. location. Not the fastest charge, but not that bad. Having access Tesla, charging in the Truckee area is game changing.
Absolutely gorgeous day and the snow was great. I have to say, with the racks and boards on top I get worse range than if I drive up alone with the board inside the vehicle. Which should come as no surprise.

Oh nice set-up! You're the first I've seen in the area with dedicated winter wheel style. What tires are you running?

And how was the snow quality?

 

[CDT]

Oh nice set-up! You're the first I've seen in the area with dedicated winter wheel style. What tires are you running?

And how was the snow quality?

The snow at Palisades was amazing! I have the Pirelli’s. There was some snow and slush on the roads and the tires worked well.

 

[CDT]

The likely answer to your wife's question is because they wanted to. How many times would she stop on the same trip with an ICE car (count all stops for food, bathroom, etc)? Sure, you can cannon-ball it, even switch drivers and pee in bottles, but why?

I took my Taycan from Valdosta, GA to Seattle, WA in the middle of winter - 29 charging stops, no complaints.
https://www.taycanforum.com/forum/threads/cross-country-in-a-cross-turismo.15020/

I did Toronto, ON (Canada) to Seattle, WA in a Tesla with 28 stops (included the pictures of those stops in the above linked thread too). Stopping every 2-3 hours is great for me, makes for quicker charging, usually just enough time to stretch the legs, use the facilities, refill coffee and snacks. I could have pushed for less stops, but why? I did the entire trip without any pre-planning, just got in the car and started driving.

Range anxiety is real, but often fueled by exaggerated news, and people's incorrect assumptions leading to irrational arguments (such arguments comparing number of gas stations vs. charging stations). I had range anxiety with my first EV in 2013, only had a 60kWh battery, but you know what, I made it work (back then a little pre-planning was necessary for road trips). Took me 3 years of EV driving before I got rid of our last ICE car from the garage, not going back. Drove coast-to-coast 3 times in EVs, zero drama. Take my J1.1 Taycan on road trips without any issues too, even though my wife's EV actually has higher range (but not as fun for me to drive). Now that Taycans have access to Tesla superchargers, this becomes even more trivial.

Access to Tesla chargers is a game changer even in California. Going to the Truckee area to snowboard was so much harder a year and a half ago. There were four electrify America chargers in the area, and I swear they’re the most used EAs in the United States. Now with Tesla, and I guess Rivian, open to other vehicles there are plenty of options.

 

[Flying ace]

Access to Tesla chargers is a game changer even in California. Going to the Truckee area to snowboard was so much harder a year and a half ago. There were four electrify America chargers in the area, and I swear they’re the most used EAs in the United States. Now with Tesla, and I guess Rivian, open to other vehicles there are plenty of options.

try the Rivian chargers, they are even less crowded and charges between 200kw -350kw

 

[Flying ace]

The likely answer to your wife's question is because they wanted to. How many times would she stop on the same trip with an ICE car (count all stops for food, bathroom, etc)? Sure, you can cannon-ball it, even switch drivers and pee in bottles, but why?

I took my Taycan from Valdosta, GA to Seattle, WA in the middle of winter - 29 charging stops, no complaints.
https://www.taycanforum.com/forum/threads/cross-country-in-a-cross-turismo.15020/

I did Toronto, ON (Canada) to Seattle, WA in a Tesla with 28 stops (included the pictures of those stops in the above linked thread too). Stopping every 2-3 hours is great for me, makes for quicker charging, usually just enough time to stretch the legs, use the facilities, refill coffee and snacks. I could have pushed for less stops, but why? I did the entire trip without any pre-planning, just got in the car and started driving.

Range anxiety is real, but often fueled by exaggerated news, and people's incorrect assumptions leading to irrational arguments (such arguments comparing number of gas stations vs. charging stations). I had range anxiety with my first EV in 2013, only had a 60kWh battery, but you know what, I made it work (back then a little pre-planning was necessary for road trips). Took me 3 years of EV driving before I got rid of our last ICE car from the garage, not going back. Drove coast-to-coast 3 times in EVs, zero drama. Take my J1.1 Taycan on road trips without any issues too, even though my wife's EV actually has higher range (but not as fun for me to drive). Now that Taycans have access to Tesla superchargers, this becomes even more trivial.

yeah that trip report was a great read, and you did it in 2023 before the current infrastructure build out. Today, you can do this coast to coast trip without using Tesla nor EA and soley by using Pilot Flying J/Travel Centers and Ionna!

I also agree that stopping every 2-3 hrs is the normal practice. People theorizing driving 4+ hr stints (300 miles) is doing it to abuse themselves. I recall in my 20's doing a 4 hr stint was VERY UNCOMFORTABLE. An EV with 250+ miles is not as important as a fast charging EV. I'm 43 years old and typically do these distance drives with kids in the back, we MUST stop every 2 hrs for food/bathroom breaks, which is 150-180 miles. Heck, even at our stops, we stay at least 20-30 minutes, so even a 400v car charging at 120-150 kw gets a sufficient charge in 20 minutes, on a preconditioned 800v car and beginning a charge at 35% or so, you'll be at 90% by that time.

This range anxiety is overblown or non-existent. Are people simply watching videos from 5 years ago?

 

[Flying ace]

anyone going up this weekend?

 

[Flying ace]

3rd trip to North Tahoe this winter. 2.4 miles/kwh going up, full load, 20 inch winter tire.

Crossed paths with this Taycan CT on the road and at the charger on Auburn

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