Wow that was cool...Denver to Bend first EV trip

Bikegolfski

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Joe
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I flew to mile high city from Bend OR to take delivery of our 2021 4ct. Having lived in Denver I was looking forward to seeing a few friends and deciding whether to drive the CT home. The morning after acquiring the car I pulled the trigger and began the trip home. With only 30 miles on the odometer my first stop was a charging exercise at a Electrify America charger. The first hand shake via the Porsche connect app failed but a call to EA was very helpful and successfully engaged the charging station. The customer service from EA was outstanding and I had zero issues the remainder of the trip with the Connect App or EA. While I was executing my first charging session ever it was snowing cats and dog. Big wet flake making the roads more wet than anything. The forecast was for flurries up the I 70 corridor so I decided to press on. Oh boy, the snow never relented full blow wet snow packed greasy roads all the way up to the Eisenhower tunnel. The CT handled to foul roads like a champ, one of the most stable snow cars I've ever driven! I was told I 70 shut down an hour behind me. The only thing unusual was all the driving aid sensors went offline which didn't really surprise my for the crazy slushy, snowy roads. Because of the crappy conditions I decided to stay the night with friends in Vail. My buddy was quite impressed with the new ride and fortunately encouraged me to rinse off the car at a near by car wash. That was a good move, there was more than a half an inch of solid ice caked on the nose of the CT! That night I parked in my friends garage and tried the ac charging cable, slow. It took awhile to figure out the 50% charge setting on the Porsche charger, 100% is slow enough 50% is silly. Although I gained very little mileage it was helpful to leave with batteries that were at least a bit warmed up. The temp was below 20 degrees when I left. Boise would be my next destination via Salt Lake. I drove the speed limit most of the leg sans the last couple of hours in the dark to Boise. I slowed down to 70 mph more for deer avoidance than power conservation. I stopped for the night in Boise. The next day would bring me home to Bend. I was a bit anxious about this leg. Nearly all rural highways, cold temps, 340 mile and only one DC charger in Burns OR 185 up hill freezing miles away. Staying in Boise was my only planning error. I should have charged up and driven another 60 mile to Ontario OR and plugged in for the night. That would have eliminated all range anxiety, live and learn. As it was I babied the Taycan pretty much hypermiling to Ontario, catching a ride behind a semi driving 70mph. For the rest of the leg I stayed under 55 and only drove the speed limit once my arrival to Burns was assured. I hit the Charge Point charger with 44 miles to spare. This was my only out of pocket charging expense, 20 bucks I believe. The last 130 miles to Bend was delightful.
Here's a few notes:
1. Although I have never owned a EV I had done my research and knew what to expect. (Plug share trip planning)
2. Electrify America worked better than expected and the customer service was outstanding (200kwh charging a few times)
3. The Porsche Connect app functioned okay but I didn't really feel like I used it to it's potential
4. The Taycan range estimates were spot on overall.
5. .4 KWH at 80mph freezing temps (how does that compare to a tesla?)
6. EV travel added more travel time than I expected but I hardly noticed it sans an 1.5 hour traffic delay between Provo and Salt Lake.
Cheers
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Xesed

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My first trip this year was to Denver. I had dreamed of going there since I watched the first season of Paper House, starring Denver, a member of the robbery crew. It really is a beautiful city worth living in. But we did not stop on this trip and decided to travel to British Columbia with the family, and the website https://karpiakcaravan.com/a-day-at-johnson-lake-bc-with-kids/ helped us in choosing the place. This place was Johnson Lake near Barriere is one of the prettiest lakes in BC, and it is no wonder why it is so popular among locals.
 
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