Preface:
I decided to move nearly across the country, due to personal reasons, but the reason to buy a Tesla model 3 was due to its incredible value. Initially when I decided to upgrade from my still pretty new 2018 Honda Accord LX, I was looking for a car to at minimum have some sort of comfort features like adaptive cruise control as well as some advanced safety features like lane keeping, without completely breaking the bank. I also wanted a car that had some sort of built in navigation (mainly android auto/Apple Car Play) and most of the options I was faced with which were around the same price range as a model 3 didn’t seem as appealing and in fact ended up costing much more since the safety features were not standard. So I went ahead and jumped on the model 3.
My original plan was to leave earlier so I would have more time to check out various sites along the way, but I kept getting delayed. I always wanted to take this specific route though. My main motivation was to check out Mount Rushmore, and get a chance to check out Utah and some places in Wyoming. I originally planned on going through the north of Wyoming to get to Yellow Stone and Teton, but mother nature threw me a curve ball.
I will also be shamelessly using this blog about my trip to try and sell some of my pictures which I took within the last year. Feel free to follow me on Instagram : @AbhiSnapsPhotos to follow my shenanigans.
My first leg of the trip, I charged up the car to about 220mi, stopped in Troy Mi for a very late breakfast and left around 12:30/1pm on Sunday April 07th. My intention was to stop every hour or so since I was traveling with my dog, I wanted to give her sometime to stretch and walk around. My first leg of the trip was me getting familiar with the car, I am a fairly anxious person and I felt nervous charging at the recommended stations provided by Tesla’s navigation which provides an optimal number of stops based on your charges. I want to really drive home the point that I did not charge at Tesla recommended charging stations or for the recommended times, because I often charged up more than what was recommended and incurred higher than usual rates for charging. But all said and done, this leg of the trip was the least stressful and most straightforward drive.
For those who live in Michigan and were wondering how the drive to Chicago is in a Tesla, I can say from experience its a cake walk. I have driven to Chicago a few times now with a few different cars, but the comfort of the model 3 and being forced to stop at least once during the trip actually makes you feel less tired. That is coming from someone who never used to stop on road trips unless its for gas.
After Chicago the drive was alot more peaceful, perhaps that was because I was traveling on a Sunday night, but Wisconsin seemed quiet beautiful, and had a surprising amount of super chargers, more than you would expect! Google maps estimated 9 hours but in total the entire trip took me about 12 to 13 hours. I spent the night in La Crosse WI, because of its proximity to a super charger. My plan was to spend the night at La Crosse, get up early charge up and get on another 12/13 hour trip all the way to Rapid City, South Dakota.
Second Leg:
For the second leg, I forced myself to get up early and leave early since I knew I was in for a long drive, especially with my range anxiety I knew I was going to stop more than what was required/ recommended. Before I leaving, I was able to check out the surrounds and was able to get a nice long walk in for both me and for my dog, Sophia. I left La Crosse, an extremely beautiful town in Wisconsin, around 7:30am to head to Rapid City SD.
My first stop was in a small charging station off the freeway in Albert Lea MN, not too much here, there was a McDonald’s which was pretty nice, I left here as soon as the Tesla navigator said I could leave and make it to the next super charger with at least 20% charge remaining. The trip to the next super charger was nice, and kind of scenic but man it was windy and cold, that combined with the fact that I completely loaded up my model 3 with stuff, made my power consumption much higher than I initially thought. My next stop was Worthington MN, nothing too special here, it was right across a holiday inn express, charged up and headed to Mitchell SD. Mitchell was a pretty decent stop, I was able to walk the dog around, donate some stuff at goodwill and use the restroom at DQ. My next stop was Oacoma, which was actually a pretty awesome drive in. When you are getting closer to Oacoma, you see this huge body of water and it looks awesome! There was also a cool looking buffalo statue across the street. I wanted to stick around a bit longer and grab a bite and explore the surroundings, but it was getting late and I wanted to keep on schedule as much as I possibly could.
On to the next one! My last stop before Rapid City was Murdo SD. Murdo seemed like a very small town, there wasnt too much, the lady at the lobby of the hotel was pretty nice, let me get some coffee and use the restroom. I really charged up my car before heading out of Murdo, I charged for about an hour and 10 min, mainly due to my anxiousness and hearing that Murdo to rapid city is pretty rough due to the altitude changes. I left with the battery at 231mi of range, at the time I was nervous since I was traveling with a bunch of luggage and since I wasn’t sure how much the extra weight would set me back especially if I was to go uphill. Safe to say it was a tad unnecessary, I was able to reach Rapid City with around 30-35% of my charge left.
Once I got to Rapid City, even though it was late, I instantly fell in love with the city. I was different from most other cities I visited. It had that downtown feel to it, but it also felt like there was a lot of culture and heritage that was very proudly displayed in the forms of statues and monuments.
Third Leg:
I can not stress this enough, Rapid City is awesome! I loved the people and I loved the city, I got a chance to walk around the city for a bit in the morning. I wanted to stay longer, however we were issued a blizzard warning for the next morning, so I thought to myself I should drive as much as I can so I could avoid this blizzard before it hits. I left Rapid City with about a hundred or so miles of range, and headed for Mount Rushmore.
They way to Mt. Rushmore was straight forward, literally…I went straight on a single road and it took me to Mount Rushmore! The road to Rushmore was pretty steep, but it wasn’t too bad. The drive up was scenic as hell though. I never knew how beautiful South Dakota was till that drive. I was able to understand why the monument was built where it was, they could only construct a monument of such importance in such a beautiful location. When you are driving up to the entrance you can actually see the monument multiple times during the drive up. Once I got there, I tried to be as quick as possible to not waste time before I was hit with the storm. So I took a few pictures, and did not stay too long, (Dog wasn’t allowed with me and I didn’t want her to be alone in the car too long, even with dog mode on). Also just a side note, when you are leaving Rushmore you can catch a pretty nice side view of George Washington’s head. The rest of the drive out to Cluster, was absolutely breath taking, I cannot imagine how amazing it would look during Autumn, it was a mixture of mountain-y terrain and trees everywhere.
I made it to Cluster just fine but needed to charge up. Cluster is a small town near what seemed like the base of the mountains. I charged up for about 50 min to an hour and headed to Lusk. Lusk, was also a fairly small town, the hotel people were nice, let me use the bathroom and grab a coffee. Charged up and left to Wheatland Wy. On route to Wheatland, I saw a small state park on the way, to I-25 from route 26, called Guernsey state park. I debated with myself if I should take the detour and check it out, or skip it and get out of the storm zone. I told myself I should check it out since I didn’t get a chance to check out Badlands or really any other major park other than Mount Rushmore. When I got to the main gate for the park, it felt a little eerie. No one was at the booth to collect the vistor’s fee, and the place just seemed way too quiet. As I was driving through, I was in awe, it was so quiet and so calm, but at the same time it was so amazingly beautiful. I was genuinely surprised no one else was there. I stayed at the park for about an hour or so, scoping out different vantage points to get good shots, and then I slowly started to realize people might not have been at the park due to the fact that there was a pretty major storm heading this way.
I was able to make it to Wheatland just fine, but I knew that the drive from Wheatland to Rawlins would be tough, especially if I was going to follow the route Tesla’s Nav was suggesting (small roads, no major citys/stops or super chargers). I charged up till about 200 mi before leaving, I actually hesitated and wasn’t sure if I should let the charge go on for a few more minutes or if I should leave, I kind of just told my self I will be fine since the Tesla Navigator told me I would make it within 20%. I have to say this was easily one of the most stressed out moments during my trip. The Tesla navigation suggested that I take route 34 to route 30 and then Interstate 80, and that I would reach the super charger in Rawlins Wy with about 20% left over in about 2 and a half hours. Little did I realize that route 34 had some pretty steep inclines, that combined with the high wind I was driving against, I kept seeing my projected range plummet. It might not seem too scary or bad, but when you are driving and you constantly see nothing but road, hardly anyone passing by on either side of the road. Combined with the fact that I had two cellphones with me, neither with any reception. If I was to get stuck, I feared I would be stranded for days. One because it was nearing nightfall, and no one was on the roads, two there was a blizzard warning for the following two days, and most importantly I feared I would not be able to make it out of those small roads due to not having enough battery.
I buckled down, dropped my speed down to 5 below the speed limit, turned the monitor brightness down, turned off the AC/Heat, turned the fog lamps off, really tried to do anything I could to conserve charge. Some how I made it to Rawlins with about 5% battery left. At this point I was exhausted and something was telling me to call it a night and just stay at Rawlins. But I wanted to push through and “beat the storm” or get ahead of it. So I stayed in Rawlins for about an hour and headed out to Rock Springs.
The way from Rawlins to Rock Springs, was a rough one. I was exhausted from Driving all day, and the stress from my range anxiety was really kicking in. I never regretted owning a Tesla, ever…until this little adventure I had going to Rock Springs.
When I first planned out my trip, I never intended to stop in Rock Springs. My original plan was to stop in Rawlins, sleep there and head to Salt Lake City the next day. But when I saw there was a severe storm warning, I thought I would leave early to get ahead of it.
As soon as I started from Rawlins, I noticed it started to lightly drizzle as I was unplugging my car from the supercharger. At first I thought it was kind of weird that I wasn’t seeing too many clouds around me, didn’t think anything of it, in fact I thought it was a good sign. About 5-10 miles in the rain picked up a little bit, but it was still manageable, other than the fact that these huge semi’s were doing like 85-90 mph just blowing right by, kicking up massive amounts of water and blinding me every 2 min (I get it, and I do not blame them, they have insanely tight schedules and are over worked, not blaming them!). About 15 miles into the drive the rain and the wind picked up a lot, so much so that it got nearly impossible to see. I had my wipers going full speed, and I still was hardly able to make out any lines. Auto pilot started having a lot of trouble finding the lane markings, and at that point, there was no way I would trust auto pilot, so I disabled it. Just when I thought, I can kinda of do this if I just drive a bit slower, and really focus on the lanes, the rain started to turn into snow. Initially I was so relieved, I was like “Hey! I can see something again!” which slowly turned into, “Hey…what the hell I can’t see anything!!”. The snow got thick and the wind picked up. Lane markings blended right into the snow, I had no idea if I was staying in the lane or not, out of desperation I tried to turn on autopilot, and (rightfully so) it failed to engage. I thought, man this is it…I am in an Electric Vehicle, the battery is going to get depleted since its extremely cold, and there are strong headwinds and I have the heat going. Trucks were still blowing by at like 80 MPH kicking up sleet, making it even harder to see. After a certain point, fear got to me. I started to see trucks pull over, one after another, I was shaking and scared out of my mind, and when I saw this one SUV pull over, I just pulled up behind him on the shoulder.
I was so terrified that I would not be able to make it if I just stayed there till the storm passed, because the battery would have been completely depleted and me and my dog would be left without heat. So I did one of the dumbest things I could have done. I decided to get out of my car, and talk to the person inside the SUV that was pulled over.
The snow and wind felt like tiny shards of glass being pushed against my face, it took me a second to catch my breath. I slowly approached the SUV, one hand pulling my hood forward and slightly to the right to shield my face from the snow, while the other hand was in my pocket, tightly gripping a pocket knife, just in case the person in the SUV wanted to cause trouble.
I knock on the window, and a second later the window slowly rolls down, and I see a man in the driver seat, who looked just as tired, but slightly less panicked. In the passenger seat there was a teenager, who seemed to be that mans daughter. I nervously said hello, and introduced my self, and asked him point blank, what do we do now? He told me, he didn’t know, he was in the same boat as me. He told me he wanted to head to Salt Lake City UT, before the storm hit but just like me, he got caught in the middle of it. He told me he would just see if they could wait it out, and just try and head to the next gas station when the visibility got better. I asked him if I could follow him in case he does decide to drive off. He agreed and I went back to my car.
When I got back into my car, I tried to look up gas stations or hotels, the closest one I could find was about 30 miles or so north of us, and were already too far away to turn back. About 10 minutes or so go by, and the guy turns on his hazards and slowly started to drive on. I got ready and i slowly started to follow him, both of us were going about 20 miles per hour, and it was still very hard to see. We got to the next exit in a couple of minutes, but we quickly realized there was nothing here and it was pitch black. He got out of his car and he told me he did not know what to do also since it was too hard for him to see since his headlights were not too strong. I offered to drive in front for awhile and we could switch off every now and then, till we got to the nearest hotel/gas station.
I slowly started driving again, and I pushed myself to take it a mile at a time. I tried to stay as focused as possible, and keep my eyes on the lanes. Then all of a sudden a truck rush by and kick up snow and would immediately throw me off. It would cause me to lose focus and loose the line markers. The accumulation did not help too.
Knowing that I had someone behind me, and someone was in the same boat as me, made me weirdly more at ease. I just took it a mile at a time, not going over 30 mph, and going much slower when needed.
When I got to the next hotel and open gas station, the storm backed off a lot. So much so that all the features came back live. When I got to the super charger at Rock Springs, it was nearly 2am and I was so damn relived to just be out of that blizzard.
Fourth Leg & Fifth Leg
After the Blizzard, I stayed in Rock Springs Wy for two days to wait out the storm completely. I probably could have made it to Utah the following day, but I didn’t want to take any chances. After the storm cleared up, I was off! Well…almost. I planned on leaving early, I woke up at 530, walked the dog got ready, and by 6am I was good to go…But my Tesla was not. I turned on the heaters and put them in full blast in the Tesla, while I was getting ready, but I think I needed to wait longer than that. When I got to the car it was still partially covered in ice, the door handles were stuck. I was able to gently pick away the ice with a pocket knife, and got the door to open…kind of. The window was not able to roll down but the door was able to somehow open up, I loaded up the car and when I tried to close the door it would not close! the window got stuck and wouldn’t roll down. After about 30 / 45 min of more waiting and de-thawing, I was finally able to push the window down (with my hand) and close the door. Next item on the list was charging up the car.
Charging the car proved to be challenging as well. This was a few weeks for the update to warm up the battery in cold conditions was sent out. So when I reached the super charger and tried to charge up…it was charging at around 20 -40 kW (usually around 90-120). I was able to kill some time, but i ended up waiting there for nearly 2 hours. Once I charged up, i loaded up and head out towards Salt Lake City.
The drive to Salt Lake City was breath taking. The storm had just passed so you could see the mountains beginning to clear up, but they were still coated in fresh snow. After a very scenic 4.5 hours I was in Salt Lake City.
Once I reached Salt Lake City it was smooth sailing from there on out. I grab lunch, picked up my brother and headed to St. George. The drive was smooth and scenic, spent a night in St. George and made it California the next day in one piece! (SLC to California was fairly smooth sailing, nothing too exciting, but if you want more details regarding that portion of the trip let me know!)
Initially after the trip, I felt pretty exhausted and I was a bit wary of have an EV if I have to stop every 2 hours to charge. But shortly after I got to California, I ended up having to take another road trip but with a hybrid and an ICE (internal combustion engine) vehicle and I had an instant longing for my model 3. The moments where I stopped at super chargers were actually refreshing and much needed breaks. It allowed me to stay fresh and focused on driving v.s driving straight for 6 hours, but getting to the destination feeling exhausted.
There were times where I could totally feel the limitations of having an EV. Specifically when I was traveling in South Dakota, I really wanted to stop in Bandlands, but I didn’t have confidence that I would be able to get there and drive out to Murdo and have enough charge left. Additionally once I got to California I wanted to check out Kings Canyon and Sequioa National Park, all which prove to be a bit challenging with a S+ model 3. That being said, if I had more time and I planned out the routes and chargers (destination charging) a little bit better I would have been able to be more comfortable. In short, planning is key!
At the end of the day, I love my model 3 and I absolutely wince at the thought of driving another car. I absolutely cannot wait for my next road trip in my model 3! Continue to follow me for updates on my future trips.