Cheating Death... Crossing Death Valley

[On the Road with Ralph]

This is another one of my EV (and real) desert crossings reports. I enjoy the challenge of finding routes where there is little-to-no EV charging and driving them in my 2023 SR Pro. One of my bucket list trips was to go directly from Las Vegas to Route 395/Lone Pine in California, and doing that required crossing legendary Death Valley where there is NO DCFC charging and not much L2.

What made this trip feasible are the Tesla Superchargers in Pahrump (NV) and Lone Pine (CA). While the journey between these two DCFC stations is only 165 miles, the intervening landscape is a roller coaster: The highest elevation I encountered the trip was 5500 feet; the lowest, -190 feet below sea level. But that only tells part of the story; somewhat to my surprise, there are repeated grade climbs and descents. The narrow roadway, virtually nonexistent shoulders, and rare guardrails made the trip... errr... interesting.

While it turned out that I didn't need the electrons, at Furnace Creek there were Tesla destination chargers with the built in J1772 Magic Dock adapters. Although the process of activating the charger (fee of 65¢/kWh) was a bit complicated by the lack of cellular connectivity (I used the free WiFi in the nearby ice cream shop), it worked and I was getting about 9 kW during an hour-long charge.

I arrived in Lone Pine with a 27% SoC, so this really wasn't very stressful. The national park - the largest in the continental US - was quite beautiful. This scene is at the Mesquite Dunes, north of route 190 near Panamint. This photo captures most of the major landscape elements of Death Valley: scattered brush, wind-sculpted sand dunes, rugged mountains, and dramatic skies.

Stay tuned for my next EV challenge - crossing through Yosemite.

 

[GoodSam]

While it turned out that I didn't need the electrons, at Furnace Creek there were Tesla destination chargers with the built in J1772 Magic Dock adapters. Although the process of activating the charger (fee of 65¢/kWh) was a bit complicated by the lack of cellular connectivity (I used the free WiFi in the nearby ice cream shop), it worked and I was getting about 9 kW during an hour-long charge.

If you stay at a campground with 240Vac power, one can get some charging done overnight in Death Valley. What was your average mi/kWh?

 

[LSP]

This is another one of my EV (and real) desert crossings reports. I enjoy the challenge of finding routes where there is little-to-no EV charging and driving them in my 2023 SR Pro. One of my bucket list trips was to go directly from Las Vegas to Route 395/Lone Pine in California, and doing that required crossing legendary Death Valley where there is NO DCFC charging and not much L2.

What made this trip feasible are the Tesla Superchargers in Pahrump (NV) and Lone Pine (CA). While the journey between these two DCFC stations is only 165 miles, the intervening landscape is a roller coaster: The highest elevation I encountered the trip was 5500 feet; the lowest, -190 feet below sea level. But that only tells part of the story; somewhat to my surprise, there are repeated grade climbs and descents. The narrow roadway, virtually nonexistent shoulders, and rare guardrails made the trip... errr... interesting.

While it turned out that I didn't need the electrons, at Furnace Creek there were Tesla destination chargers with the built in J1772 Magic Dock adapters. Although the process of activating the charger (fee of 65¢/kWh) was a bit complicated by the lack of cellular connectivity (I used the free WiFi in the nearby ice cream shop), it worked and I was getting about 9 kW during an hour-long charge.

I arrived in Lone Pine with a 27% SoC, so this really wasn't very stressful. The national park - the largest in the continental US - was quite beautiful. This scene is at the Mesquite Dunes, north of route 190 near Panamint. This photo captures most of the major landscape elements of Death Valley: scattered brush, wind-sculpted sand dunes, rugged mountains, and dramatic skies.

Stay tuned for my next EV challenge - crossing through Yosemite.

The Furnace Creek Inn also has an L2 charger that is free to guests and it is a fantastic hotel.

 

[potato]

I enjoy the challenge of finding routes where there is little-to-no EV charging and driving them in my 2023 SR Pro.

If you make your way north at some point, may I suggest the Icefields Parkway between Lake Louise and Jasper, Alberta. It should be on everyone's bucket list in my humble opinion. And it fits your description LOL. 312 km from Jasper to Canmore is a little close if it's cold.

 

[On the Road with Ralph]

What was your average mi/kWh?

The calculated M/kWh 166/77=2.16 is roughly what would have guessed from casual observation of the dash display. All the grade climbs were brutal despite driving 50-55 mph on the mountain roads, and there was a net gain of elevation from east to west of about 1200 feet. Winds were not much of a factor, tho' they seemed to be coming from the NW. At about 44K total miles, my lifetime miles per kW is a little less than 2.3 with A LOT of highway driving (but most of it under 70 mph and a fair amount of it at over 5000 feet where I notice a small improvement in efficiency due to reduced aero drag).

 

[MaintGrl]

This is another one of my EV (and real) desert crossings reports. I enjoy the challenge of finding routes where there is little-to-no EV charging and driving them in my 2023 SR Pro. One of my bucket list trips was to go directly from Las Vegas to Route 395/Lone Pine in California, and doing that required crossing legendary Death Valley where there is NO DCFC charging and not much L2.

What made this trip feasible are the Tesla Superchargers in Pahrump (NV) and Lone Pine (CA). While the journey between these two DCFC stations is only 165 miles, the intervening landscape is a roller coaster: The highest elevation I encountered the trip was 5500 feet; the lowest, -190 feet below sea level. But that only tells part of the story; somewhat to my surprise, there are repeated grade climbs and descents. The narrow roadway, virtually nonexistent shoulders, and rare guardrails made the trip... errr... interesting.

While it turned out that I didn't need the electrons, at Furnace Creek there were Tesla destination chargers with the built in J1772 Magic Dock adapters. Although the process of activating the charger (fee of 65¢/kWh) was a bit complicated by the lack of cellular connectivity (I used the free WiFi in the nearby ice cream shop), it worked and I was getting about 9 kW during an hour-long charge.

I arrived in Lone Pine with a 27% SoC, so this really wasn't very stressful. The national park - the largest in the continental US - was quite beautiful. This scene is at the Mesquite Dunes, north of route 190 near Panamint. This photo captures most of the major landscape elements of Death Valley: scattered brush, wind-sculpted sand dunes, rugged mountains, and dramatic skies.

Stay tuned for my next EV challenge - crossing through Yosemite.

Gosh . . .ISN'T THAT JUST GORGEOUS! Thank you for posting the Pict's . .

 

[MaintGrl]

The calculated M/kWh 166/77=2.16 is roughly what would have guessed from casual observation of the dash display. All the grade climbs were brutal despite driving 50-55 mph on the mountain roads, and there was a net gain of elevation from east to west of about 1200 feet. Winds were not much of a factor, tho' they seemed to be coming from the NW. At about 44K total miles, my lifetime miles per kW is a little less than 2.3 with A LOT of highway driving (but most of it under 70 mph and a fair amount of it at over 5000 feet where I notice a small improvement in efficiency due to reduced aero drag).

But with all the up's & down's . . .isn't it nearly a wash, as your regen recovery on the way down that you just used energy to drive up. . .as far as elevation is concerned. It did take energy to drive the miles . .

 

[On the Road with Ralph]

But with all the up's & down's . . .isn't it nearly a wash, as your regen recovery on the way down that you just used energy to drive up. . .as far as elevation is concerned. It did take energy to drive the miles . .

As I am sure you appreciate, there is a loss in the regen trade on up/down grades. There are a number of variables, but it is likely in the range of 9% to 15%. That accounts for most of the difference between the lifetime miles/kWh and this specific trip. All the climbing and descending was worth it; there were some spectacular views from the overlooks. Death Valley is both austere and magnificent.

 

[BlueLightning]

This is another one of my EV (and real) desert crossings reports. I enjoy the challenge of finding routes where there is little-to-no EV charging and driving them in my 2023 SR Pro. One of my bucket list trips was to go directly from Las Vegas to Route 395/Lone Pine in California, and doing that required crossing legendary Death Valley where there is NO DCFC charging and not much L2.

What made this trip feasible are the Tesla Superchargers in Pahrump (NV) and Lone Pine (CA). While the journey between these two DCFC stations is only 165 miles, the intervening landscape is a roller coaster: The highest elevation I encountered the trip was 5500 feet; the lowest, -190 feet below sea level. But that only tells part of the story; somewhat to my surprise, there are repeated grade climbs and descents. The narrow roadway, virtually nonexistent shoulders, and rare guardrails made the trip... errr... interesting.

While it turned out that I didn't need the electrons, at Furnace Creek there were Tesla destination chargers with the built in J1772 Magic Dock adapters. Although the process of activating the charger (fee of 65¢/kWh) was a bit complicated by the lack of cellular connectivity (I used the free WiFi in the nearby ice cream shop), it worked and I was getting about 9 kW during an hour-long charge.

I arrived in Lone Pine with a 27% SoC, so this really wasn't very stressful. The national park - the largest in the continental US - was quite beautiful. This scene is at the Mesquite Dunes, north of route 190 near Panamint. This photo captures most of the major landscape elements of Death Valley: scattered brush, wind-sculpted sand dunes, rugged mountains, and dramatic skies.

Stay tuned for my next EV challenge - crossing through Yosemite.

Very brave, drove 120 miles with starting 320 miles on my M3, slight hills and headwinds and only had 8 miles left at next supercharger.

Don’t venture more than ten miles from home and work now. LOL.

 

[On the Road with Ralph]

Very brave, drove 120 miles with starting 320 miles on my M3, slight hills and headwinds and only had 8 miles left at next supercharger.

Don’t venture more than ten miles from home and work now. LOL.

Not brave – just an intelligent driver who understands the difference between ICE and EV, and I adjust my driving accordingly. I’ve taken 10 road trips in my Lightning of more than 1500 miles, and dozens of trips of more than 200 miles. Never had a problem, and that is with most of my travel in the wide open west, not the dense coastal areas. The Lightning is the best road tripping machine I have owned in my life. I am also 70 years old, but as a former pilot, I stopped gripping the steering wheel too tightly a long time ago.

 

[SpaceEVDriver]

We explored the park over a long weekend in our Mustang last February.