Windy road trip 40MPH Headwinds

[On the Road with Ralph]

For the next several trips to Glendora, we charged to >85% at Needles.

I used to hate stopping at the EA site in Needles because it was usually throttled/derated, that in turn led to a wait line. As soon as I could, I switched to the Tesla stations (usually the one on the south side of town) - never a line, MUCH cheaper than EA, and I could grab either lunch or dinner at the Indian restaurant next door.

Barstow is one of those places where EA is a bad joke (Quartzsite is another). Tesla has 230 charging stalls in the Barstow area; EA has eight (and they rarely all work).

Wishlist: A DCFC station in Seligman.

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[SpaceEVDriver]

I used to hate stopping at the EA site in Needles because it was usually throttled/derated, that in turn led to a wait line. As soon as I could, I switched to the Tesla stations (usually the one on the south side of town) - never a line, MUCH cheaper than EA, and I could grab either lunch or dinner at the Indian restaurant next door.

Barstow is one of those places where EA is a bad joke (Quartzsite is another). Tesla has 230 charging stalls in the Barstow area; EA has eight (and they rarely all work).

Wishlist: A DCFC station in Seligman.

I detest the brand T stations in Needles. The one on the East side is in a dead strip mall with just a gas station with a gross restroom nearby. The other is okay, but the lot is very tight and I can't use it when I'm towing.

The Rivian chargers in Barstow are my go-to, despite their price premium. They're reliable, much, much faster than the brand-T and seem to be unused most of the time.

 

[On the Road with Ralph]

The Rivian chargers in Barstow are my go-to, despite their price premium. They're reliable, much, much faster than the brand-T and seem to be unused most of the time.

I can appreciate why you like the Rivian station - it has a pull-through. FYI, tho - the 120 stall Tesla station on Main Street has pull-thrus plus it is so huge that there are usually gaps large enough to park parallel to the curb. Also, it has the faster V4 dispensers.

I think it is interesting that your experience has found the Tesla chargers are slow. For the most part, I don’t notice any meaningful difference between them and a fully functioning EA Hypercharger. Maybe a slightly lower initial peak - I’ve seen 181 on EA Gen4 units, and only 168 or so on a Tesla. But after the first ten minutes, it is all the same on my SR Pro.

 

[SpaceEVDriver]

I can appreciate why you like the Rivian station - it has a pull-through. FYI, tho - the 120 stall Tesla station on Main Street has pull-thrus plus it is so huge that there are usually gaps large enough to park parallel to the curb. Also, it has the faster V4 dispensers.

I think it is interesting that your experience has found the Tesla chargers are slow. For the most part, I don’t notice any meaningful difference between them and a fully functioning EA Hypercharger. Maybe a slightly lower initial peak - I’ve seen 181 on EA Gen4 units, and only 168 or so on a Tesla. But after the first ten minutes, it is all the same on my SR Pro.

Yeah. I've used the superchargers in Barstow, but...

• They're slower (usually average about 100-120 kW on my ER vs 140 kW at the RAN vs 140 kW at the EA)
• They're farther from food
• I'm not a fan of the company

 

[WaterboyNorCal]

I bought by 2024 Flash back in November of 2024, but today was the first time I took it on a longer road trip. I was heading from just west of Kansas City to Rogers, AR a distance of only 236 miles. My original plan was to stop in Joplin, MO and hit a Supercharger to top off the battery before making the final hour or so down to Rogers.

I charged my truck at home to full 100% capacity this morning. They already had the red flag warnings up for extreme winds from the south and they were gusting to 45-50MPH at times. So much for battery efficiency on this trip. I set the cruise at 72MPH and just battled the wind. I could tell that I wasn’t going to make Joplin, MO over 20% so I decided to hit the Tesla SuperCharger at Nevada, MO. First segment of the trip, 1.4mi/KWh. Took the battery from 54% to 80% adding 37 KWh and got back on the road.

Went ahead and hit the planned SuperCharger stop in Joplin, MO. This segment the winds were absolutely fierce and gusty. 1.2mi/KWh. Took the battery from 41% to 80% adding 55 KWh and made the final trek. Pulled into the SuperCharger about 3 miles from my destination to top things off. 1.4mi/KWh on that segment. 48% back up to 80% Adding 46 KWh.

No issues at any location getting charged, was even taking on energy at 180+ KWh for a few minutes at the stop in Nevada, MO. I honestly can‘t think of another time that I bucked a headwind that strong for that long. In my old Coyote V8 F-150 that would have been about a 10-12 MPG trip if I was lucky and would have burned a lot of dinosaur juice.

I hope the wind isn’t busting out of the north on the trip home, but I know where the chargers are now!

Just curious- was there a reason that you had to start your DCFC sessions at such high SOCs? You would have had more efficient stops by charging ~20% to ~50% rather than 50-80% due to much higher charge rates at the lower SOC. I get that sometimes we are hamstrung by DCFC placements; was that the case here?
Also, as others have pointed out, speed is your enemy and especially in the cold and/or against a headwind. Slowing to 65mph would help a lot with efficiency, and could even result in a shorter trip if it helped with DCFC strategy by allowing some longer runs…

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