Total trip miles so far: 887.39 miles
Total time door to door: 22:32
Total kilowatt hours used: 260.76 kWh
Total cost of electricity used: $16.71
Total savings vs. 30 mpg vehicle: $38.15
Overall average speed: 39.4 MPH
Overall average cost of electricity: $0.064 per kWh
Overall average miles per kWh: 3.40 miles
Overall average cost per 100 miles: $1.88
Friday, December 28, 2018
Holiday Road Trip 2018-2019 Day 3
When I started this trip, I thought I'd write a post here each time we stopped to charge the car. I figured that would give me something to do while I waited. As such, I was labeling each "leg" of the trip as the time between charging stops.
I've quickly discovered that I rarely have enough time to create any sort of blog post while charging. The car just charges too fast, and we are usually taking a restroom break and/or getting something to eat. Therefore, unless I have a long stretch mid-day with nothing else to do, I'll probably just write one post per day.
We got up this morning with a completely full battery and lots of plans for today. Thanks to my father for sending us a link for this very useful website:
I've quickly discovered that I rarely have enough time to create any sort of blog post while charging. The car just charges too fast, and we are usually taking a restroom break and/or getting something to eat. Therefore, unless I have a long stretch mid-day with nothing else to do, I'll probably just write one post per day.
We got up this morning with a completely full battery and lots of plans for today. Thanks to my father for sending us a link for this very useful website:
Unfortunately, very little worked out as intended. To start with we realized as we were getting ready that the wild life sanctuary we were hoping to visit at the end of the day was in the Eastern Time Zone, and we were leaving from the Central Time Zone. Therefore, we had already lost an extra hour as soon as we woke up. It closes at 5:30pm, and was at least a 6 hour drive away, so we were going to have to hurry
By the time we got out on the road it was already 8am (central time). This meant that if we were going to get to the wild life sanctuary with a reasonable amount of time to visit, we had about 7 hours to fit in all the driving and site-seeing that we had found the night before.
First up on the list was the Minnie Pearl Chicken Wire Sculpture in front of the Centerville, TN courthouse. The courthouse yard was decorated for the holidays so we posed for some pictures with the lawn decorations as well.
By the time we got out on the road it was already 8am (central time). This meant that if we were going to get to the wild life sanctuary with a reasonable amount of time to visit, we had about 7 hours to fit in all the driving and site-seeing that we had found the night before.
First up on the list was the Minnie Pearl Chicken Wire Sculpture in front of the Centerville, TN courthouse. The courthouse yard was decorated for the holidays so we posed for some pictures with the lawn decorations as well.
Next on our list was the Tennessee TARDIS. Unfortunately, when I entered the addresses of the attractions we planned to see today into the navigation, I accidentally skipped this one and didn't realize it until it was nearly an hour behind us. It wouldn't be possible to backtrack for an hour and still make it to the wild life sanctuary before they closed. We had to choose between the TARDIS and the sanctuary. We decided to continue on towards the sanctuary.
Since we spent more time than intended getting the photos in Centerville, then got caught in some slow traffic, and also spent time trying to figure out where the Tennessee TARDIS was and what we'd do about missing it... we decided to skip the Ave Maria Grotto in Cullman, AL, and the Museum of Fond Memories in Birmingham, AL. However, we thought we'd have enough time to stop off at the Vulcan Statue and take a few quick pictures. Since there was a Tesla supercharger in Birmingham only 4 miles from the Vulcan Statue, we decided to take a bathroom break and add some charge to the battery. Before leaving the supercharger we booked a hotel in Phenix, AL (across the river from Columbus, GA). We discovered that there weren't going to be any good charging options in the Columbus, GA area, so we'd have to stop off at the supercharger in Auburn, AL for a bit more than 15 minutes to make sure we could get through the night and on to the next supercharger tomorrow morning.
When we got to the Vulcan statue we found that there was an entire Vulcan park, and that we'd have to climb a LOT of stairs and walk around a bit to get any pictures. Instead of spending the 30 seconds we hoped to hop out of the car at what we thought would be an obscure roadside statue, we spent 13 minutes from when we entered Vulcan Park until we left.
We then got stuck in traffic at nearly a standstill for another 11 minutes. With all these delays, we decided to skip the Monument to the Lady-Whacking Meteorite in Sylacauga, AL. There was still going to be enough time to visit the wild life sanctuary.
We then got stuck in traffic at nearly a standstill for another 11 minutes. With all these delays, we decided to skip the Monument to the Lady-Whacking Meteorite in Sylacauga, AL. There was still going to be enough time to visit the wild life sanctuary.
We arrived at the superchargers in Auburn at 2:45pm central time. For the first time on this trip, the superchargers seemed "busy". Six of the eight chargers were all being used. While there were still 2 chargers available, we typically found we were either the only vehicle at the superchargers, or that we were one of just 2 or 3 vehicles where there were 8 or 10 chargers total. Superchargers split the available wattage between two chargers. They are numbered, so you can tell which chargers are "paired". If you plug in to a charger such that its pair is not being used, then you get the full wattage available for charging. If you plug in to a charger such that its pair is being used, then your vehicle charges half as fast (as does the vehicle at the paired charger) until one of you leave.
Since the Auburn superchargers were so crowded, there initially weren't any chargers available with an unused pair. Therefore, what I thought was going to be 15 minutes of charging was looking to be more like half an hour. I took advantage of the time to make another bathroom stop, and then I called the wild life sanctuary to make sure that all the information on the website was accurate and that the recent rain wouldn't be a problem.
It was then that I discovered that 5:30pm was when people had to leave. They don't let anyone into the park after 4:30pm. We wouldn't be leaving the supercharger until approximately 3:15pm CENTRAL TIME (4:15pm Eastern). We had at least a half hour drive ahead of us if everything went well. We made the decision to just head straight to the hotel for the night. Perhaps we can stop by the sanctuary tomorrow morning when we head out.
Weather conditions: 65 degrees, 5 mph crosswind, overcast.
Starting location: Dickson, TN, Comfort Inn
Ending location: Phenix, AL, Holiday Inn and Suites
Total miles travelled: 363.44
Departure time: 8:01
Arrival time: 16:10
Drive duration: 6:22 (+ 0:33 siteseeing and 1:14 charging)
Overall average speed: 57.1 mph
Total kilowatt hours used: 103.11
Average miles per kilowatt hour: 3.52
Estimated range available at departure: 310 miles
Estimated range added at superchargers: 370 miles
Estimated range remaining at arrival: 215 miles
Range lost due to driving conditions (weather, altitude, etc): 102 miles (28%)
Kilowatt hours added: 87.19 kWh
Charging cost: $6.70
Effective cost per kilowatt hour: $0.077
Cost per 100 miles: $2.18
Local gasoline price: $1.81
Estimated cost per 100 miles for a vehicle that gets 30 mpg: $6.03
Electric vehicle savings over today's 363.44 miles compared to a 30 mpg vehicle: $15.23
Starting location: Dickson, TN, Comfort Inn
Ending location: Phenix, AL, Holiday Inn and Suites
Total miles travelled: 363.44
Departure time: 8:01
Arrival time: 16:10
Drive duration: 6:22 (+ 0:33 siteseeing and 1:14 charging)
Overall average speed: 57.1 mph
Total kilowatt hours used: 103.11
Average miles per kilowatt hour: 3.52
Estimated range available at departure: 310 miles
Estimated range added at superchargers: 370 miles
Estimated range remaining at arrival: 215 miles
Range lost due to driving conditions (weather, altitude, etc): 102 miles (28%)
Kilowatt hours added: 87.19 kWh
Charging cost: $6.70
Effective cost per kilowatt hour: $0.077
Cost per 100 miles: $2.18
Local gasoline price: $1.81
Estimated cost per 100 miles for a vehicle that gets 30 mpg: $6.03
Electric vehicle savings over today's 363.44 miles compared to a 30 mpg vehicle: $15.23
Thursday, December 27, 2018
Holiday Road Trip 2018-2019 Day 2 Stats
Total trip miles so far: 523.95 miles
Total time door to door: 14:23
Total kilowatt hours used: 157.65 kWh
Total cost of electricity used: $10.01
Total savings vs. 30 mpg vehicle: $22.92
Overall average speed: 36.4 MPH
Overall average cost of electricity: $0.063 per kWh
Overall average miles per kWh: 3.32 miles
Overall average cost per 100 miles: $1.90
Total time door to door: 14:23
Total kilowatt hours used: 157.65 kWh
Total cost of electricity used: $10.01
Total savings vs. 30 mpg vehicle: $22.92
Overall average speed: 36.4 MPH
Overall average cost of electricity: $0.063 per kWh
Overall average miles per kWh: 3.32 miles
Overall average cost per 100 miles: $1.90
Holiday Road Trip 2018-2019, Leg #3 (Roadside Attractions!)
Got up early this morning, and got ready to leave. Then I headed down to the lobby for some breakfast while Lisa finished getting ready. I loaded the bags into the car and we were on the road before 9am with a completely (100%) full battery. Thank you to the Holiday Inn for providing complimentary vehicle chargers for guests! It rained all day sometimes a light drizzle and sometimes a downpour that made it difficult to see.
While checking the area out online last night we discovered there were several nearby roadside attractions. We decided to spend the day posing for fun photos as we continue to make our way south.
First up was the "Road Sign Sculpture" in Mt Vernon.
Next we stopped at the "George Harrison Mural" along Airport Ln in Brenton.
We couldn't resist stopping in Metropolis to see Superman.
This town has clearly discovered that there are a lot of superhero fans willing to spend money. They have a superhero gift shop, a superman museum, and many shops have a superhero cutout of some sort out front to lure in potential customers.
The guy that owns the superman museum recommended Yesterday's Diner for lunch in town, and it was a very charming and friendly place.
By this point we had used up about two-thirds of the battery charge on the Tesla. And we decided to look for charging opportunities on the vehicle navigation. The nearest Supercharger was in Kuttawa, Kentucky, so we decided we'd go plug in for a bit while we figure out where we want to spend the night. We arrived in Kuttawa just before 3pm and plugged in with 40 miles of range to spare.
Neither of us really wanted to travel much after dark, so we looked around for hotels within 2 hours south of Kuttawa that provided complimentary electric vehicle charging. Fifteen minutes later we had booked the Dickson, Tennessee, Comfort Inn. Glancing at the battery gauge we had already added over 110 miles, which gave us a total estimated range available of 150 miles. Since Dickson was less than 100 miles away (and we'd be able to charge at the hotel), we didn't see any need stay at the super charger any longer.
Unfortunately, I hadn't accounted for the heavy rain and strong headwind we'd encounter, nor the fact that getting to Dickson involves increasing elevation by another 400 feet while traversing a lot of hilly ground.
As we rolled into the hotel parking the gauge indicated only 16 miles of estimated range remaining. I had been monitoring the gauge for the past hour and while I was always confident that we had enough charge to make it, I was also concerned enough not to lose track of the difference between how far the navigation said we had remaining and how much remaining range the gauge estimated.
After having some dinner and getting settled in our room, we looked at the map, and have decided to head to Columbus, Georgia tomorrow. There is a wild life sanctuary we can drive through just north of there in Pine Mountain. If we don't change our minds between now and then, we may have some wild animal photos for the blog tomorrow. We may make an attempt at a bit of time travel along the way.
Here are a few really nice sunset photos Lisa captured as we were passing through the Clarksville area:
Weather conditions: 59 degrees, 15 mph headwind, overcast, rainy all day.
Starting location: Salem, IL Holiday Inn
Ending location: Dickson, TN, Comfort Inn
Total miles travelled: 285.81
Departure time: 8:56
Arrival time: 17:32
Drive duration: 5:59 (+ 2:21 siteseeing and 0:16 charging)
Overall average speed: 47.8 mph
Total kilowatt hours used: 91.93
Average miles per kilowatt hour: 3.11
Estimated range available at departure: 310 miles
Estimated range added at supercharger: 111 miles
Estimated range remaining at arrival: 16 miles
Range lost due to driving conditions (weather, altitude, etc): 119 miles (29%)
Kilowatt hours added: 91.93 kWh
Charging cost: $3.08
Effective cost per kilowatt hour: $0.034
Cost per 100 miles: $1.09
Local gasoline price: $1.79
Estimated cost per 100 miles for a vehicle that gets 30 mpg: $5.97
Electric vehicle savings over today's 285.81 miles compared to a 30 mpg vehicle: $13.97
While checking the area out online last night we discovered there were several nearby roadside attractions. We decided to spend the day posing for fun photos as we continue to make our way south.
First up was the "Road Sign Sculpture" in Mt Vernon.
Next we stopped at the "George Harrison Mural" along Airport Ln in Brenton.
We couldn't resist stopping in Metropolis to see Superman.
This town has clearly discovered that there are a lot of superhero fans willing to spend money. They have a superhero gift shop, a superman museum, and many shops have a superhero cutout of some sort out front to lure in potential customers.
The guy that owns the superman museum recommended Yesterday's Diner for lunch in town, and it was a very charming and friendly place.
By this point we had used up about two-thirds of the battery charge on the Tesla. And we decided to look for charging opportunities on the vehicle navigation. The nearest Supercharger was in Kuttawa, Kentucky, so we decided we'd go plug in for a bit while we figure out where we want to spend the night. We arrived in Kuttawa just before 3pm and plugged in with 40 miles of range to spare.
Neither of us really wanted to travel much after dark, so we looked around for hotels within 2 hours south of Kuttawa that provided complimentary electric vehicle charging. Fifteen minutes later we had booked the Dickson, Tennessee, Comfort Inn. Glancing at the battery gauge we had already added over 110 miles, which gave us a total estimated range available of 150 miles. Since Dickson was less than 100 miles away (and we'd be able to charge at the hotel), we didn't see any need stay at the super charger any longer.
Unfortunately, I hadn't accounted for the heavy rain and strong headwind we'd encounter, nor the fact that getting to Dickson involves increasing elevation by another 400 feet while traversing a lot of hilly ground.
As we rolled into the hotel parking the gauge indicated only 16 miles of estimated range remaining. I had been monitoring the gauge for the past hour and while I was always confident that we had enough charge to make it, I was also concerned enough not to lose track of the difference between how far the navigation said we had remaining and how much remaining range the gauge estimated.
After having some dinner and getting settled in our room, we looked at the map, and have decided to head to Columbus, Georgia tomorrow. There is a wild life sanctuary we can drive through just north of there in Pine Mountain. If we don't change our minds between now and then, we may have some wild animal photos for the blog tomorrow. We may make an attempt at a bit of time travel along the way.
Here are a few really nice sunset photos Lisa captured as we were passing through the Clarksville area:
Weather conditions: 59 degrees, 15 mph headwind, overcast, rainy all day.
Starting location: Salem, IL Holiday Inn
Ending location: Dickson, TN, Comfort Inn
Total miles travelled: 285.81
Departure time: 8:56
Arrival time: 17:32
Drive duration: 5:59 (+ 2:21 siteseeing and 0:16 charging)
Overall average speed: 47.8 mph
Total kilowatt hours used: 91.93
Average miles per kilowatt hour: 3.11
Estimated range available at departure: 310 miles
Estimated range added at supercharger: 111 miles
Estimated range remaining at arrival: 16 miles
Range lost due to driving conditions (weather, altitude, etc): 119 miles (29%)
Kilowatt hours added: 91.93 kWh
Charging cost: $3.08
Effective cost per kilowatt hour: $0.034
Cost per 100 miles: $1.09
Local gasoline price: $1.79
Estimated cost per 100 miles for a vehicle that gets 30 mpg: $5.97
Electric vehicle savings over today's 285.81 miles compared to a 30 mpg vehicle: $13.97
Wednesday, December 26, 2018
Holiday Road Trip 2018-2019 Day 1 Stats
Total miles: 238.14 miles
Total time door to door: 5:47
Total kilowatt hours used: 65.72 kWh
Total cost of electricity used: $6.93
Total savings vs. 30 mpg vehicle: $8.95
Overall average speed: 41.2 MPH
Overall average cost of electricity: $0.105 per kWh
Overall average miles per kWh: 3.62 miles
Overall average cost per 100 miles: $2.90
Total time door to door: 5:47
Total kilowatt hours used: 65.72 kWh
Total cost of electricity used: $6.93
Total savings vs. 30 mpg vehicle: $8.95
Overall average speed: 41.2 MPH
Overall average cost of electricity: $0.105 per kWh
Overall average miles per kWh: 3.62 miles
Overall average cost per 100 miles: $2.90
Holiday Road Trip 2018-2019 Leg #2
After a nice lunch at Outback Steakhouse, I typed up my first blog post of the trip while Lisa got caught up on Facebook and booked our Hotel in Salem, IL for the night. We wouldn't be arriving at the hotel until after sunset, and neither of us wanted to drive after dark anymore than necessary today, so we decided to get back on the expressway.
The drive to Salem was uneventful, and finding the hotel was easy. The charging station is right next to the front door, and charging the vehicle is free for guests of the hotel. We got checked in and brought our luggage up to the room. As I was retrieving the last piece of luggage from the car, it began to lightly rain. We are now sitting in the room deciding what direction we'll drive in the morning.
Weather conditions: 48 degrees, 7 mph headwind, cloudy.
Starting location: Champaign, IL, Tesla Supercharger
Ending location: Salem, IL Holiday Inn & Suites
Total miles travelled: 125.7
Departure time: 15:34
Arrival time: 17:24
Drive duration: 1:50
Overall average speed: 68.6 mph
Total kilowatt hours used: 36.83
Average miles per kilowatt hour: 3.41
Estimated range available at departure: 294 miles
Estimated range remaining at arrival: 132 miles
Range lost due to driving conditions (weather, altitude, etc): 36.3 miles (29%)
Kilowatt hours added: 44.2 kWh
Charging cost: $0
Cost per kilowatt hour: $0.00
Cost per 100 miles: $0.00
Local gasoline price: $2.02
Estimated cost per 100 miles for a vehicle that gets 30 mpg: $6.73
Electric vehicle savings compared to a 30 mpg vehicle: $6.73
The drive to Salem was uneventful, and finding the hotel was easy. The charging station is right next to the front door, and charging the vehicle is free for guests of the hotel. We got checked in and brought our luggage up to the room. As I was retrieving the last piece of luggage from the car, it began to lightly rain. We are now sitting in the room deciding what direction we'll drive in the morning.
Weather conditions: 48 degrees, 7 mph headwind, cloudy.
Starting location: Champaign, IL, Tesla Supercharger
Ending location: Salem, IL Holiday Inn & Suites
Total miles travelled: 125.7
Departure time: 15:34
Arrival time: 17:24
Drive duration: 1:50
Overall average speed: 68.6 mph
Total kilowatt hours used: 36.83
Average miles per kilowatt hour: 3.41
Estimated range available at departure: 294 miles
Estimated range remaining at arrival: 132 miles
Range lost due to driving conditions (weather, altitude, etc): 36.3 miles (29%)
Kilowatt hours added: 44.2 kWh
Charging cost: $0
Cost per kilowatt hour: $0.00
Cost per 100 miles: $0.00
Local gasoline price: $2.02
Estimated cost per 100 miles for a vehicle that gets 30 mpg: $6.73
Electric vehicle savings compared to a 30 mpg vehicle: $6.73
Holiday Road Trip 2018-2019 Leg #1
Got our annual post-Christmas shopping done this morning, replacing decorations that didn't make it through this past season. When we got home, we got the Christmas trees out to the curb, and packed up the car. Finally got out on the road at 11:37am leaving home in cold weather, headed south, with a 7 mph headwind.
We decided to stay off the express way for this first leg and just enjoy driving through the countryside, waving to greet the occasional car as they drove by. The navigation system in the car indicated that we should stop off for a bit in Champaign, IL at 2pm to charge up the battery at the Tesla Supercharger. so we decided that would be a great time to get some lunch.
Around 1pm we started thinking about how far we'd want to drive today, and where we might want to stop for the night. Lisa found a Holiday Inn in Salem, IL that has a heated indoor saltwater swimming pool and a Tesla charging station. We called them up and they had several rooms available for tonight.
Arriving in Champaign the navigation system routed us directly to the Superchargers. We saw an Outback restaurant across the street. I dropped Lisa off to get us a table. Then I plugged in the car and met her in the restaurant. A burger for me and chicken strips for Lisa, then it was time to get back on the road.
You can follow our progress as we travel with my GPS tracking link:
http://goo.gl/eyaqIH
Click Here
Weather conditions: 35 degrees, 7 mph headwind.
Starting location: Home
Ending location: Champaign, IL Tesla Supercharger
Total miles travelled: 112.44
Departure time: 11:37
Arrival time: 14:02
Drive duration: 2:25
Overall average speed: 46.5 mph
Total kilowatt hours used: 28.89 kWh
Average miles per kilowatt hour: 3.89
Estimated range available at departure: 162 miles
Estimated range remaining at arrival: 36 miles
Range lost due to driving conditions (weather, altitude, etc): 13.6 miles (12%)
Kilowatt hours added: 61.3 kWh
Charging cost: $14.71
Cost per kilowatt hour: $0.24
Cost per 100 miles: $6.17
Local gasoline price: $1.98
Estimated cost per 100 miles for a vehicle that gets 30 mpg: $6.80
We decided to stay off the express way for this first leg and just enjoy driving through the countryside, waving to greet the occasional car as they drove by. The navigation system in the car indicated that we should stop off for a bit in Champaign, IL at 2pm to charge up the battery at the Tesla Supercharger. so we decided that would be a great time to get some lunch.
Around 1pm we started thinking about how far we'd want to drive today, and where we might want to stop for the night. Lisa found a Holiday Inn in Salem, IL that has a heated indoor saltwater swimming pool and a Tesla charging station. We called them up and they had several rooms available for tonight.
Arriving in Champaign the navigation system routed us directly to the Superchargers. We saw an Outback restaurant across the street. I dropped Lisa off to get us a table. Then I plugged in the car and met her in the restaurant. A burger for me and chicken strips for Lisa, then it was time to get back on the road.
You can follow our progress as we travel with my GPS tracking link:
http://goo.gl/eyaqIH
Click Here
Weather conditions: 35 degrees, 7 mph headwind.
Starting location: Home
Ending location: Champaign, IL Tesla Supercharger
Total miles travelled: 112.44
Departure time: 11:37
Arrival time: 14:02
Drive duration: 2:25
Overall average speed: 46.5 mph
Total kilowatt hours used: 28.89 kWh
Average miles per kilowatt hour: 3.89
Estimated range available at departure: 162 miles
Estimated range remaining at arrival: 36 miles
Range lost due to driving conditions (weather, altitude, etc): 13.6 miles (12%)
Kilowatt hours added: 61.3 kWh
Charging cost: $14.71
Cost per kilowatt hour: $0.24
Cost per 100 miles: $6.17
Local gasoline price: $1.98
Estimated cost per 100 miles for a vehicle that gets 30 mpg: $6.80
Electric vehicle savings compared to a 30 mpg vehicle: $0.63
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