Back on the road again. When road tripping, you learn to appreciate simple things like McDonald’s coffee and egg McMuffins. We were almost in Flagstaff where things were snow covered. What a huge change from LA just a day ago. Another cool thing about this car: I usually can’t read or write in cars because I get sick but I typed day five entirely in the car and am doing fine so far. Flagstaff actually looked like a cool place, but because of the time constraints of our trip we didn’t have a lot of time to explore. After an unsuccessful attempt to plug in at a battery store we went to a nearby RV park to charge. One of the biggest surprises so far has been how nice RV parks are. I was fully expecting a bunch of tattooed guys in leather jackets, but actually all the places so far had really nice clean bathrooms, Wifi, laundry rooms and people that are happy to accommodate us charging for a couple of hours. This place even had a steak house with a very high rating on Trip Adviser! Alas, we didn’t get to sample it because it didn’t open till later. After a short walk next to a very scenic highway and a bunch of fast food joints (I think we were the first pedestrians that area had seen in years) we ended up at Outback Steakhouse. Now, I’m not a big chain restaurant fan (except for the Melting Pot, of course) but for $10 that perfectly made medium rare steak and baked potato were scrumptious. A shout out goes to that waiter who let us hang out for over two hours while waiting for the car to charge!
The next leg of our trip took us to another RV park in Gallup, NM. It was cold and I mean cold as a witch’s tit cold, 16F. As a result of the weather, the car took much longer to charge than anticipated. As you can imagine, nobody really wanted to frolic outside in this weather and I was glad that I wasn’t the person who had to set up the car to charge. One of the things that we learned on this trip is that the US is really cold at the end of December. Who would have thought? 
I’m telling you, you haven’t lived till you sat in a car for over two hours, late into the evening, eating a turkey sandwich made on a paper towel in the backseat watching your favorite movie, (mine is The Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind on an iPad placed on the dashboard.
Unfortunately, there is no other way to describe the last leg of the trip other than painful. It was late, my back and head hurt and I wasn’t even driving. We got into our hotel in Albuquerque, NM past 3AM and Peter still had to drop off the car at a charge spot about eight blocks away. Luckily, it was an easy plug-in that worked. The general consensus was that driving from midnight till 3AM is not a good idea when you spent the whole day driving as well.
Luba
A Note about charging at 16 degrees F from Peter…
I had not taken into account the amount of energy that the car needed to spend keeping both the battery and us warm in this type of cold while charging. Normally, I would expect to be charging the car just over 60 miles in an hour (80A at 244V) but we where charging at about 45 miles in an hour. This wasn’t the best time for us to realize this, but we were comfy and warm in the car, and Luba got to watch a little extra of her favorite movie
If you’re still in Flagstaff make sure to eat at Diablo Burger, support local where ever you are. Wish the tour had come through PHX, but glad AZ got a stop no matter what. How did the car do in the snow?
Hi Katie~ The car seemed to do very well in the snow; especially after we switched to all-season tires. I’ll let Peter expand on the technical aspects…
Nice Blog and good luck on your Roadtrip! But a few more Pictures would be really really great
We’ll be posting pics soon
I am very interested to see when you’ll be in Montgomery Alabama…
Hey guys! Glad your trip is eventful! Think about picking up a small “cube” electric heater for when you are charging in the cold. While you have access to juice…warm up the car without using the battery. Just a thought. Enjoying your posts! Have a great trip!
Dave
Thanks for following us and for your enthusiasm!
Fantastic article! Thanks for keeping us posted on your electric vehicle journey. You need to take pics with your ipad and upload for your viewers!
We’ll be posting pics soon!
I really enjoy reading about all the details of your trip. I can’t wait until you get here to Austin – we love electric cars!
You should trek to Buffalo, NY for our second Alternative Energy Vehicle Cruise night on Thursday May 16th! https://www.facebook.com/events/246897098773156/
We follow the classic car cruise night style and have electric, hybrid, bio-diesal owners and lovers on site.
Good luck with the trip!!
Thanks for the blog, very interesting. I guess they didn’t include a DVD player in the dash, although the touchscreen looks like it should be able to handle it. I would be interested to know how much the electricity is costing at the various stops, if you care enough to include it. I am not a data whore, but enjoy a few stats here and there.
No video on the car screen. Blocked, not permitted, verboten. Bring your own iPad, etc.
Hi Peter and Luba -
It’s late in the evening of Wed Jan 2nd as a I type this, and you should be passing through New Orleans and perhaps trying to charge up there.
I was in New Orleans last week with my Chevy Volt and documented all of the charging stations there. It wasn’t hard — not counting Nissan dealerships, there are only 3 public stations in the whole New Orleans area!
I have updated Recargo.com with the location data and photos. The one at U of N.O. is pretty hard to find. And kind of isolated. I think your best bet might be the Whole Foods in Uptown.
East of NOLA, I recommend the Benson Appliance location in Foley AL. We visited there on our way back out of NOLA and talked to the owner, Ed Benson, who loves his Leaf and has two charging stations prominently in front of this store!
Elsewhere in the Deep South you will have slim pickings. We have MANY charging stations in Atlanta, and there are lots in the Carolinas (Recargo and Carstations have the best data for that). But outside of those places, you will be hurting until you get into northern Virginia. Well, there’s always campgrounds!
I heard about your trip earlier today and want to let you know about these stations, but I don’t tweet and didn’t know about this blog until just now. Good luck!
- Chris
… aaaand I just realized from your tweets (which I had misinterpreted to mean you were just leaving Houston) that you are already charging in New Orleans, on a regular outlet.
“Just finished setting up the car charging in downtown NO after hunting for an outlet with the hotel staff
”
OK, so let me make some lemonade … Was a 240V outlet? Which hotel? If they were particularly amenable, I’d like to put them on the map, so to speak.
Would love to understand the charging mods used to beef up the charging amps.
Thanks for the blog – I’m really enjoying it. I’d love to meet you in Atlanta when you come through. I have a single 14-50 outlet you’re welcome to use. (It’s waiting for its first use which will come next week when my model S arrives.) If you’re interested in a free meal and a charge, let me know. I bet several of the other Tesla owners in town would love to come as well.
Looking forward to your entries and pics. From your Cuzin, roadster number 1229. Drive safe and enjoy the adventure. I am creating an all electric California road trip now which will probably run this summer. Stay tuned.
760-617-7666
Peter,
If you have a change please reply to my mail and let’s connect under http://www.teslaowners.us If anyine like we can even provide you an e-mail address under name@teslaowners.us. We can also post or link the trip to our website.
Thanks,
Rolf
Where are the pictures?!
Are you folks trapped in Texas by the bad weather?!
Hang in there.
Really enjoy reading your post. Keep them up.
WOW!!! Nice Post!Kind Regards