Tesla Model S - The Road Trip Begins
Boulder City Model S
Saturday, August 4, 2018
Days Charging at
Destination   Supercharger
0 1
Rancho Cucamonga Supercharger
We've crossed the Mojave desert, all on electricity, several times now on both I-15 and I-40. On our "Indian Country" road trip, we used the I-40 so why not use the I-15 this time? Also, having eight (!) Supercharger sites along this day's route makes even simpler to plan than it was five years ago.

But, like before, we approached Victoria Gardens, we stopped at this Supercharger for a bathroom break, only this time it's my daughter who says she has to pee. Bathroom Anxiety

TimeEventRange Remaining
9:35 amDeparted Home town240
10:34 amArrive Rancho Cucamonga Supercharger162
Range/Distance ratio: 1.32
Conditions: Traffic, 90°F

As my car collected energy, the humans were relieved, and then we were on our way again.

Victoria Gardens Supercharger

I 15 road conditions

Cost to Charge: $0

Barstow Supercharger
TimeEventRange Remaining
10:53 pmDeparted Rancho Cucamonga206
12:34 pmArrived Barstow Supercharger114
Range/Distance ratio: 1.42
Conditions: Uphill, backed-up traffic due to bus fire, up to 111°F

Little did we know we were heading into a major traffic backed up to Victorville by a bus fire somewhere before Hodge road. So it was good we took a bathroom break at the last Supercharger so my kids could last until Barstow.

Barstow Supercharger

It didn't matter that we had enough charge to make it to Baker. The bus fire made it impossible to reach Baker by lunch time, so we ate lunch at the nearby Chili's while the car charged at the Supercharger. Lunch took long enough that, once we were ready to leave, the car's battery was practically full.

It was still over 100°F outside and the air at Barstow had a lot of smoke, casting an orange haze over everything.

Cost to Charge: $0

Baker Supercharger
TimeEventRange Remaining
1:40 pmDeparted Barstow236
2:44 pmArrived Baker Supercharger157
Range/Distance ratio: 1.15
Conditions: Very hot, 114°F

After leaving Barstow, we continued on I-15 to cross the Mojave desert. We really wanted to get out of this desert heat.

Baker Supercharger

But I wanted to see the Baker Supercharger, one that was new to me, and I also anticipated that we would visit on the way home.

The Baker Supercharger is very impressive because it has a forest of 40 Supercharger stalls. Mine was only one of two Tesla's there. While two more stalls were ICEd by gas pickups exploiting the shade under the solar panel canopy, with 36 stalls left over and the 114°F heat, I decided not to complain.

We used the restroom, then I offered my kids whatever snack or treat they wanted from the nearby Dairy Queen. Only my daughter wanted a soft-serve vanilla ice cream cone.

Cost to Charge: $0

After departing Baker, we entered Nevada and soon after we could see the Las Vegas skyline in the distance, but long before we would get close to the big city, we took the exit toward Boulder City.

Las Vegas Boulder Sign

Henderson Supercharger
TimeEventRange Remaining
3:00 pmDeparted Baker196
4:25 pmArrived Henderson58
Range/Distance ratio: 1.5
Conditions: Fast, 110°F

Although I didn't need extra charge to get to our hotel, I was curious to see the new Supercharger installed at Henderson this year, and I wanted to post a picture of my car charging here. We saw plenty of room to charge here too.

Henderson Supercharger

TimeEventRange Remaining
4:28 pmDeparted Henderson58
4:44 pmArrived Hoover Dam Lodge48
Range/Distance ratio: 1.11
Conditions: Fast

I chose Hoover Dam Lodge because it was the closest member of the Tesla Destination network to Hoover Dam.

Hoover Dam Lodge Charging

We checked into the lodge, found their bank of four Tesla chargers, plugged in the car, and moved our things to the room so we could enjoy the pool. Meanwhile the car charged outside in the heat. Then we showered and had dinner that evening.

Cost to Charge: $0

We slept that night to prepare for our first day of real sightseeing.

Dean E. Dauger holds a Ph. D. in physics from UCLA, where his group created the first Mac cluster in 1998. Dr. Dauger is the award-winning author in multiple American Institute of Physics' Software Contests and co-authored the original, award-winning Kai's Power Tools image-processing package for Adobe Photoshop. After founding his company, Dauger Research, Inc., its debut product, Pooch, derived from Dr. Dauger's experience using clusters for his physics research, was soon awarded as "most innovative" by IEEE Cluster and continues to revolutionize parallel computing and clusters worldwide with its patented technology.



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