Monthly Archives: August 2015

An essential aim of this drive north was to reach Alaska by EV, and so the day arrived to use some of my precious battery energy to cross the border into Hyder. There’s no border crossing run by the U.S., … Continue reading →

Welcome signs are shaped like bears Half the businesses in town include the word “bear” in their name The score sheet at the local hotel shows a grizzly visited the nearby fish creek about two hours ago. Trash cans are … Continue reading →

My calculations showed that a charge of some 60 hours (after figuring energy I’d use for the trip up to Hyder) would be needed to fully charge the Tesla’s battery before I set off again for Smithers. That placed me … Continue reading →

All looked good for the final push to my destination. By driving during daytime with reasonable temperatures, not using the heat or air conditioning, driving at about 45 mph and smartly, I should easily be able to cover the 209 … Continue reading →

Determined to make it all the way to Houston before charging, I drove mostly at 50 mph. Plan B was to stop at Burns Lake, quite a bit short of Houston. When faster cars approached, I put on flashers, and … Continue reading →

Reaching Alaska in an electric vehicle requires some planning, particularly for someone not well-seasoned on off-the-supercharger-network travel. I needed to answer a few questions before setting off: * Would I really be able to get at least rated range out … Continue reading →

Cold and tired, I arrived at my Prince George hotel, Coast Inn of the North, in the black of early morning. This hotel is known as a destination charging location because they have installed a Tesla charging unit in their … Continue reading →

The trek from Williams Lake to Prince George began as I stowed the charging cables with enough juice in the battery to give us about a 25 mile reserve at the end of the 150 mile trip. Our ETA at … Continue reading →

Yep, we’re going to Alaska! The clear route North is through Prince George, but getting there from Kamloops in an electric vehicle is the challenge. WWW.plugshare.com says there’s a public charger in Williams Lake. Most of the drive to Williams … Continue reading →

Instead of taking us through Vancouver, as I had expected, Tesla’s Navigation feature directed us through lovely country roads so as to avoid Vancouver traffic. I didn’t realize it, but these smaller border crossing sites are often not 24 hour … Continue reading →

Our trip took us through Seattle, and as we entered the Cascades the 100 degree temps of the past few days gave way to comfortable 80s. Yes! As a bonus, the place wasn’t on fire. We toured the town from … Continue reading →

From Boise our trek took us west towards a city by the coast. As with most other western states, Idaho saw  a number of forest fires in this dry year. Camp this evening took place in a KOA campground in … Continue reading →

As if the supercharger party wasn’t enough, the people of Boise had even more hospitality in store for Papafox and Iceman. Directly from the party I headed over to a dinner invitation at the home of longtime friends Leslie and … Continue reading →

The departure Papafox and Iceman from Nevada to points north depended upon the opening of the Boise supercharger. I had friends up there to visit, and I wanted to meet the Tesla owners from a location where the car still hasn’t … Continue reading →

‘Twas a Sunday afternoon when Iceman and I hit the road with 75% battery charge and 100% enthusiasm  level. Dozens of friends and strangers had already stated they wished they could join us, to exchange their everyday worries for the … Continue reading →

The Hawaii sunrise photo is gone and an image of the 70D cruising around Lake Tahoe has taken its place. Does this change foreshadow the road trip’s imminent launch? Stay tuned.

Before I put 8,000 or more highway miles on this car, I need to be sure the Tesla’s paint is protected from rock chips and other hazards of the road. For this reason I used the Teslamotorsclub.com forums to find … Continue reading →