- First Name
- Van
- Joined
- Dec 17, 2024
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- 40
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- 64
- Location
- NC, USA
- Vehicles
- 2025 Porsche Macan 4S, 2022 Chevy Bolt
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- #1
I'm late writing this up, but back in July I finally got to take a long road trip in the Macan 4S I picked up in the spring. I had done a few overnight and weekend trips, to Asheville, Raleigh, Savannah, and Jacksonville, but I was itching to really use the car the way it was intended. I had done a number of road trips over 4 years with a Tesla Model Y (97,000 miles--most of them on trips), and I had gotten used to using CCS chargers if they were more convenient. This was my first time driving away from the East Coast in a CCS-only car, but with the Macan it turned out to be as easy as it was in a Tesla.
The impetus for the trip was to try my hand at hiking at elevation. In order to save vacation days for family events, I made it a working trip, and worked from co-working spaces along the way all but 2 separate days over the course of two weeks. I know folks like exact numbers, but I forgot to track my starting stats because I decided to do this trip at the last minute, and just took off one Friday after work. Here's a simplified map of the route. Minus some side quests and driving around places I stayed, it was about 3,500 miles.
I used Electrify America when it was convenient, and also stayed at a few hotels that offered free Level 2 charging. I estimated the amount of energy I got at hotels, and totally the energy I got at EA and other networks, I charged about 1,260 kWh. I paid $89.11 for non-EA fast charging. (I would have paid an additional $335.78 for the EA charging.)
For anyone interested, here is a day-by-day summary:
Friday, July 11, 2025
I took off after work and drove up to Hendersonville, NC, where I stayed with family to get an early start hiking on Saturday. I charged a few minutes in Saluda, NC, in the hopes that I wouldn't need to charge before my hike.
Saturday, July 12, 2025
I decided even with the Friday night charge, and plugging into a 120 outlet overnight, I didn't want to risk eastern Kentucky without a full charge. So, I stopped at the new EA station in south Asheville, NC, to top up to about 90%. I did a short hike to bag the Kentucky high point at Black Mountain, near the Virginia border. While I ate lunch in Cumberland, KY, I got a little charge from there free downtown Level 2 chargers. Next charge was at a new Electric Era charger in Hazard, KY. Another short charge in Georgetown, KY, before I spent the night west of Louisville. (You may notice that favor more frequent short charges; I like to keep my legs stretched and my bladder empty.)
Sunday, July 13, 2025
I probably could have made it to the EA station in Mt. Vernon, IL, with the SOC I had, but I decided not to risk it, and charged for 5 minutes at the Tesla Magic Dock in Haubstadt, IN. In addition to Mt. Vernon, I also hit the EA stations in Chesterfield, MO, and Boonville, MO. Not much interesting happened, excect I tried St. Louis style pizza for lunch. It was okay, but I get to St. Louis so infrequently, I think I'll stick to barbecue or Italian there. Arrived at my hotel near the coworking space in south Kansas City, MO.
Monday, July 14, 2025
Working in Kansas City. Charged up at an EA station in the parking garage between my hotel and the coworking space on Monday evening.
Tuesday, July 15, 2025
Left KC after work, and stopped at the EA in Topeka on the way to the "Little Apple", Manhattan, KS. This is the last city I could find with a coworking space before the long drive to Denver.
Wednesday, July 16, 2025
After working in Manhattan, I drove to Salina, KS, where I was able to charge overnight at my hotel.
Thursday, July 17, 2025
I took the day off to drive from Salina to the Denver area. I drove some backroads for a while, parallel to the interstate, just for change of scenery, and stopped at Mushroom Rock State Park. (I have visited enough Kansas state parks to realize that they are always down a dirt road. If you are particular about your Macan, skip Kanas state parks.) I charged at one of the new Ionna stations in WaKenney, KS, both to see what Ionna was like, and because I could grab lunch at a local restaurant right across the street. The quick and easy Ionna interface is a lot closer to the Tesla experience than EA is. I charged at EA in Colby, KS, and then visited the Prairie Museum of Art and History nearby. My last charge on the road for the day was at the EA station in Flagler, CO. It was beside a Rivian Adventure Network station, in the parking lot of a diner that had just been reopened as an ethnic Georgian restaurant. I spent the night in Highland Ranch, sount of Denver, at a hotel where I was able to charge.
Friday, July 18, 2025
After working in Denver, I drove up to an AirBnB in Dillon, CO, not far past the continental divide. I had heard the Friday afternoon traffic going from Denver up into the mountains was horrible, and it was.
Saturday, July 19, 2025
I started hiking at elevation slowly, with a short, easy hike above Dillion, which is just above 9,000 feet.
Sunday, July 20, 2025
I drove back to Loveland Pass (11,990 feet), and hiked the highest I had ever hiked before, Cupid's Peak at a little over 13,000 feet. It was at this point that I decided I would not attempt a 14er on this trip. Maybe next time.
Monday, July 21 – Wednesday, July 23, 2025
Some more short hikes around town after work each day. On Wednesday evening, I drove the short distance to Frisco, CA, to charge up at the EA station for the trip back to Denver the next morning.
Thursday, July 24, 2025
Drove back down to Denver in the morning to work one final day that week, and then drove to Ogallala, NE, to spend the night. I decided to go back a different way, just for a change of scenery. After running through my first-ever Midwest hail storm, in eastern Colorado, I charged at the EA station in Fort Morgan, CO, and then again overnight at the hotel.
Friday, July 25, 2025
I took the day off to make it a driving day, but ended up spending too much time sightseeing little tourist-y things in Nebraska, and had a very long afternoon and evening of driving. I stopped at the preserved Pony Express station and the local history museum in Gothenburg, NE. Then, I stopped at the American Automobile Experience in Kearney, NE; it was interesting but so big that it became overwhelming after a while. EA charging in Grand Island, and then Lincoln, and then a short charge on a ChargePoint station in downtown Nebraska City while I had dinner. Then, I did a long slog through Independence, where I charged one more time with EA, and on to Kingdom City, MO, where I charged overnight at my hotel.
Saturday, July 26, 2025
I got to enjoy Sport and Sport+ modes on some windy back roads in southern Missouri as I drove down to the ChargePoint in Ironton, MO, where I had lunch while I charged. Then, I summited the Missouri high point, Taum Sauk Mountain. There followed a long rural drive over to Paducah, KY, for another EA charge, and then a charge at the EA in Clarksville, TN, where I had dinner. I spent the night in north Nashville, but was not able to charge because they had lost the "key" to one of their 2 chargers and the other one was already in use.
Sunday, July 27, 2025
I stopped at one of the EA chargers on the way out of Nashville, and got enough energy to get me to the EA station in Cookeville, TN. My final charge of the trip was in Kodak, TN, east of Knoxville, while I had lunch. Then, to avoid the traffic on I-40, which still only has one lane open in each direction after Hurricane Helene, I took back roads to Asheville, and then on home to Charlotte.
The impetus for the trip was to try my hand at hiking at elevation. In order to save vacation days for family events, I made it a working trip, and worked from co-working spaces along the way all but 2 separate days over the course of two weeks. I know folks like exact numbers, but I forgot to track my starting stats because I decided to do this trip at the last minute, and just took off one Friday after work. Here's a simplified map of the route. Minus some side quests and driving around places I stayed, it was about 3,500 miles.
I used Electrify America when it was convenient, and also stayed at a few hotels that offered free Level 2 charging. I estimated the amount of energy I got at hotels, and totally the energy I got at EA and other networks, I charged about 1,260 kWh. I paid $89.11 for non-EA fast charging. (I would have paid an additional $335.78 for the EA charging.)
For anyone interested, here is a day-by-day summary:
Friday, July 11, 2025
I took off after work and drove up to Hendersonville, NC, where I stayed with family to get an early start hiking on Saturday. I charged a few minutes in Saluda, NC, in the hopes that I wouldn't need to charge before my hike.
Saturday, July 12, 2025
I decided even with the Friday night charge, and plugging into a 120 outlet overnight, I didn't want to risk eastern Kentucky without a full charge. So, I stopped at the new EA station in south Asheville, NC, to top up to about 90%. I did a short hike to bag the Kentucky high point at Black Mountain, near the Virginia border. While I ate lunch in Cumberland, KY, I got a little charge from there free downtown Level 2 chargers. Next charge was at a new Electric Era charger in Hazard, KY. Another short charge in Georgetown, KY, before I spent the night west of Louisville. (You may notice that favor more frequent short charges; I like to keep my legs stretched and my bladder empty.)
Sunday, July 13, 2025
I probably could have made it to the EA station in Mt. Vernon, IL, with the SOC I had, but I decided not to risk it, and charged for 5 minutes at the Tesla Magic Dock in Haubstadt, IN. In addition to Mt. Vernon, I also hit the EA stations in Chesterfield, MO, and Boonville, MO. Not much interesting happened, excect I tried St. Louis style pizza for lunch. It was okay, but I get to St. Louis so infrequently, I think I'll stick to barbecue or Italian there. Arrived at my hotel near the coworking space in south Kansas City, MO.
Monday, July 14, 2025
Working in Kansas City. Charged up at an EA station in the parking garage between my hotel and the coworking space on Monday evening.
Tuesday, July 15, 2025
Left KC after work, and stopped at the EA in Topeka on the way to the "Little Apple", Manhattan, KS. This is the last city I could find with a coworking space before the long drive to Denver.
Wednesday, July 16, 2025
After working in Manhattan, I drove to Salina, KS, where I was able to charge overnight at my hotel.
Thursday, July 17, 2025
I took the day off to drive from Salina to the Denver area. I drove some backroads for a while, parallel to the interstate, just for change of scenery, and stopped at Mushroom Rock State Park. (I have visited enough Kansas state parks to realize that they are always down a dirt road. If you are particular about your Macan, skip Kanas state parks.) I charged at one of the new Ionna stations in WaKenney, KS, both to see what Ionna was like, and because I could grab lunch at a local restaurant right across the street. The quick and easy Ionna interface is a lot closer to the Tesla experience than EA is. I charged at EA in Colby, KS, and then visited the Prairie Museum of Art and History nearby. My last charge on the road for the day was at the EA station in Flagler, CO. It was beside a Rivian Adventure Network station, in the parking lot of a diner that had just been reopened as an ethnic Georgian restaurant. I spent the night in Highland Ranch, sount of Denver, at a hotel where I was able to charge.
Friday, July 18, 2025
After working in Denver, I drove up to an AirBnB in Dillon, CO, not far past the continental divide. I had heard the Friday afternoon traffic going from Denver up into the mountains was horrible, and it was.
Saturday, July 19, 2025
I started hiking at elevation slowly, with a short, easy hike above Dillion, which is just above 9,000 feet.
Sunday, July 20, 2025
I drove back to Loveland Pass (11,990 feet), and hiked the highest I had ever hiked before, Cupid's Peak at a little over 13,000 feet. It was at this point that I decided I would not attempt a 14er on this trip. Maybe next time.
Monday, July 21 – Wednesday, July 23, 2025
Some more short hikes around town after work each day. On Wednesday evening, I drove the short distance to Frisco, CA, to charge up at the EA station for the trip back to Denver the next morning.
Thursday, July 24, 2025
Drove back down to Denver in the morning to work one final day that week, and then drove to Ogallala, NE, to spend the night. I decided to go back a different way, just for a change of scenery. After running through my first-ever Midwest hail storm, in eastern Colorado, I charged at the EA station in Fort Morgan, CO, and then again overnight at the hotel.
Friday, July 25, 2025
I took the day off to make it a driving day, but ended up spending too much time sightseeing little tourist-y things in Nebraska, and had a very long afternoon and evening of driving. I stopped at the preserved Pony Express station and the local history museum in Gothenburg, NE. Then, I stopped at the American Automobile Experience in Kearney, NE; it was interesting but so big that it became overwhelming after a while. EA charging in Grand Island, and then Lincoln, and then a short charge on a ChargePoint station in downtown Nebraska City while I had dinner. Then, I did a long slog through Independence, where I charged one more time with EA, and on to Kingdom City, MO, where I charged overnight at my hotel.
Saturday, July 26, 2025
I got to enjoy Sport and Sport+ modes on some windy back roads in southern Missouri as I drove down to the ChargePoint in Ironton, MO, where I had lunch while I charged. Then, I summited the Missouri high point, Taum Sauk Mountain. There followed a long rural drive over to Paducah, KY, for another EA charge, and then a charge at the EA in Clarksville, TN, where I had dinner. I spent the night in north Nashville, but was not able to charge because they had lost the "key" to one of their 2 chargers and the other one was already in use.
Sunday, July 27, 2025
I stopped at one of the EA chargers on the way out of Nashville, and got enough energy to get me to the EA station in Cookeville, TN. My final charge of the trip was in Kodak, TN, east of Knoxville, while I had lunch. Then, to avoid the traffic on I-40, which still only has one lane open in each direction after Hurricane Helene, I took back roads to Asheville, and then on home to Charlotte.
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