Don Burke Profile picture
15 May, 50 tweets, 23 min read
And the 2021 road trip begins. About 80 Teslas will converge on Custer at the end of the week for the @Tesla rally. It'll be nice to see everyone there. Image
Central Ohio is next. I've been trying to get to Chillicothe Supercharger for some time. The whole first part of my journey revolves around that location. Image
What will the final odometer reading be at the end of the trip? If my tentative route holds, it should be around 6,000 miles. Image
Good to be back in @meijer territory. Amazing how much to they've done to support the Tesla Supercharger network. This one is in Florence, KY. Image
Hung out with @pluginsites for a few minutes at the Brentwood TN supercharger. Kinda surreal to run into a friend from DC in Tennessee while both of us are traveling to Custer, SD. Image
.@Target hosts two of the Nashville-area's three @Tesla superchargers. Thank you Target! Image
Jackson, Tennessee Image
I always enjoy taking photos of the state-line signs.

It is so much easier (and safer) to do with Autopilot. ImageImageImageImage
Joplin MO is the perfect encapsulation of the changing view of EVs, and the @Tesla supercharger network in particular. Contrast the two locations: The first commissioned in Nov 2016 in a back corner with zero to like about the location with the @kumandgo location opened May 2021 ImageImage
The original location is no longer shown on the in-car nav display and will likely be fully decommissioned soon. Glad I was able to pull power from it before it goes offline for good. Its inevitable fate will be chronicled on the TMC post below.

teslamotorsclub.com/tmc/threads/su…
Made it to Kansas City and into @HyVee territory. Image
Who tows an F350 dually behind a motorhome? Seriously. Can you imagine the impact on the already atrocious fuel mileage of the RV? And the pollution.Who even needs an F350 that isn't using it on a farm or business? Ridiculous. Image
IEA: Nations around the world would need to immediately stop approving new coal-fired power plants and new oil and gas fields and quickly phase out gasoline-powered vehicles if they want to avert the most catastrophic effects of climate change.
nyti.ms/2STe3fP
Day 3's drive summary. About 721 miles. Image
The ground fog is lifting. The cloud base is rising. Growing spots of sunshine. And, I'm now in the beautiful plain states. It's just so beautiful. Most people hate driving across these states. I love it. Image
The scenery is made even better with the huge wind farms generating huge amounts of renewable energy. Image
Goodbye Kansas. Hello Colorado. Image
Hello Rockies! I couldn't see them until I was in them and then the clouds disappeared. How cool is that! Image
Driving the mountain roads between the Aspen Park and Idaho springs superchargers. Pure joy! Image
The Idaho Springs CO supercharger is also care of @kumandgo. They were clearly serious about expanding rollout as highlighted in the link below. They had a few locations as far back as May 2019 in Altoona Iowa and Bethany MO according to my travel log.
cstoredecisions.com/2021/04/02/kum…
Energy graphs like this mean you are having a really great day traveling America's highways and byways. Image
.@sheetz, better watch your six because @kumandgo is adding @Tesla supercharger locations rapidly. A race to see who can have the most locations is a race that will help the planet. Image
You can really make time with speed limits like this. Also so cool to be doing so in an EV that can do these speeds without absolutely destroying its range. Image
A short day of driving today (relative to other supercharger hunters) at 377 miles but it left time to explore around Fort Laramie and the Oregon Trail in the vicinity of Guernsey, WY. Hard to fathom this history was only about 150 years ago. ImageImageImageImage
Something about the words bar and drive thru being used together just doesn't seem to compute. This is at the Hat Travel Center in Evansville WY (effectively Casper WY). Image
Doing a range charge (i.e. charge to almost 100%) to cross through Thunder Basin National Grassland this morning in way to Custer. I should arrive with almost 40% charge remaining but not taking any chances given the remoteness. Image
I love the West. This is Thunder Basin National Grassland. Image
Made it to Custer with 34% battery remaining so I just headed straight to Wall SD as I needed to get the @Tesla Supercharger at Wall Drug. Image
.@WallDrug finally got me to stop. It wasn't the incessant signs or the over-the-top tourist stuff. No, it was a Tesla supercharger. Image
Custer State Park is awesome. A must visit for anyone passing through the area.
#SoundofSilence Image
I guess we found the buffalo.
#SoundofSilence Image
This guy is the sweetest dog. Quite the sight.

#SoundofSilence Image
Version 8.2 of beta FSD on Iron Mountain Road in Custer, SD. Follow @kimpaquette for more FSD vids.

Little Bighorn Battlefield. We listened to The Last Stand throughout this trip. What a complicated story. Glad there is representation for both sides at the battlefield. Image
Pompay's Pillar on the Yellowstone river just east of Billings. ImageImageImageImage
From yesterday: I-90 westbound heading for Sheridan Wyoming. Image
There was a nice pull off at the North Dakota border with Wyoming. Image
Theodore Roosevelt National Park. ImageImageImageImage
Eastbound on I-94 towards Bismarck ND during the Golden Hour. Image
6 Kw level 2 charger at the Lewis and Clark Interpretive Center. Thank you @McLean_Electric! Cc @pluginsites ImageImage
Our final leg across North Dakota earlier in the week included this crazy dust and rainstorm. I didn't know those two things could happen simultaneously. Image
We also stopped at Valley City ND to see their historic bridges over the Cheyenne River. The many bridges reminded me of Pittsburgh, which is also a city of bridges. The VCSU bridge was particularly beautiful. ImageImageImageImage
Thank you @ConnexusNews and @greenlots for providing the only L3 charging anywhere near Anoka. We need more options out this way. Love that solar farm in the background too. My father owns one of those panels. Image
It was great to see @ElectrifyAm chargers side-by-side with @Tesla Superchargers at the @meijer on IL-59 in Aurora Illinois. That long row of chargers makes quite a visual statement too all who visit that location. Image
One of my favorite photos from the road trip. Gracie in Thunder Basin National Grasslands. Image
I saw this beautiful @Ford Mach-E in Minnesota. Image
In these two images, you can see the state of the entire USA and Canada supercharger network compared with a view showing which superchargers I've yet to visit. I've cleared most of the center of the country. ImageImage
Finally, here is the trip summary. Image

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More from @doyendon

17 Dec 19
Don's FSD Challenge: A thread.
I'm quite proud of this work. It took a lot of effort to set up the framework and learn video editing and how YouTube works.

The result is this video grading the first run of a repeatable 100-mile FSD challenge loop.

youtube.com/watch?v=52-og_… Image
The video is part of a playlist that allows you to see the entire run in real time, a condensed run that speeds up the boring stuff, the grading of the run, and an overview of the route.

youtube.com/watch?v=52-og_… Image
Another playlist will capture key videos from all the runs I make as part of this challenge. It leads off with three videos describing the why and what of the challenge along with two videos of the 1st run.

youtube.com/watch?v=uuu8qz… Image
Read 10 tweets
28 Sep 19
Okay, so it looks like it'll happen. Long range multi-coat red Raven with FSD. They are updating it right now but it wasn't V10. ☹️
A little sad to be letting Lenny go but his younger sister is a whole different generation of @tesla.
This is one of the top three reasons why I made this purchase.
Read 15 tweets
12 Sep 19
Back in @meijer territory for @tesla superchargers. This one is in Gaylord, Michigan. This is a long stop because we are headed into the UP where there are no superchargers. We will get a little extra juice in Mackinaw at a L2 and then into the void we go.
Many thanks to the @MackinawCityMi for putting destination chargers at the marina!

We are doing a little bit of sightseeing of this beautiful city while giving ourselves a little bit of margin for our trip to Escanaba.
Crossing into the UP.
Read 20 tweets
18 Jul 19
Roadtrip underway to attend @RebuildsRich's Electrified Garage grand opening in New Hampshire Friday.

I will be taking a circuitous route through long island and Massachusetts to notch up more superchargers. 1/x
2/ the roadtrip is not starting out very fun as I've been driving in this heavy rain the whole way. It appears to be moving at highway speed right along my route.

Autopilot intermittent
Very hard to see
Increased energy consumption
3/ East Brunswick, NJ just before midnight. 16 superchargers at the Brunswick Square Mall.
Read 17 tweets
28 May 19
Thread 1/x About to begin a quick trip to Walnut Grove, MN. Who knows why that town might be a destination?

This will be a tough trip in the Tesla given our time constraints and the first trip in a long time where I feel an EV makes life harder. Follow the thread to learn why.
2/x This trip has all of the elements to make it difficult in an EV, even a 260-mile-range Tesla:
1) Wed evening family event back at dad's.
2) no superchargers
3) no destination chargers at our stopping point
4) we will need to add at least 120 miles of range using L1 and L2.
3/x
The plan:
1) Start trip from MSP airport at or near 100% charge.
2) use the L2 charger in New Ulm to add as much range as possible. See the town.
3) use outlet at our Airbnb overnight for about 40-50 miles of range.
4) use the Tesla destination chargers in Morton on way home
Read 17 tweets
24 May 19
Supercharging at Strasburg, VA, one of my top 3 superchargers in the USA for the kick-off of another EV road trip.

I'm going to do a tough range run straight to Parkersburg West Virginia. This leg is at the very limit of what my car can do. Can I do it? 1/x

Cc @TeslaRoadTrip
With so many @tesla supercharger locations in the USA and even longer-range cars than mine, a leg with an energy graph like this is now largely a choice.

My bail out is to divert down to Weston once I get West of the mountains but I don't think I will need that. 2/x
My 2014 Model S had 265 rated miles of range when new. This 100% charge ended with 257 after 94,600 miles on the odometer. That's just 8 miles of range loss! Amazing. Thank you @elonmusk, JB and the whole @tesla team for making the world's best EVs. 3/x
Read 29 tweets

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