Towing 7,000lb Airstream ✅ 1,100+ miles ✅ Million Dollar Highway 😳

[CTSoFL]

I had a retail shopping strip, and I applied for the supercharger installation and gave him justification. There are lots of apartments around us.
After two years, I got a response back finally saying sorry we missed your application and suggested that we install the normal 12 kW chargers. We had to buy them in bulk and get them installed, but even then they didn’t respond back to me with some additional questions. Go forward.

Now people may complain about Elon firing the charging team, but we could’ve been the hotspot for the entire area with all those apartment complexes around us. I couldn’t have been happier to hear that the entire team got fired.

Bummer...

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[Alto]

I just finished the first half of my trip, going from Dallas TX to the Ouray CO area. Covered over 1,100 miles. 807 Wh/mi efficiency. That had a mix of everything up to 70mph. According to google maps, it was 38,000 feet of elevation gain and 31,000 of loss.

The bad: V2 superchargers, the lack of a supercharger in Durango CO, and the lack of an unlocked CT battery charging curve.

The good: where to start… felt like nothing behind me. One massive gust had me feel a shake. The vast vast majority did not require me to unhitch. Could be early/late charging though or that I traveled on July 4. Will see on way home. The efficiency I was very happy with. Look, you drive an EV so you know what you’ve gotten yourself into. Slow it down. You’re fine. Going up and over the huge passes let me go around numerous gas-hauled campers. The amount of juice in the CT is amazing.

Thanks for the information. Am I correct in interpreting your report to indicate you stopped about every 2 hours of driving to recharge your truck? Or, about 20 hours of driving and 10 charging stopes?

How long is your Airstream trailer?

 

[ÆCIII]

I just finished the first half of my trip, going from Dallas TX to the Ouray CO area. Covered over 1,100 miles. 807 Wh/mi efficiency. That had a mix of everything up to 70mph. According to google maps, it was 38,000 feet of elevation gain and 31,000 of loss.

The bad: V2 superchargers, the lack of a supercharger in Durango CO, and the lack of an unlocked CT battery charging curve.

The good: where to start… felt like nothing behind me. One massive gust had me feel a shake. The vast vast majority did not require me to unhitch. Could be early/late charging though or that I traveled on July 4. Will see on way home. The efficiency I was very happy with. Look, you drive an EV so you know what you’ve gotten yourself into. Slow it down. You’re fine. Going up and over the huge passes let me go around numerous gas-hauled campers. The amount of juice in the CT is amazing.

I'm going to start doing the following calculations for samples of towing data posted, to compare towing efficiency at various weights and various trips.

Towing means moving more weight or mass from point A to point B, so it's obviously going to require more energy. It will be interesting to compare different tow weights, with the weight of both trailer and Cybertruck integral as a factor, as follows:

807 Wh/mi / ((7000 lb trailer + 6800 lb Cybertruck)/2000 lb short ton) = ​

807/6.9 = 116.95 Wh/mi/st (117 Watt-Hours per Mile each Short-Ton)​

​

For this metric, lower is of course better. The aim is to see how consistent the efficiency is per unit-of-weight, when towing/moving various amounts of weight.

Here is calculation from another post

https://www.cybertruckownersclub.com/forum/threads/whats-your-lifetime-wh-mi.19407/post-350243​

with lifetime averages for a Cybertruck not towing anything:

383 Wh/mi / ((No trailer + 6800 lb Cybertruck)/2000 lb short ton) = ​

383/3.4 = 112.64 Wh/mi/st (113 Watt-Hours per Mile each Short-Ton)​

Notice how close these metrics are (117 vs 113)? This is the type of consistency I'm looking for. It will be interesting to see if this type of consistency holds for many more calculations of various towing loads/trips. If I get time later I might compile a list of links/trips to show the results in a single future post. What we're seeing so far though is a fair amount of consistency, in Wh/mi/st.

If these Wh/mi/st results remain fairly consistent, the numbers can be used also to estimate Wh/mi consumption or range for a Cybertruck/trailer combination of any given weight in advance, useful for trip planning.

- ÆCIII

 

[scottf200]

Desperate need for Superchargers in Durango, Pagosa Springs, and Cortez. That would open up that part of Colorado immensely.

Yeah … Durango has one coming this year. Cortez and Pagosa got approved for construction and got funding from CDOT. Durango has a DC charger for 250kw, but it’s CCS.

@op… did you hit up Mr Grumpy Pants brewery in Ouray?

https://supercharge.info/map

TMC thread is linked from the comment icon below.

 

[Texarado]

Thanks for the information. Am I correct in interpreting your report to indicate you stopped about every 2 hours of driving to recharge your truck? Or, about 20 hours of driving and 10 charging stopes?

How long is your Airstream trailer?

25’. I stopped at 9, one of which was avoidable with conservative driving. I was going to say maybe even 2, but I don’t think so.

look, have no shame in driving 55 or 60 in a 70/75. In the summer it’s not uncommon to see truckers doing it anyway. I often would start at 55 or 60 and then crank to 65 or 70 once I was confident in how much I still had in the tank.

 

[Friday]

https://supercharge.info/map

TMC thread is linked from the comment icon below.

Per the thread, NO sign of any construction started in Durango. I've found the proposed opening dates on the Supercharger site are not the data to follow, the best is someone with eyes on physically.

In AZ Wikieup and Globe are always on the "opening 202X increments" lists but nothing is happening. Kayenta is a big surprise and greatly appreciated.

We wait, impatiently..................................

 

[scottf200]

I've found the proposed opening dates on the Supercharger site are not the data to follow, the best is someone with eyes on physically.

As far as I know there are no 'prosposed opening dates' on the supercharge.info at all. They only have historical data like how long it is been in the current/given status.

I always follow the threads to get eyes on like you pointed out. That is also why I pointed out how to get to the threads (icon) and the thread link. Amazing how far the network has come.

 

[charliemagpie]

Based on many previous reports, I'm often not convinced that the speed was practical enough (i.e., EV towing requires TLC).

High expectations and EV towing are not compatible.

For me, It will not be a case of getting there as quickly as possible. I will likely be towing 3.5 tons at 90Km.

5 hours to my destination with a recharge and rest in between gets me 380km of travel.

Fark Yeah !!! Squeezing watts is not necessary for me.

Thanks for your common sense, and practical report, which aligns with my real-life needs.

 

[Cyberman]

I just finished the first half of my trip, going from Dallas TX to the Ouray CO area. Covered over 1,100 miles. 807 Wh/mi efficiency. That had a mix of everything up to 70mph. According to google maps, it was 38,000 feet of elevation gain and 31,000 of loss.

The bad: V2 superchargers, the lack of a supercharger in Durango CO, and the lack of an unlocked CT battery charging curve.

The good: where to start… felt like nothing behind me. One massive gust had me feel a shake. The vast vast majority did not require me to unhitch. Could be early/late charging though or that I traveled on July 4. Will see on way home. The efficiency I was very happy with. Look, you drive an EV so you know what you’ve gotten yourself into. Slow it down. You’re fine. Going up and over the huge passes let me go around numerous gas-hauled campers. The amount of juice in the CT is amazing.

The perfect marriage...

 

[M0unt41nm4n]

https://supercharge.info/map

TMC thread is linked from the comment icon below.

yeah… I have been following that thread. I finally called LPEA (local utility company)and asked them. They said it was dead air when Musk fired the SC team. They said they finally got some discussion going mid-June and they hope it will be installed mid Fall. YMMV.

 

[Woodrick]

Dumb question:

Can a private owner install superchargers on their own and charge $.xx/kwH like having a "gas station"?

If the market requirement is there, would appear private sector can solve IF Tesla makes the supercharges available....

Am I off here???

I believe that private owners may be able to notify that they have an area that they can sell/lease to Tesla. But I'm pretty sure that aside from the lase, all the $$ goes to Tesla.

 

[Alto]

25’. I stopped at 9, one of which was avoidable with conservative driving. I was going to say maybe even 2, but I don’t think so.

look, have no shame in driving 55 or 60 in a 70/75. In the summer it’s not uncommon to see truckers doing it anyway. I often would start at 55 or 60 and then crank to 65 or 70 once I was confident in how much I still had in the tank.

I hope the remnants of Burl leave you unscathed. I appreciate your response. I am considering purchasing a 19 foot Airstream as part of my hurricane escape plan. Knowing how far I can get and how fast is useful. Were most of your charging sessions about 30 minutes long?

 

[Texarado]

I hope the remnants of Burl leave you unscathed. I appreciate your response. I am considering purchasing a 19 foot Airstream as part of my hurricane escape plan. Knowing how far I can get and how fast is useful. Were most of your charging sessions about 30 minutes long?

Ish. I usually go past the recommended charge time. I bet half were at or under, half over. A couple were at an hour. I can’t wait to make this drive without towing. I think the battery size will carry a long way. I think may be able to get Dallas to Trinidad on just 2 charges (obviously depending on speed). At 65-70 without towing I bet it’s only a stop in quanah and Amarillo. Or crank the speed and get a couple short charges in there too.

 

[Woodrick]

I hope the remnants of Burl leave you unscathed. I appreciate your response. I am considering purchasing a 19 foot Airstream as part of my hurricane escape plan. Knowing how far I can get and how fast is useful. Were most of your charging sessions about 30 minutes long?

I really hope that you are planning on getting the Airstream to camp and then would just use it when you have to evacuate. Because getting an Airstream to evacuate on its own is a real bad use of money.
You would be much better served by setting the money aside for a nice hotel.

And of course the best evacuation plan is to do it before they tell you to do it.

 

[bowenzhang]

@Texarado thanks for sharing this! I am planning to tow my airstream (same 25ft) at next road trip as well. A few things I am not sure yet:

• How did you solve the tow mirror? Did you install any aftermarket tow mirror? Or are the views from the side cameras sufficient?
• what trailer brake settings did you use? Is regen still working well when towing? How was the downhill experience?
• How fast of charging did you get with the 50amp at campground? Did any campground ever charge you for excessive electricity usage?

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