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Day 34: Carlsbad, New Mexico

 Friday, Oct 7, 2022

The focus of the day was to get to Carlsbad and then ensure I get the Tesla fully charged so that I can make it all the way to El Paso the next day. One of the few days in the road trip when EV range anxiety was top of my mind.  Left my hotel in Childress, Texas and fully charged at the Tesla supercharger there before hitting the highway.

Getting to Carlsbad became easy since the Lubbock supercharger was working. I experienced driving through the flat countryside of north Texas, with not much in the way of towns or even villages.Seeing the few oil rigs in action was the most interesting part of the surrounding scenery.

 

 

 

Reached Carlsbad with 90 miles of range left and getting to El Paso was going to be a 200 mile drive the next day. I had researched on Plugshare that there was a Tesla destination charger at the McDonalds in town. So, after checking into my AirBnb I headed out to McDonalds. Luckily, found the destination charger, it was available and it was working. I plugged in my Tesla and it started charging at 40 miles/hour. What a relief and joy such simple and mundane things can bring!
It was going to be 5 hours for the car to fully charge, so I walked back to the AirBnb, rested a while and then walked around town. The Pecos river waterfront in Carlsbad is a very nice walk. 

When I picked up the fully charged car from the McDonalds, it was already dark. As I was started driving back it started to rain. It really poured hard and I couldn't see a thing on the road. So, pulled over for a few minutes to let it taper down.  

Had a relaxed stay at the AirBnb, comforted by the thought I had enough EV range for tomorrow. I worried a little about the weather, since it was forecast to be cloudy with chance for rain.  

I am also only one timezone away from home, and only one week left in the road trip. It has been an exciting journey, a once in a lifetime experience for me, but I miss home and am looking forward to being back.

 

The raw numbers for the day:

  • 340 miles driving, 8900 steps walking
  • 2 Tesla supercharger stops, Tesla destination charger at McDonald's, Carlsbad
  • 2 states - Texas, New Mexico

 

Comments

  1. ManeeshaOctober 9, 2022 at 7:00 PM

    आजा वे माहीं तेरा रस्ता उडीकदीयां..

    ReplyDelete
  2. VisheshOctober 9, 2022 at 7:35 PM

    We miss you too! <3 I'm glad the Tesla struggles mostly worked out in the end, apart from the loss of time from servicing.

    ReplyDelete

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