Videos coming later. This trip has not yet been edited and published on our YouTube channel. Until then, here is the trip data I tracked along the way.
From the Salt Lake City, UT area we drove to Wind Cave and the Badlands, then across the northern states and the Canadian prairies, around the Great Lakes to Niagara Falls, up to Quebec City, Prince Edward Island and Nova Scotia, and back down the coast through Acadia, Washington DC, Shenandoah and New River Gorge. We came home by way of Rocky Mountain National Park, all with a Thule hitch box on the back of our Model Y.
Driving vs charging
- 189.02 hours driving vs 38.57 hours Supercharging, about 1 hour of Supercharging for every 4.9 hours of driving (12.24 minutes of charging per hour of driving).
- 96 Supercharging stops, adding 3,073.36 kWh. Another 265.72 kWh came from AC (Level 2) charging over 85.95 hours (time we weren't waiting on it).
- 3,339.08 kWh charged in total (DC + AC); 3,374.51 kWh used driving.
- Average efficiency 325.69 Wh/mile at an average temperature of 74°F, with the Thule hitch box on the back for every drive. The hitch box has either zero effect on range or it increases range.
- Longest single leg: 194 miles from Belle Fourche, South Dakota to Dickinson, North Dakota in 3 hours 13 minutes, using 89% of the battery (94% to 5%) at 311 Wh/mile.
- Tire tread readings: 7/32nds on all four tires at the start; at the end, 7/32nds on the front tires and 5/32nds on the rears.
What it cost
Paying for Supercharging would have been only $386 cheaper than a 25 mpg gas car at the $4.09 average gas price across the states and provinces we drove through. Driving the same distance around town and charging at home at the national average electricity price would be $1,053 cheaper than the gas car.
| Hotels | $781.96 |
| Admission (Mackinac Island, Niagara Falls, Assiniboine Park Zoo, Green Gables and more) | $595.07 |
| Groceries | $585.18 |
| Fast food | $374.39 |
| Ferries | $246.15 |
| Restaurants | $237.97 |
| Souvenirs (mostly park magnets) | $163.75 |
| Parking | $141.61 |
| Starlink internet | $80.00 |
| Tolls | $28.33 |
| Auto parts (windshield crack repair kit) | $15.22 |
| Grand total | $3,249.63 |
Together with our Florida Keys and Canadian Rockies trips, our three big Model Y road trips cost $8,198.56 over 81 days, or $101.22 per day, and took us to all lower 48 states and 9 Canadian provinces.
Where we went
National parks and sites: Wind Cave, Mount Rushmore, Badlands, Theodore Roosevelt, Fort Union Trading Post National Historic Site, Voyageurs, Prince Edward Island National Park, Port-Royal National Historic Site, Roosevelt Campobello International Park, Acadia, Minute Man National Historical Park, Shenandoah, New River Gorge, Cuyahoga Valley, Indiana Dunes and Rocky Mountain.
Other stops: the geographic center of the United States, Assiniboine Park Zoo in Winnipeg, Angle Inlet (the northernmost point of the lower 48), Mackinac Island, Sleeping Bear Dunes, Niagara Falls from both the Canadian and American sides, Quebec City, the Anne of Green Gables visitor center, West Quoddy Head Lighthouse (the easternmost point of the lower 48) and the museums and monuments of Washington DC. We also used 4 ferries.
States and provinces: Utah, Wyoming, South Dakota, North Dakota, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Minnesota, Ontario, Wisconsin, Michigan, New York, Pennsylvania, Vermont, New Hampshire, Quebec, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, Nova Scotia, Maine, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, Missouri, Nebraska and Colorado. Indiana was the last of the lower 48 states for us.
Nights: 16 camping, 8 with friends, 8 in hotels and 1 with family.
Day by day
| Date | Route | Miles | Wh/mi |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sun May 31 | Home (Salt Lake City, UT area) → Wind Cave National Park | 625.13 | 323 |
| Mon Jun 1 | Wind Cave National Park → Badlands National Park | 161.91 | 320 |
| Tue Jun 2 | Badlands National Park → Theodore Roosevelt National Park | 539.33 | 337 |
| Wed Jun 3 | Theodore Roosevelt National Park → Winnipeg, Canada area | 384.87 | 312 |
| Thu Jun 4 | Winnipeg → International Falls | 485.13 | 320 |
| Fri Jun 5 | International Falls → Upper Peninsula, MI | 518.17 | 284 |
| Sat Jun 6 | Mackinac, MI | 164.58 | 315 |
| Sun Jun 7 | Mackinaw, MI → a friend's house | 417.85 | 307 |
| Mon Jun 8 | a friend's house → Palmyra, NY | 366.02 | 328 |
| Tue Jun 9 | Palmyra, NY → Susquehanna, PA | 125.00 | 352 |
| Wed Jun 10 | Susquehanna, PA → Vermont | 267.84 | 300 |
| Thu Jun 11 | Vermont → Quebec City, Canada | 410.73 | 302 |
| Fri Jun 12 | Quebec City, Canada → New Brunswick | 307.83 | 372 |
| Sat Jun 13 | New Brunswick → Prince Edward Island | 321.43 | 340 |
| Sun Jun 14 | Prince Edward Island → Annapolis Royal Nova Scotia | 375.94 | 324 |
| Mon Jun 15 | Annapolis Royal → Yarmouth Nova Scotia | 127.86 | 344 |
| Tue Jun 16 | Yarmouth Nova Scotia → Annapolis Royal Nova Scotia | 269.72 | 318 |
| Wed Jun 17 | Annapolis Royal → Saint John, New Brunswick | 66.02 | 325 |
| Thu Jun 18 | Saint John, New Brunswick → Acadia National Park | 176.26 | 289 |
| Fri Jun 19 | Acadia National Park → Manchester, NH | 304.33 | 309 |
| Sat Jun 20 | Manchester, NH → Valhalla, NY | 288.07 | 318 |
| Sun Jun 21 | Valhalla, NY → Potomac, MD | 296.70 | 290 |
| Mon Jun 22 | Potomac, MD | 42.33 | 292 |
| Tue Jun 23 | Potomac, MD | 66.31 | 283 |
| Wed Jun 24 | Potomac, MD → Buena Vista, VA | 236.00 | 316 |
| Thu Jun 25 | Buena Vista, VA | 32.94 | 318 |
| Fri Jun 26 | Buena Vista, VA → New River Gorge National Park | 181.06 | 365 |
| Sat Jun 27 | New River Gorge National Park → Willoughby, OH | 381.14 | 329 |
| Sun Jun 28 | Willoughby, OH → Palmyra, OH | 70.43 | 358 |
| Mon Jun 29 | Palmyra, OH → Brownsburg, IN | 393.17 | 339 |
| Tue Jun 30 | Brownsburg, IN → Nauvoo, IL | 460.60 | 372 |
| Wed Jul 1 | Nauvoo, IL → Mt. Pleasant, IA | 95.84 | 328 |
| Thu Jul 2 | Mt. Pleasant, IA → Middle of Colorado | 745.62 | 374 |
| Fri Jul 3 | Middle of Colorado → Home (Salt Lake City, UT area) | 606.13 | 331 |