The Big Trip to the Big 8000 ft mountains and ski resort.I

[JoulesThief]

I live in Los Angeles, and I am retired, have plenty of time, to attempt to pull this off. Has anyone taken their short range EV up to Mammoth Lakes /Mammoth Mtn Ski resort, and actually measured what your kwh consumption rate is for a 3000 to 4000 vertical foot climb up a grade? How badly does it degrade your range estimates, going up hill 2500 vertical feet, and then 4000 vertical feet, from Bishop, CA to Mammoth Lakes, CA? 4000 to 8000 vertical feet, for the last climb. Last leg would be about 40-45 miles between a charge.

I am thinking, based on what I see on Plug Share, that stops in Lancaster, after a 2500 fr climb, Mojave, Boulder Creek RV park in Lone Pine Highland RV park in Bishop, right before the big 4000ft climb, would be necessary, and possibly a charge at the top of the grade also.

Thoughts? Input? Experience?

 

[miimura]

If you're good with engineering units, you can calculate exactly how many kWh it will take to lift the car to that height. That will be additional energy consumption on top of driving the over the road distance. Some other EVs have a rule of thumb that could be adjusted for the e-Golf. For example, it takes about 7 additional range miles to climb 1,000 feet and you can recover 6 miles of additional range for each 1,000 feet of descent. I don't recall exactly which car those figures came from, but it's probably one that is heavier and less efficient than the e-Golf.

 

[Slomove]

Maybe a data point here...I have a 2016 E-Golf SE that I just bought last week.

I am in Pasadena, CA (600ft altitude) and did an experiment driving up San Gabriel Canyon Road from Azusa almost to Crystal Lake. We turned around at 4600 ft altitude because my wife got a bit nervous. At this point the remaining reach showed 21 miles (which would not have been enough to get home). After we got out of the mountains the recuperation (and the average consumption calculation) showed us 51 miles. So we did get home...unfortunately I did not take kWh readings.

When we returned, the "tank gage" showed slightly more than 1/4 full, after 71 miles drive (half freeway, half mountain road), climbing 4000 feet and back down. Not too bad, IMO.

To extrapolate for your question, in case we would have kept going, I suspect the battery would have been empty at 6000 feet after driving 40 miles. Given that I seem to get 100 miles normally from a charge, climbing 1000 feet is roughly equivalent to 10 miles straight driving. Your mileage may vary....

 

[JoulesThief]

Maybe a data point here...I have a 2016 E-Golf SE that I just bought last week.

I am in Pasadena, CA (600ft altitude) and did an experiment driving up San Gabriel Canyon Road from Azusa almost to Crystal Lake. We turned around at 4600 ft altitude because my wife got a bit nervous. At this point the remaining reach showed 21 miles (which would not have been enough to get home). After we got out of the mountains the recuperation (and the average consumption calculation) showed us 51 miles. So we did get home...unfortunately I did not take kWh readings.

When we returned, the "tank gage" showed slightly more than 1/4 full, after 71 miles drive (half freeway, half mountain road), climbing 4000 feet and back down. Not too bad, IMO.

To extrapolate for your question, in case we would have kept going, I suspect the battery would have been empty at 6000 feet after driving 40 miles. Given that I seem to get 100 miles normally from a charge, climbing 1000 feet is roughly equivalent to 10 miles straight driving. Your mileage may vary....

So, my take is this... you drove 36 miles, one way, up hill, 4000 feet gained, at what average speed? And you ended up with slightly more than 1/4 tank left. 25 miles, maybe, if dead flat. About 61 miles, with no head winds. Bishop to Mammoth is 42 miles. Sounds doable with a full charge in Bishop, CA, no speed charging. I don't get to collect the down hill gains back until another day, after I've spent a few days in Mammoth Lakes, and probably a few recharges too.

I have routinely driven to Mammoth Lakes and back, on 1 tank of diesel, 5 or 6 gallons to spare, if I kept the cruise control set at 65 mph in either Touareg or the Passat TDI's.

 

[Slomove]

....So, my take is this... you drove 36 miles, one way, up hill, 4000 feet gained, at what average speed? And you ended up with slightly more than 1/4 tank left. 25 miles, maybe, if dead flat. About 61 miles, with no head winds. Bishop to Mammoth is 42 miles. Sounds doable with a full charge in Bishop, CA, no speed charging. I don't get to collect the down hill gains back until another day, after I've spent a few days in Mammoth Lakes, and probably a few recharges too.

I have routinely driven to Mammoth Lakes and back, on 1 tank of diesel, 5 or 6 gallons to spare, if I kept the cruise control set at 65 mph in either Touareg or the Passat TDI's.

Freeway at the usual LA freeway speed (I am not incriminating myself here). Mountain road at 30-50mph. There was a lot of traffic. Otherwise I think you are right about getting to Mammoth.

 

[JoulesThief]

So if i have to climb 2000 feet to get up to the high desert, 1000 AGL to 3000AGL of Antelope Valley, then I should figure 20 miles lost from range, or perhaps 60 miles on a battery charge, 65 max, from home, on a full charge to start, based on 84 mile range?

 

[Slomove]

That sounds about right and may be worth a try.
However, from the Valley to Palmdale is already 40+ miles so you would barely make up and down anyway, not mentioning the altitude difference. You would have to charge up there.