A very different post as compared to the other ones here, this post talks about my journey from Vancouver, BC to Monterey, CA to attend in Rennsport Reunion 7. I wanted to write more about the experience of taking the Taycan CT on a long road trip more than just RR7. It will be a long one so sit back, grab a coffee and enjoy!
We left Vancouver, BC on Sept. 27 morning to head down to the USA Border where we'd meet up with our friends. Can't miss a Shark Blue Boxster Spyder for sure.
Our goal for the night of the first day was to make it down to Grants' Pass, OR. It is around 900 KMs and change, making the drive roughly 9hours if on a conventional gas vehicle. From Blaine, our first pit stop to charge was in Kelso, WA. By plugging in the destination in the Taycan's onboard GPS (and not android auto or carplay), the Taycan simply calculates how many charging pitstops are needed to reach the destination with around 20% left range on the battery. This makes it a lot easier for the driver and passenger to enjoy the drive more.
We had preplanned ahead and decided to go with Electrify America chargers throughout the trip (if possible). The big convenience to it is that they are pretty much in a complex with Walmart and a lot of food joints, and they offer 350KW/h CCS charging. This meant bathroom breaks and grabbing food was easier. Unfortunately even if the charger stated up to 350KW/H, the charging was relatively slow at 100KW/H. This made the charging time a little longer than expected, so the planned pit stop for lunch had changed.
After charging, we made our way down to Portland for a very late lunch. Quickly popped on by Snowpeak which is a very popular Japanese camping brand to see their latest equipment. They also happened to have a restaurant.
Before reaching Grants' Pass, we had to make another pitstop for charging just in case the hotel's EV charger was occupied. Luckily, it wasn't and we were able to plug it in overnight for the long drive down to California the next day. There are also a lot of hotels and food places where we stayed, but the most important one was getting the hotel with EV Chargers. The trip from Grants Pass to Napa Valley was roughly 6 hours and 560KMs or so.
Since I've made this trip before in a different vehicle, I knew exactly where I wanted to stop to take some quick photos with a very scenic background. On I-5S, there's a small look out point just past the OR/CA Border, Shasta Valley Vista Point with an elevation of roughly 2600FT. From here, we make our way down to Napa Valley to stop at some wineries and take in some winding roads. We have two charging pitstops from Grants Pass down to Napa Valley, One at Yreka and the other down at Redding. For lunch since we decided on the iconic In-n-Out (because California of course), we plugged in to a charger by Target since it was across the street. Might as well since we're stopped anyway. (Sorry, no burger pics...)
While most routes heading south on I-5 would take us down further before heading back up north to Napa Valley, we decided on taking a different route to Castello Di AMorosa. CA20, CA53 and CA29 provided some good winding mountain roads for the Taycan CT to further stretch its legs before getting to the winery. The winery itself is one of the oldest and more recognizable ones in the valley. Shortly after, we had dinner at downtown Napa and stayed the night, of course at a hotel with an EV Charger.
Day 3 of the trip down to Monterey.
Feeling refreshed after a good dinner and good night's rest at Napa, it was now time to drive further down south. On the way, we just had to make a stop at Canepa. There were a lot of beautiful back roads to drive in between San Jose and Canepa. Way too much detail to give, but the one clue is Alice's Restaurant in Woodside ;)
Feeling refreshed after a good dinner and good night's rest at Napa, it was now time to drive further down south. On the way, we just had to make a stop at Canepa. There were a lot of beautiful back roads to drive in between San Jose and Canepa. Way too much detail to give, but the one clue is Alice's Restaurant in Woodside ;)
Trip details that might be important:
Napa Valley to Alice's Restaurant to Canepa to our hotel in Marina came out to be roughly 230KMs. We had two charging pitstops in between because the windy uphill and downhill roads around San Jose and Woodside proved to take a bit of toll on the range.
Napa Valley to Alice's Restaurant to Canepa to our hotel in Marina came out to be roughly 230KMs. We had two charging pitstops in between because the windy uphill and downhill roads around San Jose and Woodside proved to take a bit of toll on the range.
And now this is where it just goes crazy. Day 4 of the trip is Rennsport Reunion 7 day. This is already the third day for RR7. Everything they say about it is true. The road to Laguna Seca, even on the roads around Marina and Monterey, every corner you look there are Porsches everywhere. You see a Porsche on the highway, you know where they are going, they know where you are going, everyone just waves at each other like you are all friends just reuniting. The parking lots at Laguna Seca were filled with Porsches already and had special Porsche Only parking lots.
The vibe at RR7, the energy and the feeling was unreal.
And it gets even crazier.
It was a smorgasbord for the senses.
We returned on day 5 to see more of the craziness for us Porschephiles but it simply doesn't end. I will highlight here an experience that I enjoyed quite a bit even though for a brief moment only. The all-new 2024 Cayenne was demonstrating some of its offroad capabilities. This makes me wonder if Porsche would ever re-release a new version of the Transsyberia or a Cayenne Safari?
Shortly after that, we made our way out to 17 Mile Drive to get a feel of the coast and see the world renowned beauty of this drive. The ice silver metallic paint of the Taycan Cross Turismo felt very complimentary and right at home against the azure hues of the Pacific.
And alas, the fun and festivities were nearly conclusion. We had to make our way back up north which was very similar to our Day 1 and Day 2 minus the twisty mountain backroads, wineries and small cities. From Monterey up to Grants Pass was roughly 800KMs in distance. By now we had the speed and charging times somewhat downpat. After Grants Pass was the last stretch back up to Vancouver.
Trip conclusions and important take-aways from the 3500KM Journey.
- The Taycan GPS is smart, it can precalculate how many charging pitstops you need to arrive with a minimum of 20% range left. It doesn't take into account though if you go a lot faster than the optimal speed for efficiency, for elevation and weight changes during the course of the trip once you commence that specific leg.
- Be smart about the charging pitstops. Even if the GPS already calculates and plots the course, it is always good to be prepared by plotting your own route of chargers and stops. You might want to do some side detours due to sightseeing and you want to be prepared with range.
- Yes the GPS predicts you reach your destination with 20% left in the battery. It doesn't know if your destination has a charger or not. You would need to determine beforehand so you can allot for one more charge to make the round trip back.
- On longer and faster stretches of the road, do be aware that BEV brakes somewhat differ from ICE brakes on cars. One would need to adjust driving and braking manners slightly especially on those nice, twisty back mountain roads through the forests and canyons.
-Weight, speed and elevation can make a huge dent in the range of a battery. With our roofbox, the car has significantly more aerodynamic drag, thereby making the Taycan exert more effort.
- On average, by utilizing a 350KW/H (need to stress that it says UP TO 350KW/h) charger, each charge lasted about 30-35 minutes from 20-ish % back up to 90 or 95%. Also noted was that while the charger stated up to 350KW/H, the most we received was around 185 to 190KW/H. How you charge also is entirely up to your road trip style. You can take more charging pitstops to lessen each charge duration, or take less pit stops and increase charge duration. It comes out to around the same more or less.
More importantly, having gone on this road trip with the Porsche Taycan Cross Turismo, I can safely say that my own range anxiety has been somewhat lifted due to realizing the onboard communications system will help you in your trip planning.
@Porsche Canada, how about I do one of the Taycan CT from Vancouver to Jasper and Banff next??
@Porsche Canada, how about I do one of the Taycan CT from Vancouver to Jasper and Banff next??
