Summer Trip 2026 Day 8

29 July 2026

TL;DR – I’m in Seattle after 3,282 miles of driving at an average of 61mph and 3.1 miles/kWh. The next update here will probably be on Saturday 1 August.

This morning came early — I was up by 5:15 and left my hotel in Missoula MT at 6:15, just after sunrise. There wasn’t a lot of traffic on the highway at that point! This was my scenery for the first third or so of the trip, and then — even though it seemed fairly light out — I saw the sun rising over mountains a bit after this:

There’s no question about there being wildfire smoke in that direction!

My first charging stop of the day was in Liberty Lake WA at a Tesla dealer with 12 V3 chargers. (Notice the red Cybertruck partly visible on the right of the photo — this is the first time I’ve seen that color.) I was surprised that a dealer wouldn’t have upgraded to V4 chargers, but there was no problem taking two spots as they weren’t at all busy. I charged from 32-80% in 22 minutes, taking on 44.449 kWh for $22.22. The unfortunate part of this stop was that the dealer wasn’t open yet and the bathrooms were closed at the convenience store a block away … it’s a good thing I was able to wait for a rest area!

Stop #2 was in Moses Lake WA and these 12 chargers were at a store that also didn’t have a public bathroom. I charged from 37-80% in 19 minutes, adding 39.812 kWh for $16.72.

Imagine my surprise at seeing this sight at one point — that’s Mount Rainier! (Later on, I saw Mount Baker but never when I could get a good photo of it.) Views like this really make the drive even more enjoyable

Stop #3 was at a Fred Meyer store in Ellensburg QA with 16 V4 Tesla chargers at the farthest end of the lot and lots of available charging spots. I charged from 57-80% in 12 minutes, adding 22.813 kWh for $9.12. I could have skipped this stop but decided to use it anyway just in case there was a problem at the next one.

My final charging stop was at an outlet mall in North Bend WA where there were 24 V4 Tesla chargers! They were in an interesting arrangement using both sides of a row, 12 slots on each side. I charged from 54-80% in 13 minutes, adding 25.451 kWh for $12.21. I really could have skipped this stop but decided to do it anyway so that I wouldn’t have to worry at all about charging before tomorrow when I have to get my car into a Hyundai dealer for its first service and then meet my brother and family for lunch.

This is the view from my hotel room for the next three nights — I-5 north of Seattle. The final leg into Seattle was fine but slow, at first due to heavy traffic and then due to a combination of very, very heavy traffic and lane closures due to construction. But I’m here and will be here until Saturday 1 August.

The final total for the trip here was 3.282 miles and an efficiency of 3.1 miles/kWh. As of the charging stop 39 miles before my hotel, I’d used 1,042 kWh of electricity at an average cost of $0.40/kWh. With gas prices averaging somewhere in the region of $4.00/gallon on the trip, this means my electricity cost was the equivalent of a gasoline car getting 37mpg. In other words, road-tripping in an EV is NOT as inexpensive as driving a decent ICE vehicle — although driving an EV around town and charging at home or work really changes that equation — but the quietness and the instant power of the EV are unparalleled. I feel much more relaxed arriving at my destination even after a long day.

I probably won’t post here again until August 1 when I leave Seattle and drive to Spokane WA, a journey of just under 300 miles (vs. the 478 I drove today).