Summer Trip 2026 Day 13

3 August 2026

Today’s drive was 365 miles and I’m still in Montana tonight, staying in Miles City. The day started off chilly, 51º and breezy, and didn’t break 60 until after I was in my hotel. At one point about an hour from my journey’s end, it was back down to 51º with strong wind and rain. Brr! I did not bring clothes for this type of weather …

It was also quite smoky for much of the day as you can see in this photo;

My first charging stop of the day was a Tesla Supercharger at a “Town Pump” location (as they are called all across Montana … a combination gas station / truck stop / convenience store / casino). I charged from 52-90% in 27 minutes, adding 34.883 kWh for $13.25. (Note: I charged to 90% at both this stop and the next one even though that requires 12-15 minutes more than charging to 80%; this was a conscious choice to have a nice buffer because charging stops are few and far between in this part of the country.)

Stop #2 was in Billings MT, also at a Town Pump with Tesla Superchargers; this one had 12 superchargers vs. 8 at the first stop of the day. I charged from 33-90% in 30 minutes, adding 52.925 kWh for $21.16.

Once I was in Miles City MT, my destination for the night, I saw this abandoned railway station and decided I needed a photo. I’m sure it was a beautiful building in its day! I would have loved to see the inside.

And this is my final charging stop, also in Miles City and just a 1/2 mile from my hotel. This is also at a Town Pump (with a HUGE parking lot behind it) and this one has Electrify America chargers. I charged from 27-80% in 18 minutes, adding 47.475 kWh for $21.33.

Tomorrow I plan on an early start because I need to get to Fargo ND and I will lose an hour to another time change. I’ll be charging four times along the route plus once more right near my hotel so that I’ll be ready for the following morning’s drive into Minneapolis.

Because of the terrain across Montana, my trip average for 4,322 miles has dropped back to 3.1 miles/kWh but I hope to get that back up to 3.2 or perhaps even 3.3 by the time I’m home at the end of next week. We’ll see!