(Planned) Route 66 Centennial Road Trip (Ended up being Great Lakes/Niagara Falls Trip)

[N Wilson]

Day 15

This was our Niagara Falls day!

I had noticed that morning that a few of the 50A sites had opened up, so on our way out that morning my wife went into the campground office and asked if we could upgrade to a 50A site for our last night there. They said yes and the price difference was only $2 more than the 30A site, so it was a no brainer since that would mean we could get a full charge on L2 overnight before leaving the next day. We had to move the camper to the new site before going to Niagara Falls but we had gotten pretty quick at hitching and unhitching it by this point.

We headed out a little before lunchtime and stopped at a little farm store/restaraunt near the campground for lunch on our way to the falls. Excellent food, and they gave the kids a package of chocolate chip cookies baked fresh at the store.

We had a great time at Niagara Falls and spent the whole afternoon there. It's a truly awe-inspiring sight if you haven't been it's worth the trip.

On our way back to the campground that evening, we stopped at Hibbard's frozen custard shop in a town called Lewiston on the recommendation of the trolley driver at Niagara Falls. We were glad we did. It was amazing!

When we got back to the campground I plugged into the 50A plug to charge the truck up overnight.

 

[J Alynn]

Day 15

This was our Niagara Falls day!

I had noticed that morning that a few of the 50A sites had opened up, so on our way out that morning my wife went into the campground office and asked if we could upgrade to a 50A site for our last night there. They said yes and the price difference was only $2 more than the 30A site, so it was a no brainer since that would mean we could get a full charge on L2 overnight before leaving the next day. We had to move the camper to the new site before going to Niagara Falls but we had gotten pretty quick at hitching and unhitching it by this point.

We headed out a little before lunchtime and stopped at a little farm store/restaraunt near the campground for lunch on our way to the falls. Excellent food, and they gave the kids a package of chocolate chip cookies baked fresh at the store.
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We had a great time at Niagara Falls and spent the whole afternoon there. It's a truly awe-inspiring sight if you haven't been it's worth the trip.
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On our way back to the campground that evening, we stopped at Hibbard's frozen custard shop in a town called Lewiston on the recommendation of the trolley driver at Niagara Falls. We were glad we did. It was amazing!

When we got back to the campground I plugged into the 50A plug to charge the truck up overnight.

Another great write up! Thank you again

 

[04Ram2500Hemi]

Day 13 - 326 miles
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Long travel day from OH to Four Mile Creek State Campground in Youngstown, NY on Lake Ontario. The overnight level 2 charge got us to 75% by the time we left in the morning. We made 3 charging stops that day.

First one was at a Menards in Avon, OH (Electrify America) where we arrived with 19% SOC and charged to 90%.

Second stop was at a Walmart Supercenter in Erie, PA (Electrify America). Arrived with 16% SOC and charged to 90%. We had lunch in the camper while the truck charged.

Third stop was at a Wegmans Grocery store in West Seneca, NY (Tesla Supercharger). Arrived with 33% SOC and charged to 90% then headed up to our campground on the shore of Lake Ontario.

My wife had booked this campsite for 3 nights because we wanted to take one day to explore Lake Ontario and another day to go to Niagara Falls. When she booked the campsite, there were only 30A sites available which also have a 20A 120V plug on the pedestal, so when we arrived, I plugged the camper into the 30A plug and used the 20A plug for L1 charging for the truck overnight.
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Just curious in a leg like this with three stops, roughly how long is each charging stop?

 

[N Wilson]

Just curious in a leg like this with three stops, roughly how long is each charging stop?

For that day, the first stop was 47 minutes on the charger, second stop was 52 minutes on the charger, and the third stop was 41 minutes on the charger but I was charging to 90% each time. When you reach 80% the charger throttles down and charges much slower for that last 10%.

So, to put some numbers to it, the Lightning hits about 180 kW peak on the charging curve early on, but when it gets to 80% it slows to about 60 kW. Because of that, many people only charge to 80% to make the charge stops shorter.

In my case, my family would usually go into the store we were at (grocery, etc) and they would take much longer shopping than the truck took to charge, so I figured I'd leave it on the charger longer since we weren't leaving yet anyway. Sometimes, we would eat lunch in the camper while the truck charged, and that always took longer than the actual charging of the truck.

 

[SpaceEVDriver]

For that day, the first stop was 47 minutes on the charger, second stop was 52 minutes on the charger, and the third stop was 41 minutes on the charger but I was charging to 90% each time. When you reach 80% the charger throttles down and charges much slower for that last 10%.

So, to put some numbers to it, the Lightning hits about 180 kW peak on the charging curve early on, but when it gets to 80% it slows to about 60 kW. Because of that, many people only charge to 80% to make the charge stops shorter.

In my case, my family would usually go into the store we were at (grocery, etc) and they would take much longer shopping than the truck took to charge, so I figured I'd leave it on the charger longer since we weren't leaving yet anyway. Sometimes, we would eat lunch in the camper while the truck charged, and that always took longer than the actual charging of the truck.

And note that for the Scout has an 800 volt battery pack and will likely have a more modern charging curve, it will likely charge with a curve more similar to the Silverado than any other truck. The Silverado charge curve doesn’t collapse the way the Lightning’s does. It starts slowing down at 75%, to about 120 kW at 80% and 80 kW at 85%. But that 120 kW for an extra 5% and then only reaching 60 kW at 90% means a lot faster charge curve overall.

https://insideevs.com/news/716074/chevrolet-silverado-ev-fast-charging/

 

[04Ram2500Hemi]

For that day, the first stop was 47 minutes on the charger, second stop was 52 minutes on the charger, and the third stop was 41 minutes on the charger but I was charging to 90% each time. When you reach 80% the charger throttles down and charges much slower for that last 10%.

So, to put some numbers to it, the Lightning hits about 180 kW peak on the charging curve early on, but when it gets to 80% it slows to about 60 kW. Because of that, many people only charge to 80% to make the charge stops shorter.

In my case, my family would usually go into the store we were at (grocery, etc) and they would take much longer shopping than the truck took to charge, so I figured I'd leave it on the charger longer since we weren't leaving yet anyway. Sometimes, we would eat lunch in the camper while the truck charged, and that always took longer than the actual charging of the truck.

So 45ish minutes as an average. Thank you for sharing.

 

[J Alynn]

So 45ish minutes as an average. Thank you for sharing.

On our Lexus which probably has a variation and I haven’t researched, we were gaining about 53% in 22 minutes so to his point. The last 80-90% is the big slowdown. That was also with the destination set and the battery preconditioning before we stopped

 

[N Wilson]

Day 16 - 201 miles

We were planning on heading home but we still had an extra day to play with, so we decided to check out the Finger Lakes on the way home. We headed to Watkins Glen State Park on the southern end of Seneca Lake with 1 charge stop at the Premium Outlets in Waterloo, NY (Electrify America). We arrived at 27% SOC and left with 88%. This was another charger where we could pull along behind the charger stalls and didn't have to drop the camper or block charger stalls.

My daughters did some back to school shopping in the outlet stores while the truck charged.

We arrived in Watkins Glen in the evening, and after checking in to the campground and getting the camper situated, we went for an evening hike on the gorge trail that is accessible from the campground. This was one of my favorite parts of the whole trip. The water has carved these incredible pools in the rock over thousands of years and there are several waterfalls in the park.

When we got back to the campsite , I plugged the truck into the 50A plug on the pedestal and got a full charge to start the trip home the next day.

 

[J Alynn]

Day 16 - 201 miles
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We were planning on heading home but we still had an extra day to play with, so we decided to check out the Finger Lakes on the way home. We headed to Watkins Glen State Park on the southern end of Seneca Lake with 1 charge stop at the Premium Outlets in Waterloo, NY (Electrify America). We arrived at 27% SOC and left with 88%. This was another charger where we could pull along behind the charger stalls and didn't have to drop the camper or block charger stalls.
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My daughters did some back to school shopping in the outlet stores while the truck charged.

We arrived in Watkins Glen in the evening, and after checking in to the campground and getting the camper situated, we went for an evening hike on the gorge trail that is accessible from the campground. This was one of my favorite parts of the whole trip. The water has carved these incredible pools in the rock over thousands of years and there are several waterfalls in the park.
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When we got back to the campsite , I plugged the truck into the 50A plug on the pedestal and got a full charge to start the trip home the next day.

My first summer out of college I lived/worked in Corning NY and Watkins Glen is still one of my favorite places. I heard they were doing repairs to the stone arch this summer. Was it still underway or did they complete it? So glad you stopped there. Corning is an amazing town/city but Seneca lake and Watkins holds a lot of great memories from that summer. Recommend it to anyone heading toward the finger lakes.

 

[J Alynn]

Day 16 - 201 miles
View attachment 17160
We were planning on heading home but we still had an extra day to play with, so we decided to check out the Finger Lakes on the way home. We headed to Watkins Glen State Park on the southern end of Seneca Lake with 1 charge stop at the Premium Outlets in Waterloo, NY (Electrify America). We arrived at 27% SOC and left with 88%. This was another charger where we could pull along behind the charger stalls and didn't have to drop the camper or block charger stalls.
View attachment 17159

My daughters did some back to school shopping in the outlet stores while the truck charged.

We arrived in Watkins Glen in the evening, and after checking in to the campground and getting the camper situated, we went for an evening hike on the gorge trail that is accessible from the campground. This was one of my favorite parts of the whole trip. The water has carved these incredible pools in the rock over thousands of years and there are several waterfalls in the park.
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When we got back to the campsite , I plugged the truck into the 50A plug on the pedestal and got a full charge to start the trip home the next day.

As I look back through your pics I missed the bridge first time so based on the pic I’d say they completed it already. And I might add it’s an equal if not better hike in the fall especially if you start at the bottom and ascend up into the tree canopies above.