EV Road Trip & Aerial Views: Exploring Vilas County by Tesla and Drone

What truly blew me away on this trip was the sheer ease with which I could drive my EV from Dane County all the way up to Vilas County, a region often considered an electric vehicle 'charging desert'. To not only make that journey, but then to pull up and see a Rivian and a Ford Mach-E sharing a Tesla Supercharger, alongside a bunch of Model 3s and Ys, really hammered home just how far EV infrastructure has come, even in less populated areas.

It's awesome to see; for instance, the Minocqua Supercharger, a 250 kW V3 NACS station, has only been around for about three years, while the Wausau V2, at 150 kW, is an older, eight-year-old site. The Stevens Point V3, where I charged, is also a newer, 250 kW NACS station, roughly two years old.

The cabin's EV outlet was much appreciated. All I needed was the now-optional Mobile Connector to connect to the 220V outlet and the adapter, which I purchased as part of the NEMA Adapter Bundle. The daily charge of $5 for outlet use seemed reasonable, as it provided ample time to charge the battery within a 24-hour period. While I did have to maneuver the car around a corner to reach the outlet, it wasn't a significant inconvenience. I plugged in in the early afternoon and easily achieved a 90% charge before heading home.

While I usually have a wealth of data on my charging sessions, I haven't been as diligent about utilizing comprehensive tools like TeslaMate/TeslaFi lately. Though they offer incredibly detailed insights into charging efficiency, battery degradation, and driving habits, information that's quite fascinating, my reduced driving mileage recently has meant I haven't focused on meticulously tracking every kilowatt-hour. Still, seeing the precise figures from these Supercharging stops definitely highlights the value of such data, especially since I don't have comparable outlet charging data from the cabin stay.

This was a new trip for me, so I didn't have a 'typical' Supercharger spending amount established, though with my long-range battery, I honestly didn't expect to need to charge as much as I did. My Supercharging costs on this trip varied: at the Tesla Supercharger in Stevens Point, I spent $7.67 for just 11 minutes of charging, which delivered 22.5698 kWh. The return trip's Supercharging session cost $10.43, providing 30.7020 kWh of energy over 15 minutes. Including the $5 daily charge for the cabin's EV outlet, a total of $23.10 was spent on charging this trip.

While leaving the car plugged in all day could achieve a 100% charge, it's not ideal for the battery, and I'd lose regenerative braking until the car reached 95%. I'm accustomed to driving with regenerative braking, and it feels quite odd without it.

I found it interesting that the two lakes we visited were oriented similarly, with both having islands positioned slightly to the left from the beach view. However, the island in the second lake had an intriguing cutout shape and was surrounded by boats. In contrast, the first island appeared to have power, suggesting the presence of a house or multiple houses/cabins.